Part II – The life of Gladiatrix

Bronze statue of a female gladiator raising her sword in victory.

So, last time we were introduced to the idea of female gladiators and now we’ve got over the shock, we can start examining them in greater detail.

As I said last time, female gladiators may have fought with lighter equipment, but that doesn’t mean that their equipment was light. In fact it was probably very heavy and therefore our female gladiators, Amazon and Achillia, must have had some training.

But where? No ludus or gladiator school had facilities for women. It’s possible that ex-gladiators trained their daughters at home if they had no sons, but this is a very specific set of circumstances which doesn’t correlate with the number of female gladiators.

An alternative lies in the collegia invenum. These were youth societies for young aristocratic males which would have had all the appropriate training equipment.

This solution becomes even more palpable when it is considered that most female gladiators were wealthy ladies drawn in by the fame and glamour of the arena. The law of 22B.C (and several subsequent laws) appears to have done little to stop them competing. Indeed, the fact that such laws had to be rewritten and reintroduced several times over implies that they were constantly flouted.

It’s unlikely that there were many, if any, slave female fighters as it’s hard to imagine a female slave being sold to a ludus when there were other more ‘feminine’ options readily available. Therefore, most female gladiators were probably wealthy ladies and wealthy ladies were a common sight in the collegia.

So, that answers the questions of who they were and where they trained, but how many of them were there and how were they viewed?

There are a few preserved programmes of the games which mention female fighters and an inscription at Ostia highly praises its organiser for displaying them. In most cases the women were scheduled to fight in the late afternoon, otherwise known as the Roman ‘top spot’.

Placing them in this position suggests a measure of popularity. The Romans were great fans of novelty and probably hugely enjoyed the spectacle of female fighters.

This is, of course, only the common opinion. Wealthy authors have a great deal to say on the scandalous nature of female fighters. But then, they have a great deal to say on the scandalous nature of male gladiators too and yet the games remained immensely popular.

The surviving programmes coupled with scattered literary mentions also provide clues as to how many there were. The short answer is; few enough to be considered an unusual and spectacular event, but not so few that any appearance of them warranted a lengthy treatise on the genius of the organiser.

So, in summary, there were probably a fair few, they probably trained in the collegia invenum, were reasonably popular, and were mostly wealthy women.

Emma P.

Sources:

Coleman, C. (2000) ‘Missio at Halicarnassus’ Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, vol. 100, 487-5000

Kyle, D. (2007) Sport and spectacle in the ancient word. Oxford.

Murray, S. (2003) ‘Female gladiators of the ancient Roman world’, Journal of Combative Sport, (Electronic journals: http://ejmas.com/jcs/jcsart_murray_0703.htm)

Part I – An unusual kind of Gladiator.

No one should bring on to the stage a senator's son, daughter, grandson, granddaughter, great-grandson, great-granddaughter, or any male whose father or grandfather, possessed the right of sitting in the seats reserved for the knights, or induce them by means of a fee to fight to the death in the arena

The above is a small extract from a Roman law instituted in 22B.C. Take a look at it. There is one slight oddity…..

If you can’t spot it, don’t worry I’ll tell you; it’s the mention of daughters and granddaughters. What this law, in its fullest form, prohibits is any member of the upper classes appearing in the amphitheatre. That’s any member, both men and women.

Now, it’s extremely rare to introduce a law to prohibit something which hasn’t happened yet. So, what this law in fact testifies to is the existence of female gladiators fighting in the arena.

This might seem rather tenuous evidence by itself but once introduced to the idea that female gladiators existed, the evidence starts to stack up.

A relief from Halicarnassus depicting two gladiators, currently in the British Museum

This relief from Halicarnassus may look like two ordinary gladiators but believe it or not they are two female fighters. We can tell this for certain because their stage names have been helpfully inscribed below them, Amazon and Achillia, clearly female names.

The fact that they look no different from their male counterparts tells us a little about the equipment these fighters used. Essentially it appears to be exactly the same as that which the male gladiators used and yes gentlemen, that means the women also fought bare-chested.

It’s possible that equipment for women was slightly lighter, in order to compensate for the difference in strength between the sexes. Evidence of this can be seen on the relief. Take a look at the bottom corners and you’ll see that their helmets have been placed to the side. One major difference between these helmets and ordinary helmets is the lack of a crest on the top. This crest made the helmet much heavier and may have been removed in order to lighten the load. But otherwise the equipment for men and women appears to have been much the same.

As the equipment was similar we might also assume that their style of combat was similar and that they complied with the same rules. It was probably just as brutal as well (although Amazon and Achillia appear to have fought to a standstill and a draw was declared, leaving them both alive).

The author Juvenal also refers to female gladiators, but only in order to mock them. But then, Juvenal mocks almost everything the public enjoyed and we probably shouldn’t take his derision too seriously.

The historian Dio mentions that the Emperor Domitian ‘had women and dwarfs fight by torchlight’ (Dio. Roman History. 67.8.2. ) although it’s not clear whether he means that bouts were woman vs. woman and dwarf vs. dwarf or woman vs. dwarf.

So, it seems that women were included in the action of the arena, but there are still several problems with the notion of female gladiators; where did they train? How many of them were there? How did the populace of Rome view them? And even, who exactly were they? But don’t worry; all of these questions will be answered next time.

Emma P. s

Sources:

Coleman, C. (2000) ‘Missio at Halicarnassus’ Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, vol. 100, 487-5000

Kyle, D. (2007) Sport and spectacle in the ancient word. Oxford.

Murray, S. (2003) ‘Female gladiators of the ancient Roman world’, Journal of Combative Sport, (Electronic journals: http://ejmas.com/jcs/jcsart_murray_0703.htm)

Part II – Blood, Threat and Cheers

In the last blog, we looked at the basics of the Roman gladiator and gladiatorial contests; in this second part we’ll explore the position of the gladiator in Roman society and how they were viewed by those around them.

BATRM 1981.5.a.1 Samian piece depicting gladiators on display at the Roman Baths Museum

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Close up

The gladiator held a very contradictory position within ancient Roman society. While he could win fame and fortune and become a sort of celebrity, he was also forever an outcast – these people were known as the ‘infames’ of society, a label and status assigned to most performers who were paid for their acts.

Such stigma did not necessarily entail shame though: there is plenty of evidence from tombstones that shows gladiators declared their profession proudly. They seem to have been something of an enigma even to the Romans, who were fascinated by them, and believed the blood of a gladiator could be used as a remedy against impotence!

‘Healing blood’ sounds like something we might associate with the divine, so perhaps their heroic status was more powerful than their ‘infamia’. This would go some way to explaining the decoration on fragments of Samian ware which we hold here at The Roman Baths. On one fragment gladiators are thought to appear alongside Hercules, a very well-known hero of the ancient world.

Remains of the gladiator school at Pompeii, where the body of a rich lady was found amongst the fighters

Roman women were clearly not put off by the gladiator’s status either. The excavations at Pompeii have revealed some fascinating evidence of this, including graffiti which refers to gladiator Celadus, who ‘makes the girls swoon’. They’ve also uncovered a Pompeian woman in amongst a group of gladiators – all preserved by Vesuvius’ eruption – suggesting there was mingling, or perhaps even a love affair, taking place at the time.

The Emperor Commodus took part in gladiatorial games. An avid supporter, he trained in combat and appeared in the arena in AD 193 dressed as Hercules, but his stunt did not go down well with dismayed contemporaries who considered it undignified.

The Emperor Commodus as Hercules’

Today, we would probably assume that it was the bloodshed of gladiatorial games which caused controversy in the ancient world. In fact commentators at the time were much more concerned about the effect they had on the audience’s emotions – philosophers believed the games caused people to lose self-control, and criticised them for this.

The aim was not gore at all but an impressive contest of control and skill, and a demonstration of excellent swordsmanship. Hence the use of strict rules and a referee - if, for example, armour fell off unprovoked (i.e. unfairly), the referee could pause proceedings. A fair fight was essential: there was no honour in beating a weaker opponent. So contests for criminals charged to execution were generally held at lunchtime, when the audience was at its thinnest. Such fights were not entertaining as the gladiator had a major advantage over the convict.

Entertainment lay in the ability of the two fighters, evenly matched, to out-fight each other. Exceptional skill was important, as, if the audience were impressed enough, they could call for the loser’s life to be spared. On the other hand, those condemned to death were expected to master the moment – welcoming it by kneeling before their opponent.

The Emperor Honorius formally banned gladiatorial games in AD 404, but they have continued to be a source of wonder and entertainment for us ever since.

Sources:

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/gladiators/gladiators.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/gladiators_01.shtml

Gladiators and Caesars: The Power of Spectacle in Ancient Rome, ed. Kohne, E., and Ewigleben, C., London 2000

Part I – Let the Games Begin!

Illustrations of the gladiator and gladiatorial combat by one of our volunteers, James.

The Olympic Games may have begun in Greece but they were very much affected by the rise of the Roman Empire, particularly as many Greek athletes were ‘adopted’ by Rome – which meant that sometimes there weren’t enough competitors to hold a full programme of events!

One sport of the ancient world which seems to fascinate us is the Roman gladiatorial contest, which, in its own time was not very controversial at all. This is hard for us to get our heads around because we’re not used to such brutality in the entertainment industry, but we’ll see in the second part of this blog next week that the Romans viewed these competitions very differently to us.

Gladiatorial games seem to have started around 264 BC when slaves fought at the funerals of noblemen for entertainment. Over time the fights began to be held for their own sake, and they became a useful way for Emperors to keep their people happy.

So who were these gladiators? Most obviously: slaves and criminals. Criminals could be condemned ‘to the sword’ (execution by a gladiator) or to train at a gladiatorial school, which at least gave them the opportunity to learn and develop the skills which could save them. Remarkably though, by the end of the Roman Republic half of all gladiators were voluntary free men, probably lured by the down payment.

The ludus magnus – the best-known training ground for gladiators.

Gladiators trained in schools, the most famous of which was the ludus magnus, set just beside the Colosseum. These schools usually pitted their own gladiators against each other, because being killed by a comrade was considered preferable to being killed by a stranger. Just like today, the contestants warmed up first - in their case fighting with blunted or wooden weapons. Fights lasted around fifteen minutes, and were usually between pairs of gladiators, though mass fights did sometimes take place.

There were many different types of gladiator, each with his own armour, weaponry and, above all, fighting style. Participants were usually paired up with a different gladiator type to make for a more interesting contest, given the varying advantages and disadvantages of each type. Though there were no points to be won, only victory, there were still strict rules and a referee to enforce them.

On the surface, the world of the gladiator seems poles apart from our sporting contests, but in the end the games were about winners and losers, as they will be in London come July.

Be sure to look out for part II, where we explore how the gladiator was perceived in his own city.

Sources:

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/gladiators/gladiators.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/gladiators_01.shtml

Gladiators and Caesars: The Power of Spectacle in Ancient Rome, ed. Kohne, E., and Ewigleben, C., London 2000