Where and in what did Roman Gladiators live?
caserma dei gladiatori: House of gladiators. The manager of a gladiatorial troupe was called a lanista; he provided lengthy and demanding training in schools (ludi) especially designed for this purpose and usually located near the great amphitheaters. Pompeii, for example, had both a small training area surrounded by gladiatorial barracks and a large one right next to the amphitheater. During the imperial period all the gladiatorial schools in Rome were under the direct control of the emperor. The largest of these schools, the Ludus Magnus, was located next to the Colosseum; it included a practice amphitheater whose partially excavated ruins can be seen today. Relative to the life Romans at the economic margin enjoyed, conditions in gladiatorial schools were not that bad. It is true that the conditions in the school where Spartacus trained were bad enough to spark the worst slave revolt in Roman history, however this school was an anomaly. Owners and trainers conceived of gladiators as
