Greeks say the Etruscans (the ancient tribe in Tuscany) started the games, but there's no physical evidence of that. As far as scholars can tell, small scale gladiatorial combat was the standard entertainment at wealthy Roman funerals from the third century B.C. Sons hosted gladiatorial games featuring a dozen or so fighters as a memorial to their deceased fathers.

By Julius Caesar's time, gladiator shows weren't just for funerals anymore.

Paying to exhibit such games was a great way for an ambitious man to endear himself to the masses--and to show off his wealth, since the games were quite expensive. Caesar himself once hosted a show featuring 320 gladiators.

After Julius Caesar's time, certain public ministers were required to stage gladiator shows as part of their official duties. Regulations were also passed by the Senate to keep men from spending too much, or having too much power over what could be a private army. The laws even prohibited Senators and officials from fighting in the arena themselves, as some like to do.

The Roman emperors, though, had no restrictions on them. In 108 A.D. Emperor Trajan hosted games that lasted for months and involved thousands of gladiators.

Until the first century B.C., games were held mostly in forums, and part of the host's expense was to build up wooden bleachers in those forums--a significant task! The first amphitheater in Rome was built in 52 B.C. These buildings held tens of thousands of spectators, packed in well above the combat on stone benches.

Gladiator schools, had been around at least since the first century B.C. Remember Spartacus? True story--it happened around 70 B.C. A century later, such schools were under Imperial control. Again, no one wanted one man as owner, because he would own all those warriors.

As the Empire grew, theatres and arenas in newly Romanized cities were built to host games. When folks visited, they could even buy mass-produced clay figures as souvenirs of their day at the gladiator & beast games. Whoopee!

Much of this information comes from a long article at the Archaeology Magazines online site-one of my favorite places. The piece is by Professor Shelby Brown and is titled "The Roman Arena."

A typical Roman Imperial spectacle is described: it might start with a morning exhibition of wild beasts killing each other, or being killed by hunters. At noon, executions. A criminal--or several--might be crucified, burned alive, or thrown to more wild beasts to be torn apart. The audience often took a break during this time, or went to get something to eat.

In the afternoon, the big event: gladiatorial combat. All gladiators were owned and as such, had no rights. They could be killed, and were sworn to accept death bravely. Even volunteer gladiators (and there were some) became property. A very few could aspire to wealth and freedom, but they were rare.

The crowd really did have input in who might live or die if a gladiator asked for mercy. Since gladiators required training, an owner or host might prefer to spare the fighter rather than replace him. Most gladiators didn't survive long, though--Brown estimates 10 combats was about average. Many gladiators' graves and grave markers have been found.

Punishment and titillation were all part of the show, but remember-even in the 19^th century, hangings were public, and people turned out by the hundreds to watch criminals die.