Were women allowed to fight as gladiators in ancient Rome?

Although sparse, evidence exists in art, law, and written documents that women fought violently with weapons for entertainment during the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. Code. However, they do not fight to the same extent as men and do so primarily as novel acts.

History has a lot of data written about female gladiators. Historians of the time described the strength of women by many actions such as, quarreling after dinner in the first century BC, fighting wild beasts, dwarves and other women in cages. held by the emperors Nero, Titus and Domitian.

Gladiators fought in the prosperous city of Pompeii and an inscription found in the port city of Ostia shows a proud local magistrate who was the first to "provide swords for women" since its founding city.

Women from all walks of life participated. David S. Potter, a professor of classics at the University of Michigan who has written extensively about ancient sports, said enslaved women often worked for wealthy families and a business owner might feel get the chance. He will say: "You are strong. Let you be trained as a gladiator. You will make a lot of money from your battles". 

Middle- and upper-class women also struggled - for the same reasons as young privileged men did, Potter said: "It's interesting. It's different. It upsets their parents. ".

Potter said at the time, women participating in many sports and staying in shape were highly valued. Roman officials encouraged them, to build strength for childbearing. Wealthy women can afford training and have spare time to exercise. Professional gladiator managers have encouraged those who are good at wrestling to try their hand at gladiators, a sport that brings money and glamour. "If we consider this a form of entertainment, then it's clear why women would want to do it," Potter said.

The Roman Senate passed laws in AD 11 and 19 banning middle- and upper-class women from fighting as gladiators - apparently to no avail, given the accounts of the Tall women doing so continued for the next two centuries.

This remarkable ancient Roman marble bas-relief found at Halicarnassus (now Turkey) shows two female gladiators fighting with swords and shields.

Only one surviving work of art, housed in the British Museum, clearly depicts female gladiators: An ancient marble bas-relief found at Halicarnassus, in what is now Turkey, shows two women fighting with shields, swords and leg guards. The characters are labeled Amazon and Achilli, likely stage names evoking Greek mythology. An inscription above their heads shows they fought for an honorable draw.

Other works representing gladiators may have been misunderstood for centuries, scholars say. A bronze sculpture from the first century AD, kept at the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbein in Germany, long believed to be a woman holding a cleaning tool. A 2011 reassessment by a Spanish scholar suggested she was more likely a female gladiator raising a short and curved sword, known as a sica, that flew overhead in victory. She is also topless, like gladiators usually fight.

Gladiator Tradition

One of the most fascinating discoveries came in 1996, when archaeologists from the Museum of London unearthed a fragment of a woman's pelvis in an elaborate Roman-era tomb in London's Southwark district. Decorative items and ruins of a lavish party suggest this was the burial place of a gladiator. Jenny Hall, curator of early history at the Museum of London at the time, also said there was a "70% chance" of the dead being a gladiator, while some suggested it could also have been his wife. girlfriend or a fan.

The following illustration Pollice Verso ('The thumb is turned'), painted by the French artist Jean-Léon Gérôme in 1872, depicts the dramatic moment when the fallen gladiator raises two fingers to show beg for mercy. There is academic debate about whether a gesture of dislike from the crowd means that the fighter should be spared or terminated.

There is more surviving evidence of male gladiators, who fought for nearly a thousand years throughout the Roman Empire, whose climax stretched from Western Asia to the British Isles. In Rome itself, gladiator duels began as part of lavish funeral services in the first centuries BC, especially among politically ambitious aristocrats. In 65 BC, Julius Caesar used 320 pairs of ostensibly gladiators to honor his long-dead father. Despite the bloody contests, gladiators were considered men of strength and bravery who were able to inspire crowds of greater allegiance to Rome.

Many male gladiators were enslaved or prisoners of war, but young free men also volunteered to risk their lives in hopes of fame and fortune. Famous gladiators are revered as sex symbols and are sought after in fan bars in Rome. Training schools sprang up; Event sponsors will hire the entire group of gladiators from professional managers. Fighters often share the fees. Slaves could hope to buy their freedom after winning a few successful battles.

Contrary to Hollywood depictions, gladiators rarely fight to the death. A defeated gladiator will raise a finger, letting the sponsor decide his fate, usually with input from the crowd. But for a gladiator to be killed, the sponsor must pay the crew manager a hefty fee — 10 times the cost of the hire, Potter said. He estimates the odds of a gladiator dying in any given competition at around 1 in 20.

However, audiences crave novelty, which has prompted sponsors to offer ever more exotic repertoire. Female gladiators fighting each other fit that bill. According to the Roman historian Cassius Dio, Nero held an exhibition in AD 59 "which was at first the most shameful and most shocking, as men and women were not only of the [middle class] save] that even senators . rode horses, slain. wild beasts and fought like gladiators, some willing and some against their will". In AD 66, Nero had female gladiators fight at games honoring the mother he murdered.

Roman society still had a dim view of married women competing in the arena. The Roman poet Juvenal mocked men who allowed their wives to fight, writing: "It is a great honor for a husband to be seen, at an auction, where his wife's effects are for sale. . under the weight of the helmet".

In AD 200, emperor Septimius Severus banned all female gladiators from fighting, allegedly after hearing lewd jokes directed at women during a sports competition made him fear the sport. not respect all women.

Enthusiasm for gladiators in general dwindled significantly by the fifth century - partly because of the spread of Christianity, which made people uncomfortable, and partly because of the cost of the events. Such events arose unresolved as the western Roman Empire collapsed.