Skatches about Roman Criminal Law – damnation to gladiatorial games

In Ancient Rome, there was a group of penalties closely connected to gladiatorial games, like damnation to the beasts (damnatio ad bestias), damnation to the school of gladiators (damnatio in ludum) and, the object of this paper, damnation to gladiatorial games (damnatio ad gladium ludi). As it seems, on the basis of very few textual sources, the latter was a kind of death penalty executed in the arena at noon. The condemned were supposed either to kill each other with sword, either be executed by one of them or a professional gladiator. The most interesting however is the form of functioning of this phenomenon. It looks that Roman Criminal Law did not know this penalty, there is only one doubtful legal source, which may refer to it. On the other hand, it is hard to deny its existence – quite a few historical sources confirm, that at noon a number of condemned were killed in the arena. As it seems, there was a variety of forms of executions in Ancient Rome, which took place during the gladiatorial games. They depended mostly on the discretional power of the organizer of the games and the will of the people. Damnatio ad gladium ludi was a collective category for all of them, no matter what the actual sentence stated, whether it was crucifixion, burning alive or other death penalties. In that way, it was possible to present in the arena mythological and historical enactments known from the sources