Reacting to the Most Unfair Fights in the Roman Colosseum!

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:00]The Roman coliseum was a place where gladiators would fight to the death. But sometimes they wouldn't just fight each other. Instead, they might fight things like lions or bears. And in extreme cases, they almost had no chance at surviving. Today, we're going to check out the top 10 most unfair fights in the Roman coliseum history. Let's start with the unfair and slowly work our way towards the most brutal matchups on the list. Number 10, blind fighters. There's no actual way that they would do that.

[00:00:30]Hold on a minute. At least tell me that both fighters were blind. Cuz if one was blind and the other was not, how is that even fun to watch? Cuz at the end of the day, the entire thing is a spectacle and it was meant for people to be entertained. If both fighters were blind though, that actually I could see that being pretty fun. Hang on, let's hear them out.

[00:00:49]>> And a BIA were criminals who would be forced to fight completely blind. They would be given a straight sword and a helmet for protection. Except the helmet was practically a curse since it was completely sealed off, preventing the fighter from seeing or hearing anything.

[00:01:02]The fight would begin as soon as the fighters were placed within close range of one another, with the most popular strategy being the swing and prey method, which in all honesty was the only strategy available. Now, the good news is that judges weren't really needed for these fights since the winners were very easy to identify as they were the only contestants still breathing. Now, the crazy part is that this spectacle was seen as comedic relief more than anything. And if you don't think two blind men fighting each other to the death is hilarious, well, you have a lot to learn about comedy.

[00:01:32]>> I remember growing up, me and the boys, we would uh do like blindfolded pillow fighting. Anybody else? Or is that just me? That was pretty fun. It is pretty messed up though that they would watch people literally die for entertainment.

[00:01:46]But hey man, not to defend them or anything, but back in the day things were just different. It was a different society, different culture, and I don't agree with it obviously, but that's kind of just how things were. And I do kind of get blindfolding two guys is kind of funny. Now, this might not sound that unfair at first since both men are equally blind and equipped with the same weapon. But think again, since the winner of the match would typically be rewarded with another match, >> then another one >> and another one and another one. You get the point. As you can imagine, a winning streak never really lasted for very long.

[00:02:20]>> I wonder if they have like different titles. Like in the UFC, they have like the heavyweight champion, for example.

[00:02:24]Would that dude be the blindfolded champion and maybe he's like not woripped, but like known around town as the blindfold king. That'd be pretty cool. But I also don't think that they are free, so I don't think that they would actually ever even really know if they were loved or not. But that could be cool. I think the best tactic would probably just be to stick the your sword out and spin around in circles until you feel a little something and then you start hacking and slashing.

[00:02:47]>> Number nine, naval battles. There was nothing more epic than the naval battles of the coliseum. Also, one of the most unfair, bloody, and expensive. The event would begin by filling the coliseum with water and around a dozen ships. It's estimated that thousands of prisoners would participate in these events. But let's talk about what made these battles unfair. Now, depending on the starting position of your ship, it could determine your likelihood of survival.

[00:03:10]>> Well, yeah, dude. If you're in the middle, that's so unfair. Like, you're just toast. Everyone's going to target you. I also didn't know the coliseums were so big that they could fit 12 ships in there. That's insane. I wonder if there were like small ships, like little kayaks. I would watch that. 12 people in kayaks battling to the death. Well, at least for a bit longer, as the odds of survival were almost non-existent to begin with. Ships that started in between two other ships would make for an easy target, easily creating a 1v2 scenario. Prisoners would invade other ships, killing everyone that stood in their way, while others would simply use the more popular strategy we see today, which is, of course, running away from all fights and sneaking their way to the final round. They would steal the win with a single kill. The bloody fight would come to an end when there was only one ship or team remaining. As terrible as these battles were, at least they were easy to clean up. The Romans would try their best to remove all the large debris from the water before the stadium would be flushed like a giant toilet bowl, sending all the remains downstream for another town to deal with.

[00:04:09]>> Bro, that's so sad.

[00:04:09]>> Number eight, >> imagine like watching your dad in there or your son or I don't know how people became gladiators. I think it was mostly like slaves that ended up doing that. I don't think that there were many volunteers that wanted to be gladiators.

[00:04:23]But that would be so sad if you watched like someone you knew and loved be a gladiator because I think it was like insanely hard to gain freedom from being a gladiator and most of them probably died. About 99% of my knowledge on gladiators, by the way, is from the movie Gladiator. So that's where I'm getting all that info from, which probably the majority of that is made up. So, what I'm trying to say is I know nothing about gladiators.

[00:04:49]>> Gladiator fights. Gladiator fights were the single most popular matches of the coliseum with the good matchups typically being saved for the main event. Now, how can two gladiators fighting each other be unfair, you might ask? Well, for starters, the emperors weren't really interested in fairness, as their primary concern was entertainment. And with over 20 different classes of gladiators to choose from, the styles would be mixed and matched based on entertainment alone. Here are some of the most unfair and popular matchups. Retiarius versus Seutor. Retiarius were equipped with a net, a trident, a dagger, and minimal armor. While the Seutor was equipped with a sword, a large shield, a helmet, and heavy armor.

[00:05:28]>> I'm going to say the guy on the right has the big advantage. I don't really know what a net is going to do against somebody with a shield and armor, but I could be wrong cuz I'm an idiot.

[00:05:37]>> Go ahead, pick one.

[00:05:40]>> That guy. If you chose the sequ, well, GG's, you're dead. As the richest just had to keep his distance and poke at the seutor.

[00:05:48]>> Wait, what? Hang on a minute. Something don't feel right. Why is that guy put your shield out? What do you mean he can keep his distance and poke him? That's what the whole shield is for, bro. What?

[00:05:58]Cuz that dude with the shield and the sword, that's like a knight. And knights are like the strongest guys back then, I thought. And if these if the guy on the left with a little lasso and Ned and a little poke pokey was that strong, why was that not the way that they fought in war? Maybe because in war it's like there's a swarm of people and it wouldn't be good against swarms, but it's good in 1 v one situations. I don't know. That don't seem right, though.

[00:06:22]>> Or better yet, trap him by throwing his net on him, giving him enough time to emote before poking him to death, bro.

[00:06:28]>> All right, let's try another one.

[00:06:30]Mermillo versus >> Thorax. Hang on a minute. Hang on. Let me think here. Let me think. They didn't give me enough time to think last time.

[00:06:35]I need Mermillo, which has a shield and a sword and a helmet and an arm sleeve against a guy with the exact same thing except a smaller shield and like a I don't know what that is. Like a a little dagger, curved dagger. Um, I'm going to say the guy on the left. He's got a bigger shield. Give me Mermillo.

[00:06:56]>> Mermillo were armed with a large rectangular shield, a shortsord, a helmet, and a metal or leather sleeve for protection. While the Thorax was equipped with a light shield, a curved sword, a helmet, and a metal or leather sleeve for protection. Go ahead, pick one.

[00:07:12]>> Well, now he's making me second guess a little bit here. Hang on a minute. Uh, I'm going to say no, I'm going to stick to my guns. I'm going to go with the left guy.

[00:07:21]>> If you chose the Mermillo, rip, you're dead.

[00:07:24]>> Just had to tire out the Mermillo since he was carrying the heavier shield.

[00:07:28]>> OH MY GOD, DUDE. WHAT ARE WE EVEN talking about? How about the guy with the big shield doesn't like run around and can not get tired. It's really not rocket science. Just, you know what I'm saying? Or maybe put the shield down if it's that much of a hindrance. What are we talking about? As you can see, stylistic matchups were a big deal and could easily influence the outcome of a fight. And I know this might come as a shock to some, but not all gladiator fights were to the death. A lot of fights would be called off when a fighter took heavy damage since good gladiators were very expensive to replace.

[00:07:59]>> Wait, hang on. This isn't what about what he just said. But I was just thinking more about the big shield. In what case would having a big shield ever be better then? You know what I'm saying? Like cuz the guy is saying that there's it's matchup differences which are the reason. But like in if it's true that having a big shield makes you tired so quick, then in what case is it good to have that? Who would ever have that?

[00:08:19]Obviously it's not good against smaller shields. When is it good then? In what case? Maybe against an archer. That's all I can think of. Maybe. I don't.

[00:08:27]Dude, what are we talking about?

[00:08:28]>> Number seven, animal battles. Humans were not the only ones to have unfair magics inside of the coliseum since animals were also treated like criminals. They would be enslaved, pinned against each other, and humiliated and were such a popular spectacle that at times thousands of animals would be slaughtered in a given day. This is maybe controversial of me, but I can see this being entertaining.

[00:08:51]Now, I'm not saying I would go and I wouldn't support it. Like, if there were animal fights happening today, obviously I would be against that. That's cruel and I love animals. However, like I've always wanted to know who would win, a grizzly bear or a lion. I think a grizzly bear, but I don't know, you know, I would like to see that. Put put a lion and a tiger in there. Let's mix and match. I want to see like who actually would win those fights. And there's a lot of fights that you don't actually get in Mother Nature, so we'll never know unless we actually make them do it. Again, I'm not saying I support it, but I am saying that I could see how that would be extraordinarily entertaining, >> which was completely unsustainable, driving many animals to extinction. Here are some of the most popular and unfair matchups that were commonly seen in the coliseum.

[00:09:37]>> Elephant versus rhino.

[00:09:38]>> Let me see if I can get these right. I'm going to say that the elephant wins that. if it's a full-g grown elephant.

[00:09:43]>> One of the most famous coliseum battles was when an enraged rhino was pinned against an elephant with the elephant eventually winning when he decided to cheat by grabbing a spear with its trunk and gouging the rhino's eyes. Lion versus tiger.

[00:09:57]>> No way they're that smart. I didn't know that. I thought they could just use their tusks. Anyway, this one I think tiger wins because tigers are bigger than lions. But hey, this is what I was saying. Like I always wondered who, you know, these are some interesting matchups. This matchup is basically a robbery as I'm sure the locals would have bet large amounts of money against the guys from out of town since they knew that the lion always wins with there only being one recorded incident of a tiger getting the best of a lion.

[00:10:21]Elephant versus bull. As you >> wait, so who I don't even know who won that. I'm so confused. Okay, clearly the elephant wins this too. Then >> imagine when an animal has over 10,000 lbs on its opponent, it's not really going to be much of a fight, is it? But just to make matters worse, sometimes the elephant and the bull would be chained together, forcing the action.

[00:10:40]And no matter how the fight begins, it would always end with the bull being turned to soup.

[00:10:46]>> Really quickly, here are some of the other animal fights that were very popular. Rhino versus bear.

[00:10:51]>> Um, I think that the Gosh, I actually don't know who wins that. I would say, well, the bear would be way more agile, but the rhino is so thick. I don't know if the bear could like do much damage to him. I'm gonna say the bear would win. No, that's silly. I'm gonna say the rhino was gonna win.

[00:11:09]>> Rhino versus buffalo.

[00:11:10]>> The rhino wins that.

[00:11:11]>> Rhino versus elephant. Crocodile versus hippo.

[00:11:14]>> The hippo wins that. Dang, that hippo.

[00:11:18]Are all hippos that thick? That boy is thick. My goodness gracious.

[00:11:22]>> Tiger versus bear.

[00:11:24]>> See, that's another good matchup, dude.

[00:11:25]I don't know. Like, he we went into this like the whole idea of this video was super unfair matchups. I don't know how this is unfair. Who wins that? I'm going to say the grizzly bear wins. But grizzly bears are huge.

[00:11:35]>> Bear versus bull. Bear versus wolves.

[00:11:37]Goro versus scorpion.

[00:11:39]>> Lion versus bull. Lion versus bear. Lion versus panther. Lion versus chimp. Lion versus hyenas. Lion versus basically any animal the Romans can get a hold of.

[00:11:50]Number six.

[00:11:51]>> Dude, some of those were close. I actually don't know who would win most of them. I totally back in the day would not have supported that. I would not have gone. I would have protested those fights and battles and I totally would not have paid to see those battles go down. I would not be interested at all.

[00:12:07]Number six, >> one versus two. This matchup can be unfair for either side depending on the circumstances. Let me explain. There are two scenarios in which this matchup can take shape. One, a highle gladiator will take on two prisoners simultaneously.

[00:12:21]And as the prisoners try their best to figure out how to properly hold a sword, they will realize that it's very difficult to do so. since their hands are no longer attached. Now, the second scenario is a bit more fair. Three well-trained gladiators were placed inside of the coliseum. One gladiator would be given heavy armor and a good weapon, while his two opponents would receive minimal armor and worse weapons.

[00:12:42]The duo would need to work together to defeat the better equipped man. But being partnered up is not as easy as you might think and does come with its own set of challenges like knowing whether you should go for the res or attempt to clutch up when your partner inevitably goes down. You can't rest in this, right? Like you're down. What is he supposed to do? Kiss your boo boos better? Like what?

[00:13:00]>> The last and final way that a gladiator can be outnumbered is during large scale battles. This one is of course purely based on luck alone and doesn't always mean that you will see a 1v2 matchup as it just might be a 1v6 depending on how bad your team is. Number five.

[00:13:14]>> That's probably like the scariest thing ever when you know that you're cooked.

[00:13:18]There's just nothing you can do. They're just six dudes with swords and you're 1v6 and you know so it's so crazy like that people actually live that life.

[00:13:25]It's one thing to like learn about it like in this video or read about it or watch movies on it, but to like actually think that that really happened and people were actually in those positions, it's crazy. Like today, bro, you can be like me and play Minecraft for a living and react to videos and that's that's what I do. But back then, like people really were in it. They were really in the thick of it. They were really in those gladiator colosums trying to 1v6.

[00:13:48]I can't believe that. Like, I couldn't even imagine being in a position like that. I really don't know what I would do, man. I mean, I would die. That's what I would do. I would just die. I'd be dead. But it would just be so awful.

[00:13:58]I can't I can't I can't believe that that's even real. Number five, >> woman versus dwarf. Emperor Demission introduced.

[00:14:05]>> Dude, that sounds like a great matchup.

[00:14:07]Not to be like I wouldn't know who wins that. You know what I'm saying? Like, normally man versus woman. Generally, the man's going to win in a fight.

[00:14:13]That's how that works. But what about a woman versus a little man? Now, who wins?

[00:14:17]>> Ch. woman versus dwarf. And I have to admit, this is the only battle on the list where a clear winner was not well documented. But even with the little information we do have, I have a gut feeling that it just wasn't a fair matchup. I'm just not certain for whom.

[00:14:32]You see, on one hand, you have a fully grown woman who obviously has the reach advantage, while on the other hand, you have a male dwarf who is much stronger and obviously uses magic. How much stronger? Well, I'm not sure. I did however stumble upon this forum where a guy asked the same question back in 2011. Now, sadly, people just replied back with even more interesting questions that we will never get the answers to. That's crazy.

[00:14:55]>> And of course, naturally, the entire forum devolved into guys just bragging about how many dwarves they can take on at once. One of the >> Bro, I've seen some videos of dwarves being like insanely strong, like benching like 400 lb. Those boys can be thick. But I think in a lot of these matchups, like it really just depends how well trained they are. Like if you have a dwarf that's well trained, I think it would be a woman. If you have a woman that's well trained, it would be a dwarf that's not trained. You know what I'm saying? So like on paper, I think it's an even matchup and kind of just depends on their background. Is that am I being mean? I don't know.

[00:15:27]>> Most bizarre things about this matchup was that Emperor Demission liked to schedule this fight at night since he preferred this battle when it was illuminated by torch lights. In 2010, a female gladiator's remains were found in England. After they were examined, it was concluded that the woman's legs and armbbones were unusually heavy, suggesting that she had strong muscles.

[00:15:47]You know, I was originally leaning towards the dwarf, but now I really don't see how they could possibly win.

[00:15:51]>> Yeah. I mean, if the woman was like super strong and trained, she wins that for sure. What's number four?

[00:15:55]>> Four. Wild animal hunts. Perhaps one of the most unique spectacles of the coliseum was the wild animal hunts.

[00:16:01]Here, the entire coliseum arena was made to resemble the animals natural environment. A few men were then brought out to the arena equipped with small shields and weapons. Then, for the next few minutes or hours, the arena would be slowly filled with terrifying predators.

[00:16:15]But if they really wanted to get the crowd on their feet, all the animals would be released at once. Sometimes the men who were fighting the lions, bears, and panthers would have been well-trained fighters, while other times they would have been condemned criminals who were just given the death sentence and stood zero to no chance of winning.

[00:16:30]Here are some of the animals you could have expected to make an appearance.

[00:16:33]Lions, tigers, bears, elephants.

[00:16:36]>> See, literally any of those that he just listed, I don't think a human could beat. Even if you had a sword and shield, a lot of them, like what? Like, what are you doing? It's a lion, man.

[00:16:45]Like, you have one chance to stab it. If you miss, like, it's going to bite your neck and you're dead. And it has claws.

[00:16:50]You know what I'm saying? It's fast.

[00:16:52]Like, I don't know. Against an elephant, too. What are you supposed to do? I think I would chop at its legs, but like even still, that's crazy. Rhinos, panthers, leopards, hyenas, wolves, boores, bulls, deers, ostriches, crocodiles, giraffes, camels, and ship rats.

[00:17:07]>> Oh my god.

[00:17:08]>> Of course, ship rats were not invited, but they showed up anyways. Number three, man versus beast. Man versus beast matches were one-on-one battles and were the second most popular spectacle only behind gladiator fights.

[00:17:20]Now, there were basically two ways that this matchup would be arranged with both of them tailored for maximum entertainment for the crowd. The first one was when a professional slave or volunteer fighter known as a bestiarius would face off with a terrifying beast.

[00:17:33]The animal could be anything from a lion, leopard, tiger, bear, or any other large and powerful creature. These battles would typically end with the animal being defeated, even if the bestarius took heavy damage. On the other hand, the second matchup was much more bloody and typically ended with the man being torn to pieces. Here, a criminal or prisoner of war would be forced to face off with the animal. With little to no training, it was only a matter of time before the man would become an anatomy lesson.

[00:17:59]>> Yeah, that's what I was saying. Like, bro, even if you give a man a sword and shield, a lot of those animals are still dicing them up.

[00:18:05]>> And it definitely didn't help that the animals were starved for long periods of time before they were brought out, making them a lot more angry and aggressive. There was even a single lion that took out over 200 men before it was finally defeated, >> which is obviously a padded record since it clearly fought nothing but tomato cans. Oh, I should also mention there is another event that was very popular and is somewhat related where a criminal was tied to a steak and then a wild animal would be released to eat him alive. What >> you know, you would think that this would be one of those situations where if you've seen it once, then you've seen them all type of deal. But apparently some emperors love to show this one quite often. I that must have been a form of like public execution which I guess these all are but that one in particular was probably more of a way for the emperor to show his power and kind of rule through fear over his people like just to show his people like what he can do to you if you break the law cuz a he's saying a lot of these people are criminals more so than slaves even which I found surprising like normally I feel like if you're a criminal you go to jail but if you're a slave like I don't know I guess you turn into a glutater but no if you're back in those days if you broke the law like let's say you stole a loaf of bread, you could literally be put into a coliseum and have to fight a lion the next day.

[00:19:17]That is absurd. And I I'm just saying I think that the one where he ties him up and they just get eaten is probably more so a form of expressing his dominance rather than um like entertainment for the people.

[00:19:30]>> Prisoner versus professional gladiator.

[00:19:32]Easily one of the most unfair matchups of the coliseum was when prisoners would face off against a professional and seasoned gladiator. The professional gladiator could have been a slave himself with many fights under his belt, or a volunteer gladiator that was part of one of the many gladiatorial schools.

[00:19:47]Either way, the criminal with zero to no experience was basically sentenced to death. You see, what could be worse than being invaded, enslaved, and kept inside of a cell for days just to be given a weapon you have never used, then pushed to the center of the coliseum floor, only for Spartacus to make his walk out shortly after you. Number one.

[00:20:04]>> Yeah. I mean, that's so not that's that's like in the UFC, for example, if you just take some guy off the street and put him up against Francis and Ganu.

[00:20:11]Yeah. Like, oh, that's Yeah, that's fair. You totally stand a chance. I do feel like though, if you have swords, you have a better chance against a professional than if it's just like fist fighting. Cuz I think in fist fighting, you can get less luck. I don't know. I just feel like with a sword, like you just need one good slash and you can win. But in like in a fist fighting, like if you're fighting Francis and Ganu, like you're you're cooked, bro.

[00:20:34]Like there's nothing. You're there's no way. There's 0% chance you win.

[00:20:38]>> Rigged fights. What could be more unfair than rigged matches? Emperor Comeodus was definitely the worst offender when it came to rigged matches. The emperor ruled Rome from 180 to 192 AD and was even portrayed by walking Phoenix in the 2000 film Gladiator.

[00:20:53]>> THAT'S THE MOVIE I WAS TALKING ABOUT.

[00:20:55]That movie is awesome, bro. If you haven't seen it, you got to see it. I mean, it's pretty old now, so if you're younger, then you you might not have seen it, but it actually is a lot of people's all-time favorite movie. It's pretty awesome. But I was about to spoil what's going to happen, but I'm gonna see if he does first, cuz I don't want to be the one to spoil it, but he might spoil it.

[00:21:11]>> Comedus was obsessed with becoming a famous and wellrespected gladiator. So much so that he would even compete himself. Well, if you could even call it that. An emperor fighting as a gladiator was unheard of. Now, of course, Comeodus had the best training in all of Rome and was actually very talented with a sword, but that wouldn't stop him from rigging fights by secretly injuring men just moments before they were brought out to face him. His opponents were injured in a way that could be concealed under their armor, but be devastating enough to hinder their performance or make a limb unusable. Another strategy that the Emperor would use was simply fighting men with zero to no experience, making for another easy W. Emperor Comeodus would have the longest undefeated record as a gladiator.

[00:21:54]>> I mean, to be fair, if you get defeated as a gladiator, you you you might die.

[00:21:58]And as the emperor, you can't die. So, like, I on one hand, like, yes, he's a coward for only taking easy fights and rigging the fights. That's very cowardous of him. But on the other hand, it's like, well, what is he going to like, is he really going to fight the best guys in the world when he is the emperor of Rome? Like, there's he can't die doing that. That would be so ridiculous. really the best thing for him to do was just not fight at all. But I just I understand the idea of like if he's going to fight then he has to win.

[00:22:24]That would be so ridiculous if he didn't win.

[00:22:27]>> And it's suspected that he competed hundreds of times. He would also charge the Roman treasury around 25,000 pieces of silver every time he competed. There are many things you can call Emperor Kamadus, but one thing you can't say is that he ever discriminated since animals were also injured and threatened to face him. Apparently, he killed hundreds of lions, ostriches, some giraffes, and on one occasion even killed three elephants that were just laying on the floor.

[00:22:53]>> Now, as horrible as this all sounds, this was all just a warm-up. And in November of 192 AD, he held the Palibian Games, a festival that lasted around 2 weeks. There, Kamadus shot hundreds of animals with arrows and javelins every single day. But if it makes you feel any better, one month after the Palibian games, Kamadus would be strangled to death inside of his bathtub by a professional wrestler named Narcissist.

[00:23:18]Which for a man, that has to be the most embarrassing way to be found dead, completely naked inside of a cold tub.

[00:23:24]You can't even swing your way out of that one.

[00:23:26]>> Wait, I didn't know he died that way.

[00:23:27]That that kind of sucks. Not that he was a good guy. Deserved better, but that sucks. Anyway, that's it for today. If you enjoyed, leave a like, subscribe, and click here for