Scissor (Gladiator)

Retiarius against Scissor in an exhibition match, Römerfest in Xanten, 2003

The scissor (-oris m, Latin : slitter) or arbelas was a Roman genus of gladiators . There is no definite information about its appearance.

swell

The scissor is only mentioned in a single inscription from the 1st century BC. Mentioned as a gladiator type. Historians suggest that the scissor is identical to a gladiator depicted on several reliefs . However, this identification is not considered certain. Since after the 1st century BC If no evidence for the name scissor can be found any more, the gladiator type disappeared or it was renamed to arbelas , which is considered more likely. The name comes from the Greek cobbler knife Arbelos . Six images are known for the arbelas .

Equipment and armament

Reenactment in Carnuntum

The gladiator type was heavily armed. He carried a short sword ( gladius ) in one hand. On the other arm he carried a metal tube that ended in a stump to which a blade in the shape of a chopping knife was attached. As there are no surviving specimens of this unusual weapon, details can only be based on guesswork. Inside, a handle was probably attached, similar to the Indian Qatar or Pata , which the gladiator could grasp in order to improve the grip and control of the weapon. The weapon was probably sharpened on the outside as well as the inside; thus it could cut on both thrust and retraction. The weapon was probably intended primarily to parry the retiarius's net and trident, but it could also be used as a dangerous offensive weapon.

He was protected by a helmet that covered the whole face and only exposed small eye holes. The secutor used the same helmet . The upper body was covered up to the knees by a scale armor or chain mail. He wore armguards ( manica ) on his sword arm and greaves on both legs that reached down to his knees.

opponent

The gladiator is depicted on some reliefs from the eastern Mediterranean, on it he fights either against a retiarius or against another scissor / arbelas.

literature

Marcus Junkelmann : Playing with death. This is how Rome's gladiators fought . Mainz am Rhein, 2000 ( Ancient World , special issue; Zabern's illustrated books on archeology ), ISBN 3-8053-2563-0 . Pp. 95, 111 f.

Individual evidence

↑ Konstantin Nossov: Gladiator: Rome's Bloody Spectacle , Osprey Publishing, 2009, ISBN 978-1-84603-472-5 , page 47
↑ Marcus Junkelmann: Gladiators: the game with death , Verlag P. v. Zabern, 2008, ISBN 3-8053-3797-3 , page 210 [1]
↑ Konstantin Nossov: Gladiator: Rome's Bloody Spectacle , Osprey Publishing, 2009, ISBN 978-1-84603-472-5 , pages 47-48
↑ Marcus Junkelmann: The game with death: so fought Rome's gladiators , Verlag Philipp von Zabern, 2000, ISBN 3-8053-2563-0 , page 95 [2]

[1] Konstantin Nossov: Gladiator: Rome's Bloody Spectacle , Osprey Publishing, 2009, ISBN 978-1-84603-472-5 , page 47

[2] Marcus Junkelmann: Gladiators: the game with death , Verlag P. v. Zabern, 2008, ISBN 3-8053-3797-3 , page 210 [1]

[3] Konstantin Nossov: Gladiator: Rome's Bloody Spectacle , Osprey Publishing, 2009, ISBN 978-1-84603-472-5 , pages 47-48

[4] Marcus Junkelmann: The game with death: so fought Rome's gladiators , Verlag Philipp von Zabern, 2000, ISBN 3-8053-2563-0 , page 95 [2]