Ten thousand gladiators are said to have perished in the arena, and eleven thousand beasts were killed in the contests.
In Rome he was patron of gladiators, as of athletes in Greece.
At the same time Commodus, proud of his bodily strength and dexterity, exhibited himself in the arena, slew wild animals and fought with gladiators, and commanded that he should be worshipped as the Roman Hercules.
Adjoining the theatres is a large rectangular enclosure, surrounded by a portico, at first the colonnade connected with the theatres, and converted, about the time of Nero, into the barracks of the gladiators, who were permanently maintained in the city with a view to the shows in the amphitheatre.
The crews consisted of gladiators and condemned criminals; in later times, even of volunteers.
