The Roman Gladiator was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals and condemned criminals. In so doing, they inspired admiration and popular acclaim. They performed in the ‘Gladiatorial Games’ (2nd Century, CE). Gladiatorial training schools provided the trained manpower and trade in gladiators took place Empire-wide, subjected to strict control. Brutus, Nero, Augustus, Mark Antony had their own gladiators. Female gladiators also took part in the ‘games’. The gladiators were provided with high-energy vegetarian diets consisting of barley, boiled beans, oatmeal, ash and dried fruit. They were given regular massages and high quality medical care in a severe training regime. Gladiators fought in arenas or amphitheatres such as the most popular Colosseum in Rome.

Today, in global sports, we have come a full circle once more to the era of the modern gladiators, although not in the form of an armed combat fought to the death. The evolution is there to see.

The Olympic athletes of today are modern ‘gladiators’. They undergo special, strict training regimes in gymnasiums and are monitored regularly in laboratories with strict diets specially designed for the relevant event. The laboratory tests will identify the muscles, organs that require development for the event. Each and every muscle necessary for the relevant event is nurtured to provide strength. The power for the 100 meters and other short sprint events is not only provided by the muscles of the legs but also by those of the shoulders and arms (stomach? face?). A bald head and minimum clothing (some of them hardly wear anything!) are preferred to minimize wind resistance – aerodynamics, you know! The prospective marathon runners, who are being trained to compete with the current, dominating Africans, spend most of their time in the laboratories with all sorts of digital sensors attached to their bodies to find the right areas of their lungs that need to be developed and strengthened, followed by a strict regime of training with special diets.

What about other sports? Oh, one can see the evolution of gladiators in many of them. The T20 version of cricket is all about brute power. The gladiators are evolving. This form of cricket is not for the purists and stylists such as the Tendulkas, Laras, Pontins and our own Mahela. Only those with brute force are preferred. From Sri Lanka, the IPL selected the strong and powerful Thissara! Aha, think about it. The trading of cricket gladiators has begun.

The international rugby players of today are power-packed ‘mountains’. Even the running backs are strong and powerful gladiators. They spend most of their training time in the gymnasiums and power building units. I wonder what their diets are (do they eat whole trees, whole animals?)!!

Power is the basis for many other types of sports including swimming, hockey, basketball, volleyball, tennis etc. requiring the training of gladiators to bring medals and fame to their countries.

What of the future? Where are we heading? Who knows! We can only let our imaginations run riot, being assured that modern technology will enable humans to bring to reality what they dream of and imagine.

T20 cricket will evolve further. Trading of T20 gladiators has begun, as if they are bargaining for slaves! Appiriai! Test cricket will probably be played on a day-night, limited-overs basis; 100 overs per innings for a start and gradually reduced even further to accommodate the gladiators. Scientists will use genetic engineering technology to transfer genes from cheetahs and horses to humans, so that future Olympic races will be run by transgenic human gladiators and the races will be measured in milliseconds. Many years ago, the world was wondering whether the 10 second barrier for the 100 meters will ever be broken. It was, by the use of illegal, performance-enhancing drugs and other abuses. As they have reached the limits of these inputs, the world is now asking whether the 9 second barrier will ever be broken. Oh yes, easily, with the production of transgenic humans!

All sporting events will evolve to accommodate gladiators so as to ensure that ‘those’ countries that have the resources will dominate the sporting arena. So, unless we plan now and produce our own ‘yodayas’ or gladiators soon, we will be left to compete only in games such as carrom and chess in the future. The only other solution is to get the magic portion from Getafix the old and wise druid of Gaul!