Gladiatrix

Евсеенков А.С.

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Gladiatrix (Lat. gladiatrix) - the name of women who performed as gladiators in ancient Rome. It should be borne in mind that the Romans did not have a specific word for a female gladiator. Gladiatrix, gladiator, or gladiatrix are modern terms that refer to a female gladiator. Also, gladiatris did not have any special equipment – it completely coincided with the male one, and depended on the type of gladiator to which the warrior belonged.

History of the development of women's gladiator fights:

• The exact time of the appearance of gladiatriss is unknown, researchers believe that they appeared in the 1st century BC.

• In AD 11, the Senate issued a decree (senatus consulta) prohibiting free-born women under the age of twenty and similar men under the age of twenty-five from appearing on the stage or in the arena.

• In 19 AD, a new decree of the Senate was passed, according to which additional punishments were established for men and women from the senatorial or equestrian classes who would participate in stage performances or arena battles. It was also forbidden to recruit the daughters, granddaughters, and great-granddaughters of senators and horsemen under the age of twenty as gladiators. This law indicates the extremely increased popularity of women's fights not only among slaves, who were mainly forced to do this action, but also among free women from noble families.

• In 63 AD, Emperor Nero issued a decree officially allowing free women to participate in gladiatorial tournaments. In 66 AD, Nero arranges an expensive performance in the city of Puteoli in honor of the Armenian king Tiridates I, which was attended by Ethiopians, including women. It is believed that the peak of popularity of women's fights occurred during the reigns of Nero (54-68 AD) and Domitian (81-96 AD). It is mentioned that " there were few female gladiators, and more often they acted as pegniarii, who amused the audience, rather than gladiators who sowed death."

• In 200 AD, the Emperor Septimius Severus decreed that women's participation in gladiatorial combat was completely prohibited.

Sources

In addition to written references to gladiatrix in the legislative framework of ancient Rome, there are also literary sources:

• Petronius ' Satyricon tells of a certain Titus who "has several boyfriends, and an essedarian woman, and Glycon's treasurer..."

• Tacitus 'Annals describe the events of 63-64 AD:" This year is also marked by the organization of gladiatorial games, which were not inferior in splendor to the previous ones; but an even greater number of noble women and senators tainted themselves by entering the arena."

• Dion Cassius, in one of the books of the Roman History, reports a feast given by the Emperor Nero in honor of his mother. At this festival, men and women participated not only in equestrian competitions, but also performed, with the permission of the Senate, in orchestras, a circus, as well as participated in animal baiting and gladiatorial fights. In another book of Roman History, Cassius speaks of a grandiose battle staged during the reign of Titus involving gladiators and animals, in which women who did not occupy a special position in society also took part.

• Suetonius, writing in the Lives of the Twelve Caesars about the reign of Domitian, writes:: "He showed baiting and gladiatorial fights even at night with torches, and not only men, but also women participated in them."

• There are references to gladiatrissae in Martial's Book of Spectacles:

"On the defeat of the lion in the vast valley of Nemea,

Rumor sang about the Herculean feat of old.

Let the old story be silent: the same miracle,

Caesar, you have now given a woman's hand a chance..."

• Female Gladiators are ridiculed in Juvenal's 6th Satire:

"She would like to participate in the trumpet games at the Flora Festival;

Instead, isn't it aiming for a real arena?

How can such a woman in a helmet have any shame,

Loving the force, defying her gender? However, by a man

She wouldn't want to become one: after all, we have little pleasure.

You'll be honored when your wife starts a sale:

Baldric there, sultan, handcuff, half-boots

From the left foot; what happiness when a young spouse

Sell your knee pad by starting other battles!

These same women can also feel hot in a thin cape..."

• Statius mentions gladiatrissus in the Sylvae: "In the midst of these clicks and unprecedented amusements, the weak and unadapted sex shames itself by giving battles created for men."

A lot of data has been obtained through archaeological excavations. The study of ancient inscriptions suggests that there were women among the gladiators. In particular, on the territory of Roman Britain, which was part of the Roman Empire, two burials were discovered that could have belonged to female gladiators.:

• Burial of a woman of approximately twenty years old, who died in the 1st century AD. It was discovered in 1996 in the London borough of Southwark (the discovery was officially announced in 2000). Later, the woman became known as the "Great Dover Street Woman". In this burial, two oil lamps were found, one of which has an image of a fallen gladiator, the other-the Egyptian god Anubis, who was considered, among other things, the guide of human souls to the realm of the dead, and his cult was closely associated with gladiator competitions. Many scientists are inclined to believe that the buried woman was a gladiator.

• Burial of a woman discovered in the county of Herefordshire in July 2010. Archaeologists were able to establish that during her lifetime the woman had a massive physique and strongly developed muscles. Although weapons or other items associated with the life of gladiators were not found in the burial, many researchers, based on the burial site and other features, believe that the woman could have been a gladiator.

• The British Museum has a marble slab dating from the 1st-2nd century AD, which was found near the Turkish city of Bodrum, located on the site of the ancient city of Halicarnassus. The plate shows two women fighting each other, dressed in the usual equipment for male gladiators. The names of the contestants-Amazon and Achilia — are written on the plate in Greek (it is assumed that these were their nicknames used in the arena).

• There are many urban inscriptions mentioning female gladiators. In particular, an inscription from Ostia dedicated to a local magistrate named Hostilianus: "Hostilian was the first under whom the city discovered women's fights "(in the original: QUI PRIMUS OM[NI]UM AB URBE CONDITA LUDUS CUM [ -- ] OR ET MULIERES [A]D FERRUM DEDIT). It dates back to the 3rd century AD, which means that the inscription indicates non-compliance with the decree of 200 on the prohibition of women's participation in battles.

• In Lancaster, a ceramic fragment was found with the Latin inscription VERECVNDA LVDIA LVCIUS GLADIATOR, a possible translation of which indicates that this object belonged to a female gladiator named Verekunda.

• An inscription found in one of the Roman gladiator schools mentions a certain Valeria Iucunda, apparently a student of this school, who lived for 17 years and 9 months.

Related topics

Gladiator, Equits, Bestiary, Murmillon, Thracian, The Amazons

Literature

• Gladiators-Konstantin Nosov. pdf

• Women Gladiators in the Ancient World-Stephen Ross Murray

Gallery