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{{Contributors}} The gladiatorial games of ancient Rome are well-known today due to the numerous films produced over the last few decades where they play a role. The fictional accounts of the gladiators do in fact show a lot of truthful elements of the games, but often mix different events from various periods of Roman history.  The reality is that the gladiatorial games played a major role in Roman culture from the early days of the Republic well into the days of decline in the Empire. Archaeological, art historical, and textual evidence have allowed modern scholars to trace the evolution of the gladiatorial games from small private occasions that were associated with religion and rituals to the major events most people think of, which were for the most part designed to keep the people content and to eliminate enemies of the state.

When one thinks of gladiatorial events today, images of men fighting each other with nets and tridents often first come to mind, but for many, images of men fighting ferocious big cats and other animals is also evoked. Actually, gladiatorial games and beast hunts were two different events, but they were both known as <i>munera</i>, which translated from Latin means “blood sports.” Blood sports became a hallmark of Roman culture from an early point, but another trademark of Roman culture was the tendency to categorize things, which the Romans did with their blood sports. The blood sport of hunting and killing animals for crowds, known as <i>venation</i>, is known from the Roman Republic era (509-first century BC), often playing a prominent role in military triumphs and public shows.  Although the Romans made beast hunting into a public event, its origins can be traced back to the Near East, where the kings of Egypt, Assyria and other kingdoms killed lions to demonstrate their power and virility. <ref> Kyle, Donald G. <i>Sport and Spectacle in the Ancient World.</i> (Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell, 2007), p. 264</ref> The first public beast hunt to be held in Rome took place in 186 BC and from that point on they became a regular occurrence in the amphitheaters around the city. The men hunting and killing the animals were usually free and professionals, but part of the entertainer class so they were low on the Roman social scale. <ref> Kyle, pgs. 268-9</ref> The development of the gladiatorial games is a bit harder to trace, although they also became a part of Roman culture at an early point.

The earliest depictions of gladiatorial combat in Italy are the so-called Campanian gladiator frescoes, which are dated to the fourth century BC. Although there is no text that 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>, indication indicating the martial background of the activity. <ref> Kyle, p. 271</ref>

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