10. After Everything, Their Honor and Bravery Determines Their Burial
After all the valor and bravery, how a gladiator fought still determined their grave. Heroic gladiators who died bravely in battle were often cremated. Friends and family were allowed to recover the body for funeral rites. After the cremation, the ashes would be buried with offerings. In some places, the body’s would have single graves as we do today set aside for them. To this day these graves are being uncovered and shedding light on the lives of Roman gladiators.
As usual, cowards and disgraceful fighters weren’t given the same luxury. If the bodies remained unclaimed, they would be tossed into the river or dumped on a wasteland to rot. As they insulted their people, a body remaining unburied was also considered insulting. The Romans believed that a soul could not rest and move on until the body was covered by dirt. It’s possible that the bones may still remain in these wastelands if found by anthropologists and historians. For now, we’ll never know.