Numismatic and History Discussion Forums > History and Archeology
Female Gladiator
EmpressCollector:
Did you guys hear about the grave of a female gladiator found in England: [BROKEN LINK REMOVED BY ADMIN] Very interesting article there.
LordBest:
"Emperors issued coins stamped with the faces of popular gladiators, and wealthy families decorated homes with scenes of their death agonies."
Thats not true. >:( Im inclined to agree that it isnt a gladiatrix buried there, i read another article on the subject a few weeks ago. Also, therewas some contradictory evidence to the idea that fmeale students of collegia ivenvm went on to be gladiatrix'es. It seems it was consdered sort of a fitness club, send your daughter or wife along so they lose a bit of eight and get fit. ;) And possible learn how to use a swrod, those patricians must have been crazy. :-X
LordBest. 8)
LordBest:
There were some gladiatrixii (;)) in Gladiator, the archers on the chariots in the chariot scene. ;) One got chopped in half by a scythe.:( Poor girl. ::) If you want gladiatrixii (;)), get your sister and her best friend, point at both of them and scream "SHE ATE YOUR CHOCOLATE!" and watch with amusement. ;) 8) ::)
LordBest. 8)
aragon6:
It really is no surprise that there were female gladiators. There was always pressure to find new and exciting ways to entertain the masses. Many of those ways of causing death for the delight of the viewers were a lot more grotesque and cruel than two women fighting. It was certainly a good way to distract the people from their own lives.
LordBest:
what annoys me is the amount of sensationalism around gladiators. >:( The majority of Gladiators/Gladiatrixii (;)) were volunteers. Why? Why not. people volunteer to join the army, people want to become footballers, or racing car drivers. Gladiators were sort of a combination of the two. If you won, you became wealthy, famous and could have as many girls/boys as you could cope with. If you lost, well, you died. but if you didnt become a gladiator you had just as much chance of being murdered, being hit by a chariot, catching some hideous disease etc. At 15 you might be able to join a gladiator group, most likely older. training was around 5-8 years, depending on the class of gladiator and quality the group tried to produce. The chances of dying were quite small during training, you were isolated form most of the public so had a decreased chance of catching a disease. for a women, whos avetage life expectancy was 18-18 (after first child born it jumped to 50 or thereabouts), just by doing the training youve already increased your lifespan.
this is for the actual Gladiators/Gladiatrixii(;)), not for the criminals who get sent to kill themselves. When msot countries still have the death penalty (38 states in the US isnt it?) we can hardly call the Romans brutal for doing that.
You also hve to remember that after 5-8 years of traiing, Gladiators were avery expensive invetment! They wre not just sent to their deaths in their thousands like popularly believed. Think WWF. If those guys did to each what they pretend to, they wouldnt be able to fight more than a couple of times year. Gladiators were the same, they did not often die, if they did it was by accident and probably pissed the hell out of his/her owner. Before 68AD things were a bit more strict, but before Neros reign Gladiators wre not used in large numbers anyway.:)
LordBest. 8)
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