gladiātor

Gladiator comes from gladius, the Latin word for sword — specifically the short, thrusting sword used by Roman legionaries. A gladiator was, literally, a sword-man. But the term covered dozens of fighting styles, many of which used no sword at all. The retiarius fought with a net and trident. The murmillo carried a fish-shaped helmet. The word named the profession, not the weapon.

Gladiatorial combat began as a funeral rite. The first recorded games took place in 264 BCE, when three pairs of gladiators fought at the funeral of Decimus Junius Pera. The idea was that blood honored the dead. By the late Republic, politicians staged ever-larger games to win popular support. Julius Caesar displayed 320 pairs in 65 BCE. The religious origin was forgotten. The spectacle remained.

Contrary to popular belief, most gladiatorial bouts did not end in death. Gladiators were expensive to train and maintain — a dead gladiator was a financial loss for his owner. Graffiti at Pompeii records fighters' win-loss records like modern sports statistics. Some gladiators became celebrities. Their images appeared on lamps, mosaics, and children's toys. The pollice verso — the famous thumbs-down gesture — may not have meant death at all; the historical evidence is ambiguous.

The last recorded gladiatorial combat in Rome took place in 404 CE, when Emperor Honorius banned the games after a monk named Telemachus was reportedly stoned to death by spectators for trying to stop a fight. The word gladiator survived the institution. It now means anyone who fights spectacularly, from MMA fighters to courtroom lawyers. The sword is long gone from the meaning.