The ancient Romans were famous for many things - their engineering marvels, their road network, and the establishment of Roman law throughout their empire.

However, they were also famous for their wars Known for his like nature.

After all, it was what allowed the Romans to build an empire in the first place.

This desire for violence manifested itself not only in the policies of Roman imperialism; In one of Rome's most famous sports, the gladiators, two Venatorians (those who hunted animals in the arena) fought a tiger.

The Emperor of Constantinople Floor mosaic of the Palace (Istanbul), 5th century.

(Public Domain) Some believe that the concept of gladiator games originated with the Etruscans, the predecessors of the ancient Romans.

In Etruscan society, gladiator games were considered part of the funeral rituals honoring the deceased.

Therefore, gladiators originally had sacred significance.

Over the centuries, however, these funerary games evolved into a form of entertainment, and the earliest Roman gladiator fight is said to have occurred in 264 BC.

Garden Arbor, 1878, depicts a Brutal gladiator combat (a public domain) in which gladiators were often prisoners of war, slaves, or condemned men.

Rome's use of defeated enemies in these games is reflected in a number of gladiator genres, including Thracians (or Thracians), Hoplomachus, and Samnites.

Gladiators can therefore be seen as Romans reenacting their wars with their conquered subjects A way.

However, not all gladiators were forced into the industry, and despite the hard and precarious life, gladiators were the superstars of their time.

The benefits of fighting in the arena - fame, honor and wealth - were enough to induce some people to volunteer as gladiators.

(However, there is very little evidence of such citizen gladiators) There are also records showing that , some Roman emperors even participated in gladiator games themselves, the most famous of which was probably Emperor Commodus.

However, since gladiators belonged to the lowest rungs of the social hierarchy, some people expressed disapproval of emperors participating in these games. Contempt.

Research analyzing the teeth of so-called gladiators found at Driffield Terrace in York, UK, also shows that gladiators often came from poor backgrounds.

Most of the males were They suffered from severe nutritional deficiencies as children and were likely from poor families.

Their remains suggest that these poor people were well fed and adapted to fighting in later life - perhaps in this way they would have transformed during gladiator games. Stronger and more eye-catching.

Despite the low social status of gladiators, it was possible for them to gain patronage from the upper classes, even from the emperor himself.

According to According to Suetonius, Emperor Nero granted Spiculus, a gladiator, houses and estates worthy of generals returning triumphant from war.

Regardless of his claims True to form, Suetonius wanted to highlight the emperor's extravagant nature by showing Nero's willingness to gift such an expensive gift to a presumably lower-ranking person, and the carving shows a Roman emperor presiding over gladiatorial games. ( Sailko/CC for SA 3.0), while Spiculus' story may be an extreme example, assuming it is true, gladiators were indeed valuable assets to their "owners".

Victories won by gladiators The more, the more valuable he was.

The popularity of the victorious gladiators is evident in surviving graffiti on the walls of Rome and other cities where such games were held.

Some graffiti reveal the number of gladiator victories: Petronius Octavius ??35, Severus 55, Nasia 60.

While other graffiti indicate that the gladiators were Popular with women: "Crescent, the gladiator, who has the hearts of all girls", and "Caladus, Thrane, who makes all girls sigh", an inscription from the gladiator city, from Florence, in the mid-3rd century , the 22-year-old was killed after 13 fights.

In the inscription, the man mourned his wife of seven years, Lauricia, and his two daughters, Olympia and Fleance.

The inscription cryptically warns "the one who kills the victor" and adds that Urbix's fans (Amatores) will keep his memory alive.

(No copyright restrictions) , by the 4th century AD, the popularity of gladiatorial games was declining as the Roman Empire adopted Christianity as its official religion.

However, it was not until 404 AD, with the martyrdom of St. Telemachus, that fighting games Totally banned by Emperor Honorius.

The historian Theodoret says that Telemachus was a monk who came to Rome from Asia Minor.

< p> During a gladiator match in the city, Telemachus jumped into the arena to stop two gladiators from fighting.

The spectators, apparently unhappy with Telemachus' behavior, stoned them The dead monk.

However, a form of gladiator game, the hunting of wild animals, continued for a century, and Telemachus stopped two gladiators from fighting.

(Candles in the Cave), above: Dramatic painting depicting gladiators in the arena.

Jean-Léon Gér?me, 1872.