List of Roman gladiator types 1

List of Roman gladiator types

This is a list of the different types of gladiator in ancient Rome.

Introduction
Some of the first gladiators had been prisoners-of-war, and so some of
the first types of gladiators, Gauls, Samnites, and Thraeces (Thracians)
used their native weapons and armor.
Different gladiators specialized in different weapons, and it was usual
to pair off combatants with widely different, but more or less
equivalent, equipment. As a rule Gladiators only fought others from
within the same school or troupe but sometimes specific Gladiators
could be requested to fight one from another troupe.
During combat, musicians played musical accompaniments altering
their tempo to match that of the combat in the style now familiar with
music in action movies. Typical instruments were a long straight
trumpet (tuba), a large curved instrument (lituus) similar to an Mosaic, 4th century BC, showing a retiarius or
exaggerated French horn and a water-organ (organum). The Romans "net fighter", with a trident and cast net, fighting
a secutor.
loved burlesque and pantomime and these musicians were sometimes
dressed as animals with names such as "flute playing bear" (Ursus
tibicen) and "horn-blowing chicken" (Pullus cornicen), names sometimes found displayed on contemporary mosaics.
Like todays athletes, Gladiators did product endorsements. Particularly successful Gladiators would endorse goods
in the arena before commencing a fight and have their names promoting products on the Roman equivalent of
billboards.[1]

Forensic studies[2] [3] have shown that as a rule gladiators fought to strict rules and barefooted.[4]

200 AD-Gladiators from the Zliten mosaic. The Part of the Gladiator Mosaic, displayed at the A 5th century CE mosaic in the Great
gladiators are (from left) a disarmed and surrendering Galleria Borghese. It dates from approximately Palace of Constantinople depicts two
retiarius and his secutor opponent, a thraex and 320 CE. The symbol (possibly Greek theta, for venatores fighting a tiger.
murmillo, a hoplomachus and murmillo (who is thanatos) marks a gladiator killed in combat.
signalling his surrender), and the referee.

List
List of Roman gladiator types 2

Name English Details

Andabatae Horseback From the Greek (ascensores) because they fought on horseback. They wore mail like eastern cavalry
fighters (Cataphracti) and wore visored helmets without eye holes. They charged at one another on horseback similar to a
[5]
medieval joust but without being able to see each other.

Arbelas Crescent Likely a renaming of the Scissor, the Arbelas was armed with a dagger in his right hand, and wore a Secutor-type
Knife helmet, chain or scale covering his torso to the knees, a quilted arm-guard (manica) on the right arm and a tubular
Fighter vambrace with a crescent-shaped blade (similar to that used by shoemakers, and where the name Arbelas comes from)
on the end on his left arm. From surviving artwork it seems he only fought his own kind, or the Retiarius.

Bestiarii Animal Men specializing in fighting various types of exotic, imported beasts with spears. The fights were arranged in such a
fighters way that there was a small chance the animal would win. On occasion condemned criminals also fought animals in the
arena, but under less favored conditions. Bestiarii were technically not considered gladiators as they did not fight other
men.

Bustuarii Funeral These fought in honour of a deceased person as part of his funeral rites.
fighters

Cestus Boxers These fighters were the predecessor to modern-day boxers. They would fight with their fists, which were wrapped in
leather gauntlets. Occasionally, the gauntlets would have had spikes in the leather covering the front of the fist.

Dimachaerii Double [6]

From the Greek "" (bearing two knives). Used two swords, one in each hand.
sworded
fighters

Equites Horsemen In early depictions, these lightly-armed gladiators wear scale armour, a medium-sized round cavalry shield (parma
equestris), and a brimmed helmet without a crest, but with two decorative feathers. In Imperial times, they sport a
manica on their right arm and sleeveless, belted tunics, in contrast to other gladiators who usually fought bare-chested,
and no greaves. At least in Isidore of Seville's times, the Equitis rode white horses and opened a day's program of
fights (Origines 18.53ff.). They started on horseback, but after they had thrown their lance (hasta), they dismounted
[7]
and continued to fight on foot with their short sword (gladius). Generally, Equitis only fought other Equitis.

Essedarii War-chariot From the Latin word for a Celtic war-chariot, Esseda. Likely first brought to Rome from Britain by Caesar. Essedarii
fighters appear as arena-fighters in many inscriptions after the first century A.D. Yet since no pictorial representations exist,
[6]
we do not know anything about their equipment and manner of fighting. The traditional way of Celtic chariots,
breaking a hole in the enemy line with a quick charge, deploying an elite warrior to keep it open and then retreating
could have been used only in the mass battles that were sometimes arranged.

Galli Gauls Used a lance, helmet and a small Gallic shield.

Hoplomachi Shield From the Greek "" (armed fighters). They wore quilted, trouser-like leg wrappings, maybe made from
fighters linen, a loincloth, a belt, a pair of long shin-guards or greaves, an arm guard (manica) on the left arm, and a brimmed
helmet that could be adorned with a plume of feathers on top and a single feather on each side. Equipped with a
gladius and a very small, round shield made of one sheet of thick bronze (an example from Pompeii survives) and a
spear, (which the gladiator would have to cast before closing for hand to hand combat). They were paired against
Myrmillonis or Thraecis. They may have developed out of the earlier Samnitis after it became "politically incorrect" to
[8]
use the names of now allied peoples.

Laquearii Lasso Laquearii may have been a kind of Retiarius who tried to catch their adversaries with a lasso (laqueus) instead of a
fighters [6]
net. They also used daggers they were equipped with once they snared their opponents.

Myrmillonis "Fishmen" Wore a helmet with a stylised fish on the crest (the mormylos or sea fish), as well as an arm guard (manica), a
loincloth and belt, a gaiter on his right leg, thick wrappings covering the tops of his feet, and a very short greave with
an indentation for the padding at the top of the feet. Myrmillonis carried a gladius (4050cm long) and a tall, oblong
[9]
shield in the legionary style. They were paired with Thraecis, occasionally also with the similar Hoplomachi.

Paegniarii - Used a whip, club, and a shield which was fixed to the left arm with straps.

Praegenarii - These were used as an opening act to get the crowd in the mood. They used a wooden sword (Rudis) and wore
wrappings around the body. As they fought, they were accompanied by light-hearted comical music using cymbals,
[10]
trumpets, and a water organ (hydraulis).
List of Roman gladiator types 3

Provocatores Challengers Their armament, in the late Republican and early Imperial era, mirrored standard issue legionary armature. In the later
Imperial period, their armament ceased to reflect its military origins, and changes in armament followed changes in
arena fashion only. They have been shown wearing a loincloth, a belt, a long greave on the left leg, a manica on the
lower right arm, and a visored helmet without brim or crest, but with a feather on each side. They were the only
gladiators protected by a breastplate (cardiophylax) which is usually rectangular, later often crescent-shaped. They
[11]
fought with a tall, rectangular shield and the gladius. They were only ever paired against other Provocatores.

Retiarii Net fighters Developed in the early Augustan era, the Retiarius carried a trident, a dagger, and a net. They wore a loincloth held in
place by a wide belt and a larger arm guard (manica) extending to the shoulder and left side of the chest. The Retiarius
fought without the protection of a helmet. Occasionally a metal shoulder shield (galerus) was added to protect the
neck and lower face. A tombstone found in Romania shows a Retiarius holding a dagger with four spikes (each at the
corner of a square guard) instead of the usual bladed dagger. This was previously thought to be an artistic invention or
perhaps a ceremonial weapon, but a recent discovery of a gladiator graveyard found that several of the remains had
four odd-looking marks that form the outline of a square on their bones which is consistent with the use of such a
weapon. A variation to the normal combat was a Retiarius facing two Secutores at the same time. The Retiarus stood
on a bridge or raised platform with stairs and had a pile of fist-sized stones to throw at his adversaries. While the
Retarius tried to keep them at bay, the Secutores tried to scale the structure to attack him. The platform, called a pons
[12]
(bridge), may have been constructed over water. Retiarii usually fought Secutores but sometimes fought
[13]
Myrmillonis.
There appears to have been an effeminate class of Retiarius (retiarius tunicatus) that wore tunics to distinguish them
[14]
from the usual Retiarius.

Rudiarii Free A gladiator who had won his freedom (received his wooden sword or rudis) but chose to remain a gladiator. Not all
Gladiators continued to fight and there was a hierarchy of rudiarii such as trainers, helpers, referees, fighters, etc. These were
very popular with the public as they were experienced and could be relied on to provide a good show.

Sagittarii Mounted These were armed with a reflex bow capable of propelling an arrow a great distance.
bowmen

Samnites Samnites The Samnis, an early type of heavily-armed fighter that disappeared in the early imperial period, point to the
Campanian origins of gladiatorial contests because the Samnitis were a powerful league of Italian tribes in the region
of Campania south of Rome against which the Romans fought three major wars between 326 and 291 BC. A Samnis
was armed with a long rectangular shield (scutum), a plumed helmet, a short sword, and probably a greave on his left
[15]
leg. It was frequently said that Samnitis were the lucky ones since they got large shields and good swords.

Scissores Carvers Little is known about this type of gladiator apart from the name and the weapon they used. They used a special short
sword called the Roman Scissor. This sword had two blades that looked like a pair of open scissors without a hinge. It
is speculated that they attempted to trap their opponent's weapon between the twin blades in order to disarm them.

Secutores Pursuers This kind of fighter, specifically developed to fight the Retiarius, was a variant of the Myrmillo and wore the same
armour and weapons, including the tall rectangular shield and the gladius. His helmet, however, covered the entire
face with the exception of two small eye-holes in order to protect his face from the thin prongs of the trident of his
[16]
opponent. The helmet was almost round and smooth so that the retiarius net could not get a grip on it.

Tertiarii / Substitutes In some games three men were matched against each other. The first two would fight, with the winner then fighting
Suppositicii the third man, called the Tertiarius. Tertiarii would also act as a replacement (substitute) if an advertised gladiator
was unable to fight.

Thraeces Thracians These wore the same protective armour as the Hoplomachi with a broad-rimmed helmet that enclosed the entire head,
distinguished by a stylized griffin on the protome or front of the crest (the griffin was the companion of the avenging
goddess Nemesis), a small round or square-shaped shield (parmula), and two thigh-length greaves. His weapon was
the Thracian curved sword (sica or falx, c. 34cm/13in long). They were introduced as replacements for the Gauls
[17]
after Gaul made peace with Rome. They commonly fought Myrmillonis or Hoplomachi.

Velites Skirmishers Fought on foot, each holding a spear with an attached thong for throwing. Named for the early and similarly armed
Republican army units of the same name.

Venatores Hunters Specialized in wild animal hunts instead of fighting them as the Bestiarii did. As well as hunting they also performed
tricks with animals such as putting an arm in a lion's mouth, riding a camel while leading lions on a leash, and making
an elephant walk a tightrope (Seneca Ep. 85.41). Technically they were not gladiators but were still a part of the
games.
List of Roman gladiator types 4

Noxii Criminals These were condemned criminals who fought each other. Sometimes one had a weapon and was blindfolded while the
other was unarmed but had no blindfold. Sometimes they both fought with blindfolds with two referees (and the
audience) giving them directions. The audience was known to yell misleading directions at times for their own
amusement.

References
[1] Not Such a Wonderful Life: A Look at History in Gladiator (http:/ / au. movies. ign. com/ articles/ 035/ 035289p1. html) IGN movies
February 10, 2000
[2] Gladiators fought by the book (http:/ / www. newscientist. com/ channel/ being-human/ mg18925404. 600-gladiators-fought-by-the-book-.
html) New Scientist February 23, 2006
[3] Head injuries of Roman gladiators (http:/ / www. journals. elsevierhealth. com/ periodicals/ fsi/ article/ PIIS0379073805005815/ abstract)
Forensic Science International Volume 160, Issue 2, Pages 207-216 July 13, 2006
[4] Roman gladiators were fat vegetarians (http:/ / www. abc. net. au/ science/ news/ ancient/ AncientRepublish_1081439. htm) ABC Science
April 5, 2004
[5] This article incorporates content from the 1728 Cyclopaedia, a publication in the public domain.
[6] Marcus Junkelmann, 'Familia Gladiatoria: "The Heroes of the Amphitheatre"' in The Power of Spectacle in Ancient Rome: Gladiators and
Caesars, ed. by Eckart Khne and Cornelia Ewigleben (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 2000), p. 63
[7] Junkelmann 2000, pp. 37 and 47-48
[8] Junkelmann 2000, pp. 52-53
[9] Junkelmann 2000, pp. 48-51
[10] Roman Gladiator Types (http:/ / www. unrv. com/ culture/ roman-gladiators. php) UNRV History Roman Empire
[11] Junkelmann 2000, pp. 37 and 57-59
[12] Junkelmann 6061.
[13] Junkelmann 2000, pp. 59-61
[14] "The Retiarius Tunicatus of Suetonius, Juvenal, and Petronius" (1989) by Steven M. Cerutti and L. Richardson, Jr. The American Journal of
Philology, 110, P589-594
[15] Junkelmann 2000, p. 37
[16] Junkelmann 2000, pp. 40-41 and 61-63
[17] Junkelmann 2000, pp. 51-57

External links
Gladiator graveyard in York England (http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/
gladiators-back-from-the-dead-4654/facts)
Article Sources and Contributors 5

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