Roman Sports

Morituri te salutant or morituri te salutamus was supposedly said by gladiators about to die in the arena. Find out about the recorded literary usage of the "those who are about die" phrase.

The editor decided who lived and who died in the arena, although he usually paid some attention to the cries of the crowds and the gestures for mercy of the gladiators.

Commodus may have been a crazy emperor but he needn't have been so to have entered the gladiatorial arena despite the one in ten odds that a gladiator would be killed in a given fight.

There were many types of gladiators in ancient Rome. Some gladiators were named for opponents of the Romans; others took their names from their functions.

Naumachia were part of the entertainment provided the Roman public. They were staged naval battles.

Ludus is the Latin word for a gladiatorial school.

Ludi were public Roman games started as a way to honor Jupiter.

Information on the construction of the Circus Maximus, the race course, factions, and hazards.

Origins and growth of the dole and entertainment system and of the buildings in which the gladiators fought.

Brooklyn College's Roger Dunkle's site on gladiators contains the following: History & Origins, Who were the Gladiators?, Gladiator Training & Combat, Public Perception of Gladiators, The Venatio: Hunting Animals, and Female Gladiators.