Gladiators were the football players of their time - whether football conjures images of gridiron football or soccer. Individual players could then as now win renown and fortune. Modern sportsmen sign contracts; ancient ones made oaths. Injuries were common and the life of a player qua player was generally short. Gladiators generally fought individually rather than on teams, but just as teams may be named for violent pirating types, so the names of the types of fighters included those of Rome's former enemies.
There were many types of gladiators in ancient Rome. Some gladiators -- like the Samnite -- were named for opponents of the Romans [see Samnite Wars]; other types of gladiators, like the Provacator and Secutor, took their names from their functions: challenger and pursuer. Here are the types of weapons gladiators used and also the types of gladiators:
Weapons of the Gladiator
- fascina: harpoon
- galea: visored helmet
- galerus: metal shoulder piece
- gladius: sword
- hasta: lance
- iaculum: net
- manicae: leather elbow or wrist bands
- ocrea: metal or boiled leather greave
- parma: round shield
- scutum: large oblong shield
- sica: curved scimitar
- subligaculum: loin cloth
Types of Gladiators
- Andabatae wore helmets without eye holes
- Catervarii did not fight in pairs, but several together
- Dimacheri fought with two swords
- Equites fought on horseback
- Essedarii fought from chariots like the Gauls and Britons
- Hoplomachi were like the Samnites, but more heavily armed
They wore ocrea on both legs and mail or leather cuirasses - Laqueatores used a noose to catch their adversaries
- Meridiani fought in the middle of the day, after the wild beast fights
They were lightly armed - Myrmillo wore a large galea with a fish on its crest, a manica of mail, leather or metal scales on his left arm, ocrea on at least one leg, a scutum and a straight Greek-styled sword
- Ordinarii were the regular gladiators who fought in pairs in the ordinary way
- Provocator was armed like the Samnite with a parma and a hasta, his opponent was often the Myrmillo
- Retiarius wore a subligaculum and a metal galerus on the left arm
He carried a net, a dagger and a trident or tunny-fish fascina - The Samnite used scutum and ocrea on his left leg, a galea with a large crest and plume, and a gladius
- The Secutor carried a large oval or rectangular shield, an ocrea on his left leg, a round or high-visored helmet, manicae at the elbow and wrists, and a sword or dagger
- Thracian wore ocrea on both legs, a small square shield, a helmet, a sica or the Thracian sword.
More on Gladiators
- Gladiators - Ending the Fight
Find out whether the emperor raised his thumb for mercy. - What You Need to Know About Gladiators
Who were they? Where did they learn to fight? Were the only gladiators male slaves? More. - Review of Barry Strauss' The Spartacus War
Strauss describes Spartacus' training before describing the journey Spartacus took to freedom and death. - William Smith's Gladiatores
Gladiators entry from an 1875 dictionary of antiquities on Bill Thayer's Lacus Curtius site.
Famous People Biographies
Ancient / Classical History Glossary
Maps
Latin Quotations and Translations
Primary Texts /Literature and Translations
Quotes Index
Today in History
Ancient / Classical History Articles
