Roman Gladiators

Modern Stereotypes

Thumbs Down!

Jean-Léon Gérôme. “Police Verso” (“Thumbs Down”), 1872

Types of Evidence

• Literary (Mahoney)

• Material

Artistic Representations

Artifacts (Equipment)

Tombstones

InscriptionsTerracotta Figurine of a Gladiator in the New York Metropolitan Museum of ArtRoman, 1st-2nd century ADAccession # 10.210.78

Literary Evidence:Thumbs Up!

Juvenal. Satire 3.34-37

The one-time horn players, traveling to municipal arenas, their puffed-out cheeks known in all the little towns, are now putting on their on munera, and when the crowd gives the order with upturned thumb, they kill just as the people want.

Material Evidence

Types of Gladiators

Thraex

Retiarius

Place Your Bet!

Some gladiatorial vocabulary:• tiro: a gladiatorial recruit• veteranus: those gladiators who had fought at least once• lanista: a gladiatorial trainer• armatura: gladiatorial equipment• myrmillo: heavily-armed footman with a fish on his helmets• Samnite: heavily-armed footman• secutor: heavily-armed footman• Thraex: light-armed footman bearing a shield and reversed sickle• retiarius: unhelmeted footman armed with only tunic, net, trident

and dagger• essedarius: chariot fighter• familia: a troop of gladiators• ludus: a place of residence and training of gladiators• ludia: female gladiator; women associated with gladiators; "a

female slave attached to a gladiatorial ludus" (OLD)

• munus: gladiatorial show

Gladiatorial Scenes in Art

Zliten Mosaic

Originally in a Roman seaside villaNow in Archaeological MusuemTripoli, Tunisia

Fragment of a Relief Showing Gladiators in the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art Roman, 1st-3rd century ADRecorded ca. 1880 in the Vigna Aquari in Rome.Accession # 57.11.

Gladiator cup, ca. 50–80 A.D.; Neronian–Early FlavianicRoman; Found at Montagnole, southern France

Now in New York Metropolitan Museum of ArtGlass; H. 2 7/8 in. (7.3 cm), Diam. 3 1/8 in. (7.9 cm)Gift of Henry G. Marquand, 1881 (81.10.245)

Ancient Mosaic now in Bourghese Gallery, Rome

Gladiator Mosaic Bad Kreuznach

(Germany)

http://romanhistorybooksandmore.freeservers.com/p_kreuzn_g.htm

http://romanhistorybooks.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/03/19/glad5a.png

Gladitorial Tombstones