What a gladiator looks like. Types of gladiators

D ladiator games arose from the Etruscan funeral rite, which once included human sacrifice.

Over time, the rite changed: they stopped killing those doomed to death immediately, and forced them to fight with swords in their hands near the grave, and thus the weak died, and the strong remained alive, causing the delight of those present. The Romans first saw this cruel sight in 264. BC e. in the Bull Market, where three pairs of gladiators fought at the commemoration for Brutus Pere, arranged by his sons. The sight seemed so unusual and remarkable for the Romans that this event was recorded in the annals of Rome.

The connection between gladiatorial games and commemoration was never forgotten, they were called "funeral games". Their official name is mumus (duty), the duty of the living to the deceased.

In 105 BC. e. gladiatorial games are included in the number of public spectacles. From now on, the state

entrusts to its magistrates the care of their dispensation. Gladiator games are becoming a favorite show in Rome and throughout Italy, and this is quickly taken into account by those who want to advance. Caesar in 65 BC e. gave games in which 320 pairs of gladiators took part. His enemies were frightened: not only these armed fellows were terrible; the terrible thing was that luxurious games became a sure way to win the favor of the people and secure votes for themselves in the elections. In 63 BC. e. at the suggestion of Cicero, a law was passed prohibiting a candidate for magistracy for two years before the election from "giving gladiators." No one, however, could forbid a private person to "give" them under the pretext of a commemoration for his relative, especially if the latter bequeathed to his heir to arrange games.

If the wounded gladiator survived, his fate was decided by the public. Depending on the opinion of the crowd, the winner had to finish off the lying person or leave him alive if he deserved life by valiant resistance. In the games held in Rome itself, the opinion of the emperor was decisive. The crowd “voted” with gestures that changed over time. Although it is traditionally believed that a "raised finger" meant "Life", and a lowered one - "Death" (in this form, gestures are now used for approval and condemnation), in most ancient games, regardless of direction, a protruding finger meant "death", symbolizing finishing off the sword, and "Life" meant just a clenched fist. Shouts of wishes also played an important role.

In 63 A.D. er. Emperor Nero issued a decree allowing free women to participate in
gladiatorial tournaments. After him, Pozzuoli allows the Ethiopian women to fight.
And Emperor Domiziano in 89 brought dwarf gladiators into the arena.

Gladiator fights were banned in 400 AD, when Christianity prevailed in the Roman Empire.

Depending on the weapons and the specifics of their participation in fights, the following types of gladiators were distinguished:

Andabat (from the Greek word "άναβαται" - "raised, located on a dais") Were dressed in chain mail, like the eastern cavalry (cataphracts), and helmets with visors without slits for the eyes. Andabats fought each other in much the same way as knights in medieval knightly tournaments, but without the opportunity to see each other.

Bestiary: Armed with a dart or dagger, these fighters were not originally gladiators, but criminals (noxias) sentenced to battle with predatory animals, with a high probability of death of the sentenced person. Later, bestiaries became highly trained gladiators, specializing in fighting various exotic predators with darts. The battles were organized in such a way that the beasts had little chance of defeating the bestiary.

Bustuarius: These gladiators fought in honor of the deceased in ritual games during the funeral rite.

Dimakher (from the Greek "διμάχαιρος" - "carrying two daggers"). They used two swords, one in each hand. They fought without a helmet and shield with two daggers. They were dressed in a short soft tunic, their arms and legs were bandaged with tight bandages, sometimes they wore leggings.

Equit ("rider"): In early descriptions, these lightly armed gladiators wore scale armor, a medium-sized round cavalry shield (parma equestris), a brimmed helmet, without a crest, but with two decorative tassels. During the time of the Empire, they wore forearm armor (manica) on their right arm, a sleeveless tunic (which distinguished them from other gladiators who fought bare-chested), and a belt. Equites started the fight on horseback, but after they threw their spear (hastu), they dismounted and continued the fight with a short sword (gladius). Usually equits fought only with other equits.

Gallus: Were equipped with a spear, a helmet and a small Gallic shield.

Essedarius ("chariot fighter", from the Latin name for the Celtic chariot - "esseda"). Perhaps they were first brought to Rome by Julius Caesar from Britain. The Essedarii are mentioned in many descriptions from the 1st century AD. e. Since there are no images of the Essedarii, nothing is known about their weapons and manner of fighting.

Goplomakh (from the Greek "οπλομάχο« "-" armed fighter "): They were dressed in quilted, trouser-like clothing for the legs, possibly made of canvas, a loincloth, belt, leggings, forearm armor (maniku) on the right arm, and a brimmed helmet with a stylized griffin on the crest, which could be decorated with a feather brush on the top and single feathers on each side. They were armed with a gladius and a very small round shield made from a single sheet of thick bronze (specimens from Popmpeia have survived). They were fought against the Myrmillons or Thracians. Perhaps the Goplomakhs descended from earlier Samnites after it became "politically incorrect" to use the name of a people who became friendly to the Romans.

Laquearius ("lasso fighter"): Laquearius may have been a type of retiarius who tried to catch their opponents with a lasso (laqueus) instead of a net.

Myrmillon: They wore a helmet with a stylized fish on the ridge (from the Latin "mormylos" - "sea fish"), as well as armor for the forearm (maniku), a loincloth and a belt, a grease on the right leg, thick windings that covered the top of the foot, and very short armor with a groove for padding on the top of the foot. Myrmillons were armed with a gladius (40-50 cm in length) and a large rectangular shield, like a legionnaire. They were fought against the Thracians, the Retiarii, and sometimes also against the Goplomakhs.

Pegniarium: Used a whip, club and shield, which was attached to his left arm with straps.

Provocateur ("applicant"): Their outfit could be different, depending on the nature of the games. They were depicted wearing a loincloth, a belt, a long greave on the left leg, a manica on the right hand, and a helmet with a visor, without brim and comb, but with feathers on each side. They were the only gladiators protected by a cuirass (cardiophylax), which was rectangular at first, then often rounded. The weapons of the provocateurs were a gladius and a large rectangular shield. They were exhibited in battles with Samnites or other provocateurs.

Retiarius ("fighter with the net"): Appeared at the dawn of the Empire. They were armed with a trident, a dagger and a net. Apart from a loincloth supported by a wide belt (balteus) and a large armor on the left shoulder joint, the retiarius had no clothing, including a helmet. Sometimes a metal shield (galerus) was used to protect the neck and lower face. There were retiaries who played female roles ("retiarius tunicatus") in the arena, who differed from ordinary retiaries in that they were dressed in a tunic. The Retiarii usually fought the Sectors, but sometimes the Myrmillons as well. ...

Rudiarius: Gladiators who deserve to be released (awarded with a wooden sword called rudis) but choose to remain gladiators. Not all Rudiaries continued to fight in the arena, among them there was a special hierarchy: they could be coaches, assistants, judges, fighters, etc. The Rudiaries-fighters were very popular among the public, since they had great experience and one could expect from them a real show.

Sagittarius: Horse archers armed with a flexible bow capable of launching an arrow at long range.

Samnite: Samnites, an ancient type of heavily armed fighter that disappeared during the early Imperial period, their name indicates the origin of gladiatorial combat. The historical Samnites were an influential alliance of Italic tribes living in the Campania region south of Rome, against which the Romans fought from 326 to 291 BC. e. The Samnites' equipment was a large rectangular shield (scutum), a feathered helmet, a short sword, and possibly a greave on the left leg.

Secutor: This type of fighter was specifically designed to fight the Retiarius. Sectors were a variety of myrmillons and were equipped with similar armor and weapons, including a large rectangular shield and gladius. Their helmet, however, covered the entire face, except for two holes for the eyes, in order to protect the face from the sharp trident of their rival. The helmet was practically round and sleek so that the retiary's net could not snag on it.

Skissor (scissor, "one who cuts", "cutting") - a gladiator who was armed with a short sword (gladius) and instead of a shield had a cutting weapon resembling scissors (in fact, two small swords that had one handle) or, with another lay out, put an iron hollow rod with a sharp horizontal tip on his left hand. With this cutting weapon, the scissor inflicted blows that led to minor wounds to the opponent, but the wounds bled very much (several arteries were cut, which naturally caused fountains of blood). The rest of the scissor was similar to a sector, except for the additional protection of the right hand (from shoulder to elbow), which consisted of many iron plates fastened together with strong leather laces. The helmet and protective ammunition for the pruners and scissors were the same

Tertiarius (also called "Suppositicius" - "substitute"): In some competitions three gladiators participated. First, the first two fought with each other, then the winner of this fight fought with the third, who was called tertiary. Tertiarii also came out as a substitute if the gladiator declared for the fight, for one reason or another, could not enter the arena.

Thracian: The Thracians wore the same armor as the Goplomakhs. They had a large helmet covering the entire head and decorated with a stylized griffin on the forehead or on the front of the crest (the griffin was the symbol of the goddess of retribution Nemesis), a small round or flattened shield (parmula), and two large leggings. Their weapon was a Thracian curved sword (sicca, about 34 cm long). They usually fought with myrmillons or goplomachs.

Commands: Foot gladiators armed with a dart with a throwing cord tied to it. Named after the units of the early republican army.

Venator: Specialized in demonstrative animal hunts, not using melee combat like bestiaries. Venators also performed tricks with animals: they put their hand in the mouth of a lion; they rode a camel, holding a number of lions on a leash; forcing an elephant to walk on a tightrope (Seneca Ep. 85.41). Strictly speaking, the Venators were not gladiators, but their performances were part of the gladiatorial battles.

Pregenarium: We performed at the beginning of the competition to “warm up” the crowd. They used wooden swords (rudis) and wrapped cloth around the body. Their fights took place to the accompaniment of cymbals, pipes and hydraulis.

The stories of gladiatorial battles have enthralled people for millennia. These warriors with swords and shields were forced to fight for their lives; their imagery has relentlessly inspired the creators of books, paintings, films and television shows. However, as the fighting became more popular, the crowd craved more spectacle. Henceforth, the sword and shield were not enough. Below are ten types of gladiators who used a wide variety of weapons in battles.

1. Bestiaries

Unlike other gladiators, bestiaries fought for their lives with animals, not their own kind. Especially for these battles, Roman emperors and senators brought exotic and strong animals (for example, lions, tigers, elephants and bears) from Africa and Asia. They served as a symbol of wealth, and were also participants in the spectacles that they staged for the crowd in the Colosseum and amphitheaters. Certain types of animals (for example, elephants) were designed to shock and entertain viewers who had never seen them before. Other animals were supposed to hunt people, and also acted as prey themselves.

There were two types of bestiaries: "damnatio ad bestias" (literally from the Latin "legend to the beasts"; given up to be torn apart by wild animals) and "venatio" ("hunters"). The first type included those who were sentenced to death. They were not considered gladiators and were generally of the lower class in ancient Rome. Their deaths were the entertainment of the crowd. Sometimes one wild animal could kill several hundred people at a time.

The "hunters" trained and hunted animals. This was an integral part of their performances. We know very little about "venatio" because historians and chroniclers did not like to describe them. Unlike other gladiators, "hunters" were despised in ancient Rome. The most famous "venatio" was Karpophorus, who, according to history, killed over twenty animals with his bare hands in the Circus Maximus. Karpophorus also trained animals to kill, hunt, and even rape humans.

Some emperors also demonstrated their prowess in killing animals, however, instead of recognition, they received only the contempt of the crowd. Nero fought animals in the arena, while Commodus “heroically” killed injured and sedentary animals while safe on a raised platform. The latter drew extreme disapproval from the Senate.

2. Noxia

The Noxias were the lowest class in Roman society. They were not even considered human. These included Christians, Jews, deserters, murderers, and traitors. Noxius was not taken to the school of gladiators, and their appearance in the arenas, where they died in the most terrible ways, was, in a way, a punishment for the crimes committed. Noxias could be killed in several ways: first, they were torn to pieces by wild animals; the second - they were tortured to death by gladiators who were blindfolded and received instructions from the crowd; third, they acted as a target for which real gladiators hunted. The Noxii usually wore a loincloth and no armor. A simple gladius (short sword) or a stick served as a weapon. The Romans took pleasure in killing Noxias. This served as a reminder that everyone should know their place in the social hierarchy.

3. Retiaries

Which is better: speed or strength? Death by a thousand cuts or one blow? In ancient Roman times, the answer was unambiguous: the more strength and armor, the better. That is why the retiarii were initially treated as a lower type of gladiator. They had very little armor, so they had to fight using agility, speed, and cunning, as well as a net, a trident, and - in extreme cases - a small blade. The Retiarii trained separately from the gladiators, who had swords and shields. They were considered effeminate and often ridiculed. The satirist and poet Decimus Junius Juvenal told the story of the petty aristocrat Gracchus, who not only caused general disfavor by becoming a gladiator, but also disgraced society by fighting as a retiary. However, over the centuries, the Retiarii gained mercy and became one of the main in the arena.

4. Sectors

Gladiators, who were of the type of Secessors, had to pursue and defeat the Retiarii. The Sector had powerful armor: a huge shield, a sword, and a round helmet that covered his entire face and had two tiny holes for his eyes. A typical battle between the secutor and the retiarius began with the latter retreating to a safe distance or, in some cases, climbing onto an elevated platform above the water, where a pre-prepared supply of stones lay. Sector (lat. Secutor - persecutor) pursued the retiarius and tried not to fall into his network or under the hail of stones. He was also afraid of the retiarius trident, which was used to keep the sector from getting too close. The Sekutor was well armed, but he quickly grew tired under the weight of his armor.

Emperor Commodus fought as a sector during the games; he had excellent armor and weapons, which guaranteed him victory. Another famous sector was named Flamm, he was from Syria and fought in the arena in clothes typical for the inhabitants of the territory of Gaul. He took part in 34 battles and won 21 of them. Surprisingly, he was offered freedom four times, but he refused each time.

5. Equits

Equites were similar to the Roman cavalry, but should not be confused. The Roman cavalry were mainly represented by petty aristocrats who held good positions in the Senate and could even become emperors. Equits, in turn, were renowned organizers of public shows. Performances at the Colosseum typically began with equit battles to revive the crowd with the agility and speed that these gladiators displayed. Sitting on horseback, they attacked each other with spears, and then jumped to the ground and fought with swords. They wore light armor, which promoted greater agility and athleticism.

6. Provocateurs

As we now know, in ancient Rome, different types of gladiators could fight each other in the arena. Provocateurs, however, engaged only with provocateurs. The reason was that they did not choose an opponent for them - they themselves challenged him to battle. They fought to settle feuds between the rival gladiatorial schools, or to raise their status by defeating a well-known rival. Each provocateur was armed like a Roman legionnaire: he had a rectangular shield, breastplate and helmet.

7. Women gladiators

Female gladiators generally wore very little armor, and their torso was almost always bared. In most cases, they did not even wear a helmet so that everyone would know that a woman was fighting in the arena. Fights between female gladiators, who, incidentally, were armed with a short sword and shield, were rare and perceived as an innovation. Women could fight not only among themselves, but also with dwarfs to cause resentment and shock among the crowd. In some cases, women with a high status in society could take part in gladiatorial battles. Their appearance in the arena was accompanied by loud scandals. Ultimately, female gladiator fights were banned in AD 200.

8. Gall / Murmillon

The Gauls were one of the first gladiators to descend from a Gaulish tribe living in Central and Western Europe. Most of them were prisoners who were forced to enter the arena to fight. The Gauls were well armed and looked like typical gladiators: they had a long sword, shield and helmet, but wore traditional Gaulish clothing. The Gauls were less agile than other gladiators, so they relied on their strength to attack opponents. They often fought prisoners from enemy tribes.

After the Gauls made peace and became part of the Roman Empire, they began to be attributed to another type of gladiators, who were called Murmillons. Murmillons still used their heavy sword and shield, however they dressed as Roman soldiers and fought other Murmillons, gladiators from enemy regions, and retiarii.

One of the most famous Murmillons was called Marcus Attilius, who, during his first battle, defeated the gladiator from Nero's personal army, Hilarus, and Lucius Felix. Both had more than a dozen victories on their account.

9. Samnites

The Samnites are also some of the first gladiators, and they have a lot in common with the Gauls. They were also prisoners of war, but the region of Samnium (southern Italy) was considered their homeland. After the Romans defeated the Samnites, they forced them to participate in mocking ceremonial combat, which later turned into gladiatorial competitions. The Samnites wore traditional military clothing and fought with a sword and rectangular shield. Their opponents, as a rule, were captured soldiers from tribes at war with Rome.

When Samnius became one of the provinces of the Roman Empire, the Samnites ceased to belong to a separate category. They joined the Goplomachs or Murmillons, who wore the same clothes and had similar weapons.

10. Thracians

The most popular and well-known gladiator is Spartacus. He was a prisoner of war from a Thracian tribe living in Southeast Europe. He rebelled against his enslavers, who forced him to fight in the gladiatorial arena. Ultimately, Spartacus was defeated, but the legend of him lives on to this day.

The Thracians, who had a round shield, curved blade and wide helmet with the emblem of a griffin, were perhaps the most popular of the early gladiators. They often fought the Gauls and Samnites.

Just as we root for different sports teams today, emperors and senators had their favorites among the gladiators. Caligula, in particular, supported the Thracians and even killed a gladiator who defeated his beloved Thracian warrior. Another emperor, Domitian, had such contempt for the Thracians that one day he threw one of the spectators to be torn apart by dogs. What has this poor fellow done? He suggested that the Thracian would most likely win the gladiatorial battle.

The picture below shows: Goplomakh, III century. AD.

Gladiator (from Latin gladius - "sword", "gladius") - the name of the fighters in Ancient Rome, who fought among themselves or with animals for the amusement of the public in special arenas.

The first gladiators, strictly speaking, were not such, but were only ordinary slaves and convicted criminals. Later, schools for the training of gladiators were created, and in the hope of fame and wealth, their ranks were replenished with people from all classes. Huge amphitheaters were built especially for gladiatorial fights.

Gladiators used various types of weapons. They fought most often one-on-one. If one of the opponents was wounded, then according to the rules, his fate was in the hands of the audience. If they wanted to keep him alive, they waved handkerchiefs in the air or held their thumbs up. If their thumbs were pointing down, the victim would die.

There were cases when citizens, in pursuit of fame and money, abandoned their own freedom and became gladiators. Among them there were even female gladiators, when in 63 AD. er. Emperor Nero issued a decree allowing free women to participate in gladiatorial tournaments. After him, Pozzuoli allows the Ethiopian women to fight. And Emperor Domiziano in 89 brought dwarf gladiators into the arena.

In order to become a gladiator, one had to take an oath and declare oneself "legally dead". From that moment, the fighters entered another world, where cruel laws of honor reigned. The first was silence. Gladiators explained themselves in the arena with gestures. The second law is full observance of the rules of honor. So, for example, a gladiator who fell to the ground and conscious of his complete defeat was obliged to take off his protective helmet and substitute his throat under the enemy's sword, or to thrust his knife into his own throat.

Over time, such fights began to bore the Romans and they began to invent new shows. Gladiators had to fight with lions, tigers and other wild animals.

A lot of efforts were made to put an end to these terrible performances, but this was not done until 500 AD. Emperor Theo-Doric.

Types of gladiators

1. Andabat. They were dressed in chain mail, like the eastern cavalry (cataphracts), and helmets with visors without slits for the eyes. Andabats fought each other in much the same way as knights in medieval knightly tournaments, but without the opportunity to see each other.
2. Bestiary. Armed with a dart or dagger, these fighters were not originally gladiators, but criminals (noxia), sentenced to battle with predatory animals, with a high probability of death of the condemned. Later, bestiaries became highly trained gladiators, specializing in fighting various exotic predators with darts. The battles were organized in such a way that the beasts had little chance of defeating the bestiary.
3. Bustuarius. These gladiators fought in honor of the deceased in ritual games during the funeral ceremony.
4. Diemaher ( from the Greek. di - "two" and machaer - "sword") ... They used two swords, one in each hand. They fought without a helmet and shield, with two daggers. They were dressed in a short soft tunic, their arms and legs were bandaged with tight bandages, sometimes they wore leggings.
5. Equit ( pl. equites, from lat. equus - "horse") ... In early descriptions, these lightly armed gladiators wore scale armor, a medium-sized round cavalry shield (parma equestris), a brimmed helmet, without a crest, but with two decorative tassels. During the time of the Empire, they wore forearm armor (manica) on their right arm, a sleeveless tunic (which distinguished them from other gladiators who fought with a bare torso), and a belt. Equits started the fight on horseback, but after they threw their spear (hastu), they dismounted and continued the fight with a short sword (gladius). Usually equits fought only with other equits.
6. Gaul. They were equipped with a spear, a helmet and a small Gallic shield.
7. Essedarius ("chariot fighter", from the Latin name for the Celtic chariot - "esseda"). Perhaps they were first brought to Rome by Julius Caesar from Britain. The Essedarii are mentioned in many descriptions from the 1st century AD. e. Since there are no images of the Essedarii, nothing is known about their weapons and manner of fighting.
8. Goplomakh (from the Greek "οπλομ? Χος" - "armed fighter"). They wore quilted, trouser-like leg clothes, possibly made of canvas, a loincloth, a belt, leggings, armor for the forearm (maniku) on the right hand, and a brimmed helmet with a stylized griffin on the crest, which could be decorated with a feather tassel on the top and single feathers on each side. They were armed with a gladius and a very small round shield made from a single sheet of thick bronze (specimens from Popmpeia have survived). They were fought against the Myrmillons or Thracians. Perhaps the Goplomakhs descended from the earlier Samnites after it became "politically incorrect" to use the name of a people who became friendly to the Romans.
9. Lakveariy ("lasso fighter"). Laquearius could be a type of retiarii who tried to catch their rivals with a lasso (laqueus) instead of a net.
10. Murmillon ( from the Greek. mormylos - "sea fish") . They wore a helmet with a stylized fish on the ridge (from the Latin "mormylos" - "sea fish"), as well as armor for the forearm (maniku), a loincloth and a belt, a grease on the right leg, thick windings covering the top of the foot, and very short armor with a groove for padding at the top of the foot. The Murmillons were armed with a gladius (40-50 cm in length) and a large rectangular shield, like a legionnaire. They were fought against the Thracians, the Retiarii, and sometimes also against the Goplomakhs.
11. Pegniarium. They used a whip, a club and a shield, which was attached to the left arm with straps.
12. Provocateur ("applicant"). Their outfit could be different, depending on the nature of the games. They were depicted wearing a loincloth, a belt, a long greave on their left leg, a manica on their right hand, and a helmet with a visor, without brim and comb, but with feathers on each side. They were the only gladiators protected by a cuirass (cardiophylax), which was rectangular at first, then often rounded. The weapons of the provocateurs were a gladius and a large rectangular shield. They were exhibited in battles with Samnites or other provocateurs.
13. Retiary ("fighter with a network"). Appeared at the dawn of the Empire. They were armed with a trident, a dagger and a net. Apart from a loincloth supported by a wide belt (balteus) and a large armor on the left shoulder joint, the retiarius had no clothing, including a helmet. Sometimes a metal shield (galerus) was used to protect the neck and lower face. There were retiaries who played female roles in the arena ("retiarius tunicatus"), who differed from ordinary retiaries in that they were dressed in a tunic. The Retiarii usually fought the Sectors, but sometimes the Myrmillons as well.
14. Rudiarium. Gladiators who deserve to be released (awarded with a wooden sword called rudis), but choose to remain gladiators. Not all Rudiaries continued to fight in the arena, there was a special hierarchy among them: they could be coaches, assistants, judges, fighters, etc. The Rudiaries-fighters were very popular among the public, since they had great experience and one could expect from them a real show.
15. Sagittarius ( from lat. sagitta - "arrow") ... Horse archers armed with a flexible bow capable of launching an arrow at long range.
16. Samnite. The Samnites, an ancient type of heavily armed fighter that disappeared during the early Imperial period, their name indicates the origin of gladiatorial combat. The historical Samnites were an influential alliance of Italic tribes living in the Campania region south of Rome, against which the Romans fought from 326 to 291 BC. e. The Samnites' equipment was a large rectangular shield (scutum), a feathered helmet, a short sword, and possibly a greave on the left leg.
17. Sector ( about t lat. sequi - "to pursue") ... This type of fighter was specifically designed to fight the retiarii. Sectors were a variety of myrmillons and were equipped with similar armor and weapons, including a large rectangular shield and gladius. Their helmet, however, covered the entire face, except for two eye holes in order to protect the face from the sharp trident of their rival. The helmet was practically round and sleek so that the retiary's net could not snag on it.
18. Skissor ("the one who cuts"). Nothing is known about this type of gladiators except the name.
19. Tertiary (also called "Suppositicius" - "substitute"). In some competitions, three gladiators took part. First, the first two fought with each other, then the winner of this fight fought with the third, who was called tertiary. Tertiarii also came out as a substitute if the gladiator declared for the fight, for one reason or another, could not enter the arena.
20. Thracian( lat. thraex - representative of the people of Thrace) ... The Thracians wore the same armor as the Goplomakhs. They had a large helmet covering the entire head and decorated with a stylized griffin on the forehead or on the front of the crest (the griffin was the symbol of the goddess of retribution Nemesis), a small round or flattened shield (parmula), and two large leggings. Their weapon was a Thracian curved sword (sicca, about 34 cm long). They usually fought with myrmillons or goplomachs.
21. Tells ( pl. velites, from lat. velum - "canvas", because dressed in a linen tunic) ... Foot gladiators armed with a dart with a throwing cord tied to it. Named after units of the early Republican Army.
22. Venator. Specialized in demonstration hunting animals, not fighting them in close combat like bestiaries. Venators also performed tricks with animals: they put their hand in the mouth of a lion; they rode a camel, holding a number of lions on a leash; forced an elephant to walk on a tightrope). Strictly speaking, the Venators were not gladiators, but their performances were part of the gladiatorial battles.
23. Pregenarium. We performed at the beginning of the competition to “warm up” the crowd. They used wooden swords (rudis) and wrapped cloth around the body. Their fights took place to the accompaniment of cymbals, pipes and hydraulis.

On one wall in Pompeii you can read the words: "Celadus the Thrace is a hero of girls who makes hearts beat." These words, which have come down to us through the centuries, are mute witnesses of the charm that still rivets our imagination. The afternoon sun illuminates the arena of the amphitheater, where the Thracian Celadus and other gladiators fight. They are not fighting formidable legionnaires or barbarian hordes. They kill each other for the pleasure of the public.

In the beginning, prisoners of war and those sentenced to death were gladiators. The laws of Ancient Rome allowed them to participate in gladiatorial battles. In case of victory (with the money received), you could redeem your life. But not all gladiators were slaves or criminals. Among them there were also volunteers who wanted to risk their lives for the sake of thrill or glory. Their names were written on the walls, and respectable citizens talked about them. For nearly 600 years, the arena has been one of the most popular entertainment in the Roman world. Almost no one opposed this spectacle. Everyone, from Caesar to the last plebeian, wanted to see the bloodshed.

It is widely believed that the gladiatorial fights were caused by Etruscan funeral rituals. Nevertheless, it is known that at the funeral of Brutus Pera in 264 BC. three fights of gladiators took place. This case was recorded by the Greek-Syrian historian Nicholas of Damascus, who lived during the period of Emperor Augustus. Over the next hundred years, the custom of fighting slaves at funerals spread. In 174 BC. Titus Flamininus fought a munera - a three-day battle, during which 74 gladiators fought.

They tried to spend Muneru in December, simultaneously with the Saturnalia. As you know, Saturn was a deity "responsible" for self-sacrifice. At the same time, the muners were not just a number in the funeral program. Fights with animals - venations - were also practiced. Various wild beasts brought from all over the empire were killed by specially trained fighters - venators. Venice served as a symbol of the subordination of wild animals to Roman rule. Fights involving lions, tigers and other dangerous predators showed that the power of Rome encompasses not only people, but also animals. Any culture that was not part of Rome was declared barbaric, the only purpose of which was to wait until Rome conquered it.

As more and more wealthy people became convinced that gladiatorial fights were an excellent way to perpetuate the memory of the deceased, they more and more often included in their will the requirement to hold such a fight at their commemoration. Soon, the simple fight of several pairs of gladiators became boring to the public. To impress the impression of people, it was necessary to arrange grandiose spectacles in terms of the number of fighters or the method of battle. Munera gradually became more spectacular and expensive. Fighters began to be equipped with armor, while the style of armor often copied the style of any of the peoples conquered by Rome. Thus, Munera became a demonstration of the power of Rome.

Over time, the munera became so much a custom that a person who did not bequeathed to arrange a battle after his death risked defaming his name after death as a curmudgeon. Many played games in honor of their deceased ancestors. The audience expected the next fight after the death of one of the wealthy citizens. Suetonius described the case that in Pollentia (modern Pollenzo, near Turin), the public did not allow one former centurion to be buried until the heirs organized a battle. Moreover, it was not a simple disorder in the city, but a real mutiny that forced Tiberius to send troops into the city. One deceased in his will ordered a fight between his former homosexual lovers. Since all the lovers were young boys, it was decided to annul this clause of the will. Munera eventually evolved into true gladiatorial combat, usually held in purpose-built arenas. The first arenas were built in the form of amphitheaters around the Forum Romanum. The stands were wooden, and the arena itself was covered with sand. Sand in Latin will be garena, hence the name of the entire structure.

The amphitheater built by Flavius, known as the Colosseum, was the first stone building of its kind. The floor of the arena was at first sandy, but then it was rebuilt, organizing a network of underground passages under it - hypogeia. Various mechanical devices were located in the passages, facilitating a quick change of scenery in the arena. With the help of these moves, animals and gladiators were also released onto the stage.

Upon entering the amphitheater, spectators could purchase various souvenirs. Bone or clay tessera plates served as entrance tickets. The tesserae were distributed free of charge several weeks before the start of the fighting. The audience was seated in their places by special ministers - locaria.

There were sitting tribunes for wealthy citizens. There were standing tribunes for the plebs. The Colosseum also had a gallery where the poorest spectators gathered. It was a matter of honor to take the place that was due to its status.

In the tunnels leading to the stands, various "entrepreneurs" were in charge, from food merchants to prostitutes. As the program progressed, the excitement of the audience grew. Classical writers describe the roar of an excited crowd as "the roar of the storm." Among the spectators in the stands were also merchants who offered food, flags and lists of gladiators. Betting was made on these lists. Ovid says that asking a neighbor to read the program was considered a plausible excuse to meet a girl. However, under Augustus, separate places were allocated for women. The front rows were occupied by senators, soldiers, married men, as well as students and teachers. The women were taken to the upper ranks.

The shape of the amphitheater reflected heat inward and sound outward. Any sound made by the gladiator could be clearly heard in the stands, even in the uppermost rows. Hence the rule that gladiators should not utter unnecessary screams and be silent even in case of injury. Even in the worst places, the audience could see the arena perfectly.

By the end of the 2nd century BC. battles, which lasted several days in a row with the participation of more than one hundred gladiators, did not surprise anyone. There were also people for whom the maintenance and training of gladiators became a profession. They were called Lanists. They were often former gladiators themselves. The social status of the Lanist was low, they were despised for making money on the death of other people, while remaining completely safe themselves. If gladiators were compared to prostitutes, then Lanists can be compared to pimps. To give themselves a little respectability, the Lanists called themselves "the merchant surname of the gladiator", which in modern language can be translated as "the commercial director of the gladiatorial troupe." The essence of their activity was that they found physically strong slaves in the slave markets, and preferably prisoners of war and even criminals, ransomed them, taught them all the wisdom necessary for performing in the arena, and then rented them out to everyone who wanted to arrange gladiatorial fights.

Entering the ring, the gladiators had to proclaim: Ave Ceasar, morituri te salutant! - Those who go to death greet you, Caesar! According to tradition, before the start of the battle, the gladiator fighters were divided into pairs and the first demonstration battle began - prolusio, its participants did not really fight, their weapons were wooden, the movements looked more like a dance than the battle was accompanied by the accompaniment of a lute or flute. At the end of the "lyrical introduction", he raised a bugle and announced that the first real battle would begin now. Gladiators who changed their minds to fight were beaten, and sometimes even killed with whips.

The junior gladiators entered the battle in pairs, determined by lot. The audience was shown the weapons of gladiators to convince everyone that they were fighting. The determined couples dispersed across the arena to the sound of trumpets and the battle began. In the arena, in addition to the fighters, there were doctors who gave commands to the fighters, directing the course of battles. In addition, there were slaves at the ready with whips and sticks, designed to "cheer" the gladiator who for some reason refused to fight in full force. After the duel of inexperienced gladiators, the best fighters entered the arena.

If any of the gladiators received a severe wound and could not continue the fight, he raised his hand, showing surrender. From that moment on, his fate depended on the opinion of the audience. The defeated could have been spared as a worthy fighter, or they could have been condemned to death as a coward and inept. Until recently, it was believed that the audience expressed their attitude to the vanquished with the help of their thumb. If the finger is directed upwards - spare, if downwards - finish off. Recent studies have shown that everything was exactly the opposite. A raised finger meant "put it on the blade", and a lowered finger meant "a weapon in the ground." Considering the fact that not too skillful gladiators were the first to perform, the fate of the defeated was a foregone conclusion. The corpses of gladiators were removed from the arena using wheeled carts. The slaves removed the armor from the slain. These slaves had their own small informal "business". They collected the blood of slain gladiators and sold it to epileptics as the best remedy for their illness. After the duel of inexperienced gladiators, the best fighters entered the arena.

In spectacular battles, when people fought with animals, the duel was considered over only if one of the opponents was killed: a man by an animal or an animal by a man.

Gladiators were at the lowest rung of the social ladder, and after the uprising of Spartacus, the attitude towards gladiators became especially wary. Soldiers and guards watched the gladiators, stopping attempts at disobedience or suicide. Prisoners of war sent to the gladiatorial school wore slave collars and shackles that hindered movement. Volunteers, unlike slaves, did not wear chains. Free people, unlike slaves, did not pose a threat to society. Freedmen's slaves, in terms of their status, were close to free citizens. Petronius the Arbiter, in his Satyricon, extols the virtues of a traveling group of gladiators, saying: “The three-day show is the best I've ever seen. These were not simple swordsmen, but mostly free people. "

Sometimes the offspring of noble families also fell into the arena. Petronius the Arbiter mentions a woman from a senatorial family who became a female gladiator. Lucian of Samosatsky, who hated gladiatorial battles, tells about Sisinny, a man who decided to join gladiators in order to win 10,000 drachmas and pay the ransom for his friend.

Some people became gladiators out of a desire to get a thrill. Even the emperors pecked at this bait. Emperor Commodus (180-192 AD) was a fan of gladiatorial fights since childhood. This made it possible for the politically opponents of his father, Marcus Aurelius, to say that the emperor's wife had a young heir from the gladiator. One way or another, Commodus spent most of his time with gladiators. As an adult, he began to participate in battles as a sector. By the time of his death, Commodus had managed to win more than 700 fights, but a contemporary of Commodus, Victor, notes that the emperor's opponents were armed with lead weapons.

The bulk of the professional fighters of the arena were natives of gladiatorial schools. During the reign of Octavian Augustus (about 10 BC), there were 4 imperial schools in Rome: Big, Morning, where bestiaries - gladiators who fought with wild animals, the school of Gauls and the school of the Dacians were trained. During training at school, all gladiators were well fed and expertly treated. An example of this is the fact that the famous ancient Roman physician Galen worked for a long time at the Great Imperial School.

Gladiators slept in pairs in small closets with an area of \u200b\u200b4-6 square meters. The workouts, which lasted from morning to evening, were very intense. Under the guidance of a teacher, a former gladiator, the novices were trained in swordsmanship. Each of them was given a wooden sword and a shield woven from willow. The chaotic clink of metal made the audience melancholy, so the instructors trained gladiators to fight not only effectively, but also effectively. In the Roman army, it was customary for beginners to exercise on wooden pillars-paluses 1.7 m high. In gladiatorial schools, they preferred to use stuffed animals stuffed with straw, which gave a more visual representation of the enemy. To strengthen the muscles, the next after the wooden iron training weapon was specially made 2 times heavier than the combat one.

When a beginner properly comprehended the basics of martial art, he, depending on his abilities and physical fitness, was assigned to specialized groups of one type or another of gladiators. The least capable students fell into andabats. They were armed with only two daggers, without any additional protection, complemented by a helmet with two holes that did not match the eyes at all. Therefore, the Andabats were forced to fight each other almost blindly, swinging their weapons at random. The attendants "helped" them, pushing them from behind with red-hot iron rods. The audience was always very merry, looking at the unfortunate, and this part of gladiatorial battles was considered the most amusing among the Romans.

Gladiators, like Roman soldiers, had their own charter, some historians call it a code of honor, but in fact this is a conventional name. since Initially, a gladiator, by definition, is not a free man, and the Roman slaves, as such, did not have a concept of honor. When a person entered the gladiatorial school, especially if he was free before, he needed to perform a number of actions, in many ways purely formal, in order to be legally considered a gladiator. Gladiators took an oath and took an oath similar to a military one, according to which they were to be considered "formally dead" and transferred their lives to the ownership of the gladiatorial school in which they lived, studied, trained and died.

There were a number of unspoken rules and conventions that every gladiator had to adhere to and not violate them under any circumstances. The gladiator always had to remain silent during the fight - the only way he could contact the public was through gestures. The second unspoken points was the observance of certain "rules" of dignity, which can be compared with the rules of the samurai. A fighter - gladiator had no right to cowardice and fear of death. If a fighter felt that he was dying, he had to open his face to the enemy, so that he finished him off, looking at his eyes, or cut his own throat, removing his helmet and opening his face and eyes to the audience, and they should have seen what was in them. there is not a drop of fear. The third law was that the gladiator could not choose his opponent himself, obviously, this was done so that the fighters in the arena did not settle their personal scores and grievances. Entering the arena, the gladiator did not know until the last with whom he would have to fight.

It was fashionable among the Roman aristocrats to have their own personal gladiators, who not only earned money for the owner with performances, but also served as personal guards, which was extremely relevant during the civil unrest of the late Republic. In this respect, Julius Caesar outdid everyone, who at one time contained up to 2 thousand gladiator-bodyguards who made up a real army. I must say that they became gladiators not only by coercion of the slave owner or by a court sentence to the arena, but also absolutely voluntarily, in the pursuit of fame and fortune.

Despite all the dangers of this profession, a simple but tough guy from the Roman social bottom really had a chance to get rich. And although the chances of dying on the blood-soaked sand of the arena were much greater, many risked. The most successful of them, in addition to the love of the Roman mob, and it happened, and Roman matrons, received substantial cash prizes from fans and organizers of battles, as well as interest on the rates. In addition, Roman spectators often threw money, jewelry and other expensive trinkets into the arena to the especially beloved winner, which also made up a considerable share of the income. Emperor Nero, for example, once presented a whole palace to the gladiator Spikula. And many of the famous fighters gave fencing lessons to everyone, receiving a very decent payment for this.

Nevertheless, luck in the arena smiled on very few - the audience wanted to see blood and death, so the gladiators had to fight in earnest, driving the crowd to a frenzy.

Animal catchers worked tirelessly, devastating the Roman provinces in Africa and Asia, as well as adjacent territories. Thousands of professionals were involved in this extremely dangerous but equally profitable business. In addition to fighting people in arenas, hundreds and thousands of lions, tigers, wolves, leopards, bears, panthers, wild boars, wild bulls, bison, elephants, hippos, rhinos, antelopes, deer, giraffes, monkeys died. Once the catchers managed to bring even polar bears to Rome! Apparently, impossible tasks for them simply did not exist.

All these animals were victims of bestiary gladiators. Their training was much longer than that of classical gladiators. Pupils of the famous Morning School, which received this name due to the fact that animal persecution took place in the morning, was taught not only to handle weapons, but also to train, and also introduced to the characteristics and habits of different animals.

Ancient Roman trainers reached unprecedented heights in their art: bears walked on a tightrope, and lions put a bestiary under the feet of a driven, but still living hare, monkeys rode ferocious Hyrcanian hounds, and deer were harnessed to chariots. These amazing tricks were innumerable. But when the satiated crowd demanded blood, fearless venators (from the Latin wenator - hunter) appeared in the arena, who knew how to kill animals not only with various types of weapons, but also with their bare hands. It was considered the highest chic for them to throw a cloak over the head of a lion or a leopard, wrap it up, and then kill the beast with one blow of a sword or spear.

Gladiator fights took place in different ways. There were fights of single pairs, and sometimes several dozen, or even hundreds of pairs fought at the same time. At times, whole performances were played out in the arena, introduced into the practice of mass entertainment by Julius Caesar. So, in a matter of minutes, grandiose decorations were erected, depicting the walls of Carthage, and gladiators, dressed and armed as legionaries and Carthaginians, represented the storming of the city. Or a whole forest of freshly cut trees grew in the arena, and the gladiators depicted an attack by the Germans on the same legionnaires from an ambush. The fantasy of the directors of ancient Roman shows knew no bounds.

And although it was extremely difficult to surprise the Romans with something, the Emperor Claudius, who ruled in the middle of the 1st century, was quite successful. The Naumachia (staging of a naval battle) embodied by his order was of such a scale that it turned out to be capable of capturing the imagination of all residents of the Eternal City, young and old. Although naumachii were arranged quite rarely, as they were very expensive even for emperors and required careful development.

He spent the first Naumachia in 46 BC. Julius Caesar. Then, on the Champ de Mars of Rome, a huge artificial lake was dug for the naval battle. This performance was attended by 16 galleys, which were 4 thousand rowers and 2 thousand gladiator soldiers. It seemed that it was no longer possible to arrange a larger-scale spectacle, but in 2 BC. The first Roman emperor, Octavian Augustus, after a year of preparation, presented to the Romans Naumachia with the participation of 24 ships and 3 thousand soldiers, not counting the rowers who played out the battle between the Greeks and Persians at Salamis.

Only the above-mentioned Emperor Claudius managed to break this record. To carry out the naumachia he had planned, Lake Fuqing, located 80 kilometers from Rome, was chosen. No other nearby reservoir simply could not accommodate 50 real battle triremes and biremes, the crews of which amounted to 20 thousand criminals sentenced to the arena. To do this, Claudius devastated all the city's prisons, putting everyone who could bear arms on ships.

And in order to discourage so many criminals gathered in one place from organizing a rebellion, the lake was surrounded by troops. The naval battle took place in that part of the lake where the hills formed a natural amphitheater. There was no shortage of spectators: about 500 thousand people - almost the entire adult population of Rome, settled down on the slopes.

The ships, divided into two fleets, depicted the confrontation between the Rhodians and the Sicilians. The battle, which began at about 10 am, ended only at four o'clock in the afternoon, when the last "Sicilian" ship surrendered. The Roman historian Tacitus wrote: "The fighting spirit of the fought criminals was not inferior to the fighting spirit of real warriors." The waters of the lake were red with blood, not to mention the wounded, only more than 3 thousand people were killed. After the battle, Claudius pardoned all the survivors, with the exception of a few crews who, in his opinion, evaded the battle. The audience was absolutely delighted with what they saw. None of the subsequent emperors managed to "outplay" Claudius. It is no coincidence that literally the whole city mourned his death, because he, like no one else, perhaps with the exception of Nero, knew how to entertain the public. And even though during his reign, Claudius showed himself to be far from being a brilliant statesman, this did not prevent him from being almost the most revered emperor among the people.

It happened that the fight dragged on, and both wounded gladiators could not defeat each other for a long time. Then the audience could stop the fight themselves and demand from the editor - the organizer of the games - to release both fighters from the arena. And the editor obeyed the “voice of the people”. The same thing happened if the gladiator pleased the audience with his skill and courage so much that she demanded that he be immediately handed a wooden training sword - rudis - as a symbol of complete liberation not only from battles in the arena, but also from slavery. Of course, this only concerned prisoners of war and slaves, but not volunteers.

The name of the gladiator Flamma has survived to this day, during whose career the admiring spectators demanded four times to be handed a wooden sword, but he refused all four times! It is possible that Flamma showed such unprecedented stubbornness in the pursuit of fame and money. One way or another, but he succeeded, he left the arena voluntarily, more or less unharmed, and at a fairly mature age and being the owner of a decent fortune.

Gladiator fights were not alien to the most educated people of that time. Cicero, for example, assessed these games this way: “It is good for people to see that slaves can fight with courage. If even a simple slave can show courage, what should the Romans be like? In addition, games accustom warlike people to the form of murder and prepare them for war. " Pliny, Tacitus and many other prominent Roman writers and thinkers were ardent admirers of gladiatorial spectacles. The only exception was, perhaps, the philosopher Seneca, who in every possible way advocated their prohibition, which, not least of all, led to his forced suicide on the orders of his crowned pupil Nero.

Almost all Roman emperors strove to surpass each other in the grandeur of their games in order to win the love of the crowd. Emperor Titus Flavius \u200b\u200bat the opening of the Colosseum, which accommodated up to 80 thousand spectators and immediately became the main arena of Ancient Rome, ordered to kill 17 thousand Jews in various ways, who had been working on its construction for ten years. Emperor Domitian, being a virtuoso in archery, loved to amuse the audience, hitting the head of a lion or bear with arrows so that the arrows seemed to become horns for them. And naturally horned animals - deer, bulls, bison, and so on, he killed with a shot in the eye. I must say that the Roman people loved this ruler very much.

Met among the Roman emperors and merry fellows. A very funny story is connected with the name of Gallienus, for example. One jeweler who sold fake gems and was sentenced to the arena for it, the bestiaries were kicked into the middle of the arena and placed in front of a closed lion's cage. The unfortunate man with a sinking heart was waiting for the inevitable and, moreover, a terrible death, and then the door of the cage opened and ... a chicken came out of it. Unable to withstand the stress, the jeweler fainted. When the audience laughed enough, Gallienus ordered to announce: "This man was deceiving, therefore he was deceived." Then the jeweler was brought to his senses and released on all four sides.

By the beginning of the 4th century, gladiator fights and animal persecution began to gradually decline. This was the time when the once Great Roman Empire began literally to succumb to the blows of numerous "barbarian" tribes. The situation was aggravated by the incessant economic crisis - the Romans themselves practically did not work, and the imported goods were constantly becoming more expensive. Therefore, the Roman emperors of that period had enough worries, in addition to the device of expensive games. And, nevertheless, they continued, albeit without the same scope. Finally, gladiatorial fights were banned 72 years before the fall of the Roman Empire.

It was previously believed that the custom of gladiatorial fighting came to Rome from Etruria. However, the frescoes from Campania2, where the custom was of a religious and ceremonial nature, as well as the testimony of Titus Livius3, allow us to lean towards the Campanian version of the origin of the gladiatorial games. The origin of this custom is explained in various ways; there is reason to believe that in ancient times it was customary to kill captured enemies over the coffin of a deceased noble warrior, sacrificing them to the gods of the underworld. Subsequently, probably, these cruel sacrifices were transformed into ritual battles of people armed with a sword (gladius). The first gladiators were called bustuaries (from "bustum" - the fire on which the body of the deceased was burned) 4, which shows the original connection of the gladiatorial games (munera) with the funeral celebrations in honor of which the earliest recorded Roman spectacles were organized in 264 BC. dedicated to the funeral of Lucius Junius Brutus 5. Over time, gladiator games began to be arranged on other occasions; They also entered the program of shows during some of the holidays.

The earliest surviving amphitheater ruins date from the reign of Sulla and were built in colonies of veteran warriors, located mainly in Campania6. The most famous amphitheater was built in Pompeii, colonized around 80 BC. army veterans, whose presence and traditions K. Welch attributed to the primary factor in the development of gladiatorial culture in this territory7. It is quite true that interest in gladiatorial fights in the provinces was mainly supported by three groups of society: legionnaires, veterans and the romanized urban elite, as evidenced primarily by the ruins of amphitheaters, as well as the finds of small plastic with gladiatorial themes in legion fortresses and colonies8. The interest of the legionnaires in gladiatorial games was stimulated not so much by the thirst for bloody spectacles as by practical interest. From time to time, the training of legionnaires took place not on the territory of the legion camp (campus), but in the gladiatorial schools (ludus). In 50 BC. Julius Caesar planned to build a ludus gladiatorium near his legion base in Ravenna, 9 not only to entertain his warriors, but to train them there with the help of experienced instructors (doctores gladiatorum). Thus, it is clear that there was a close interaction between gladiatorial and military cultures before all in a single method of training sword fencing, and in addition, in the use of some similar types of defensive weapons. In this regard, it is interesting to consider one of the elements of gladiatorial weapons - the helmet, as the most representative example of a close relationship with the army fashion. The constructive similarity of some gladiatorial helmets with those widespread in the 1st century BC is noted. AD in the Roman army with Weisenau-type infantry helmets. In addition, one can trace the similarity of their decor with the ceremonial cavalry helmets of the same time. Unfortunately, it is not possible to carry out such a comparative analysis over several centuries. The earliest representative sources - gladiatorial reliefs - appear only in the era of the early principate, and the latest mosaics depicting gladiatorial weapons, more or less clearly, date back to the beginning of the 4th century. AD Not all of them, however, depict helmets in as much detail as would be needed for a comparative analysis with the real specimens at our disposal, which almost all belong to the 1st century. AD Thus, only for this century there is a sufficient volume of both iconographic and archaeological material. The absence of any pictorial sources and material finds for the republican period does not allow us to fully imagine what types of helmets were used by gladiators during the time of Spartacus, and forms a lacuna in the line of development of the gladiator's helmet. Nevertheless, a number of signs indicate a genetic relationship between gladiatorial helmets with wide brim and the Boeotian helmet, which appeared in Greece in the 5th century. BC The Boeotian helmet was widespread not only in Boeotia, but throughout Greece, as well as throughout the Hellenistic space, up to Bactria. In addition to his numerous images, several copies have been found. The earliest finds were made in Athens10 and Mesopotamia (on the Tigris River) 11 and date back to the 4th century. BC. Since the time of Alexander the Great, cheek pads and a plume appear on Boeotian helmets, and since the 2nd century. BC. the forehead part of the crown begins to be decorated with volutes, 12 which will be typical for gladiator helmets in the future.

Ancient Rome gladiator weapons

Figurative sources show a wide variety of types of helmets used by gladiators: from the Weisenau-type infantry helmet equipped with forehead volutes13 to completely closed ones reminiscent of medieval topfhelm14 (Table I-III). Some types of gladiatorial helmets are presented exclusively in figurative sources. Moreover, on very narrowly localized groups of monuments. For example, I know of at least four images of a rather unusual helmet with a crest that goes from the back of the head to the chin (a bas-relief and relief from Hierapolis of Phrygia15, a figurine from the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge16 and a monument from Tatarevo in a museum in Sofia17). All of these images originate from the east of the Roman Empire, suggesting a local variety of Sector helmets18. The variety of depicted types of helmets deserves consideration in a separate large work, where it will be necessary to thoroughly consider all the images at our disposal, and show which of them really reflect real-life helmets, and which are artistic fiction and the author's fantasy. With all this in mind, this article will focus on mainly archaeological material. Archaeological finds are few and far between cities on the coast of the Gulf of Naples, destroyed by one of the worst catastrophes in human history, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in August 79 AD. e. More than 75% of the finds come from the gladiatorial barracks in Pompeii, where cavalier Rocco de Alcubierre has been excavating for the Spanish king Charles III since 1748. In 1764, a young Spanish engineer Francesco La Vega joined the excavations, who was the first to draw sketches of the objects found and keep an accurate diary of excavations19. Before that, the main style of excavation in Pompeii was treasure hunting. There is evidence that La Vega began excavating the gladiator's barracks in the same 1764, and they ended only when the building was completely cleared out in 1800. In 1766/7. workers were clearing the room in which they found perfectly preserved gladiatorial weapons preserved by volcanic ash and pumice. To this must be added scattered finds in Herculaneum and its surroundings (helmets from the Louvre21 and Berlin Antiquarium22).

Other finds, not related to the disaster in the Gulf of Naples, come from the Roman borderlands. A tinned crown of a helmet without decor was found in Hawkedon (Suffolk, England) 23, a visor in the form of a lattice comes from Aquincum (Budapest) 24, a griffin-shaped pommel was found at the site of a border fortress of a German limes25, a cheek piece was found in Xanten26 In addition to these finds, in the museums of the world there are several more helmets identified with the weapons of gladiators. They are in the collections of the Museum at Castle San Angelo in Rome27, the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto28, the John Woodman Higgins Armory29 and the Detroit Institute of the Arts30.

Typology

The majority of helmets have rather wide fields, according to the shape of which M. Junkelmann divides them into two types31. The first, earlier type (type "Chieti G"), has horizontal brims along the entire perimeter of the helmet. In the second type ("Pompeii G"), the fields are horizontal only from the sides and back, and in front they are sharply raised above the forehead, forming a kind of curved visor. The latter type is a transitional variant to a later type, which is no longer represented among the finds in Pompeii. This type M. Junckelmann calls "Berlin G". It has very low (at neck level) horizontal margins at the back and sides and a clear framing of the visor grille with almost vertical margins in the front. Added to this are the types "Provocateur G" and "Sector G".

However, M. Junckelmann's typology relies exclusively on design features and does not take into account the design features of helmets, which in some cases was standard. All this allows us to make the typology of gladiatorial helmets more detailed, not only to highlight the features, but also, using iconographic material, to try to associate this or that version of the helmet with a certain type of gladiator.

All archaeological finds can be divided into three types with subtypes.

Type I (Pl. V, 2; VII, 1 - 4). The crown resembles an army helmet of the Weisenau type and in most cases is richly ornamented with chased figures. A visor plate is riveted to the forehead of the crown, as on infantry helmets. The lower edge of the frontal part of the crown has semicircular cutouts, which, together with the cheek pads attached to the pins, which had the same semicircular cutouts on their upper edges, formed a solid visor with round eye cutouts, which were covered by round overhead lattice eyecups. The back of the head is located almost at right angles to the crown and is completely analogous to the back of the Weisenau type helmets.

Type II (Plate V, 3; X, 3). The crown is also similar to the Weisenau-type infantry helmets and lacks any decoration. It is also similar to the crown of helmets of the first type, but it does not have semicircular arcuate notches on the lower edge of the frontal part, and, in addition, there is a low longitudinal ridge. The visor consists of two halves (cheek pads) attached to the crown on the side hinges and fastened together after putting on the helmet using a centrally located vertical plate-pin. Eye slots are small, unprotected circular cutouts that significantly limit the view. A clear drawback of this type is poor air exchange, since the visor is devoid of any other openings except for the eye slits, and this is clearly not enough. Type III (Table V, 1). The crown has wide curved brims, to which the cheek pads are attached by means of hinges, and to them, in turn, lattice eyecups are attached with pins. According to the shape of the crest, visor and decor, helmets of this type can be divided into three subtypes.

Option A (Table VIII, 1 - 3). The crown is decorated with volutes and mascarone of the forehead. On the sides, in the places where the volutes end, there are plume mounting bushings in the form of a bird's feather. The crest of the helmet ends with the image of the head of a griffin. According to iconographic sources, this type of helmet is associated with a Thracian gladiator (Thrax) (a bronze statuette of a Thracian from the former collection of F. von Lipperheide32 - now in Hanover - gladiatorial reliefs from the tomb of Luzi Storax, National Museum, Chieti33).

Variant B (Table VIII, 4; IX, 1 - 4; X, 1, 2). The crown of the helmet is richly decorated with chased images of mythological plots, various kinds of trophies, scenes of the capture of barbarians, scenes of triumphal processions. The crest of the helmet is sometimes also decorated. On figurative sources such helmets are worn by a gladiator-mirmillo (bronze statuette of a gladiator from Lillebon, Museum of Antiquity in Rouen [Table III]; a bronze statuette from the Berlin Antiquarium34) or hoplomachus (statuette from the Berlin Antiquarium35).

Option C (Table VI; X, 4). It is represented by one single copy in the Berlin Antiquarium36, but in some cases it is depicted in iconographic sources (for example, a relief from the Berlin Antiquarium37). It differs from the previous version by a large bend of wide brim, a visor in the form of lattices all over the face, as well as a massive ridge. It is a shame that there is no guaranteed origin (Herculaneum or the Adriatic Sea is named as the place of the find38), but comparison with items from Pompeii and Herculaneum shows a different quality of the Berlin helmet. Unlike the almost entirely ornamented gladiatorial weapons in the Archaeological Museum in Naples and in the Louvre, the light-dark contrast of Berlin's weaponry is reminiscent of an elegant checkerboard pattern. This effect was accomplished by tinning the brass of the helmet and scraping again to obtain a grid of rasters in every other square of the tin layer. In these places, the initially golden, and now gray-green, patinated surface of the tin is visible. Appearing, probably in the second quarter of the 1st century. AD, helmets of this variant remained popular until the end of gladiature. Judging by the iconographic monuments, in the western part of the Empire during this time they were practically unchanged, while in the Hellenistic East there were some modifications of such helmets (for example, with reduced fields in front).