their background and training. Gladiatorial combat was so important to ancient Romans that they had gladiator schools to train men to be machines of slaughter for the scheduled entertainment (Johnston 287).These trained machines fought in festivals held for ten to twelve day periods each year and often coincided with Saturnalia, a festival celebrating the god Saturn. Professional sign makers advertised with red lettered signs; heralds also proclaimed these spectacles. Programs were also available to aid in the inevitable betting. The fights were very brutal and gruesome. The most popular fights were against a heavily armed and shielded man against a fighter with only a net and a small dagger. Depending on the emperor of the day, you might see dwarfs fighting women, Amazons or even non-human opponents (Johnston 297). Not only did people fight each other, but also bears, buffalo’s and other huge vicious animals. The gladiators would be forced to fight the wild beasts unarmed. In addition, many times the beast would be victorious. Beasts were also made to fight other beasts. One could watch bears fighting buffalos, buffaloes against elephants, elephants against rhinoceros. Even the ostriches that were brought in to amuse the spectators were not spared. After dashing around the arena, they were killed by arrows from archers who were located in the stands. Fights between men and tame beasts were also called to demonstrate man’s power over even the strongest of beasts. It is sad to note that the popularity of these spectacles led to the deaths of tens of thousands of animasl. Entire species were driven from extinction having been driven or captured from their natural habitat. Hippopotamuses were no longer seen in Egypt, elephants were not found in northern Africa and the population of lions disappeared from Assyria. This quest for bloodthirsty entertainment, involving man and beast, was soon centralized to a Roma...
