The Truth About Ancient Gladiators | Adam Ruins Everything

The "movie version" of ancient gladiators is totally wrong! They were more like modern-day sports stars! Watch Adam Ruins Everything Presents: ReAnimated History on truTV.
Adam Ruins Everything - Adam Conover, CollegeHumor's resident know-it-all and major bummer, takes on society's biggest misconceptions.
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[@ayiniseasilyamused9215]

"They were actually more like fans of a sporting event." Did you really think modern sport fans did not thirst for blood

[@crabbiethecrab7393]

*Football war intensifies*

[@anonymousmonkey9491]

I guess Adam never went to a Real Madrid game in spain.

[@thelittleagustus.2292]

But the sand. It's hard to clean like Astro turf is hard to clean

[@flyrehash5124]

I was at a high school football game one time when one kid got flagged for targeting. After the penalty he was crying because he had knocked the other kid out cold and possibly caused some kind of irreversible damage. Everybody in the crowd was booing the refs because of the targeting call

[@Swimsoda]

There's a reason why High School football is one of the closest things you'll get to war in a high school. (Besides popularity)

[@diegodelamacorra8901]

Gladiators from what we knew: “Rip and tear!” Gladiator in real history: “Professionals have standards.”

[@theblandcharlie822]

Gladiatorial sport is good fun mate!

[@michirutransrights6835]

Be polite be efficient and have a plan to kill every demon you meet

[@Ender_246]

Be polite

[@michirutransrights6835]

Ender Bro123465 be Efficient

[@jankkhvej434]

be polite, be efficient, and not have a plan to kill everyone you meet

[@bobbysauce1174]

This time, Adam actually made something better and more kid friendly instead of darker and more murderous.

[@Ame-fy6vr]

Ikr😂

[@OneWeirdDude]

"Um, actually", I think he's done that before.

[@justsomeweebo1431]

A round of applause for Adam, guys.

[@Ame-fy6vr]

"**clapping noises**"

[@theballfadora]

Right

[@theduke7539]

"If no one dies, how do we know who wins?" This guy has never seen UFC or Boxing has he?

[@BridgeKidsCultist]

The Duke he’s jerry, so he’s an idiot

[@nibs7252]

@@BridgeKidsCultist Did I just spot a zefrank reference in the wild?

[@BridgeKidsCultist]

Salazar Slytherin no. Rick and Morty Reference. The guy who is narrator voices Ricks dumb son in law

[@SherbertLittle]

Oh

[@laquishdanish3386]

The Duke yeah in UFC you know when someone has won trust me

[@112steinway]

Fun fact: gladiators were actually fed a carb heavy diet in order to make themselves fat. They did this because a layer of fat would provide some protection against slashing wounds and give the crowd the spectacle of wounds that looked gruesome, but really weren't.

[@dericksnyder4757]

While thats still dangerous as f@#$ thats brilliant.

[@vixymix101]

@@dericksnyder4757 plus if they're fat they won't become grotesquely skinny because they work off all of it from fighting.

[@luissanchez723]

I remember reading an article that their diet was significantly plant based. Like they were nearly if not vegetarians or vegans.

[@johnsmithwesson9996]

To suggest that a wound that looks gruesome isn't gruesome is kinda stupid. Considering if it looked gruesome, it was gruesome. I think you meant that fat was there to make a wound look gruesome but not lethal. Which is absolutely not true. When you get slashed or stabbed, your body gets a rush of adrenaline and essentially goes into a primative fight or flight responce. You also lose blood. For example if I were to slice your shin or slice your arm, regardless of fat you will not be able to use that arm and could very easily fall over. I don't know where you got that info from but it actually pisses me off. But I'll assume you're trolling.

[@taylorschott4659]

@@johnsmithwesson9996 i think the whole fat protection thing only works for pressure or impact related injures like getting in a car wreak or getting punched in the stomach. i,v heard that fat people are more likely to survive a bad car wreak because of all that excess weight cushioning the blow. And if you punch an over obese person in the stomach, the fat is more likely to obsorb the blow more then it actually hurting them. You,d have to hit them in a place like the face to hurt them. Muscle does something similar. if you have a lot of muscle in your stomach and you tense it up when someone is about to hit you, it creates a built in shield that is harder to break but can be hurt if you hit it hard enough.

[@jjprs3062]

"alright, I want you to float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, and avoid damage like a uninsured rental car!"

[@andrewkelly8894]

and that is how muhammed ali became a heavy weight champion

[@itsPlasma06]

Gladiator: dude, what in the name of Jupiter is a car?

[@luck7302]

ツPlasma ur mum

[@reeree772]

Jason Nguyen no u

[@reeree772]

ツPlasma I got ur back

[@KuDastardly]

Another fun fact. The reason why the arena was ever called a colisseum was only because there was a statue of Colussus built next to it. The arena's true name is the Flavian Amphitheater.

[@jmurray1110]

oh yeah wasn't that a massive statue of Nero pretending to be Apollo

[@horminmangfi5653]

@@jmurray1110,did the dude have a God Complex?

[@jmurray1110]

@@horminmangfi5653 apparently he call himself the new sun and tried to replace Apollo as the sun god before hos assassination those i dont have any sources to back this up

[@chielvoswijk9482]

@@jmurray1110 Don't think that was the case. History speaks of the colossus of Nero being modified multiple times over time. Starting as just Nero, getting modified to represent the sun god after his death. The real megalomaniacal time being when an emperor replaced the head by his own. Which after that guy got killed got swapped back again. Apparantly they had no qualm modifying statues big and small if one didn't like it. Considering the size of the Colossus of Nero that is honestly quite impressive!

[@slevinchannel7589]

Now THIS is actually interesting. Unlikely much on this Channel, to be brutally honest. This is more how videos should be here.

[@finnthunder6542]

Maximus: "Are You Not Entertained!?" Provider of local Gladiator games: "NO!! 6 deaths goddammit! You just bankrupt me!!"

[@sergiorubens8475]

Ok

[@parker469a]

I actually did think that during Gladiator. "How would you ever get enough people captive to do this sorta thing this often. There is no stock of human lives plentiful enough to sustain this kinda thing as a daily event even if you throw tons of animals into the mix in order to pad out the number of matches." I never bothered to look it up though.

[@TheMrBonzz]

@@parker469a yeah, now that we actually think about it, nobody would've to worked in Gladiator business if every fighters you bought, raised, and took care of, which is pretty expensive, would get murdered before you could even turn a profit.

[@ZetsubouGintama]

Well, we can have an excuse that Comodus is a bloodthirsty individual instead of a fanatic sport fans like irl.

[@hunterkiller1440]

Why the dislike ? Gladiators back then were just WWE fighters nowadays. Contracted fighters with no union that worked them like slaves. It's Hollywood that romsntacized them.

[@slevinchannel7589]

Now THIS is actually interesting. Unlikely much on this Channel, to be brutally honest. This is more how videos should be here.

[@thegremlinduke2190]

Gladiators, sucks now. I like the battle to the death. I am keeping the blood-thirsty Gladiators they are way better then these wimps. They are problay Gladiators who are blood-thirsty I want a battle to the death. It's a great way to release our animal instinct. I would be wicked to see a battle to the death. Face it a match without deaths would be boring in my opinion. Aww this makes Gladiators dislikeable.

[@landrylongacre6391]

@@thegremlinduke2190 and you clearly are a child considering that horrendous spelling, and you gotta face the facts, it would be pretty hard to fund something where every match ends in a death because you’d eventually run out of people worthy of fighting there and people who would want to fight there.

[@thegremlinduke2190]

@@landrylongacre6391 Dude, you don't know me. I am a grown man with autistic and I know it's fact: but I perfered the bloody battles in stories. Now this is history made me hate these battles. Battle to death are fun to look through and if I would be a emporeor I would like a bloody battle now and then. I know it's fact but I dislike it and I am going to stick with bloody death battles in my head when writing Gladiators. Those guys are cold blooded as heck even though the history ones aren't but I dislike the history ones and that's fine. I accpect it.

[@landrylongacre6391]

@@thegremlinduke2190 well to be entirely fair I’m an autistic teenager who fuckin loves history. So I’m sorry I assumed too much.

[@Guntherson220]

I'm fully convinced that Jerry got a job narrating a bunch of documentaries, and Rick just hired Adam to keep trolling him.

[@jonathanzimmer725]

No it's when jerry got sucked into that simulation

[@soysource3218]

I find it weird that no one noticed the voice actor for Jerry Smith was the narrator. It’s kind of obvious.

[@a.i5233]

Nah cyrill finally quit

[@Battaton912]

Adam ruins everything in a nutshell:

[@Gemnist98]

Another fun fact: before each match, people would walk into the areana and hold up banners promoting different products - basically the ancient version of "This match was brought to you by the following:". In fact, for the movie Gladiator, the crew actually considered using this in the film, but ultimately cut it because they thought the audience would laugh it off as fake.

[@sanguinedelight6464]

as an avid reader of Asterix,one of the scenes involved a group of people walking into the arena advertising a jug of milk so i can relate with said audience,becuase it tickled me pretty well

[@AlexBesogonov]

"And don't forget to click and subscribe"

[@kensukefan47]

​@@sanguinedelight6464 well Asterix is purely humorous.

[@AxenfonKlatismrek]

The reason why we remember Colosseum as one big Arena filled with Blood is because that is how Christians described it in 500s

[@ricya1982]

and they were wrong

[@foxpower001]

To be fair during the christian repression in the falling roman empire the colosus were used to execute christians and other unfavorable prisoners so it kind of make sense that version got pass down.

[@AxenfonKlatismrek]

@@ricya1982 i know

[@puchy110]

Christian kingdoms had their own versions of gladiatorial games in Medieval tournaments. These competitions were even bloodier than Roman gladiator matches, to the point where the King of France banned tournaments because so many knights died in them.

[@AxenfonKlatismrek]

@cutegalaxyfox studioz And yet Romans still converted to Christianity in 300s. It was more of a political reasons than cultural

[@chickenpower5732]

He says "I'm a professional." Professionals have standards. Be polite. Be efficient. Be ready to fight whoever you meet. Is is sniper's ancestor?

[@ieatfood8791]

Yep tf2?

[@goldey2353]

R/unexpectedtf2

[@albertsebe]

TF2 is literally everywhere.

[@RandomJAZ]

@@albertsebe That's because the game is pretty much immortal

[@toadster738]

We should bring tf2 back too life

[@Zamolxes77]

Gladiators killed actually, a lot, but not other gladiators. Before the gladiatorial matches were the executions, when prisoners were executed in fights, or by animals, so anyone with strong stomach and desire for blood could satisfy their need. He's right about gladiatorial matches, were more about the art of combat and displaying their skill, a good show, death and blood was not the purpose of it.

[@markcelledoni9980]

Bikini

[@RaidRaiderHQ]

Bottom

[@JoseMendoza-JAM]

WHAT about Spartcus, P.S. Never Wacthed just documentary but those memory are rusty

[@JoseMendoza-JAM]

@@noone6489 so that Documentary about him was fake, and Well of course the show too

[@danbingham3011]

@@noone6489 No Spartacus was real. He beat a full army and more. Eventually Crassus had to raise some troops to take them out. The slave army split in half and got taken out. And they didn't write on stone you nitwit. They had papyrus, or they could make paper from cloth. They sent letters to each other.

[@TESkyrimizer]

When you realize chariot racing at was more deadly than actual gladiatorial combat

[@stunner9005]

Chariot racing and fighting animals

[@jmurray1110]

plus the winning horse would have been sacrificed to a god (usually mars)

[@tarod3]

Have you ever seen a chariot? It’s a death trap

[@stunner9005]

tarod3 a guy literally died when filming the Ben Hurr chariot scene(original movie).

[@thatlemonmelon2714]

Cuz of accidents. Low key: I’ve always wondered what it’s like riding a chariot...

[@littlebigb5370]

"The more things change, the more they stay the same." Here in a thousand years or more, people may romanticize UFC matches as to-the-death cage arenas, or football having no less than 30 broken bones per game.

[@ethanschoales6563]

Neither is too far from the truth. Violence with rules is still violence.

[@Gemnist98]

Football having 30 broken bones per game? Who ever said that?

[@sablonanime650]

The bigger issues with football are the little impacts that have been proven to have horrible effects on athlete’s mental state. Which is why ex football players have a rather high suicide rate.

[@jordanmartens5591]

I think judging from the footage soccer players must endure the most agony. I could see some hilarious theories spawning about what "Injuries" they have

[@Sergei_Ivanovich_Mosin]

To be fair football is very hard on your joints, I know a former football player who needed a total knee replacement when he was only 24

[@lilyrhea-2024]

Hey, is that Jerry from rick and morty?

[@suddenrushsarge]

No, it's Cyril Figgis from Archer. ;)

[@skyelovesmilfs]

@@suddenrushsarge Chris Parnell

[@charlesmacklin8757]

He's a voice on a kids show called tayo too and the insurance box on a commercial. He does alot of voices.

[@kimberlyzager9697]

I said that before even seeing this comment so all my likes go to you dude

[@zachthompson1494]

@@skyelovesmilfs What up Parn?

[@deKahedron]

...and received quality medical care... Doctor proceeds to pull spear out the wrong way.

[@Tibbles11]

Lol Ikr

[@jasoneisbored42]

doctor proceeds to destroy gladiators shoulder and chest muscles

[@fedbia2003]

What is the right way? Just curious.. No particular reason.. o.O.. O.o... :D

[@deKahedron]

Federico Biassini out the way the spearhead is pointed. That way you push the shaft through a larger hole, and don't do any more damage. Ideally you would saw off the side with the point and pull it out the other way, but they didn't do that here. If you've read A Song of Ice and Fire, there's one point when Jon does this to remove an arrow from his calf.

[@fedbia2003]

Emile David de Kadt Good info! Thanks for that! I was always trained to just bandage around the wound and MED/CASEVAC, but what you’re saying makes sense.

[@qster4]

You know, the show may be called Adam Ruins Everything, but this news actually makes me like the idea of gladiatorial combat more. Thanks, Adam.

[@seventyseven364]

Yes we are one step closer to legalizing gladiatorial combat all around the us!

[@gianttacogod]

Until you realize that during Spartacus time, they were actually slaves. That is why the rebelled after all.

[@sarahsayshello9726]

I remember hearing that the emperor would rarely demand a death cause then he would have to pay for them. The more famous you are the more you cost

[@rgnicko5769]

This isn't ruining anything, it makes sense. If they killed a gladiator every match it would not only be harder to develop talent but you'd lose out on the potential popularity of that warrior. And it made the actual death matches relatable to a modern play-off game or maybe even the super bowl.

[@ManCheat2]

Killed a gladiator every match? mate. Most of the gladiators were slaves dont think they cared too much if they died, and some would gain skills and well become famous and liked. blah blah get more lucrative fights more d0sh for the owner and so on.

[@wilsontheknight]

The guy is right, the gladiators were just slaves. They were a dime a dozen. What would usually happen is that the weak slaves would be killed off in the arena while the stronger ones stayed alive.

[@AmazingAutist]

@@wilsontheknight slaves that you have to close feed house and train extensively in order to make a good fighter.

[@wilsontheknight]

AwesomeSpider4 hence why I said the weak ones would die. Natural selection within the arena. That’s all it was. Like for god sakes Julius Caesar enslaved half a million Gauls by the end of his campaign. After the third Punic war the majority of the Carthegians were sold into slavery. They had literally over a million slaves. Point being ya you have to feed them like any other person, but you’re acting as if the people who used them didn’t make any money which is a load of crap.

[@wilsontheknight]

AwesomeSpider4 either way, majority of the forces within Gaul were not exactly trained military professionals. They weren’t soldiers they were warriors. You really think that the majority of people weren’t trained with some sort of weaponry? They took men as slaves, POWs. They were by no means weak minded or weak physically.

[@VulcanTrekkie45]

And just a quick nitpick for the end: archaeological evidence shows that Romans probably ate their fish whole. Bones, heads, and all.

[@brandon123tigger]

that explains why the empire fell.

[@velvetdemise6]

Spencer Ruins Adam Ruins Everything lol

[@dinoguy163]

Wow

[@pcarebear1]

Spencer O'Dowd+ LOL you stole my comment (before I typed it :)

[@jms2179]

Collegehumor got this wrong. The thumbs down given by the emperor actually signified for the victorious gladiator to spare the defeated. The thumbs down means put the sword in the ground, and would be given more often than not, generally if the emperor had money riding on the fight, or if the defeated gladiator was a popular figure in, what was then, current roman culture. STAY WOKE

[@AudieHolland]

Gladiator games started in the afternoon. While they may been largely deathless, the morning program started with a few executions and some convicts being forced to fight to the death. There were also theatrical acts where one of the actors was actually a condemned person who would actually be killed during the play.

[@alphawolf6334]

Narrator: "What about the blood thirsty spectators?" Adam: "they were more like modern sports fans" Me: *remembering the green bay packers riot of 2016* oh

[@tropicaldino]

Stupid football fans are blood thirsty too you dumb ass

[@martinsundhaug4701]

There were cases where fans of chariot-racing-teams caused severe riots, once Emperor Justinian almost fled the capital due to them

[@Redbird-dh7mu]

Martin Sundhaug yeah, and he solved the riots by slaughtering anyone who wouldn’t calm down or get paid off. I mean, they deserved it, they did enough damage that you would think the city is under attack and a lot of people lost their lives because of them, but he was not playing around.

[@landrylongacre6391]

Why must sports cause so much violence? Why are we like this?

[@BeaverChainsaw]

Bottom Line: All sports fans are blood thirsty lunatics

[@NO-tx1zl]

1 in 10 matches were deaths is actually a lot of you think about it

[@leonardogonzalez5016]

Vikings Ftw its a lot less then "every match must end in bloodshed" when added up. Its still a lot, but not a genocide in a month alot.

[@froniccruxis1049]

But then you have to consider death matches are different than accidental death or dying from wounds, all this during a time when medicine was simple and surgery nonexistant. Plus the statistic is between 1 in 5 to 1 in 10

[@FlyingDwarfman]

I wouldn't be surprised if a large chunk of that would be from infections that now would be nearly 100% curable

[@syrrysaver2775]

And until quite recently Motorsports had a death rate in the same range.

[@horricule451]

Yes, but not nearly as much as people make it out to be

[@ziljin]

I read that Gladiator was going to be more realistic and have commercials but then feared people would watch it and think it's unrealistic. Oh the irony.

[@thepbg8453]

I actually learned about this in a history course. Its reality vs public expectation. Or Academic vs heritage history (Heritage being the more publically understood history.) Often in movies reality had to be altered to make things more identifiable for the audience, because popular literature made it out to be. Still it was annoying during that course when people started arguing over what years a certain knight helmet entered production :S

[@ruyman90]

If movies were accurate then shooting movies would be a bunch of guys hiding in corners until someone runs out of bullets or simply run away and medieval battles instead of people slicing each other like butter would be a bunch of guys hitting each other armors and shield until they get really tired.

[@RainintheBrain]

Yes. They were originally were going to have Maximus advertise Olive Oil

[@joshuaspector8182]

i like how in movies everyone in the armies all break off into duels. man, the casualty rate must have been absolutely enormous. haha. :D

[@wellesradio]

If movies were more realistic.... then I guess we'd just get used to seeing more realism in movies. It wouldn't ruin movies. Our expectations would just change alongside them.

[@johnathon487]

Could you imagine being a gladiator and being told you were going to be fighting to the death considering how rare it would have been

[@seventyseven364]

I’d be like “man emperor in a fight with his wife or something?”

[@InitialPC]

they were prisoners.. what choice did they have

[@mckenzie.latham91]

@@InitialPC They were prisoners who basically were treated to a lavish lifestyle and were basically paid athletes at best, entertainers at least who got quality food, all the women (and or boys) they could want, and their livelihoods upkeep and costs were all paid for them by rich benefactors who made money and prestige off their wins... yeah sounds like prisoners all right

[@InitialPC]

@@mckenzie.latham91 So if Thomas Jefferson gave a bunch of money to one of his slaves but did not free them, are they no longer a slave regardless of not being freed? It doesn't matter how lavish of a lifestyle Gladiators got to enjoy, they were still prisoners.

[@InitialPC]

@@williamcurtis2145 why would he free them? If he does someone else can just claim them and abuse them Freeing your slave at that point in history did not make them a free person with rights

[@TLord]

I’m surprised Adam didn’t talk about the animal involvement in some matches, like the time they had to kill an elephant and because it was screaming in pain the entire time it made the spectators cry

[@georgecatton]

Yeah everyone talks about fighting the animals but forgets most of the time they were just circus animals

[@statusq1879]

Yo why are we acting like 1 in 10 matches leading to a death isn't still insanely high

[@johnmcclane4430]

Compared to what people think actual mortality rate is, 1/10 is pretty tame

[@Baryonyx89]

If you factor in the subpar medical field back then, 1 in 10 is pretty low.

[@TheIhplodur]

I think if you fight with swords and tridents, death rate would still be 1 in 15 today.

[@MeCooper]

Well the actual number is "Between 1 in 5 and 1 in 10" But saying 1/10 helps his argument so he picks and chooses what facts to discuss.

[@c0matoast]

the fact is a lie anyway thats 1 in 10 matches ending in death not how many died AFTER battle. its not like they could just disinfect and stitch you up and you'd live the rest of your life our fine after lol.

[@threee1298]

I mean 1/10 is still a lot

[@OttoVonGarfield]

given the numbers, i would not be surprised at all if the vast majority of those deaths were accidental or "letting go of old cars" so to speak. Gladiators get old too, and eventually, they won't be able to fight anymore, not effectively.

[@Johncornwell103]

That was probably due to lack of medical knowledge that we do today. I mean a lot of injuries that professional wrestlers and professional football players get during their career would probably kill a person in ancient Rome. I mean Stone Cold had TWO spinal vertebrate permanently jammed out of place after a botched pile drive move. Triple HHH had a complete muscle tear from start of his leg to knee. Joe Theisman had multiple compound fractures, destroyed muscles in a leg when he his ankle and knee folded over in opposite directions.

[@joshuakim5240]

+Loukas Frantzolas The gladiator Colosseum was actually a bit more complicated than how Adam describes it. While he got the professional show side down, he ignored the prisoners/criminal punishment aspect of the arenas which were where almost all of the animal combat also happened. Gladiatorial prizes varied from money to land plots in the professional ring, while in the execution ring the prizes were death by hungry exotic animal or death by another one later if a prisoner somehow managed to miraculously win.

[@giantWario]

Not that much since in any era before the Renaissance, most people died from their wounds getting infected, not from the wounds themselves. In other words, they really weren't trying to kill each other, its just that any flesh wound had to potential to kill you back then. Also that number actually include the huge naval battles that were often recreated and that usually ended up with half of the people involved drowning. The gladiators themselves probably only died like once every 50 match. Oh and no Loukas, most gladiators were free men and those that started as slaves would buy their freedom pretty fast. Because guess what ''slaves'' in the Roman Empire actually got paid and could buy their freedom. In fact they were kind of expected to do so. A slave in the Roman Empire had more rights then a serf in the Middle Ages. And while yes, the Roman enslaved most prisonners of war, most slaves were just criminals. Slavery was the most common punishment for almost any crime. They also frequently just bought slaves.

[@wellesradio]

Decoy Account For show.

[@jrgc8892]

Adam:"becomes a lion" Furrys:"INTENSE BREATHING"

[@lucasparisroding8761]

amazing i was laughing for ages

[@R-AE-Y]

Nah mate

[@ghostleemann955]

It's like a robot dogfight, "If you scratch my robot too much you have to pay me" "Ok no dismemberment or death"

[@limepop340]

“Quality medical care” pulls spearhead back through the body

[@commoncoolchannel8588]

It didn't actually happen like that.

[@limepop340]

Common Cool Channel Yeah, no shit, Sherlock.

[@limepop340]

Cole Sanchez I mean, even in ancient times they knew not to have the spearhead go back through the shoulder and re-tear the muscle/tendons/etc. Spear- and arrowheads were almost always barbed, so removing them the way they entered would do more damage than being speared in the first place. The gladiator in the animation was “lucky” enough to have the spear go clean through, in which case, medical treatment would entail trimming the spear and pulling the rest of it through and out the other end.

[@limepop340]

Hydra Jamm Let’s clarify for a second: is this when you want the “speared” to survive? Is the spear running clean through the shoulder like in the animation?

[@yetanother9127]

Spearheads intended for gladiatorial use probably wouldn't have been barbed, come to think of it.

[@thepardigon178]

The thing is, normal fans at a sporting event *are* bloodthirsty masses

[@leohino9211]

The Pardigon Not all though.

[@aivreescend7945]

Clayton Johnson ALL of them....

[@leohino9211]

Aivre Escend Not. All. Though.

[@joshuazelinsky5213]

Some degree of variation there. You do see things like people who go to hockey games because they are hoping to see a fight, but for other sports, like say baseball or tennis, there's pretty clearly no blood sport involved.

[@leohino9211]

Joshua Zelinsky Yeah.

[@jamestheboss1883]

"Be polite, be efficient, have a plan to avoid killing everyone you meet"

[@Dethneko]

"...and avoid damage like an uninsured rental car." ROFL, I gotta remember that one.

[@sreedharsambamoorthi8813]

Avoid damage like an uninsured rental car ! 😂

[@AlfaEcho]

Sreedhar Sambamoorthi HIS RESALE VALUE IS RUINED!!!

[@pulltheskyopen]

Sreedhar Sambamoorthi lol

[@friedrice4015]

Killing your opponent was only against the rules if the sponsor decided that. Rich dudes sometimes had gladiatorial games where the whole point was killing. Most notable, the father of Nero. His events were so wild, the emperor was concerned. Source: Suetonius

[@Ezullof]

FINALLY A COMMENT FROM SOMEONE WHO KNOWS WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT thank you!

[@thefaceofpppwhenhisguntabs5292]

Well this is college humor, edgy education is their thing which means half the time they are dishonest intentionally. This channel hasn't been funny in a long time sadly.

[@friedrice4015]

Napishtim I have done three years of Latin class, I hope I know what I'm talking about. All these kids got actual communication skills out of their foreign languages, all I got was the root words for curse words.

[@raawesome3851]

Did you even check the sources?

[@friedrice4015]

Ra awesome Considering the sources he cites are considered of a lower priority than mine, no. I've taken three years of Latin, and I'm well aware of how these things worked. I'm not saying he is lying, he is just cherry picking.

[@alaina4396]

Was anyone else's reaction to Lion Adam "Aaaaawww, he's so cute!" No? Just me?

[@jonnnnniej]

Are you secretly that friend of mine who had a big crush on Simba?

[@pandaxzippin196]

@@jonnnnniej furries my friend, furries

[@hazukichanx408]

But where's this Lion Ted Cruz I keep hearing about? *Chirping crickets*

[@teacherfromthejungles6671]

just you, sorry

[@waltv3984]

Just wait until he has to eat a gladiator corpse that’s a totally diferente perspective

[@MetroXLR99]

Can't wait for when "Adam Ruins Chariot Racing". If Gladiators were like the WWE, then Chariot Racers had to be the "Nascar" of Ancient Rome.

[@jamesgreenwood986]

Interesting fact: thumbs down actually meant mercy, like the action of putting the sword in the hilt. Thumbs up meant killing the opponent, such as a stabbing upwards motion.

[@commoncoolchannel8588]

Yup.

[@dinac8357]

I thought they weren't sure about that? they being historians, of course. like sometimes it meant live, sometimes it meant death?

[@wednesdaycotton7106]

Yeah. I learned that a while ago. I wondered when it changed as well. That would be an interesting video to watch.

[@lucyjordan8579]

the stabbing was generally in a downwards motion through the part between the shoulder and neck, it wasn't an upwards motion.

[@sebastianbonilla2793]

Maybe it stayed the same as in, yes kill him: thumbs up.... no do not kill him: thumbs down... like yes or no

[@ZixAbix]

Why is mortys dad getting lectured on historical inaccuracies from the D.A.R.E lion ?

[@sablonanime650]

Hm now that you mention it.

[@MasterLu2]

D.A.R.E?

[@maxredwing6681]

pluto misconceptions, then history? dammit jerry

[@lukesmith8896]

@@MasterLu2 Yes, D.A.R.E, Its... something? i couldn't even tell what it was when i was in it

[@Ryan_Metzelar]

Because the D.A.R.E. Lion was Adam Conover, and THIS is Adam ruins everything

[@b1rbmc]

2:53 Pulling the spear out that way would actually cause more damage.

[@CaptainRedbeard89]

Yeah I dont think those guys are professional medics

[@nickrustyson8124]

I always love it when history shows modern times is still pretty similar to the past

[@luldubs3688]

2:54 “Quality Medical Care” *rips out spear and sticks finger in wound*

[@RulerOfYore]

Uh.... quality for the time.

[@adamestes5227]

At least those doctors were more competent than those who treated President Garfield.

[@solaris9426]

He even ripped it out wrong. You're supposed to remove the spear in the direction it entered, otherwise you can cause even more damage.

[@stevengreen9536]

@@solaris9426 True but back then nobody knew that.

[@override367]

Europe didn't have medical care as good as the romans after their empire fell until like, the late 1800s

[@DanielRenardAnimation]

*_'Adam Makes Everything Better'_*

[@alexceous]

True dat.

[@thehonestorange713]

A lot of animals died to make up for people though

[@joed2431]

Daniel Renard ikr. I love this version WAY BETTER than the Bloodsport version.

[@hrgrhrhhr]

the honest Orange eh, still better.

[@loadthevideo]

Yes true

[@Luxai]

Went to Rome with the family a few years back, and read about this when we visited Colliseum. It made a surprising amount of sense. Do you know how long it takes to train a gladiator and actually turn him into someone that wins more than he loses? To say nothing of his equipment, which as the times went on turned from general gear into specialized for the gladiators specific skills, strenghts, and talents. Having one die or crippled permanently was a huge investment loss. Nobody wanted that, it just wasn't a sustainable business model. The idea of gladiatorial matches being about blood and death is a hollywood romanticization, and it's about time people start learning real history. Remember this as a rule of thumb: movies are not the most reliable source of history. It's more important to sell well than to be accurate to them.

Hi, I just discovered your video right now ITS AWESOME. Congrats for it. I dedicate a huge part of my time in divulgation of the gladiator fights, a lot of times to young people (elementary and high school), i found yor video amazing for them. Thank you a lot for your work.

[@0fof0fo]

I like how 1/10 matches resulting in death is waved away as “safe” according to Adam. Can you imagine if that was the going rate of death in WWE?

[@Johncornwell103]

0fof0fo It probably would be if we didn't have modern medicine. I mean imagine professional sports if we had no understanding of antibiotics, anesthic for surgery, what bacteria was, what organ does what. How to safely stop a human from bleeding out etc...

[@0fof0fo]

john cornwell Fair point, although one could very well say that only reason we allow such sports now is because we have access to the medicine and that if we didn’t we wouldn’t allow them to be played. I’m not sure how plausible such a claim is though.

[@DIVAD291]

actually no...most sports we play lead to very specific kinds of injuries that can be extremely shitty and annoying without treatment but almost never deadly. modern medicine would have a significant impact on the death rate if we played sports where cuts were much more common but we really don't...mma is probably the closest and even that doesn't have that many dangerous cuts.

[@p_eabean]

I'd watch the shit out of it! :D

[@salad-salad2892]

but then wwe is fake

[@willbouret8444]

1 in 10 is still pretty insane

[@bigbadbob7070]

William Bouret but better than every match ending with someone’s death

[@willbouret8444]

BigBadBob 70 true true

[@thepurehealer1279]

BigBadBob 70 yeah but both are misleading...

[@epicfortnitegamer1211]

I hope people think about football like we thought about gladiators in the future

[@maestrulgamer9695]

Basically peoples killing eachother by kicking a ball?

[@Pedrosa2541]

1:10 - To be fair here, 1/10 deaths per match is a really high number, after only 7 matches a gladiator has a higher chance to die than to be alife, I would be scared to be a gladiator in these odds.

[@veridian4433]

Time to inflate my arms like Spongebob and join the gladiators

[@pauleldridge6027]

I'll get the bike pump!

[@scottnetter982]

"Or, for the ladies, hairy!"

[@francetony6657]

Time to inflate my arm like wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man

[@piercesgmc9112]

You keep getting top comment how?!

[@trevorpate121]

I HAVE ANCHOR ARMS! I'M NO WIMP! I'M A JERK!

[@The1Helleri]

Downplaying it a bit much. While any one gladiator had a good chance of surviving. Often games would last days with many fights. A few of the bigger commemorative games lasted 100 days or more in which there would be in excess of 3000 fighters. If you do the math it would mean that you average spectator would see 3 Gladiators die per day at such events. Let's also not forget that a lot of game days were opened with the public execution of criminals. Or that most Gladiators were POW's, born slaves, indentured servants or criminals themselves. And while games in Rome were more professional. The path to fame and fortune in Rome was littered with corpses from less regulated games in back water towns and smaller cities. They really only gave a damn about any of them once the wheat had been separated from the chaff.

[@AirahsELL]

This is mostly focused on the matches taking place in the Empire, which is actually true. Blood sport was much more common in the city states, but in Rome it was pretty rare.

[@youtubeuser6846]

TheHelleri you would know because you were there . Lol

[@leemarshall348]

Karen Steber well you see its this thing called research...

[@The1Helleri]

+ Salty Shunk Fair enough.

[@youtubeuser6846]

Lee Marshall it’s a thing called diapery doo doo doody

[@seventyseven364]

When Adam says “Tame” that was definitely a voice crack they left in to annoy adam

[@lqin76]

I love all the animated stories! But even though the animation had the emperor pointing his thumb down at something he didn’t like it is actually the other way around! Thumbs down is sword in the sand/dirt and thumbs up is sword to the neck/head. It is kinda odd why we have it the opposite.

[@lexn5739]

Ancient WWE

[@Michael-zj5gp]

Really stupid comparison. You know cage fighting exists, right?

[@eagle3676]

Leon-Louis more like UFC with weapons

[@bigmcdick4916]

Ancient HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts, basically a bunch of people in medieval armor hitting each other with blunt weapons)but with the addition of sharp weapons

[@WhysoSeriousSamual]

I think Leon is more accurate. Of course the winners were already known before each match. You know the slave owners were selling a face, not a fighter.

[@asusu5193]

Gladiators were not actors Like the fake ass wwe

[@1010armyboy]

"I'm commander Shepard, and this is my favorite shop in Rome."

[@Iheartdgd]

They should have called this show “Adam Tries to ruin everything”

[@varrick8934]

Thank you, Adam, for allowing us to ruin history for our history teacher.

[@shabloomykazoo6225]

Narrator: They had but one choice: win or die... Me: That’s two choices. Narrator: no... it’s not.

[@theyakkoman]

Technically it is only one choice, but two alternatives (which is actually one alternative since the alternative to winning is... not incentivising to say the least).

[@shabloomykazoo6225]

theyakkoman, well choices and alternatives are used interchangeably nowadays and the way he formulated it made it seem like he meant it as alternatives. So I guess I was kinda wrong and kinda right at the same time?

[@theyakkoman]

​@@shabloomykazoo6225 Haha. Why yes, yes you were. Sorry If I came off like a stiff grammar police, but a small pet peeve I've adapted from my significant other is the fact that people use choice and alternative/option interchangeably when it's technically not grammatically correct. A choice is what you have and do. An alternative or an option is what you have to choose between. You can have many options but you only choose once. (Things you learn by dating a former school-teacher)

[@shabloomykazoo6225]

theyakkoman, absolutely no worries whatsoever.

[@FizzleFX]

*Disney's Hercules* was *historical accurate!!?*

[@GhazMazMSM]

Except the titans.

[@willlyon7129]

Or mythological inaccurate

[@thesecutor4625]

And that Hera wasn’t Heracles mother

[@MsAzrael17]

And that Hercules killed his wife

[@thesecutor4625]

Tatiana Reyes I don’t remember that part happening

[@dave199010]

these are all amazing

[@danielwhyatt3278]

Wow we really have heavily fantasised the whole legends of the gladiatorial battles. This is something I honestly never knew. Really does throw a lot of even the most recent Roman and Greek movies I’ve seen into question.

[@gambilend261]

Wait that's Jerry Smith... He finally got a job!

[@JoseMendoza-JAM]

Yep

[@spongebobplushiestuff8612]

It sounds more like mr Peabody

[@Scherlund]

SpongebobPlushieStuff ! It is Chris Parnell

[@anitadervishi3807]

Thats what i thought...

[@oof2218]

Mhm...

[@vladtheimpaler9577]

Like in today's competitive martial arts people didn't come to the arena to see blood shed and death but to watch a flashy display of fighting skill and weapon prowess.

[@Kyleplaysgames567]

I swear I didn't recognize Jerry's voice until the comments pointed it out.

[@runningoncoffee8244]

Lol same

[@TheVrevolution]

You can hear rick going "S-see Jerr*Burp*y you're an idiot in everything"

[@MarkEdwardRom]

this actually made me quite happy ty.

[@MrChupacabra555]

"I am the Gladiaor Shepard, and this is my favorite Fish Market in the kingdom!"

[@wyspreeblue2048]

Chup Smith Sellout at its finest.

[@xerathar3551]

I turned on my pc just to say i love you eternally for leaving this comment .

[@gwynjustice6664]

Chup Smith I'm sorry my face is tired of gladiator matches

[@xerathar3551]

don't bring that up

[@BATCHARRO]

I understood that reference.

[@UnravelingDaily]

I love that Jerry is narrating it 😂 “Rick! Stop taking our son to gladiator fights!”

[@AxenfonKlatismrek]

Back when i was in Rome (2011) I found that Colosseum stage wasnt just sand, sometimes they used water to make water battle, Winner was the one (like Adam described it) but also the one who fallen out of boat they fought on

[@Helfirehydra]

After hearing the true history of gladiatorial fights it makes me want to see one even more

[@CaptainAlliance]

Why is jerry time traveling?

[@maddiemeringue]

CaptainAlliance glad to see that I’m not the only one that thought this

[@tribal2199]

Maybe to get away from Rick? Because we all know Rick doesn't do time traveling.

[@SodaPop2323]

Damn it jerry stay out rick's garage

[@brendonkennedy3021]

Adams actually mistaken. It isnt until decades after Spartacus's time that gladiator lifestyle started improving as slave labor and harsh treatment of slaves was declining

[@penombra_1845]

"in fact for MOST of gladiatoral history" this same video

[@TimTE01]

Brendon Kennedy who even mentioned Spartacus?

[@julesbrooks9958]

Alec Pridgen Adams own source? This whole video of his completely focuses on one part of the arena, while conveniently forgetting all the horrible things that happened there. His own sources say the same thing.

[@TimTE01]

Jules Brooks I don’t see you proving anything here. Just more talk.

[@rowknan9848]

No franonsifa It’s honestly a bold choice of words. The many regulations Adam describes here happened extremely gradually and were not uniform across the Empire at any point. Gladiatorial combat is something that started happening somewhere close to the founding of Rome, and true regulations didn’t really start popping up until the time of Augustus. During the Kingdom and Republican periods, the stereotypes that Adam derides were far closer to the truth.

[@JackDaBoi]

Jokes aside, “ the butcher “ in this seems like a wholesome guy

[@kurtsudheim825]

I remember I've heard something about the emperor's thumbs up/down was actually the opposite to what you think

[@JKRavenBlood]

Yup, the thumb in the middle is slit throath, put out of misere. The thumb down is lower your weapon.

[@frosthammer917]

As far as I understand it is a debated topic due to no singular standard exiting in the thousand or so year history of gladiatorial combat. The real problem is that thumbs up/down is impossible to distinguish in a big arena. So you would have much bigger motions, i.e thumb across the neck for slit throat, raising a closed fist to show mercy, etc.

[@communistcat3240]

lets bring gladiator matches back then

[@mestre12]

It acutally more like MMA. Wee matchs are pre determid, most of the time. MMA is the better analogy here. Heck, the fact the fight happens in a cage is a even better analogy to it.

[@MaxLohMusic]

There's HEMA and longsword competitions, and probably some other things similar to gladiatorial combat, but for some unfathomable reason modern humans think two unarmed fighters slinging nothing but fists is more entertaining than armed combat or even MMA (even boxing is a more popular sport than MMA still). And yes, it amazes me how many people in the world are still in denial that WWE is staged.

[@limbo8251]

MMA my dude

[@wwewewaeawdasdw]

UFC?

[@MrWiibetrollin]

WWE is more accurate.

[@ziljin]

Hollywood lied to me!

[@coreytaylor447]

they also lied about love storys always being perfect and that everything explodes (not even cars explode if you shoot the gas tank)

[@matigrzala3989]

They always do... ALWAYS!!

[@lightningstudios3630]

Hollywood lies all the time ziljin

[@Arkalioth]

they lied to all of us

[@andreasmuller2437]

So....what else is new

[@fareezamanzur-abdulmajid278]

In 3:38, when the first Roman emperor said, “I declare this arena death-free!”, was no one happy?

[@intoxicatedfather9307]

I’m fine with this one Adam , but I’m watching you

[@seventeenhamilton5362]

This is what my Latin teacher told me, but when I say this no one beleives me! Thanks for backing me up, Adam. Also, one of the most famous doctors of the Roman Empire trained by healing Gladiators, since tearing apart dead bodies was absolutly forbiden (unlike now) it's how they got a closer look at recent cuts and studied the human body

[@nettart4924]

You know how hard it is to get blood out of sand...

[@jordanmayfield9357]

flufflepufflover Yeah, it's coarse... rough... irritating... and it gets everywhere. Especially when blood is mixed in.

[@Suniljayant]

JordanMayfield Sand is the weapon of light side... :)

[@TCt83067695]

flufflepufflover the struggle IS real

[@alienonlsd3209]

About as badd as getting blood in carpet blood Justine's carpets it dries it makes it hard and it always attracts ants cause that's how you gets ants

[@waitwhat786]

Many animals were still killed. They even had a special weapon for decapitating ostriches, which I find hilarious.

[@beastwarsFTW]

Okay, now I want to see this ostrich killing weapon. Hang on was ostrich jousting a real sport?

[@Randomman55555]

I went to the colosseum and a worker said that most people didn’t die and then I told my history teacher and she said I was wrong

[@legendaresn6983]

Probably the difference between general and Gladiator fights

[@Basher.G]

So things were no different than today? That's kind of hilarios

[@RFLCPTR]

The Greeks and Romans were really modern societies.

[@crocodileguy4319]

Like realy realy modern

[@danglezbenderz]

There was still a 10% death rate in matches. They were using deadly weapons and many fighters could still die from their injuries or just be accidentally killed.

[@juanignaciogirardi8725]

Well, the video doesn't show anything about the slaves that weren't suitable for being gladiators. Those were the guys that were butchered.

[@xF3arl]

It might even be hilarious.

[@vahidmirkhani]

You're leaving a TINY bit of the fact that those healthy-and-well-fed celebrity gladiators were STILL slaves, practically. So,..... yay????

[@wolves600]

not all of them in fact some of them were either former slaves who continued to fight or were free citizens because it made them rich

[@fulcrum2951]

And you do realize slavery still existed but in modern form nowadays right?

[@wolves600]

yes

[@johnalexander651]

Some were less slaves and more second-class citizens. They had a special place in Roman culture where even if they were a citizen their word would not have the same in court, they couldn't sue and they were literally the equivalent of being a prostitute.

[@rouge1ful]

no they didnt, this is just a small clip from a full episode they do mention it.

[@nohomo2527]

I love seeing that absolute beast of a human offering to help the guy up, when he could curb stomp his skull into a 10000 piece puzzle

[@What-lt3lj]

So glad Adam recognizes that Augustus was the first emperor of Rome

[@veridian4433]

I liked ancient pebble racing better

[@saigesheen]

Veridian I BELIEVE IN ROCKY

[@TheChimera70]

Common misconception, thumbs down wasn't a "go ahead and kill your opponent" it was a "put your weapons down"

[@MalekitGJ]

yeah, the right gesture was a "thumbs up" your're dead

[@kristoflotz1716]

This actually made it pretty wholesome

[@boRegah]

The voice actor of Jerry Smith is just amazing. Always. So here as well.

[@rachdarastrix5251]

"Adam ruins Gladiators". Lol you kidding? This character is awesome. Why he no have his own show?

[@lilith1544]

r/wooooooosh

[@WebContractor7407]

this is just, something you would see on R/wooosh, just, **Tears up** its beautiful

[@adamestes5227]

On that note, it might be interesting to see a TV comedy show about gladiators with the Butcher involved. Just saying.

[@teacherfromthejungles6671]

"why he no have.." - is this how modern English sounds like?

[@rachdarastrix5251]

@@teacherfromthejungles6671 Just because you don't get it don't necessarily mean I will explain.

[@theepicspider1897]

I mean, the ones that weren't slaves... Even then, they didnt kill, just, were treated poorly to say the least.

[@georgecatton]

Well it depends what kind of slave they were and at which point in the Roman empire before they banned slaves your at. Not all slaves were chattel slaves, mainly actually lived comfortably lives and had large amounts of upwards mobility. At this point in history slavery was a far more complex thing than it would warp into under the European and Arab slave trades. Not to say it was right it was very, very wrong.

[@BigBoris]

Imagine boxing fights or MMA being as brutal as we see gladiator fights

[@TheStillermoment]

This video had strangely didn’t ruin my outlook on gladiators

[@dwtheman00]

Same.

[@iamthelaw82]

“only 1 in 10 matches would result in death”

[@m3rrys0ngstr3ss]

Makes you realize how easy it is for all these misconceptions to add up.

[@m3rrys0ngstr3ss]

Two brutes really will color a history. Thanks for the answer.

[@rhaeasoul8531]

"The fans were more like sports fans" So bloodthirsty and psychotic? Good to know they haven't changed since all the way then.

[@im19ice3]

this is sucha relief