In 2003, Warner Brothers released a documentary, 'Colosseum: A Gladiator's Story.' The documentary follows the life of a gladiator named Verus. If athletes today think they have it rough, they do not have anything on Verus, a gladiator and the central figure in the documentary.The following is mostly an account from the details found in that documentary. Conquered and enslaved
In approximately 78 A.D., Verus was taken prisoner while defending his settlement in Moesia, which is composed of parts of modern day Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia. Verus was put to work in a stone quarry, where he worked from sunrise to sunset.
The stone was being quarried for the Colosseum that was being built in the center of Rome. Emperor Vespasian and his son Titus had commissioned the great work in hopes of creating their legacy, but even more importantly to stabilize political unrest. The men of the quarry called it 'the pit,' Verus said. Work in the pit was excruciatingly difficult. Vespasian's days were numbered and Titus sought to avoid assassination, the slaves of the pit were harshly worked, in an effort to finish construction of the Colosseum.
Verus said the men of the pit had a saying, "There are no old bones in the pit."Verus and Priscus: The gladiators
After 10 months working in the pit, Verus was beginning to lose hope. Then one day a lanista or owner of a gladiator school came to the pit looking for recruits. After not being initially picked, Verus started a fight with the toughest man in the group, a man named Priscus. The lanista, a former gladiator named Druscus who had won the wooden sword and consequently his freedom, was impressed with Verus and Priscus's fight. He took Verus and Priscus, who swore allegiance to the lanista.
Verus described his decision to be a gladiator, "To be come a gladiator is to make a pact with death. For me it was freedom compared to the pit. This way my fate would be in my own hands."Once Verus had trained for three months and satisfied the lanista, he was ready to fight in the potentially deadly combat. Like athletes today, the gladiators started out fighting in small arenas.
However, the gladiator sport was by far the most popular in Rome and the gladi
ators were the rock stars of their society. Feasts and festivals were held on the nights prior to fights. Widows or divorcees would often pay to be with the men who might be killed or kill someone else the next day. A gladiator that won one bout could earn up to one year of a Roman soldier's salary, Verus recounted. It is a myth that gladiators always fought to their death, Verus recounted. If a gladiator was killed, the sponsoring aristocrat would have to reimburse his school and thus a gladiator had a nearly 90 percent chance of survival. Though the ten plus percent that did die accounted for the Romans' love of the bloodthirsty savagery to be found in the sport.
In Priscus's first fight, he fought Septimus, a retiarus (net fighter) famous for his skill in literally netting opponents and trident (use of three pointed sphere). Priscus won the bout. Verus would not be so lucky as he lost his first bout to a murmillo (a heavily armored gladiator).
At the same event, Verus requested a second fight, even though he was sure two losses in the same day would certainly mean death. But he wanted to prove himself as a gladiator. He took on a Thracian, Ferox who already had two victories
The hard path of Verus
Verus would attend the funeralof Serverus, on his "family of gladiators" that was killed. He was part of the funeral club that helped pay for the funeral. He promised his widow, Claudia that he would protect her. He later lived up to it, pulling her out of her burning residence during the great Roman fires of 80 A.D.
At one point, in the middle of the night Verus was ushered by Roman guards to a wealthy man's villa. He was told there was someone that wanted to meet him. That was just a cover story, as Verus was pressed into a battle to the death.
Verus would win the contest. Later he would lament that the first time he killed a man was not in an arena but at a party for the rich. His lamentation deepened when he returned to his school and found out that Priscus had been sold to another school. It was just part of the business he was told.
Completion of the Colisseum (80 A.D.)
Vespasian had died just before the Colosseum's completion, leaving the empire to Titus. After that, in 79 A.D. The city of Pompei had been destroyed in a volcanic eruption. In 80 A.D., fires had burned large parts of Rome. A writer named Suetonius wrote that the people began to wonder if Titus had fallen out of favor with the gods.
Titus confided to his advisers that assassination seemed imminent.
Titus's one chance for survival seemed to be in the success of the Colosseum's grand opening. It would be a glorious grand opening, spanning 100 straight days of games. Gambling was encouraged and the rich noblemen were all given free premium seats. The women and children would be seated in the upper concourses.
The opening day of the Colosseum
Wild beasts such as lions and tigers were brought in to fight against criminals. But in the opening day, the beasts were too spooked by the noise, and the beast master was brought out and killed in front of the crowd.
According to Verus, those games were different. Titus wanted blood and it was a gladiator's duty to die should he lose a fight. According to Suetonius, Titus, who's duty it was to spare a gladiator's life or spare the gladiator, was letting the crowd pick if a loser lived or died and the crowd reveled in the increased bloodshed.
Two friends fight to the death
Long before Captain Kirk and Spock were forced to fight to the death, Verus and Priscus were really doing it. Verus was fighting in the main event. He did not know who his opponent was, just that Titus had personally requested him. He would be astonished to see that it was his long lost best friend, Priscus.
The Verus vs. Priscus bout is the only known contest to be recorded in detail. The Roman poet, Martial said that the emperor and thus his referee followed the law of requiring the gladiators to go without shields after Verus lost his shield.
The men fought without shield each sustaining slashing wounds. When Priscus lost his sword, Verus then threw his sword away. The men would fight with only their bare strength and later spiked knuckles. Ultimate Fighting or Ali vs. Frasier would have nothing on this!
Having watched both men fight valiantly, Titus ended the fight. In the only time in gladiator history, both men were declared victors. The emperor sent out wooden swords (symbols of freedom) and victory palms to both men.
The triumphant celebration that Priscus and Verus likely had at the Emperor's palace or at a rich villa is unimaginable. They had won their freedom and had a feeling of glory that only a select few will ever experience.
Titus too would likely revel in his newfound livelihood and in the honor of presidng over the world's two greatest gladiators of all-time. But the joy would be short lived. Titus would die six months later from an unknown ailment. He was one of the most beloved emperors in Roman history.
Verus had won his freedom. He was also perhaps the most beloved man in all of Rome. Power and riches undoubtedly awaited him. But rather than stick around and enjoy it, he humbly made his way back to Moesia in search of his long-lost family.
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