World Wide Words. List of Roman gladiator types. A retiarius ("net fighter") with a trident and cast net, fighting a secutor (79 AD mosaic) There were many different types of gladiator in ancient Rome.
Some of the first gladiators had been prisoners-of-war, and so some of the earliest types of gladiators, Gauls, Samnites, and Thraeces (Thracians) used their native weapons and armor. Watch-Documentaries.