Ludus Matutinus
About
The fourth of Domitian's imperial schools, training bestiarii, the men who fought and hunted wild animals in the morning program before the afternoon's gladiator bouts, hence its name. Topographers have placed it between the Claudianum and the Vicus Caput Africae, but like the Gallicus and Dacicus, no excavated structure has been firmly identified as this school. It was one of four functioning state schools supplying the Colosseum's beast hunts in 117 CE.
What happened here
The day starts before dawn with a run and weapons drill against a wooden post, twice the weight of a real sword so the real one feels light after. A doctor and a trainer are on the payroll, because a dead fighter in training is money wasted. Meals are heavy on barley and beans — fighters are called hordearii, barley men, for it — and the diet is meant to pack on fat as padding over muscle, not to make anyone lean. Men here range from slaves bought for the purpose to free volunteers who signed a contract away, sold their bodies by oath, and can be flogged or killed under its terms. A cell is barely wide enough to lie down in. Rank inside the school follows the win record exactly, and everyone knows everyone else's.
Sources
Roman Maps shows the empire frozen at 11 August 117 CE, the day Trajan died — its moment of greatest territorial extent. Explore the full map →