The Fighting Slave

Male slaves, especially if they are particularly large and strong, are trained as fighters. Pitted against each other in an arena, wagers are made, and often the honor of a city or high-ranking family are at stake. These "fighting slaves" do at times duel to the death, mirroring the gladiatorial events of ancient Rome. Such were the infamous and notorious games of the Stadium of Blades in Ar.

The Stadium of Blades

These bloody, cruel games are held in Ar in which men meet men, females meet females, men (and females) meet beasts, and at times, even men meeting female slaves; and are often fought to the death. The combatants are slaves (both male and female) or criminals, or low caste citizens, just as in the contests of the gladiator.

John Norman apparently failed history.

John Norman, in the quote which I will post following information on the ludi and the gladiatorial contests of ancient Rome, eludes that some of the games in the Stadium of Blades are representative of the ludi. However, if you note the following information, the games of the ludi were peaceful, comprised of chariot races and theatrical performances. The ludi were games of honor, and warriors eagerly participated. Of course, it is possible that in John Norman's reference to "ludi" was not to the Ludi Saeculares, but rather to the literal Latin translation, "games". It's easy, I suppose, to make that mistake, as the school for gladiators was called a ludus.

The Stadium of Blades is absolutely representative of the gladitorial contests of ancient Rome. In John Norman's quote which follows my research information, Norman states that in the games of the ludi, one such popular game was the net and the trident. However, that is not true. The net and trident were representative of the gladiatorial contests, of the retiarius ("net man") and the secutor ("pursuer"). Another example is the blind helmets worn in the Stadium of Blades. This too is representative of the gladitorial contests, that of the fabled equites (also: andabatae). The beastarii are also represented here in the games is bestiarii in a venatio (contests between man and beast.) The games of the Stadium of Blades also are not games in which the warrior is a participant. Instead, often the combatants are slaves or criminals, or low caste citizens, just as in the contests of the gladiator.

Note that the name Marlenus used as "Murmillius" is based on the term murmillo (also: mirmillones), known for the high crest in the image of a fish upon their helmets. These gladiators were armed with helmet, sword, and shield.

Please also refer to my page, The Gladiator, for more information on the gladiators of ancient Rome.

"The Ludi Saeculares (translation: "new generation games") were celebrations held in ancient Rome to mark the commencement of a new saeculum, or generation. The games originated with the Etruscans , who, at the end of a mean period of 100 years (as representing the longest human life in a generation), presented the underworld deities with an expiatory offering on behalf of the coming generation. As practiced by the Romans the festival lasted three days and three nights, during which sacrifices were made to various deities. Originally the gods of the underworld were worshiped in the ceremony, but later Apollo, Diana, and Leto were introduced, probably by the emperor Augustus (reigned 27 BC-AD 14).
      "The first definitely attested Roman celebration of the games took place in 249 BC, the second was in 146, and the third, under Augustus, in 17 BC. Other celebrations, also commemorating the founding of Rome, took place in AD 47, 88, 147, 204, 248, and 262. In 1300 they were revived by Pope Boniface VIII and called the papal jubilees. The Ludi Publici (translation: "public games"), ancient Roman spectacles, primarily consisted of chariot races and various kinds of theatrical performances, usually held at regular intervals in honour of some god; they are distinct from the gladiatorial contests (associated with funeral rites). A special magistrate presided over them. Oldest and most famous were the Ludi Romani, or Magni, dedicated to Jupiter and celebrated each year in September. Like the Ludi Apollinares (for Apollo) and the Ludi Cereales (for Ceres), they centred on the chariot races of the Circus Maximus. A special feature of the Megalensia, or Megalesia, held in April and dedicated to Cybele, the Great Mother, were the ludi scaenici, consisting of plays and farces.
      "The Ludi Scaenici, (translation: "stage games"), in ancient Rome, were theatrical performances associated with the celebration of public games (ludi publici), in which Greek dramatic forms were first used by the Romans. Although originally performed at the Ludi Romani (for which Livius Andronicus wrote the first Latin tragedy and the first Latin comedy in 240 BC), the ludi scaenici became the characteristic feature of the Megalensia, or Megalesia, the festival of the goddess Cybele (established in 204 BC). They originally included serious dramas but later, under the Roman Empire, were almost wholly devoted to farces and pantomime. The Ludi Saeculares (Secular Games) were celebrated only once in a century." — Encyclopaedia Britannica ©2003-2006

"The Gladiator, (Latin "swordsman," from gladius, "sword"), a professional combatant in ancient Rome. The gladiators originally performed at Etruscan funerals, no doubt with intent to give the dead man armed attendants in the next world; hence the fights were usually to the death. At shows in Rome these exhibitions became wildly popular and increased in size from three pairs at the first known exhibition in 264 BC (at the funeral of a Brutus) to 300 pairs in the time of Julius Caesar (d. 44 BC). Hence the shows extended from one day to as many as a hundred, under the emperor Titus; while the emperor Trajan in his triumph (AD 107) had 5,000 pairs of gladiators. Shows were also given in other towns of the Roman Empire, as can be seen from the traces of amphitheatres.
Hoplomachus et al       There were various classes of gladiators, distinguished by their arms or modes of fighting. The Samnites fought with the national weapons—a large oblong shield, a visor, a plumed helmet, and a short sword. The Thraces ("Thracians") had a small round buckler and a dagger curved like a scythe; they were generally pitted against the mirmillones, who were armed in Gallic fashion with helmet, sword, and shield and were so called from the name of the fish that served as the crest of their helmet. In like manner the retiarius ("net man") was matched with the secutor ("pursuer"); the former wore nothing but a short tunic or apron and sought to entangle his pursuer, who was fully armed, with the cast net he carried in his right hand; if successful, he dispatched him with the trident he carried in his left. There were also the andabatae, who are believed to have fought on horseback and to have worn helmets with closed visors—that is, to have fought blindfolded; the dimachaeri ("two-knife men") of the later empire, who carried a short sword in each hand; the essedarii ("chariot men"), who fought from chariots like the ancient Britons; the hoplomachi ("fighters in armour"), who wore a complete suit of armour; and the laquearii ("lasso men"), who tried to lasso their antagonists.
      The shows were announced several days before they took place by bills affixed to the walls of houses and public buildings; copies were also sold in the streets. These bills gave the names of the chief pairs of competitors, the date of the show, the name of the giver, and the different kinds of combats. The spectacle began with a procession of the gladiators through the arena, and the proceedings opened with a sham fight (praelusio, prolusio) with wooden swords and javelins. The signal for real fighting was given by the sound of the trumpet, and those who showed fear were driven into the arena with whips and red-hot irons. When a gladiator was wounded, the spectators shouted "Habet" ("He is wounded"); if he was at the mercy of his adversary, he lifted up his forefinger to implore the clemency of the people, to whom (in the later times of the Republic) the giver left the decision as to his life or death. If the spectators were in favour of mercy they waved their handkerchiefs; if they desired the death of the conquered gladiator they turned their thumbs downward. (This is the popular view; another view is that those who wanted the death of the defeated gladiator turned their thumbs toward their breasts as a signal to stab him, and those who wished him to be spared turned their thumbs downward as a signal to drop the sword.) The reward of victory consisted of branches of palm, and sometimes of money.
      If a gladiator survived a number of combats he might be discharged from further service; he could, however, reengage after discharge. On occasion gladiators became politically important, because many of the more turbulent public men had bodyguards composed of them. This of course led to occasional clashes with bloodshed on both sides. Gladiators acting on their own initiative, as in the rising led by Spartacus (q.v.) in 73–71 BC, were considered still more of a menace.
      Gladiators were drawn from various sources but were chiefly slaves and criminals. Discipline was strict, but a successful gladiator not only was famous but, according to the satires of Juvenal, enjoyed the favours of society women. A curious addition to the ranks of gladiators was not uncommon under the Empire: a ruined man, perhaps of high social position, might engage himself as a gladiator, thus getting at least a means of livelihood, however precarious. One of the peculiarities of the emperor Domitian was to have unusual gladiators (dwarfs and women), and the half-mad Commodus appeared in person in the arena, of course winning his bouts.
      To be the head of a school (ludus) of gladiators was a well-known but disgraceful occupation. To own gladiators and hire them out was, however, a regular and legitimate branch of commerce.
      With the coming of Christianity, gladiatorial shows began to fall into disfavour. The emperor Constantine I actually abolished gladiatorial games in AD 325, but apparently without much effect since they were again abolished by the emperor Honorius (393–423) and may perhaps even have continued for a century after that." &mdash Encyclopaedia Britannica ©2003-2006

"I learned such things as the pacing of the bird, the model trajectories for negotiating the rings, techniques of avoiding birds and blocking others, sometimes forcing them to hit or miss the rings; racing could be, and, often was, as dangerous and cruel as the games in the Stadium of Blades, where men met men and beasts, and often fought to the death." — Assassin of Gor, page 188.

"The games in the Stadium of Blades finished their season at the end of Se'Kara, a month following the season of races. I attended the games only once, and found that I did not much care for them. To the credit of the men of Ar I point out that the races were more closely followed. I do not choose to describe the nature of the games, except in certain general detail. Gladiators in BattleThere seems to me little of beauty in them and much of blood. Matches are arranged between single armed fighters, or teams of such. Generally Warriors do not participate in these matches, but men of low caste, slaves, condemned criminals and such. Some of them, however, are quite skillful with the weapons of their choice, surely the equal of many Warriors. The crowd is fond of seeing various types of weapons used against others, and styles of fighting. Buckler and short sword are perhaps most popular, but there are few weapons on Gor which are not seen over a period of three or four days of the games. Another popular set of weapons, as in the ancient ludi of Rome is net and trident. Usually those most skilled with this set of weapons are from the shore and islands of distant, gleaming Thassa, the sea, where they doubtless originally developed among fishermen. Sometimes men fight locked in iron hoods, unable to see their opponents. Sometimes men wrestle to the death or use the spiked gauntlets. Sometimes slave girls are forced to fight slave girls, perhaps with steel claws fastened on their fingers, or several girls, variously armed, will be forced to fight a single man, or a small number of men. Surviving girls, of course, become the property of those whom they have fought; men who lose are, of course, slain. Beasts are also popular in the Stadium of Blades, and fights between various animals, half starved and goaded into fury by hot irons and whips, are common; sometimes the beasts fight beasts of the same species, and other times not; sometimes the beasts fight men, variously armed, or armed slave girls; sometimes, for the sport of the crowd, slaves or criminals are fed to the beasts. The training of slaves and criminals for these fights, and the acquisition and training of the beasts is a large business in Ar, there being training schools for men, and compounds where the beasts, captured on expeditions to various parts of Gor and shipped to Ar, may be kept and taught to kill under the unnatural conditions of the stadium spectacle. Upon occasion, and it had happened early in Se'Kara this year, the arena is flooded and a sea fight is staged, the waters for the occasion being filled with a variety of unpleasant sea life, water tharlarion, Vosk turtles, and the nine gilled Gorean shark, the latter brought in tanks on river barges up the Vosk, to be then transported in tanks on wagons across the margin of desolation to Ar for the event.
      "Both the games and the races are popular in Ar, but, as I have indicated, the average man of Ar follows the races much more closely. There are no factions, it might be mentioned, at the games. Further, as might be expected, those who favor the games do not much go to the races, and those who favor the races do not often appear at the games. The adherents of each entertainment, though perhaps equaling one another in their fanaticism, tend not to be the same men. The one time I did attend the games I suppose I was fortunate in seeing Murmillius fight. He was an extremely large man and a truly unusual and superb swordsman. Murmillius always fought alone, never in teams, and in more than one hundred and fifteen fights, sometimes fighting three and four times in one afternoon, he had never lost a contest. It was not known if he had been originally slave or not, but had he been he surely would have won his freedom ten times over and more; again and again, even after he would have won his freedom had he first been slave, he returned to the sand of the arena, steel in hand; I supposed it might be the gold of victory, or the plaudits of the screaming crowd that brought Murmillius ever again striding helmeted in the sunlight onto the white sand." — Assassin of Gor, pages 189-190.

Gorean Boxers

More often that not, however, these fighting matches are performed merely to the point of exhaustion such as in modern Earth boxing or wrestling as depicted in the following quotes.

"Many slave fights are little more than bloody brawls, which free persons are pleased to witness. Kenneth and Barus, on the other hand, who bet on such matters, took these fights seriously. They had, over the years, devoted time and intelligence to the training and development of fighting slaves. The stables of the Lady Florence of Vonda had been, as a result of this, particularly in the last four or five years, unusually successful in the stable bouts. Indeed, Kenneth and Barus had accumulated small fortunes as a result of their efforts in this area." — Fighting Slave of Gor, page 240.

"Sometimes as often as every fourth or fifth day I was hooded and chained, and placed in a wagon, usually with some fellow slaves, fighters, too. I would then be unchained and unhooded, in my turn, in a shallow pit, about which free persons, almost always of low caste, would he gathered. In the pit, too, would be another slave. Our hands would be wrapped in leather that they might not he easily broken. One might kick but holds to the death were not permitted. One fought, with occasional rest periods, for this makes the fight last longer, the fighters being briefly refreshed, until one man or the other could no longer fight. There would be much shouting and betting. I had lost my first matches in our own stables but, in time, with training and advice, and pit experience, I had begun to do well. I had won my last seventeen bouts, five of which had been outside our own stables. I was usually one of a team of five fighters divided by weight. I was in the heaviest weight class. Some small men, as is well known, are extremely fine fighters, though, of course, they do not have the size and weight to consistently best larger men, assuming that the distribution of skills is similar. — Fighting Slave of Gor, pages 240-241

Training
The training of the fighting slave is as extensive and exhaustive of any athlete. Some of the devices utilized in training include the following:

  • Gunni
    A sort of boxing glove worn on the hands, used only when practicing on the training beam. These gloves are composed of curved weights of lead making them very heavily weighted (equivalent each to the head of a sledgehammer). The gloves have handles, which are recessed within, and are then cushioned with thick layers of cloth. These devices have two specific training foci: 1) their weight strengthens muscles; and 2) once the hands are relieved of the weight of the gunni, fists can fly like an angered hornet (similar to the effect of an arrow loosened from the bow's tension). Wearing gunni, a strong man can break a training beam in a matter of a few Ehn, and can easily break through walls or bend iron.
  • Shackles (Ankle)
    It is imperative a fighter keep his feet a measured distance apart (approximately twenty (20") inches) which provides him the optimum balance and control. While learning to maintain the placement of feet, the fighters early in their training have their ankles shackled until they can achieve this without thinking about it.
  • Training Beam
    Approximately one (1) foot Gorean square, and sunk about one (1) yard into a wood-lined and braced well within the wood floor of the training room, is the (hard) equivalent to the boxer's training bag on Earth. Because the fighting slaves on Gor practice with gunni on their hands, these training beams are built to withstand the blows pummeled upon their surface — at least until the finishing blows are placed and the beam shatters. Such beams are often replaced; a strong man wearing gunni can break through the beam in only a few Ehn.

"The training beam, about a foot Gorean square, sunk a yard deep in its wood-lined well, braced, too, within the wooden-floored, high-roofed barn, shook with the blows struck against it. On my hands I wore the gunni, training devices, curved weights of lead, several pounds heavy, with handles, cushioned with cloth. The value of these devices is twofold. First, they strengthen the muscles of the shoulders, back and arms, building up incredible strength; second, when they are removed, it seems as though the hands, relieved of such weights, can fly like hornets. I stayed close to the beam the fist moves most swiftly and has the greatest power within the first six inches of its motion, with the back and arm behind it. Too, it is similar to the loosened arrow, which has its greatest swiftness, and maximum striking power, immediately after being sprung from the string, immediately after leaving the bow. The concave surfaces of the gunni face the user of the devices, and the handles are recessed within these surfaces. The outer surfaces, or striking surfaces of the gunni are usually shallowly rounded, being slightly convex. This tends to prevent excessive splintering of the beam The blows thus, in a sense, compress and pack the beam, causing it to last longer, until it finally, after a few finishing blows, shatters. These beams are frequently replaced. It may seem surprising but, a strong man, determined, and working against time, can break through a training beam in a matter of only a few Ehn. The gunni, in weight, are similar to the heads of sledge hammers. One may, of course, break through walls with such devices or bend iron. — Fighting Slave of Gor, page 239.

"I struck again and again at the beam. It is important to maintain one's balance. This permits maneuverability and reduces the opponent's opportunities to take advantage of a misstep or a momentary clumsiness in the distribution of one's weight; too, it provides greater impact for the blows which one strikes. My feet seldom moved more than some twenty inches apart; earlier in my training my ankles had been shackled; now, kinesthetically, habitually, without thinking, I tended almost invariably to maintain a sensible measure between my feet; I stayed, too, generally on my toes; this reduces friction and enables quickness of movement; too, in the fighting pit, the toe, gouging into the sand, the body moving forward, increases leverage." — Fighting Slave of Gor, page 240.

 

 

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Special Note

Because of the differences in publishing the books, depending upon whether published in the U.S. or Europe, depending upon whether a first publishing or a Masquerade Books release, page numbers will often vary. All of my quotes are from original, first-printing U.S. publications (see The Books page for a listing of publishers and dates) with the exception of the following books:

  • Tarnsman of Gor (2nd Printing, Balantine)
  • Outlaw of Gor (11th Printing, Balantine)
  • Priest-Kings of Gor (2nd Printing, Balantine)
  • Assassin of Gor (10th Printing, Balantine)
  • Raiders of Gor (15th Printing, Balantine)
  • Captive of Gor (3rd Printing, Balantine)

Disclaimer

These pages are not written for any specific home, but rather as informational pages for those not able to get ahold of the books and read them yourself. Opinions and commentaries are strictly my own personal views, therefore, if you don't like what you are reading — then don't. The information in these pages is realistic to what is found within the books. Many sites have added information, assuming the existences of certain products and practices, such as willowbark and agrimony for healing, and travel to earth and back for the collection of goods. I've explored the books, the flora, the fauna, and the beasts, and have compiled from those mentioned, the probabilities of certain practices, and what vegetation mentioned in the books is suitable for healing purposes, as well as given practicalities to other sorts of roleplaying assumptions.