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Gladiator Mosaic 320-30 AD Villa Borghese Despite what Hollywood would have you believe, gladiators were not given random weapons, sent into the arena and told to fight. When someone became a gladiator, they were assigned a specific type and style of fighting and practiced it constantly. A specific type of gladiator only fought another specific type of gladiator as determined by well established rules. These pairings were intended t...

People of all walks of life were either driven or pulled to become a gladiator in Ancient Rome. Some were taken captive on the battlefield and sold into slavery; others willingly gave up their freedom in repayment of debts, crimes or simply to seek fame and fortune. Even emperors competed in gladiatorial games. Wherever you can from before, the life of a gladiator was harsh (emperors competed in the games occasionally but where never tru...

  The weapons used by pirates throughout the ages are as unique and varied as the pirates themselves. The weapons from Roman Empire times would be completely different than those used by pirates in China 1000 years later. Generally though, when people say “pirate” they are referring to the pirates that plagued the Caribbean from the late 1500’s to the early 1800’...