Pontarius

The pontarius ( Latin : bridge fighter ) was a Roman gladiator . Pontarii , however, were not an independent genus of gladiators, but rather gladiators who fought over a kind of bridge were called. The name is derived from pons (Latin: bridge). Pontarii were always gladiators of the two types, secutor and retiarius .

The fight

The pons was represented by a footbridge about 2.5 meters high, to which a chicken ladder-like staircase led up on both sides. A retiarius stood on the jetty . He had to defend the footbridge against two secutores that could attack from both sides. In this fight, the retiarius also had stone projectiles.

See also

• Gladiator genera

literature

• Marcus Junkelmann : Playing with death - This is how Rome's gladiators fought . Zabern, Mainz 2000, ISBN 3-8053-2563-0 ( Antike Welt , special issue; Zabern's illustrated books on archeology ).