Defense Condition is a measure of the activation and readiness level of the United States armed forces. DEF CON is the portmanteau of "DEFense [Readiness] CONdition". These defense conditions describe progressive postures for use between the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the commanders of unified commands. DEFCONs are matched to the situations of military severity. Standard peacetime protocol is DEFCON 5, which descends when plunged into increasingly severe situations. DEFCON 1 represents expectation of actual imminent attack, and has never been declared.
In a national emergency, seven different alert conditions (referred to as LERTCONs) can be issued. The seven LERTCONs are broken down into 5 Defense Conditions (referred to as DEFCONs) and two Emergency Conditions (referred to as EMERGCONs).
Contents[hide]
1 Descriptions of DEFCONs
2 Conditions
3 Homeland Security
4 See also
5 External link
//
[edit]

Descriptions of DEFCONs
Defcons are phased increases in combat readiness. Expanded explanations follow below.
DEFCON 1: Maximum force readiness.
DEFCON 2: Increased force readiness (less than maximum).
DEFCON 3: Increased force readiness.
DEFCON 4: Peacetime; Increased intelligence; Strengthened security measures.
DEFCON 5: Peacetime.
DEFCON 5 is the condition used to designate normal peacetime military readiness. An upgrade in military preparedness is typically made by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and announced by the United States Secretary of Defense. The level can be increased, respectively, to DEFCON 4, 3, 2, and 1.
DEFCON 4 refers to normal, increased intelligence and the heightening of national security measures. Readiness remained at this level throughout most of the Cold War.
DEFCON 3 refers to an increase in force readiness above normal. Radio callsigns used by American forces change to currently-classifed callsigns. United States military commands (minus the Strategic Air Command, at heightened alert on DEFCON 2) went to this level in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis. All United States forces went on DEFCON 3 during the 1973 Yom Kippur War when Soviet nuclear warheads were discovered moving toward Egypt. The third time the United States reached DEFCON 3 was during the September 11, 2001 attacks.
DEFCON 2 refers to a further increase in force readiness just below maximum readiness. It has only been declared once, during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
DEFCON 1 refers to maximum readiness. This has never (verifiably) been used but is reserved for imminent or ongoing attack on US military forces or US territory by a foreign military power, although speculation is that on September 11th 2001, DEFCON 1 may have been imposed.
[edit]

Conditions
Different branches of the armed forces (e.g., army, navy, air force) and different bases or command groups can be activated at different defense conditions. For much of the Cold War, US ICBM sites were always at DEFCON 4 rather than 5.
The highest alert condition the US military has been at was DEFCON 2. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, Strategic Air Command (SAC) was ordered to 2 and the rest of the US military to 3 on October 22, 1962. SAC remained at 2 until November 15. Higher alert conditions were also ordered during the Yom Kippur War (1973).
It should be further noted that SAC's move to DEFCON 2 during the Cuban Missile Crisis was precipitated by General Thomas Power and General Curtis LeMay, and was done without consulting the Executive Branch.
The DEFCON level is controlled primarily by the President and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and each DEFCON level defines specific security, activation and response scenarios for the troops in question.
Some declassified documents show that DEFCON level 1 was ordered and attained during the gulf war of 1991 source
[edit]

Homeland Security
A matching code of five status levels, the Homeland Security Advisory System, is used by the Department of Homeland Security to indicate possible terrorist threats.
Red
Severe Condition
Orange
High Condition
Yellow
Elevated Condition
Blue
Guarded Condition
Green
Low Condition

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Jump to: navigation, search
This article is about the Roman professional fighter. For other uses of the word, see gladiator.

Pollice Verso, an 1872 painting by Jean-Léon Gérôme, is a well known history painter's researched conception of a gladiatorial combat.
Gladiators (Latin gladiatores) were professional fighters in ancient Rome who fought against each other, wild animals, and slaves, sometimes to the death, for the entertainment of spectators. These fights took place in arenas in many cities during the Roman republic and the Roman Empire.
The word comes from gladius, the Latin word for a short sword used by legionaries and some gladiators.
Contents[hide]
1 Ancient Roman gladiators
2 Gladiators in modern popular culture
2.1 Science fiction and fantasy
2.2 Reality entertainment
3 References
//
[edit]

Ancient Roman gladiators
The gladiatorial games were originally established by the Etruscans, but were later adopted by the Roman as a means of entertainment. The Etruscans believed when an important man died his spirit needed a blood sacrifice to survive in the after life (Nardo, Games of 21). The first recorded gladiatorial combats took place in Rome in 264 BC. Decimus Junius Brutus Scaeva staged it in honor of his dead father. It was held between three pairs of slaves, and held in the Forum Boarium. The ceremony was called a munus or “duty paid to a dead ancestor by his descendants, with the attention of keeping alive his memory” (Baker, Gladiator 10). These were held for notable people and were repeated every one to five years after the person’s death.

Bronze medallion depicting the fight between a gladiator and a wild animal (venatio).
Public spectacles (called munera, singular munus) took place in amphitheatres (like the Colosseum) and took the latter half of the day after the fights against animals (venationes) and public executions of criminals (noxii). Initially rich private individuals organized these, often to gain political favor with the public. The person who organized the show was called the editor, munerator, or dominus and he was honored with the official signs of a magistrate. Later the emperors would exert a near complete monopoly on staging public entertainment which included chariot racing in the circus (ludi circenses), hunts of wild animals, public executions, theatrical performances (ludi scaenici) and gladiator fights. There was usually musical accompaniment.
Gladiators were typically picked from prisoners of war, slaves, and sentenced criminals. There were also occasional volunteers. They were trained in special gladiator schools (ludi). One of the largest schools was in Ravenna. There were four schools in Rome itself, the largest of which was called the Ludus Magnus. The Ludus Magnus was connected to the Colosseum by an underground tunnel. Gladiators often belonged to a troupe (familia) that traveled from town to town. A trainer of gladiators or the manager of a team of gladiators was known as a lanista. The troupe's owner rented gladiators to whomever wanted to stage games. A gladiator would typically fight no more than three times per year.
It should be noted that fights were not generally to the death during the Republic, although gladiators were still killed or maimed accidentally.
Gladiators could be also the property of a wealthy individual who would hire lanistae to train them. Several senators and emperors had their own favorites.
Criminals were either expected to die within a year (ad gladium) or might earn their release after three years (ad ludum) — if they survived.
Different gladiators specialized in different weapons, and it was popular to pair off combatants with widely different equipment. Gladiator types and their weaponry included:
Andabatae: Fought with visored helmet and possibly blindfolded and on horseback.
Dimachaeri: Carried two short swords (the gladius)
Bestiari: Fought against beasts, usually with spears.
Equites: Fought on horseback with a spear and gladius, dressed in a full tunic, with a manica
Essedari: Charioteers in Celtic style.
Hoplomachi: Fully armored, based on Greek hoplites. They wore a helmet with a stylized griffin on the crest, woollen leg wrappings, and shin-guards. They carried a gladius and a small, round shield, and were paired with mirmillones or Thraces. They apparently became Samnites later.
Laquerii: Lasso Laqueatores were those who used a noose to catch their adversaries
Mirmillones (or murmillones): Wore a helmet with a stylized fish on the crest, as well as a manica. They carried a gladius and an oblong shield in the Gallic style. They were paired with hoplomachi or Thraces.
Provocatores: Fought with the Samnites but their armament is unknown (might have been variable, hence the term "provocators")
Retiarii: Carried a trident, a dagger, and a net, and had at least naked torso, no helmet, and a larger manica. They commonly fought secutores or mirmillones.
Samnites: Carried a long rectangular shield, visor, plumed helmet and short sword. The name came from the people of the same name Romans had conquered.
Secutores: Had the same armour as a murmillo, including oblong shield and a gladius, however, they wore a helmet with only two eye-holes. They were the usual opponents of retiarii.
Thraces: Had the same armour and weapons as hoplomachi, but instead had a round shield and also carried a curved dagger. Their name came from Thracians, and they commonly fought mirmillones or hoplomachi.

A flask depicting the final phase of the fight between two gladiators (mirmillones).
Gladiators usually fought in pairs (Ordinarii), that is, one gladiator against another. However, sponsor or audience could request other combinations like several gladiators fighting together (Catervarii) or specific gladiators against each other even from outside the established troupe (Postulaticii). Sometimes a lanista had to rely on substitutes (supposititii) if the requested gladiator was already dead or incapacitated. The Emperor could have his own gladiators (Fiscales).
At the end of a fight, when one gladiator acknowledged defeat by raising a finger, the audience could decide whether the loser should live or die. It is known that the audience (or sponsor or emperor) pointed their thumbs a certain way if they wanted the loser to be killed, but it is not clear which way they pointed. It is possible that they pointed their thumbs upwards if they wanted the loser to live, and downwards if they wanted him to die; or, they may have done the opposite, pointing downwards if they wanted the gladiator to live. Another possibility is that they raised their fist but kept their thumb inside it if they wanted the loser to live, and pointed down to signify death. A gladiator did not have to die after every match - if the audience felt both men fought admirably, they would likely want both to live and fight for their amusement in the future. A gladiator who won several fights was allowed to retire, often to train other fighters. Gladiators who managed to win their freedom - often by request of the audience or sponsor - were given a wooden sword as a memento.
The attitude of Romans towards the gladiators was ambivalent: on the one hand they were considered as lower than slaves, but on the other hand some successful gladiators rose to celebrity status. There was even a belief that nine eaten gladiator livers were a cure for epilepsy. Gladiators often developed large followings of women, who apparently saw them as sexual objects. This may be one reason that many types of gladiators fought bare-chested. It was socially unacceptable for citizen women to have sexual contact with a gladiator. Faustina, the mother of the emperor Commodus, was said to have conceived Commodus with a gladiator, but Commodus likely invented this story himself. Despite or because of the prohibition many rich women sought intimate contact with gladiators. They were the ancient Pop stars and the festivity before the fights gave the women an opportunity to meet them.
Despite the extreme dangers and hardships of the profession, some gladiators were volunteers (called auctorati) who fought for money; effectively this career was a sort of last chance for people who had gotten into financial troubles.
Their oath (which Seneca describes as particularly shameful) implied their acceptance of slave status and of the worst public consideration (infamia). More famous is their phrase to the emperor or sponsor before the fight: Nos morituri te salutamus ("We who are about to die salute you").
Some emperors, among them Hadrian, Caligula, Titus and Commodus also entered the arena for (presumably) fictitious or rigged combats. Emperor Trajan organized as many as 5000 gladiator fighting pairs. Gladiator contests could take months to complete.
Gaius Marius had gladiators train the legionaries in single combat.
Female gladiators also existed; The Emperor Domitian liked to stage torchlit fights between dwarfs and women, according to Suetonius in "The Twelve Caesars".
One of the most famous gladiators was Spartacus who became the leader of a group of escaped gladiators and slaves. His revolt, which began in 73 BC, was crushed by Marcus Licinius Crassus two years later. After this, gladiators were deported from Rome and other cities during times of social disturbances, for fear that they might organize and rebel again.
The Greek physician Galen worked for a while as a gladiator's physician in Pergamon.
Gladiator fights were first outlawed by Constantine I in 325 but continued sporadically until about 450. The last known gladiator competition in the city of Rome occurred on January 1, 404.
[edit]

Gladiators in modern popular culture
[edit]

Science fiction and fantasy
Gladiators are sometimes mentioned in science fiction, being depicted in the film The Running Man; as well as the games Battletech, Quake, and Unreal. The Unreal Tournament series is especially notable as a futuristic gun slinging take on gladiators.
The exploits of gladiators are also typical fare in the sword and sandal genre of fantasy films.
[edit]

Reality entertainment
For obvious human rights and liability reasons, it has been impossible to revive gladiator fights in the Ancient Roman sense (where the fight concludes with serious bodily injury or death). However, the controversial Bumfights videos have been described by some people as 'gladiator fights for the homeless'.
In the U.S. during the 1990s, there was a game show called American Gladiators, and around the same time, World Wrestling Entertainment popularized a rather wild style of wrestling which some compared to gladiator combat. However, the competitors on American Gladiators never directly attacked each other, and the WWE fights are openly acknowledged to be staged performances, as opposed to actual competition.
In California, Corcoran State Prison became infamous in 1997 when it was discovered that the guards were staging informal "gladiator" fights with the prisoners (some of which were videotaped). Such fights differ from true gladiator fights in that they were not state-sponsored or approved.
Gladiatorial imagery is also associated with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, whose opening credits in their broadcasts feature a gladiator preparing for battle.
[edit]

References
Thomas Wiedemann: Emperors and Gladiators, Routledge 1992
James Grout: Gladiators, part of the Encyclopædia Romana
Violence and the Romans: The Arena Spectacles
The Revolt of Spartacus A narrative essay.
Daniel P Mannix: "Those About To Die", Ballantine Books, New York 1958
Michael Grant: "Gladiators", Penguin Books, London 1967, reprinted 2000, ISBN 0140299343