Murmillo

Мыслевцев А.С.

The murmillo was a heavily equipped gladiator with a sword and large shield. His appearance included an enclosed crested helmet with a broad brim, a manica on the right arm and usually a short greave on the left leg. A greave is not an arm protector.

Typical opponents included the thraex and hoplomachus. The designation and its historical connection with earlier ethnic arena classes do not mean that all murmillones came from Gaul. Equipment weight depended on the objects and was not a single prescribed standard.

Suetonius (Domitian 10) associates the emperor’s preference for murmillones with the cruel punishment of a spectator who supported a thraex. The anecdote illustrates the political colouring of arena life but, like other stories in the biography, requires critical reading.

Bas-relief with murmillon. National Archaeological Museum,Aquileia. 1-2 century AD

Figure of the gladiator murmillon made of bone. Found in Lexden,Colchester. British Museum of Roman History. 1st-2nd century AD

Bas-relief with murmillon. Ephesus Museum,Turkey. 1-2 century AD

Murmillo Equipment: - Gladiator Helmet Type III - Liner - Manica - Ocrea - Balteus - Subligaculum - Gladius,Pugio - Scutum Footwear used in a modern performance is a practical adaptation, not a compulsory part of the ancient kit.

Murmillo,reconstruction

Related topics

• Gladiator
• Helmet
• Manica
• Ocrea
• Balteus
• Subligaculum
• Gladius
• Pugio
• Retiarius
• Thracian
• Hoplomachus
• Provocator

Literature and sources

• Marcus Aurelius. Meditations.
• Kiev-Cherkassy: Artium Ing. Ltd.,1993.
• 1 p. – (I,5) –
• 40000 copies –
• ISBN 5-7707-51-12-6
• Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus. / Translated by M. L. Gasparov// Suetonius. The Life of Twelve Caesars, Moscow,1988.
• Goroncharovsky V. A. Arena and Blood: Roman Gladiators between Life and Death, St. Petersburg,2009.
• Goroncharovsky V. A. The War of Spartacus: the Risen slaves against the Roman Legions. St. Petersburg: Peterburgskoe Vostokovedenie Publ.,2011,176 p. (in Russian)
• Brabich V., Pletneva G. Spectacles of Ancient Rome. L.,1971.
• Paolucci F. Gladiators: destined for death. Translated from Italian M.,2007.
• Gladiators: Types and Training — Metropolitan Museum of Art

Additional views

Terracotta oil lamp with gladiators. Gallo-romain de Fourvière Museum,Lyon,France. 1-2 century AD

Wall painting with a gladiatorial scene, found at Balkerne Lane in Colchester. 2nd-3rd century AD; Colchester Castle Museum.

Fragment of a bas-relief with murmillons from Pompeii. Mid-1st century AD

Terracotta oil lamp with gladiators. Museum des Beaux-Arts et d'Archéologie, Vienne, France. 1-2 century AD

Oil lamp in the form of a gladiator,I-II centuries AD,Split

Pendant in the form of Murmillo's helmet,I-III centuries AD,found in London

Gladiator,1-2 B.C.,75 mm,bronze,Private collection.

Murmillo,130 mm with stand,bronze,California Institute of World Archaeology.

Murmillo,1st century AD,64 mm,bronze. Private collection.

Bronze figurine with murmillon. 1-3 century AD

Murmillo,2nd century AD,83 mm,bronze. Private collection.

Terracotta lamp with murmillon and Thracian. 1-2 century AD