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The earliest depictions of gladiatorial combat in Italy are the so-called Campanian gladiator frescoes, dated to the fourth century BC. Although no text accompanies the frescoes, it is believed that they show part of a funeral game probably fought by volunteers to the first bloodshed. Many other early gladiators were probably prisoners of war forced to fight in funeral games, which then evolved into skilled, professional fighters. The name “gladiator” is derived from the name of the sword many of the early gladiators used in the names, the <i>gladius</i>, indicating the martial background of the activity. <ref> Kyle, p. 271</ref>
====When did Gladiator Games begin in the Roman Republic==? ==
The first gladiatorial games recorded in Rome took place in 264 BC when the sons of Decimus Junius Brutus organized an event for their recently deceased father. <ref> Kyle, p. 273</ref> After those games, there are no more records of gladiatorial events in Rome until 216 BC, probably because the Romans were too preoccupied with the increasingly tenuous geopolitical situation with Carthage, which eventually led to the Second Punic War (218-202 BC). Interestingly, the historian Livy wrote that the Carthaginian general Hannibal conducted his own blood sports-type when he invaded Rome in 218 BC. He wrote:
“He formed his troops into a circle and had some prisoners, whom he had captured in the mountains, brought into the middle of it in chains. Gallic weapons were laid on the ground in front of them, and an interpreter was told to ask if any of them would be willing to fight in single combat if he were released from his chains and offered a horse, together with the weapons, as the prize of victory.” <ref> Livy. <i> The War with Hannibal: Books XXI-XXX of The History of Rome from its Foundation.</i> Translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt. (London: Penguin, 1972), XXI, 42 </ref>
It is unknown how much Hannibal’s “games” had on the Roman blood sports, but it cannot be discounted since the Roman blood sports were quite eclectic in their origins. By the late Republic, gladiatorial games were highly institutionalized – the gladiators were well-trained and valuable prisoners of war who fought in distinct styles. All gladiators were dressed as and fought in the style of one of Rome’s three early enemies: Samnite, Thracian, and Gaul. These three designations were introduced at an early point but were retained as long as gladiators fought in Rome. <ref> Kyle, p. 281</ref>
===Gladiator Games and Beast Hunts in the Early Empire===