gladiators

Question 1

what types of gladiators are there?

Answer 1

• murmillo
• retiarius
• samnite
• secutor
• thraex
• venator (technically not a gladiator but often grouped together)

Question 2

what would noble women pay to do?

Answer 2

to spend the night with the gladiator

Question 3

what was the most common pairing of gladiator?

Answer 3

murmillo vs retiarius

Question 4

what were murmillos equipped with?

Answer 4

• gladius
• scutum
• manica
• helmet with a plume crest and a bronze grill faceguard
• leather greaves (ankle thingys)
• wrestling style belt

Question 5

what was a scutum?

Answer 5

• a rectangular shield
• had a boss to bash people in the face with
• similar to roman soldiers’ shields

Question 6

why did murmillo helmets have plumes?

Answer 6

for aesthetics, designed to look like fish - had no practical use

Question 7

what were the retiarius equipped with?

Answer 7

• manica
• galerus
• rete
• trident
• dagger

Question 8

what is some context about the retiarius?

Answer 8

• very expensive to train
• less common
• had to be very good at throwing the net

Question 9

what was a galerus?

Answer 9

a shoulder guard (made of metal)

Question 10

what was a rete?

Answer 10

a net

Question 11

how would a retiarius use the net?

Answer 11

it was weighted so they could trap the opponent under it then stab them with the trident

Question 12

what was a samnite?

Answer 12

an early version of the murmillo

Question 13

what was a samnite equipped with?

Answer 13

• gladius
• scutum
• manica
• greaves
• and a helmet i think

Question 14

what was a secutor equipped with?

Answer 14

• manica
• greaves
• belt like the retiarius
• scutum but a curved one
• helmet with two eye holes (got very hot)
• gladius

Question 15

what was a thraex equipped with?

Answer 15

• parmula
• sica
• manica
• greaves
• helmet with a plume and visor

Question 16

what was a parmula?

Answer 16

a small, square shield which only covers the torso, not the legs too

Question 17

what was a sica?

Answer 17

a short sword with a curved blade

Question 18

what was a venator equipped with?

Answer 18

• light clothing (eg tunic/bare chested)
• spear/dagger/net

Question 19

what did venators fight?

Answer 19

they hunted animals, typically fought lions, tigers, etc - skill intensive role