Are Gladiator Events Of Ancient Roman Sport?

Jared Doerr
11/17/14
Arguments and Reasoning
Gladiator Events: Sport or Not?
Are gladiator events of ancient Rome sport? Gladiator events were most certainly a violent form of entertainment and because of the violence I would think we would naturally feel that it is not a sport; however, before we can clarify whether or not gladiator events are sport, we first have to define what a “sport” is considered to be. I have broken down “sport” to contain three elements: some aspect of competiveness (a desire to win), some kind of physical exertion (strain on the body) and also some kind of mental exertion (problem solving skills). Based on these three elements, gladiator events in ancient Rome are most certainly sport. Ancient Roman gladiator events were definitely competitive. Imagine yourself in an arena fighting with another person. I would most certainly think there would be a desire to win for possible fame or to at least keep oneself from being injured. Of course in both the cases of winning and losing there is a chance of being injured; I would think there is more of a
chance for being injured if you were to lose. So naturally you would want to win. The very same goes with boxing and MMA. Both are considered to be a sport and both most certainly contain the element of competiveness. In both cases the loser typically has been injured the most. Gladiator events most definitely require physical exertion. I think most people, if not all, would agree to that. I am not exactly sure how one could participate in such an event without putting any kind of strain on their body; you would have to be a god of some sort. Again, boxing and MMA, both considered to be a sport, contain the element of physical exertion. If you do not believe me, try punching a bag for twelve cycles at three minutes for each cycle. If you are still not convinced try doing the same thing with a bag that punches back. Gladiator events most certainly contained a level of mental exertion or problem solving skills. Gladiators had their own skills to fight, but also trained in schools to learn other fighting techniques. Two fighters with similar training would have to have problem solving skills. In order to win, one of the fighters would have to figure out the flaws the other fighter is committing and attack to exploit those flaws. All of this is being done in a matter of seconds. To me, that requires a great deal of problem solving skills. Again, the same goes with boxing and MMA. Two fighters are put in a ring together and whilst pounding away on each other still need to keep a level head and pick out the right moments to complete a solid strike. You may agree with the three elements I used to define a sport, but may still disagree that gladiator events are sport.
You may think that they are just too violent. Well gladiator events are most certainly violent, but no more violent than boxing and MMA. I believe that many people’s notions towards gladiator events strive from Hollywood films, which glorify the violence and make the events seem like free-for-alls. In actuality “most fights operated under fairly strict rules and regulations. Contests were typically single combat between two men of similar size and experience. Referees oversaw the action, and probably stopped the fight as soon as one of the participants was seriously wounded” (Andrews). That sounds quite similar to what happens in boxing and MMA. Both contain a strict rule set, weight class and referees stop the fight if they feel one opponent is too badly injured to
continue. You may now agree with the above but still think that gladiator events are still not sport. You may think this because gladiators were killed in the arena. This is very true. Men have been killed while participating in gladiator events. However, “since gladiators were expensive to house, feed and train, their promoters were loath to see them needlessly killed. Trainers may have taught their fighters to wound, not kill, and the combatants may have taken it upon themselves to avoid seriously hurting their brothers-in-arms” (Andrews). Also the same is unfortunately true for boxing and MMA. There are cases in both sports in which a fighter has been killed as a result of fighting. A sport contains three elements: competitiveness, physical exertion and mental exertion. Boxing and MMA contain those three elements. Boxing and MMA are considered to be sport. Gladiator events also contain those three elements. Therefore, gladiator events are sport.