Introduction and Objective:

Present the origin of gladiators, their training systems and daily life.

Methodological procedures:

A narrative review was carried out, based on the retrieval of historical facts contained in iconographic, electronic and bibliographical sources.

Discussion:

It is believed that the origin of the gladiator’s combat is Etruscan, initially realized as part of funeral rites. After entering the gladiatorial family, the gladiators followed laws from schools of formation (ludus). Gladiators who had fought for a long time, and survived all combats received a wooden sword as a symbol of their retirement, called rudis.

Conclusion:

For a period of almost 600 years, the arena was one of the most popular entertainments in the Roman world. Gladiator fights were an element of paganism that ruled Rome until the conversion of Emperor Constantine to Christianity in the fourth century, and occupy a central place in the modern popular perception of Roman behavior.

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