18. After the Spartacus rebellion in 73BC, Rome made sure gladiator schools were disciplined and loyal
For many years, gladiator training schools, or ludus, were privately owned. The Roman State would simply pay the schools’ owners every time they wanted to use their gladiators. However, the rebellion of Spartacus and his fellow gladiators in around 73BC changed all this. From then on, the State took a much closer interest in these schools, ensuring that the gladiators they trained wouldn’t use their specialist fighting skills against Rome itself! Emperors even got involved – for example, Domitian, who ruled from 81 to 96, commissioned four such schools to be built in the very heart of Rome.