The Freed Gladiator
The man who won the wooden sword · Keeper of the Colosseum
A gladiator who fought well enough could win his freedom, and a plain wooden sword called a rudis. Some freed men came back to the arena as champions.
The legend
In Rome's arenas a gladiator who fought well enough could win his freedom. As proof he was handed a rudis, a plain wooden sword. Some freed men, the rudiarii, chose to return to the arena as trainers and champions, and crowds cheered them by name.
“I'd ask him what the first free morning felt like.”
Where it comes from
Condemned criminals were sent to the arena as punishment, but by the late Republic paid volunteers, the auctorati, may have made up about half of all fighters. Few lasted more than 10 contests. The emperor Tiberius is said to have offered several retired gladiators 100,000 sesterces each to come back. Referees were usually former gladiators too; the senior one was called the summa rudis.
One famous double release came at the games Titus held to open the Colosseum in the year 80. The poet Martial describes a long, even fight between Priscus and Verus. Neither could beat the other, so Titus declared both the winners and sent each man a wooden sword and a palm. "Two men fought and two men won," Martial wrote. His poem is the only complete surviving account of a single gladiator fight.
Where to see it
Just east of the Colosseum, between Via Labicana and Via di San Giovanni in Laterano, lie the remains of the Ludus Magnus, the largest gladiator school in Rome. It was built by the emperor Domitian and had its own practice arena, about 63 by 42 metres, with seats for some 3,000 people. Its ruins were found in 1937, and 14 cells on the northern side survive. The site was closed for works from August 2024, so check before planning a visit.
In the game
The crowd's roar comes back to him. He lifts the wooden sword. He staggers, raises his shield and steadies. He lowers the wooden sword and bows his head. He is free.
