Assess the attitude shown towards gladiators by Roman Society?

Question

Assess the attitude shown towards gladiators by Roman Society?

Answer 1

This violence was much less comparing with the abattoir we have now day.

Answer 2

The attitude of the Romans was paradoxical to say the least.  On the one hand gladiators were the lowest of the low, and by AD4 under the Lex Aelia Sentia a gladiator took the same status as subject foreigners - they were never to become citizens, couldn't make a will or receive through inheritance.  The contemporary writer, Cicero, used the term 'gladiator' as a term of derision but admitted that they were a good investment.  Look up Tertullian (north african christian) who wrote about the confused mind of the Romans, "The perversity of it!  They love whom they lower;  they despise whom they approve;  the art they glorify, the artist they disgrace (artem magnificent, artificem notant)".  Consider the graffiti in Pompeii, the splendour of the armour, the cost of training, the reproduction of their images on pots, art work, floor tiles, friezes, etc.  Remember though that these men were socially already dead - "we who are about to die salute you".  Rome enjoyed a brutal existence - violence was omnipresent, animal sacrifices, disciplining of slaves and children, the brutalities of ancient warfare - they were used to bloody violence.  At the amphitheatres they could participate in them, have a say in who would live and who would die.  They were empowered and the gladiators became the 'stars'.  Gambling was rife - a gladiator could make you a fortune (or lose you one).  Gladiators increasingly took on 'stage' names.

Apart from what you'll find in your OU material - look up on the internet a book by Donald G Kyle called Spectacles of Death in Ancient Rome - its printed online.  It should help too.  Good luck!

Answer 3

They'd be more likely to live from day to day, like fight to fight. Should be a very stressful life filled with death and anger issues.

Answer 4

I'd phrase it more of an instinct of survival, rather than an attitude of warrior.