Warrior Bio: Roman Gladiators, circa 72 BCE.

Author's Note:  I'm sorry for the long delay in new content, through numerous personal circumstances I've been both out of town and away from Internet access.  To sort of make up for that, I'm posting the next scheduled Warrior Bio a day early!

Two gladiators combat one another in the ring, one of them a retiarus fighting with net and trident.  This image is used without permission from http://www.dpchallenge.com

-Offensive Assessment

~Close Quarters Combat; Sica, Gladius, Shield.  The primary weapon of most Roman gladiators would have been the sword; a tool after Rome’s own heart, as it was the staple weapon of the Legions and their enemies.  The two main types  of swords used by the gladiators would have been the sica and the gladius – the sica was essentially a gladius with the blade bent sharply forwards near the middle of the blade at a forty-five degree angle.  Commonly referred to as the “Thracian knife”, due to its similarity to Thracian daggers and swords, this sword was the primary weapon of the thraex and retiarius varieties of gladiators.  The other mainstream sword type was the gladius, which was identical to the model used by the Roman Legions.  Many gladiators were actually dishonored legionnaires who had been ordered to serve time for various crimes against the Legions, so they were often given the same gladius that they had once fought with.  Both of these swords were used alongside a shield, are excellent slashing and thrusting weapons, and have relatively decent reach for this category.  As such, they get five (5) of five (5) possible points in this category.

~Weapons of Reach; Trident and Net, Hasta, Shield.  The classical trident and net combination is often the first image that comes to mind when one reads the word “gladiator”.  That is for good reason; the type of warrior that used them both, the retiarus, was one of the most popularly-demanded fighters in the ancient Roman arenas.  The trident was a long, three-pronged spear that featured excellent reach and penetration ability in combat.  It was used in conjunction with a large net weighted at the ends, which would be used on both offense and defense; it could easily catch opponents and their weapons, disarming them – or entangling them to be skewered helplessly by a follow-up thrust of the trident.  The second weapons combination used in this middling range was the hasta and shield; the hasta was a typical spear about seven feet in height and topped with a wide iron point.  It was often used by the hoplamachus gladiators, which were modeled after Greek hoplite soldiers for use in reenactment-style fights in the arenas.  The hasta was used all throughout Roman history in various capacities, serving as a primary weapon in the days of the Republic and late Empire, as well as an officer’s and auxilia weapon in the heyday of the Legions, and of course, as a death-dealing tool in the gladiatorial games.  The hasta was easy enough to use with a shield, and that allows it to work alongside the trident and net combination in getting ten (10) of ten (10) possible points in this category.

This image gives a clear illustration of three gladiator types:  the retiarus, the murmillo, and the thraex.  Each carries the traditional arms and armor of their fighting style.

~Long-Distance Fighting; Sling and Stones, Javelins, Shield.  Gladiatorial combat was not usually fought at a distance, but when it was the weapons used were simple, accurate ones:  the sling and the javelin.  Along with the bow and arrow, these three distance-fighting systems were some of the first killing tools devised by mankind, and have been found nearly wherever humans have lived on the planet.  The sling consisted of a simple mechanism; a long leather cord would have a shaped stone (or in Greece, a lead bullet) fitted into a small cup formed into the middle of the cord.  The two ends of the sling would then be held in the hand and spun around the head of the user until they gained enough momentum; then the weapon would be loosed upon its target.  When in the hands of a trained user, the sling and its stones could very easily break bones, rend flesh, and kill enemies – as can be seen in the famous Biblical tale of David and Goliath.  Gladiators that did not use the sling would instead use simple javelins, varying in crudeness from rude, fire-sharpened sticks to Legion-grade weighted pilum.  Regardless, both of these weapons systems would have been effective at distances of under one hundred yards, perfect for Roman arenas but less than ideal for conditions outside of them.  Altogether, they get a score of twelve (12) of twenty (20) points here, as though their gear was somewhat efficient it left much to be desired.

~Specialized Weapons; War-Hounds.  One of the most exciting gladiator games was to put man against beast; most commonly a lion, bear, or other large carnivore.  Interestingly, it is believed that the Romans bred war-hounds for use against the “barbarians” who were unused to encountering such animals.  Like many other parts of their warfare traditions, this trend immigrated to the arena for use against and alongside the slave-warriors.  Indeed, there was even a type of spear-fighting gladiator known as a beastiarus who would be pitted exclusively against animals.  The war-hound would bring an entirely new dynamic to combat, as it was unpredictable, wild, and incredibly dangerous.  Unfortunately, that very unpredictable nature hurts it, and when treated as a weapon it is something that can very much be terminated as a threat to the opponent.  It gets an average score of three (3) of five (5) points.

This video provides an excellent look at the brutality and excitement of gladiator combat.  While it doesn't have as much variety in the types of gladiators presented, and may be anachronistic with some elements of the equipment featured, it is still very much worth a viewing.

-Defensive Assessment

~Head; Helmet.  Gladiator helmets varied immensely between the different types, as each needed a helmet to do something different; the retiarus and hoplomachus would require a large, bulbous helmet with a high crest and wide-sweeping neck that sacrificed the senses for protection, while those used by the thraex and murmillo did the opposite.  Regardless, gladiator helmets were important pieces of gear that were used to protect them from harm, as it was surprisingly difficult and time-constraining to produce a well-trained and -disciplined gladiator.  All of these helmets were constructed from either bronze or iron, again depending on the type, and could be expected to withstand direct attacks to the head and face with success.  However, the lack of uniformity among them hurts, and keeps the score here at fifteen (15) of twenty (20) possible points.

~Torso; None.  The chest and back were seen as the trophy room for gladiators; this was where their scars, marks, brands and tattoos would be displayed for all opponents and spectators to see.  They considered the many wounds gotten through combat and their hard lives as a sort of advertisement, using the violent imagery to intimidate enemy fighters and whip crowds into frenzies.  Unfortunately, that idea does unsurprisingly little to actually defend the gladiators, and instead makes them into large targets for their enemies.  The gladiators get a rather depressing score of no (0) points of a possible ten (10) here.

This helmet, though identified as that worn by a thraex gladiator, would actually have been worn by several types including the murmillo and retiarus.  This helmet is actually a brass replica of one found in the ruins of Pompeii, and more can be found about it here.

~Limbs; Manicae.  Manica(e) were arm coverings made of a linen sleeve covered with iron plates sewn onto it.  It was worn on the right, unshielded arm to protect against assaults.  The manicae were originally invented for use in Roman expeditions to Thrace and Dacia, where the terrifyingly-powerful slashing swords and polearms found there played the devil with traditional armor standards.  It soon spread into use among the gladiators, with a variant that used chain-maille rather than iron plates becoming wildly popular with the retiarus gladiators.  Altogether the manicae get a score of four (4) of five (5) possible points, being held back by the fact that only one arm of two was protected, and the hand was still open to attack.

~Mobile; Shield, Net.  Obviously, different types of gladiators used different types of shields.  The murmillo and thraex used smaller versions of the Legion scutum shields, while the hoplomachus used a large round shield made to look like the Greek aspis.  Regardless of their shape, all gladiator shields offered protection from mid-thigh to chin, and featured an iron umbo boss for offensive techniques.  Besides the shield, the gladiators had another type of blocking defense; the net of the retiarus.  The net was large, thickly-woven so as not to be easily cut-through, and weighted with lead spheres around the perimeter of it.  There were many tricks and techniques to be used with it, such as striking an opponent in the face with the balls, wrapping the net around their ankles to trip them, entangling their weapons, and of course, wrapping them up in the folds of the net to make them immobile.  Altogether, the mobile defenses of the gladiators get four (4) of five (5) possible points here.

In his infamous painting, "Pollice Verso," the French artist Jean-Leon Gerome depicts a gladiator's victory over his opponents and the emotion of the crowd deciding whether or not mercy was to be given to the defeated.  To the Romans, the word "gladiator" meant a schooled fighter sworn and contracted to the master of a ludus school.

-Variables Assessment

~Tactics; gladiators fought very boldly, but that brashness obscures a surprising truth:  they often planned things out very carefully beforehand.  This does not mean that their fights were choreographed and a winner established before combat was even joined, but instead that both men would know full well how to act and react towards one another without bringing undue harm to either of them.  When Spartacus led the great slave revolt in the First Century BCE they were able to defeat Roman troops time and again due to unorthodox thinking and tactics, as well as highly-successful guerrilla raids.  However, the lack of real organized tactics again hurts the gladiators, netting them two (2) of five (5) possible points here.

~Training; honestly, the gladiators were more combat-simulators than cold-blooded killers.  They were trained to neutralize opponents in a realistic fashion and let the crowd or Emperor (or both) decide whether or not to finish them off with a mercy kill.  Executions were typically a downward thrust of the sword through the trachea and into the heart through the chest cavity, killing the defeated gladiator instantly.  Gladiators-in-training were typically men who already had some sort of combat experience; they were usually former soldiers, prisoners of war, criminals, or other undesirables, and would be welded into a cohesive fighting-man in gladiator schools known as the ludus.  At the ludus they would be extensively trained in how to not kill a man, but to wound and temporarily disable him.  This training regime could take months or even years to complete, but the finished product would be well worth it.  In order for a gladiator to understand how to not kill a man, it would be required that he just as well understand how things could go wrong – or in the case of true life or death, right.  Four (4) of five (5) points are awarded here, as each gladiator was taught to fight in one style alone, and so when thrown out of his comfort zone would likely fare very badly.

In the 70's of the First Century BCE, a Thracian gladiator (who likely had fought as a thraex in the arena) named Spartacus led a massive slave revolt against the Romans, eventually massing over 70,000 supporters and defeating multiple Roman consular Legions sent to squash the rebellion.  Spartacus and his forces were eventually cornered and slaughtered to a man, with the survivors being crucified along the Appian Way from Rome to Capua.  The body of Spartacus has never been identified; tradition holds that he died alongside his men, but that his legacy lived on forever.  This image is used without permission from http://imagecache6.allposters.com/.

~Morale; it may seem that morale among the gladiators would be very low – after all, they were slave-soldiers forced to fight for their lives day in and day out.  However, that appears to have not really been the case; historians working with contemporary accounts and archaeological sites and evidence place the mortality rate of each man entering the arena for a match at less than forty percent of one hundred.  The gladiators realized that they were seen as more of heroes and idols to the Romans than prisoners and slaves, and played up that image with their arena bravado and rampant machismo.  That said, if found outside of the walls of the ludus and on the run from a life of slavery, there is no chance that the gladiators would retain that sense of overblown acting, and instead would be deadly efficient killers willing to do anything to accomplish their goal of survival.  All five (5) points are awarded here.

~Innovation; the gladiators were paired against one another depending on their fighting style:  the murmillo (which was based off of Roman legionnaires) was often sent up against the thraex (which was based off of Thracian warriors), while the retiarus and the hoplomachus were used against one another.  This allowed for fair fights, as each variant had strengths and weaknesses that corresponded to those of their opponent.  On an individual level, the retiarus is probably the most interesting, as the unusual use of the net allows them to do many things in combat that their comrades cannot do.  However, the other types are somewhat boring; they all use swords and shields of various complexity and construction.  All told, an above-average four (4) of five (5) possible points are netted here.

Easily the most recognizable structure of Ancient Rome, the Colosseum in Rome was built both as a public venue for gladiatorial games and as a tremendous monument to the power of the Emperor - whomever he might be.  Remarkably for its age and condition, the Colosseum still stands today and is one of the world's most famous travel destinations.  This image is used without permission from wikipedia.org.