How different were real Roman Gladiators back in the day?

Dirty, toothless, smelly and ruthless.

@ChazMaz Thanks Chaz. You are ruining my fantasy here. lol

They spoke latin.

Many were slaves, some convicts and others political prisoners sent to their deaths. What is true is that many became celebrities in their own right. Rich matrons of Roman society paid handsomely to be pleasured by them and their blood was collected as it was believed it could help barren women conceive.

Like a prison population.

Interesting recent finding on a Roman gladatior cemetary
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/england/york_and_north_yorkshire/10253483.stm

The ancient Romans were much shorter that how they how they are depicted in the movies.

@beancrisp Actually from @Rarebear ‘s article referenced above, the skeletal remains were above average height and they were very large men. So far, my gladiator fatasy is safe. haha.

@bellusfemina Intact, except for the lack of dental care, cleanliness, and short life expectancy.
On the other hand, the women were all gorgeous and dressed in white. Right?

If the gladiator was from one of the German tribes then, if given the chance, he might actually have been cleaner than the typical Roman, since the so called barbarians used soap for bathing, whereas the Romans insisted on using olive oil.

Ripped,bronze God-like creatures that can cook ;)

Desperate, and pissed off.

OMG. I am dying for season two. The finale of season one was AH-MAE-ZING.

Eh, I am not a historian, but its my understanding that Slaves in the roman days where very different than slaves in the 1700–1800s. Often not used in mass groupings to turn the most profit on a plantation, but used for civil servitude, military, and a variety of other things. And it seems to me that gladiators were often probably war prisoners from the many wars the romans fought. But I don’t really know for sure.