types of gladiators

[Tib. Gabinius]

There are another contracts mentioned in literary contexts.
The three years to call "usual" is so a kind of hast.
For example Lucianos told us about one how fought for set price, he would be finish his job as gladiator when he earned ..i think 10 000 denares it was or somewhat around.

Also other times are reported, and often ex-gladiatores came back to fight again (or a last time).

At least, the decission between army and ludus were heavier than here called, cause you lost all your citizien rights and even if you survive you re scum, the worst the roman society knows (ok, perhaps not the worst....but near to).
And you often died nameless or before the fights...so the choice seemed to be hard, but there is another point: possible fame!

[Medusa Gladiatrix]

Salve Tib.,

I always wondered if a ex-gladiator who was a volunteer and didn't rejoin the ludus again gained back his citizenship or remained infamia until the end of his life? I couldn't find anything about that in the wellknown literature like Junkelmann etc. So what do you think?

[Tib. Gabinius]

I depends on his behavior and his earned money.
If you can manage it, you can get a step back into society, but everyone will remember you as a gladiator.
And the tombs also show it, even the grown families remember the dead as gladiatores, not as now slave traders or whatever they will do after their fighting life.
Your bandmarked for whole life and just money and fame can help you to life a normal life, at least it looks like.
Thats for me the reason, why gladiatores try at all to come back. Its the only life that will work for them.

[Medusa Gladiatrix]

At a certain age I'm sure one wasn't any longer in a fit enough stage to fight in the arena, the same as with professional sportsmen today. Then the only thing left for them was to become a trainer (doctor) at a ludus or even lanista.

[Tib. Gabinius]

Thats for truth, but this choice you also loose in a "senior" age, cause also trainers need to be a little be fit, and the rumors of hard and deadly training seems to compare with that.

But we know something about that kind of lanistas and the doctori gladiatorum, like Germanius Victor of Cologne. If you got your freedome, and were the right man you were perhaps offerd a job in a ludus or were able to build your own familiae and get a lanista yourself.
That and some others choces, like guardsmen or personal trainer (remember Commodus) ... but no chance to get a place in the senat or somewhat else. The Censores would laughed and exilated you.

[john m roberts]

A gladiator had a number of advantages over a soldier. We slip into the illusion that soldiering was nothing but battle. In fact, battle took up only a tiny part of a soldier's career. Basically, he was an armed laborer. He spent some time training, but a lot more digging ditches and building forts. He was outdoors in all weather and got little sleep because he had to stand guard duty. A gladiator had nothing to do except train to fight and he could go inside when it rained and sleep all night. Over all, being a gladiator was a better deal, except for the infamia thing.

[Tib. Gabinius]

If you take it this way, you have to put your attention to the numbers of fights, a gladiator fought.
The tombs show us numbers between 10 and 20 as standart and till 35-40 as maximum. So he wasnt fighting all the time as well as the soldiers didnt.

And if you were unlucky in the choice of your recuruiting time you spend a lot of time on campagins and battles, like a gladiator would.
Just remember trajanic time. Two wars in Dacia itself, one in parthia and nevertheless little battles with germanic tribes as well.
Not the fun it seemed to be if you here about "normal duty".

All in all, everything has his advantages or less good sides
I would prefer the army anyway.

[Primitivus]

All in all, everything has his advantages or less good sides I would prefer the army anyway.

As would I. The "honor" aspect (though the average soldier admittedly received little of it) would outweigh the relative difference in duration of the two commitments.