tawfique's gladiator rafts

7/30/2019 Tawfique's Gladiator RAFTS

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Roman Times-Best

selling

Gladium de

Thompson Crator

Reference: Is it so brutal? Et brute in their? Emperor

Hadrianus Augustus

Ward: Trajan

Slum: 1

Mrs. Crater, Janise

Rome, Dacia, the Roman amphitheater,

Cell:3; March 9, AD 118

TO,

My wife, my children, this is from your husband, father.

I am still under the slavery of Emperor Hadrianus

Augustus in the colosseum. I pray every day to see you;


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I wish to break out of this torture. I have to be slave

and fight until I am rewarded for freedom. From now on I

will be given a journal to write as a gladiator from the

colosseum. Please collect them if you find them. I might

write notes and letters about my everyday life as a

gladiator. If I die please keep them as a memory. Within

the next few months is my fight with the opponent who

killed my uncle. I have to fight as a gladiator three to

four times a year. I have to win. It might be the last

time or the many of the rest times I will be sending you

letters until I am free. Please forgive me for my

absence.Yours Sincerely,

Thompson Crater

I had to write a biography of myself which is needed toenter the gladiator school. If I die the details of my

birth and family will be announced by viewing this

biography.

Biography

Name: Thompson Crater

Age: 28 years old


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Hometown: Aquitania, Gallia.

Background: Brought to Dacia, Rome, 118 AD as a slave and criminal.

Emperor: Publius Aelius Traianus Hadrianus Augustus.

Empire: Roman Empire, death of Marcus Ulpius Nerva Trajanus

Augustus august 8th 117 AD.

Rise of Emperor: From AD 117, Hadrianus Augustus.

Marriage certificate: Married on AD 115, March, with Janise Crater.

Occupation before being a gladiator: Slavery at Senates house, before

that Farmer at Gallia.

Rome, Dacia, March 3, 118 AD

Emperor: Hadrianus Augustus

My New Life

I am Thompson Crater. This is my first day at my new

tragic life. I am in the colosseum, not as a spectator

but as a performer. I am going to perform combats of

death. I am a gladiator. I took the oath that I will not

fear death as it is my compulsory, even if I dont

deserve to die! "Uri, vinciri, verberari, ferroque


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necari. I was sentenced to death, Damnati ad gladium.

Now I am in my cell strangled by the odor of blood and

human corpse.

The walls filled with scars.

My belief faded,

My death certain,

My clothes torn,

My wounds worn,

My new life born,

My family Waited.



The School-Please return this to my family.

Today is my first morning in my life of slavery. Every

gladiator has to train in the gladiators school. Today

I will be taken to the gladiators school which isbeside the amphitheater. I am from Gallia, I still

haven't seen the colosseum.

At morning I and other eight slaves including our

sibling Romulus are going to be physically tested by the

generals. That decides what type of a gladiator we are

going to be. I should be not be depressed because therewere other cruel jobs that I could be chosen to do as a

slave such as doing farming, it may sound like it is

usually plowing some seeds but it is not, I had to work

day and night, in storms and sunlight and had to face

consequences if there would not be crops growing.


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Being a gladiator is also not a pleasing job, dripping

blood; killing and slaughtering about thousands of

animals and people; its brutal. You wont want to comehere until you are heartless. I just have to fight as a

gladiator once three times a year. If I survive as a

beginner I will be promoted to be a higher level of a

gladiator and one day I might earn my freedom. Dont

lose hope; I am going to prove my innocence by being a

winner. My blame of killing my old owner is going to be

taken by killing more. That is how Rome works.



Why? -This piece of journal is directed to my

family

This is a piece of map which I collected while marching

to Dacia from home as a slave. This map was left by the

Roman soldiers and I picked it up. This map was the

first thing that made my heart break. It showed in its

legend that I had to walk 1,000 kilometers from Gallia

to Dacia.

What have I done? Why did I get the blame of killing

Enthoustous Romnus, my former owner? Even though hedeserved to die after what he did to my uncle, I did not

murder him! But who agrees without you my wife and

children! I heard that most of the slaves die in

travelling this long distance. Still the body is taken

into the colosseum for feeding the carnivores. I cant


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show any approval of my innocence, but I can earn my

innocence by fighting as a gladiator and be free from

this confinement! Fighting only thrice in a year,

victory; then freedom.



Today was our first gladiator training. I am called a

Novicius which means a beginner. Every gladiator by

now had known and told what kind of a gladiator they are

going to be. I think that I am somehow left behind. All

of the other gladiators were runaway slaves, criminals

who have been sentenced to death, and private slaves who

have been appointed to fight to earn fame and money. I

still havent seen the colosseum arena, it can be only

seen in special occasions and combats with lots ofaudiences.

One thing I liked about being in the gladiator school

was that they give us healthy food such as smashed raw

meat, mixed with grains and gravy; they don't cook the

food much because they think that the raw meat and

vegetable gives more strength than cooking, cooking

destroys the protein and vitamins, and it is served in a

clay bowl. They also serve with cheese, bread that theymake in the farm. When the Roman generals conquer new

lands, they keep all the resources from there.

The cook in here wanted us to become healthy for

fight and was better than home food. If I were in home I


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had to work hard to get a kilo of rice for the whole

family but in here I get everything for free. It seems

that some gladiators fight for getting better food and

earning money. It is not so bad to be a gladiator. It

only takes luck.


Emperor Hadrianus Augustus

Physical test and weapons

Today I was given my qualification as a beginner

gladiator. The doctors and the owner of the school

physically tested me. Would they choose to make me a

Secutor, gladiator with an Oblong shield and short

sword? A Dimachaerus, who fought with two swords? A

Laquearius, Used only a rope? What would luck bring me

too?

They put a piece of bait on my back with a cloth; I did

not know what they were up to; suddenly set the lion

free to chase me! I ran for my life. The school owner

threw a Rudus, a small wooden sword. I had no chance of

surviving and fighting with a prone wooden sword. I

jumped every time the lion groaned with hunger. I had no

time to think. After a lot of struggle, they felt mercy

and caged the lion. I survived the first test. They wereimpressed by my stamina and will to fight. They said

that I was stout, which meant I was brave and strong

hearted/willed. They said that I had enough training for


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the first day. They also said that I was compassionate,

Meticulous and capable of being a great gladiator. Still

I had no Idea that what type of a gladiator would theychoose to appoint me for fighting. The next day the

owner appointed me to his chamber and provided me with a

net, dagger and trident. He said that I was light in

weight so I needed less heavy weapons. I was not

satisfied, a web like net and a dagger? How far could

they even take me until I died? I protested. Luck is

Luck.



Practice

Today we will be taken to the colosseum to observe a

live gladiator fight to learn the basic rules. I still

have no idea about being a gladiator and how the

colosseum was like. We were put on chains and heavy

metals around our cloth like we are a bunch of lions

about to start escaping. Then we walked toward the far

visible structure. It was the colosseum. It was the

largest structure I have ever seen. I heard from my

siblings about the colosseum back at Gallia. It was thelargest Roman structure.

First the introducer or the host of the gladiator fights

started announcing the gladiators names. He used


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persuasive words that made a great attraction and

suspense in the arena. From the left side and the right

sides of the colosseum appeared the gladiators from the

underground cells. They were heavily armed and looked

tough. The teacher of the gladiator school told some

important rules of the gladiator fights. They were: Face

the Emperor when you enter the arena, salute him, and

dont show your back to him! Always take the oath first

before entering the arena that you will not fear death,

then say it loud in the arena facing the highness

Emperor and get ready with all the weaponries, if you

want to survive! They could hear instruments wereplayed, with sound of drums, royal trumpets and horns.

These instruments symbolized the starting of a new

combat. There was one very important thing that I

noticed. The crowds with the poor people were thrown

food such as bread and rice. The senates seats were on

the very front with them wearing togas and the poor

audiences and slaves sitting at the very top. It seemed

that many people came to watch the combats for getting

food that they lack from the Roman government. It was

one way of making more money and attracts more people as

most of the Romans were in poverty and needed food. I

heard from a friend of mine who mentioned that after the

conquest of much of Parthia byTrajan, Rome was rich!

The combat started, the two gladiators were provided

with their weapons from the assistant. One of the

gladiators was named Auras, he was a heavy weapons using

gladiator, he was a Hoplomachus, used a huge helmet and

arm coverings. His master assigned him to fight to earn


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money. The other gladiator was a runaway slave, he was a

Bestiary, and he used a long narrow spear which was

specially designed to kill wild beasts. While we were

watching, there was a sudden noise. The ferocious

carnivores, lions, bears and wolves that they caged in

the colosseum from the areas of the kingdom were freed

from their cells and now they were chasing the

gladiators. The theater was giving me goose bumps. It

was a surprise of letting the carnivores out. My heart

was beating hard as the carnivores clashed in the armor

of the gladiators with their aggression. The combat

lasted a few minutes until the both of them died. Thegladiators died, it was one of the ways of serving their

penalty. The crowds of about 50,000 people sitting

started cheering as the corpses were dragged by the

guards. Now it was turn for the carnivore, will it live

or die? The crowd shouted Kill and put their thumbs

down. At the Emperors decision the carnivores were

thrown and killed with spears at that moment. More

people screamed and it seemed the entire crowd started

to stand up and now there were about 70,000 people

staring at the arena.

What brutality was this? What type of ruthless

recreation was it? Tomorrow could be by date for

embracing death. Oh lord of the skies Zeus, oh lord of

mercy please show your miracles; show me the right way,

bless me; help me! Please give me punishment if you

think I did something wrong! I prayed within myself in

the crowd.


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The colosseum was quickly cleared and within 5

minutes all the seats were empty. The colosseum was

quickly cleared because there were 75-80 entrances and

doors. said the owner of the gladiator school. He also

mentioned that there were naval battles, and all the

cells were filled up with water and the sand on the

arena were removed. Suddenly I had an Idea. It was

possible to escape from the walls of the colosseum cells

when there were naval combats. All of the cells were

drought and all the slaves are taken to different place

out of the colosseum. If we team up with the other

slaves we might be able to strike through the guards andescape! I said to myself that it would be very risky and

we would be killed in that instant. We all walked to our

cells. All the cells were locked. Within four months our

training will be finished and all of us have to be ready

to fight. I was bored. So I talked to the person beside

my cell. I asked him how many years he had been in the

colosseum. He said that it had been years since he had

seen his family. His name was Laureus, he survived all

his fights in years. He shared some of his feelings with

me. He said that I knew nothing of how was my life as a

gladiator would be. Then I tried to get to sleep. I

thought about the nightmares that awaited me in the

arena in a few months. Would I survive, would I die?




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The Roman Empire

In AD 116, the Roman Empire is at its greatest length,

its greatest size, 3.5 million square miles, and an

estimated 60 million people. Hadrian cancels public debtwithdraws from Trajan's eastern conquests and partial

withdrawal from Dacia this year. These are the only news

that I heard from the Roman soldiers. Now I am a part of

Rome. Now I am a Roman citizen.

Last year was the death of Emperor Trajan Augustus.

Now Rome was very rich after Conquest of much of Parthia

byTrajan. Hadrian was now building walls and Hadrian

polis. He is in good control of the Rome in just after

one year of Trajans absence.



The emperor

Hadrian was one of the best emperors ever known. Hadrian

was a Roman emperor known for his many building

projects, cities named Hadrian polis, protective walls

and construction projects. He was pleased by Emperor

Trajan. Today we learned in the gladiator school that

the people that are sentences to death, "Damnati-ad

gladium, later they fight as gladiators. The important

thing that I learned moral was that the slave with theharshest crimes had to fight first in order. The people

that were thought to be criminals but are not, they are

the last fighters. If they can show their approval, they

might be freed before their fight.


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The teacher taught us to do defense, the sword

moves, the appropriate stances when saluting the

emperor, taking the oath, the rules of thumbs up thumbs

down. I insisted asking what the thumbs up/down was. The

teacher explained that if the audiences enjoyed the

combat the emperor would show his thumbs to decide if

the gladiator winning or losing would survive or die.

The emperor had to watch for the audiences decision, if

the audiences wanted you to die; they would put their

thumbs down/thumbs down on the palm of the other hand

showing stabbing or the killing action. If you win or

lose, die or live, it doesn't matter, it matters if youmake the emperor and the audiences enjoy the combat. The

emperor seems very crazy with gladiator combats, showing

thumbs down all the time!

Will he put thumbs down if I was on the ground lying to

count my last breaths?

Three months till now, until my fight! I pray and wish

that they find out my innocence for not being

responsible for killing my master. Please make it a

quick receive. Oh lord of underworld mercury! Please

spare me! I have a son waiting to see my face, Oh

goddess of the protection of women; I have a wife to

heal my scars that I earned! Please feel mercy on them!

Oh Goddess of Wisdom and war, I showed honesty, what I

did to get this! If you really exist and have a human

like god heart, please show me miracles! I groaned andcried on my way to the cell with the other slaves in the

colosseum. My fight is going to be at the same day I

wrote this particular journal, three months latter this

day.

Rome, Dacia, June 10, 118 AD


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Today is my showdown! The day Ive been waiting for! I will not fear

death! In the last three months intensive training and torture, nothing

is going to stand against me! This is my first of my other three battles

in the colosseum. If I survive, I will apply for my freedom! If I die, these

journals are going to be sent home to my family with my last words.

Until then, Goodbye!



I Survived!

Oh lord Zeus! Mercy is your name! I cried when the

entire crowd shouted Live, Live, and Live! What

intense! The crowd saved me from making my children

orphans! Slaves! Torture!

At the beginning of the game the assistants provided us

with the weapons. I was a gladiator with a spear and a

net, a Retiarius; I got out of the gate. The

host/announcer ordered me to greet the emperor and takethe solemn Oath. Then the large horns and honks were

played as my opponent appeared. He was a Murmillo; he

used a short sword and wore a decorated helmet with

designs of fish in it. The audience was provided with

bread and food as it always started before a combat. The

fight started, I was so tensed and feared that I dont

remember anything else. I fell conscious when my

opponent had held me under his armed heavy shield toslaughter my head off. Later when the audiences saved my

life he looked with a sigh of relief, I could not see

his face. I dont think he would like to kill me. I was

trembling, counting my last spells until I died. Then


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the crowd began chanting. I am the luckiest to survive

on my first ever gladiator fight. I wondered why the

crowd led me live. Oh Janise, I lived! Myson, Nerasius,

you arent an orphan! I am coming home!



The emperor appointed me to his supreme chamber.

Gladiators swords with blood stains were hanging in the

walls of his chamber. What did I do that the emperor had

called me? Was I freed? Did my innocence get proven? Of

course not! Why would the Emperor call me if I was going

to be declared to freedom? It must be something else. I

entered the chamber with four guards surrounding me. I

saluted and praised the emperor. The emperor showed me a

bundle of papers which looked identical. He said, Are

these journals yours? I said yes. The emperor saluted

me! He said that I was freed from the life of a

Gladiator! I asked, Why? He said, Oh young soldier,how was I supposed to know how the life would be as a

gladiator? You showed me through this journal that I

found in the floor walking across the cells that what

cruelty it would be to be a gladiator when you did not

even deserve to be one. The real murderer of your master

was found! You sir are going to be famous writer. Lord

of skies Zeus has a great blessing over you my son! I

was speechless. I later went to my family back in

Gallia. The emperor liked these journals so much that he

published them under his own publisher. No more of

slavery, no more of animal slaughter. Oh lord Zeus,

strange be your mercy, but thanks!


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I am coming home!

I am coming home!

Tell the world,

that I am coming home!

Long live Emperor Hadrianus Augustus I shouted.

References:

1. Source: Movie: Gladiator- Channel, Star movies

2. Source: Internet: Gladiator

Page title: You wouldnt want to be a Roman Gladiator!

Copyright 2002 - The Salariya Book Company.http://www.salariya.com/web_books/gladiator/index.html

3. SOURCE: Internet- Life of a Gladiator

Page title: Life of a gladiator.

http://www.roman-colosseum.info/gladiators/life-of-a-

gladiator.htm

4. SOURCE: Book -The Roman news

Page title: - Colosseum opens - Into the Arena

Written By: Andrew Langley and Philip De Souza (No

Copyright/Publication date)

5. Source: Book- Ask Me Anything

Page title- How large was the Roman Empire?

Publication date: First in Great Britain in 2009, by DK

books limited.

Copyright: 2009 Dorling Kindersley Limited

6. SOURCE: Book- The Usborne Time travellerWritten by Amery and Vanags;

Page title: Games and Races

Publication date: 1997 in USA.

Copyright: 2003
http://www.salariya.com/web_books/gladiator/index.htmlhttp://www.salariya.com/web_books/gladiator/index.htmlhttp://www.roman-colosseum.info/gladiators/life-of-a-gladiator.htmhttp://www.roman-colosseum.info/gladiators/life-of-a-gladiator.htmhttp://www.roman-colosseum.info/gladiators/life-of-a-gladiator.htmhttp://www.roman-colosseum.info/gladiators/life-of-a-gladiator.htmhttp://www.roman-colosseum.info/gladiators/life-of-a-gladiator.htmhttp://www.salariya.com/web_books/gladiator/index.html


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