Were gladiator fights scripted?
>>351685
sometimes
yes
>My history’s a little hazy Cassius, but aren’t the Barbarians supposed to lose the battle of Carthage?
>>351685
They were real, like wrestling—not staged, like American Football.
>>351685
The Romans believed in fate, so yes.
Did gladiators break kayfabe?
>>351936
Given that it would reduce their honour, no.
>>351705
This.
Sometimes they had big matches where great gladiators fought like modern combat sports.
Other times they would have huge spectacles that recreated battles in which they had designated winners and losers, the losers generally being shit tier while the winners were top tier gladiators.
Why do gladiator fights feature so heavily in popular history? They were only a small part of Roman life and personally I've always found it a boring subject.
>>351685
IT'S STILL REAL TO ME DAMMIT
Did they throw peasants in?
Did they throw criminals in?
Did they throw slaves in?
No but they stacked the fuck out of fights
>>352024
circuses will always be relevant
>>351936
I wonder if they had evil foreigner gimmicks.
You could have a fake Gaul get heel heat by threatening to Gaul Roman women.
>>351685
and his name is JANUS CENUS
>>352645
>evil foreigner gimmicks
One of the gladiator classes was literally called Thracian
>>351685
>Were gladiator fights scripted?
If they werent, they should have been. Its much more effective that way. Better spectacle and lower chance of losing a praised star.
Reminds me of the first american tv game shows, where they started out playing for real, but they had low views. Then they started scripting it, and the ratings skyrocketed.
>>352941
Janvs cenvs*
>>351685
>Were gladiator fights scripted?
Sometimes. Not all gladiator fights were "serious" (i.e. to the death) and sometimes fights were held to commemorate past battles. And you wouldn't want the non-Roman team to accidentally win, would you?
>>353875
Thats easily solved by tying their hands behind their back and tying some sword painted stick on their torso pointing forwards.
>>353880
Doesn't seem particularly interesting to watch.
>>353882
You wont be able to tell from where you are seating.
>>352024
Still entertaining the plebs hundreds of years later.
>>352024
Combat sport is a primal delight for us as a species. All cultures have some variation of it.
Even though Roman gladatorial fights were only in an rather brief period of their history, it's difficult to say they weren't fucking fantastic. I think the showmanship gets people as well as the sheer scale of the Colosseum.
>>351685
Any sport people place bets on, can be rigged.
There was probably some form of organized crime controlling the arenas.