Flamma (lit. The Flame) was a
Syrian gladiator under the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...
during the reign of
Hadrian. He was one of the most famous and successful of his time.
History
How Flamma ended up as a gladiator is unknown. He may have been a revolutionary Syrian or a dissatisfied
Roman auxiliary
The (, lit. "auxiliaries") were introduced as non-citizen troops attached to the citizen legions by Augustus after his reorganisation of the Imperial Roman army from 30 BC. By the 2nd century, the Auxilia contained the same number of in ...
. He was most likely forced into slavery and then into a
gladiator school. He fought as a ''
secutor'', a class of gladiators in Rome. His common opponents were thus ''
retiarii''. Fighters were granted retirement or freedom if they showed great skill and bravery; in doing so they were rewarded with a wooden baton known as ''rudius''. Flamma was awarded the ''rudius'' four times, but each time he refused this freedom and chose to remain a gladiator. The number of fights Flamma engaged in is higher than most gladiators. Many have lower numbers like Purricina Iuvenus (ILS 5107) who fought 5 times or Glaucus of Modena (ILS 5121) who fought 7 times. Flamma had fought 34 times and won 21 of them. He also achieved old age for a gladiator, dying at age 30 while many died in their early 20s.
His gravestone in
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
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includes his record and reads in
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
:
Which translates as: "Flamma, ''secutor'', lived 30 years, fought 34 times, won 21 times, fought to a draw 9 times, won reprieve 4 times, a Syrian by nationality. Delicatus (a gladiator) made this for his deserving comrade-in-arms."
References
{{reflist
Roman gladiators