List of Roman gladiator types

There were many different types of gladiators in ancient Rome. Some of the first gladiators had been prisoners-of-war, and so some of the earliest types of gladiators were experienced fighters; Gauls, Samnites, and Thraeces (Thracians) used their native weapons and armor. Different gladiator types specialized in specific weapons and fighting techniques. Combatants were usually pitted against opponents with different, but more or less equivalent equipment, for the sake of a fair and balanced contest. Most gladiators only fought others from within the same school or ludus, but sometimes specific gladiators could be requested to fight one from another ludus.

Elite gladiators wore high-quality decorative armour for the pre-game parade (Pompa). Julius Caesar's gladiators wore silver armour, Domitian's wore golden armour and Nero's wore armour decorated with carved amber. Peacock feathers were used for plumes while tunics and loincloths had patterns in gold thread. For the fighting, functional combat armour was used; this too could be elaborately decorated. Some artistic sources, such as reliefs and mosaics, show gladiators with a various number of tassels hanging from one arm or leg. It has been speculated that they were a form of "scorecard" to show the number of fights a gladiator had won.^[1] Contests were managed by arena referees, and were fought under strict rules and etiquette.^[2][3][4]

Combat was probably accompanied by music, whose tempo might have varied to match that of the combat. Typical instruments were a long straight trumpet (tuba), a large curved brass instrument (lituus), and a water organ (organum). During the Imperial period, the games might be preceded by a mimus, a form of comedy show. An image from Pompeii shows a "flute playing bear" (Ursus tibicen) and a "horn-blowing chicken" (Pullus cornicen), that may have been part of such a mimus.^[5]