Gladiator genera
A number of different genera of gladiators fought in the Roman arenas and developed over the centuries. The attraction of the fights also lay in the fact that different types of gladiators can compete against each other. The origin and course of the gladiator fights are described in the article Gladiator .
Most of the knowledge about the weapons of the gladiators is due to the excavations in Pompeii , where many pieces of equipment from a gladiator barracks were found, which are now kept in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale in Naples . The knowledge is supplemented by preserved small statuettes and depictions of gladiators on tombstones, frescoes, reliefs, mosaics and oil lamps.
The original equipment
The first gladiators, who appeared at funeral ceremonies or at the funerals of distinguished Romans and were also called bustuarii after the pyre bustum , still had simple equipment. Each wore a shield, a sword and was protected by helmets and greaves. Over the centuries, several types of gladiators developed, which differed significantly in their equipment and fighting style.
The genres of the republican period
The early genera of gladiators are likely to have fought with weapons similar to those of the peoples defeated by Rome, to whose names the individual genera refer. Later, however, a gladiator fighting as a Gaul , for example, no longer necessarily had to come from Gaul. The exact equipment of these early genera is unclear due to the sources and can only be guessed.
Samnite
In his work Ab urbe condita (9, 40), Livy reports that the Campanians, allied with the Romans, equipped the fencers who appeared at their banquets with the weapons of the defeated enemies, in this case the Samnites . According to Livy, they were provided with a bush-adorned helmet galea cristata , a high shield and a left leg brace . However, the picture shows these fencers, in contrast to fully equipped Samnite warriors, without breastplate spongia and tunic . The Samnite fought against all other kinds of gladiators and against other Samnites.
Gallus
Little is known about the equipment of the gladiator who fought under the name of Gallier gallus . We know how Gallic warriors were equipped, but the equipment of this gladiator will soon have little in common with that of a Gallic warrior.
The genera of the imperial era
Augustus reformed the gladiatorial system, and so species such as Samnite and Gauls no longer appear in the imperial era. But he also adopted older genres such as Provocator, Thraex and Murmillo.
Eques
The equites opened the gladiatorial games with their fight. They were armed with a brimmed helmet with a visor, a flat round shield, a lance and a gladius short sword . In contrast to all other gladiator types, which were only clothed with a loincloth subligaculum , they wore tunics. They began the fight on horseback, then dismounted and continued with swords. In pictorial representations they are mostly shown in the final phase of the fight, that is, dismounted from the horse and fighting on foot with swords.
Murmillo
The murmillo is a very old genus of gladiators and dates back to the 1st century BC. Proven, but its origin is unclear. The armament of the Murmillo with a short sword gladius and a large, arched rectangular shield scutum resembles that of the legionary infantry . As protective clothing, he had a manica arm guard and a leg brace that reached just below the knee only on the left leg. He wore a helmet with a visor with a high, straight crest, which was also decorated with colorful feathers and looked like a fish (mormylos = small fish). He fought the Thraex .
Thraex
This type of fighter had an armament which should indicate its Thracian origin. The Thraex was armed with a curved- bladed sword, sica , which made it possible to bypass a shield and stab behind it. He was also equipped with a small, arched round shield parmula and wore a helmet with a visor, which was crowned by a helmet crest with a griffin head. As protective clothing, he wore a quilted armguard manica on his right arm . He wore quilted leg guards on both legs that reached far over his thighs. He wore greaves above the knee.
Hoplomachus
As an alternative to the pairing Murmillo against Thraex there was the pairing Murmillo against Hoplomachus . The Hoplomachus was similar in armament and protective clothing to the Thraex , except that instead of the small arched round shield it was armed with a stunted shape of the Greek hoplite round shield and with a pushing lance hasta . For close combat he also had a gladius short sword . In exceptional cases he could also fight the Thraex.
Retiarius
The retiarius was a very unusual gladiator and has only been documented since the reign of Emperor Caligula (37–41 AD). His extraordinary armament consisted of a cast net rete , a Gladius and a trident tridens (also fuscina called). He did not have a shield or a helmet. The shoulder umbrella galerus , the partly metal-studded belt balteus and a bracer manica on his left arm served as protective clothing . Most of the time he tried to throw the net over his opponent. In the further development from the 3rd century AD, the net disappeared noticeably and the manica was reinforced with metal chain mesh or scales. His opponent was predominantly the Secutor .
Pontarius
The Pontarius was a variant of the Retiarius. He defended a small bridge pons with two ramp-like stairs. Secutor attacked on each side and tried to get on the platform. In addition to his usual equipment, the galerus shoulder umbrella and the manica bracer on his left arm, the Pontarius had a large supply of projectiles, probably stone balls.
Secutor
The secutor (pursuer) was a Murmillo who specialized in the fight against the retiarius. In order not to provide a point of attack for his opponent's throwing net, he wore an egg-shaped helmet with only very small eye holes. Although the helmet represented a strong visual impairment, it protected the secutor from the retiarius poking out his eyes. His weapons were a short sword gladius and a large rectangular scutum shield .
Scissor
This rare type of gladiator could also compete as an opponent of the retiarius. Just like the Secutor, he had an egg-shaped helmet with eye holes, carried the gladius short sword in his right hand , and his right arm was also protected by a manica bracer . The special thing about the scissor , however, was that it had no scutum shield , but that its left arm was stuck in a truncated cone-shaped tube that covered the entire forearm. At the end of this tube was a short shaft with a rocking knife-shaped blade. With this weapon he could cut the retiarius's net or parry his trident. He could also almost slit his opponent with a sickly blow. Since he could not cover his body with a shield, he wore knee-length chain mail lorica hamata or a scale armor lorica squamata .
Provocator
The provocator has been known since the late republic and, like the equites, always fought against his own kind. In the 1st century before and 1st century after Christ he wore a helmet that resembled a legionnaire's helmet. Only in the 2nd / 3rd In the 19th century he had a helmet without a comb, with a sloping neck visor and visor . He was equipped with a medium-sized rectangular shield scutum , a bib or crescent-shaped breastplate pectorale and a short sword gladius . A leg brace on his left leg and a manica bracer on his right arm also served as protection .
Gladiatrix
There were a few women who fought in the arena, even if it was hardly common. The equipment in which they fought is only depicted on a relief from Halicarnassus (near Bodrum , Turkey ). They could have fought in all genres, but the two depicted gladiatorial gladiatrices wear the outfit of provocators.
Essedarius
The Essedarius was another type of gladiator who only fought against their own kind. The name is derived from essedum , the name for a Celtic chariot . It is believed that the essedarii in their origins started combat from the chariot and then, like the equites, dismounted and continued to fight on foot. The Essedarius was equipped with a manica bracer on his sword arm, a short sword gladius , gaiters or short bandages on both legs. He also wore a helmet, which in earlier times resembled a legionnaire's helmet and later the Secutor helmet.
Other, unusual genera
Furthermore, there were gladiator types that are less frequently attested.
Dimachaerus
The Dimachaerus fought with two blades, daggers or swords like the gladius, and wore padded bodyguard, bandages on the dagger arm and legs, and sometimes greaves, but no helmet . Its further equipment and existence is not certain, as it is only attested on two inscriptions. In addition, there are indications that the Dimachaerus could possibly have been a subtype of different genera of gladiators, the only thing they had in common was their two-handed armament. Its name is composed of the Greek words for "two" (dio) and "knife" (machaera).
Sagittarius
The Sagittarius ( archer ) is only depicted on a relief in Florence, where two armored and helmeted archers fire at each other in an arena; their weapon for close combat was the dagger.
Andabates
The Andabates is mentioned by Cicero and no longer appears in the imperial era. It is unclear whether it was a separate species or whether it was simply gladiators of the usual species, whose eyes were blindfolded in some way, be it with a blindfold or a helmet without eye holes. This gladiator was very dependent on his hearing, as possible reactions of the audience or breathing sounds could give him information about the location of his opponent.
Laquearius
The laquearius (lasso fighter) who caught fleeing people with a lasso is only mentioned by Isidore of Seville . However, this points to arena staff at executions rather than gladiator fights.
Paegniarius
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Little is known about this type of gladiator. The paegniarius was not armed with deadly weapons. A scene on a mosaic by Nennig is often interpreted as a representation of this type of gladiator. The fighters there carry a whip in their right hand and a wooden board strapped to their left arm. According to a description by Suetonius , Emperor Caligula had family fathers who had a physical handicap appear as gladiators for entertainment in the arena. Since there are Roman depictions of short gladiators from different branches of arms, they may also have appeared as paegniarii with blunt weapons for entertainment. The paegniarii probably appeared in the preliminary fights prolusio and in animal fights.
Veles
The Veles was again a genus that is only mentioned in Isidore of Seville and on some inscriptions with the abbreviation VEL . The name comes from the poorly armed Roman soldiers, velites (skirmishers) during the Punic Wars , and it is believed that their fighting style corresponded to this type of soldier.
Crupellarius
The Crupellarius is mentioned by Tacitus as a Gallic fighter. A bronze statuette from France could represent one of these fully armored fighters.
Scaeva
The Scaeva was a gladiator who fought left-handed . It was considered so important that it was specially performed. Emperor Commodus , who privately - not in the arena - liked to work as a gladiator, fought as a secutor scaeva . If two left-handers faced each other, it was referred to as a left-handed fight pugna scaevata .
Bestiary
The bestiarius specialized in fighting wild animals. But it is not one of the actual gladiator types.
See also
literature
- Alan Baker: Gladiators - life and death fighting games . Goldmann, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-442-15157-0 .
- Marcus Junkelmann : Playing with death - This is how Rome's gladiators fought . von Zabern, Mainz 2000, ISBN 3-8053-2563-0 ( Antike Welt , special issue; Zabern's illustrated books on archeology ).
- Marcus Junkelmann: Gladiators. Fighters of the arena. Tessloff Verlag, Nuremberg 2005, ISBN 3-7886-0422-0 ( Was ist Was 82), (especially for children and young people).
- Eckart Köhne (Ed.): Gladiators and Caesars. the power of entertainment in ancient Rome . von Zabern, Mainz 2000, ISBN 3-8053-2614-9 .
- Fik Meijer: Gladiators. The game of life and death . Artemis and Winkler, Düsseldorf a. a. 2004, ISBN 3-7608-2303-3 (a very detailed summary of the various aspects of gladiatorialism).
- Thomas Wiedemann: Emperors and Gladiators. the power of games in ancient Rome . Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 2001, ISBN 3-534-14473-2 .
Individual evidence
- ^ A. Manas: Evolution of the Retiarius Fighting Technique: Abandoning the Net? In: The International Journal of the History of Sport (2016) . DOI: 10.1080 / 09523367.2016.1196665, 2016.