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Gladiators were a very important variable in Roman social and political life. They reached their peak in the first two centuries of the empire and their decline began as Christianity began to spread all over the empire until the former was abolished by emperor Honorius in the 5th century. Gladiator fights and similar spectacles could often had decided the fate of a politician in uprising. For example, in the republic, after the questarian office, one would be lifted up to an aedil office. That office's main duty among others was to represent spectacles in the arena at their own cost. The more spectacular and exotic it is, the bigger was the aedil's chance to climb up the office leader, as well to get social prestigue. Thus had gladiators great impact on politics. The better they were trained, the better their condition was, the better they fought, the better was the chance of an aedil getting a higher office thus influencing politics more. Further more, in the imperial era, spectacular and blood-soaking gladiator duels were essential for emperors who had just become so. The better the games, the better reception bay the crowd for the new Caesar.

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16y ago

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