Terminology

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TERMINOLOGY

Below is a list of terms frequently used in the series. The list will continue to be updated.

• Champions - the highest tier of gladiator and considered the best skilled warriors to enter the arena. In most cases the only way to become gladiator is to defeat the previous.
• Decimation - the ancient Roman punishment in which a legion or cohort had one in every ten men beaten to death by their fellow legionaries.
• Denarius - Plural denarii. a silver coin worth ten. The denarius was worth four sesterces, While the denarius circulated far more widely, the sesterce was the more common unit of accounting.
• Doctore - the name given to the lead trainer of the gladiators in a ludus
• Dominus/Domina - the word for master or owner.
• Editor - an overseer or "referee" of the gladiator fights. Their job included giving talks at the opening and closing of the games, announcing who was fighting and to choose if a defeated gladiator was to live or die. Usually the role was held by a magistrate, or lanistas
• Execution ad Gladium - the condemned was forced to fight untrained against professional gladiators until killed in the arena.
• Fugitivus - a runaway slave who had escaped from their owner.
• Gladiators - (Female: gladiatrix) were professional fighters in Ancient Rome, who fought and died for the entertainment of their audience. Gladiators were usually condemned criminals or prisoners of war, set to fight (often to the death). A gladiator that is victorious in his match is awarded coin, rising fame and respect. Fallen gladiators are either put to death by the command of the editor of the game, or sent to the The Pit in shame.
• Lanista - a man who purchased and looked after gladiators.
• Libertus - (freedman) was a slave who had bought or been rewarded with their freedom.
• Liberta - (freedwoman) was a slave who had bought or been rewarded with their freedom.
• Ludus - privately owned gladiator training school and 'stable', such as the one run by Quintus Lentulus Batiatus. The head of a ludus is known as a Lanista.
• Missio - refers to the sign that a gladiator may give when they cede a fight to their opponent. It serves as both an acknowledgement of defeat and a plea for mercy.
• Paterfamilias - refers to the head of a Roman family, meaning "father of the family".
• Praetor - a title granted by the Ancient Roman government to one holding the magistrate rank inferior only to senators and consuls.
• Primus - The main / final event in (usually a day's worth) of gladiatorial games).
• Pulvinus - "royal box", at an arena, is where the editor, sponsor, dignitaries and important guests (and sometimes their families and slaves) sit to watch the games. Unlike the rest of the arena, the Pulvinus was covered and protected from the heat, and had better seating.
• Rudis - a wooden sword as proof of his/her achieved freedom. It signifies his/her ascent from being a slave to becoming a freeman. The memorable past battles of a Gladiator are carved into the blade of the sword. A stipulation disclosed in the show is that a gladiator must always have the rudis on his person or risk receding into slavery.
• Testudo - tortoise formation, was a technique used commonly by the Roman Legions during battles, particularly sieges.