This originally appeared on my historical blog at
I've recently begun rewatching the TV series Spartacus, a show that ran for four seasons on the Starz Cable TV network. (It's a rumored there may be a fifth one some day. We can only hope.) While one of the most lurid and visceral television spectacles, I've ever been exposed to, the show is exciting, entertaining, and addictive, just be careful who you watch it with. The high levels of sexual content and nudity, as well as violence and blood splashing gore, is higher than in any television show I've ever seen.
As long time readers of this blog (or you intelligent people who actually take the time to look at old posts) know, over the last few years, I've done a lot of research into the Roman gladiators and done some wargaming and figure modelling for the period. (In fact, one of my motives for rewatching was trying to find ways to add backstory and better characterization to my historical miniature games based on Roman gladiators.)
For those wondering, Spartacus was an actual historical figure. There was indeed a gladiator who fought under that name, who led a gladiator uprising that became a major slave revolt and troubled the Romans for years until he and all his followers were put down. The series is a cinematic retelling of this historical event, and while much of the details remain unknown, and there are few first hand period sources to tell the story, the series creators freely admit they took great liberties with the actual history. For more details on the actual history, I've included links to a few well chosen books, all books that I've actually read, below and if you purchase them by following these links, you'll also help support this blog.
For now, we're focusing on the gladiatorial fight scenes in the arena and their historical accuracy, nothing else.
A key fight scene from Spartacus: Gods of the Arena.
While the second season filmed, this six episode mini-series is actually a prequel to the events that occur in season one. The titular character Spartacus never appears, but we get to see more of the villainous ludus owners, a ludus being a gladiator school or troupe, who own and train and fight the gladiators, and learn more about what it was like to be part of this establishment and owned and forced to fight in the arena against one's will.
I hope to write a few blog posts on the degree of accuracy of the fight scenes in this series, but for now:
1. General accuracy of the arms and armor and fighting styles:
Much to my pleasant surprise, this is actually quite high. If you watch this show, the portrayal of the gladiators and their equipment is quite accurate, particularly since many cinematic depictions of gladiators are completely off.
The gladiators fought in certain distinctive ways using distinctive styles of armor and weaponry. During the latter part of the gladiatorial period, while there were local variations and locally known styles of fighters, the types allowed in the arena was largely proscribed by law.
For instance, in the scene below we witness two fighters. One of them is wearing heavy armor and carrying a straight, short sword -the Roman gladius- and carrying a large shield similar to what a legionnaire of the time would wear. This type was called a "mymillio" and the characters in the series refer to the fighters garbed and equipped in this way by that name.
The other carries two swords and is clearly intended to portray a "dimarchus," a gladiator who fight with two swords or one sword and a dagger.
To my mind there's nothing grossly wrong with the depiction of the Myrmillio. in the scene above. If I quibble, pontificate, and wax pedantic, then I must point out, for instance, that while his helmet does look like the helmet of a myrmillio, the perfect helmet for a myrmillio would look exactly this BUT with the addition of a fish, yes, a sculpted fish, added to the crest of the helmet. (This made more sense, from the Roman perspective, when you remember that a Myrmillio was often matched against a Retarius, the net and trident man. Therefore, ipso facto, par for the corso, ergoto, you would have a fisherman --the net and trident fighter-- fighting an opponent with a fish on his helmet. See! It makes perfect sense. Fisherman VS Fish. Understand that, learn some Latin and you'll soon be right up there, seeing the world from the traditional Roman perspective.)
And in a perfect world, the Myrmillio would also wear one greave, a piece of armor for his shin. Interestingly enough, most Myrmillio only had one greave, and it was on the right shin on the side opposite the heavy shield. While Roman soldiers wore them in pairs, gladiators often did not, and many of the carefully defined classes of gladiators wore just one with it being carefully prescribed as to which side of the body they wore it. If you look carefully this gladiator, this Myrmillio, has no leg armor, but you have to watch real carefully and be looking for this detail to even notice.
As for the character, Gannicus, the man with the two swords in the above clip, he is fighting in the style of a dimarchi. This is also a historically recognized style of gladiator, but one not as common as the myrmillio.
Here, I have a bigger quibble, a more glaring complaint. Historically the fighter really should be wearing a face concealing helmet, something much closer to that worn by the myrmillio in the clip.
Face concealing helmets were an important part of the dress of most gladiators. Not only did they protect the face, but they also concealed it, dehumanizing the wearer to his or her opponent. Gladiators were often paired off to fight with other members of their own ludus (school or troupe). And they had no choice in the matter,
Not only did they tend to fight harder when they couldn't see the face of their opponent, often a friend or colleague, but the concealing helmets often concealed their fear and anxiety about the match. Therefore face concealing helmets were a pretty standard part of most gladiators gear.
Interestingly enough, the retarius, the net and trident fighter, was one of the few types that did not normally wear a face concealing helmet.
By contrast the only known period depiction of a dimarchi, a sculptural bas relief, shows him wearing a face concealing helmet and holding two swords, one of which is curved,
Yet throughout the Spartacus series characters tend to fight without helmets, Why? If you watch the scene, it's obvious. Gannicus is a handsome, well built man with an expressive face and a roguish grin. If you watch, you can clearly see that he's quite comfortable in his role as star gladiator, enjoying the fight, the adulation of the crowds, and even the thrill of the kill. And if his face were concealed? Well, you'd get none of this. Characterization and story telling benefits in this case from the removal of the helmet.
If you watch the series, other types of gladiators are reasonably well portrayed --aside, of course, from that matter with the face concealing helmets. The characters usually seem to have a helmet where you can see their face or at least enough to get a sense of their emotions, or else, perhaps even more foolishly, they somehow manage to lose or pull off their helmets in the heat of battle.
Still the gladiators portrayed in the Starz TV series Spartacus do tend to fall within recognized historical types and be reasonably well portrayed.
The retarius are there, although interesting some do have helmets. The thracians with the curved swords. The hoplomachii with their long spear and small shields and faux Greek style helmets. The secutors, a type of gladiator that was equipped similar to the myrmillio but had a smoother, rounder, helmet so that it would be less likely to be snared in the net, All these can be seen, and are depicted with reasonable yet less than 100% accuracy, in the show.
These three books all have good details on the types of gladiators and how they fought. My personal favorite is Nossov's Gladiator, Rome's Bloody Spectacle and I can't recommend it highly enough if the subject interests you. The Gladiators and Caesars book is also quite good, but be forewarned only one chapter of this book focuses specifically on gladiators. The others tend to discuss things like chariot racing or animal fighting or other arena and coliseum type events.
The gladiators fought in certain distinctive ways using distinctive styles of armor and weaponry. During the latter part of the gladiatorial period, while there were local variations and locally known styles of fighters, the types allowed in the arena was largely proscribed by law.
For instance, in the scene below we witness two fighters. One of them is wearing heavy armor and carrying a straight, short sword -the Roman gladius- and carrying a large shield similar to what a legionnaire of the time would wear. This type was called a "mymillio" and the characters in the series refer to the fighters garbed and equipped in this way by that name.
The other carries two swords and is clearly intended to portray a "dimarchus," a gladiator who fight with two swords or one sword and a dagger.
To my mind there's nothing grossly wrong with the depiction of the Myrmillio. in the scene above. If I quibble, pontificate, and wax pedantic, then I must point out, for instance, that while his helmet does look like the helmet of a myrmillio, the perfect helmet for a myrmillio would look exactly this BUT with the addition of a fish, yes, a sculpted fish, added to the crest of the helmet. (This made more sense, from the Roman perspective, when you remember that a Myrmillio was often matched against a Retarius, the net and trident man. Therefore, ipso facto, par for the corso, ergoto, you would have a fisherman --the net and trident fighter-- fighting an opponent with a fish on his helmet. See! It makes perfect sense. Fisherman VS Fish. Understand that, learn some Latin and you'll soon be right up there, seeing the world from the traditional Roman perspective.)
And in a perfect world, the Myrmillio would also wear one greave, a piece of armor for his shin. Interestingly enough, most Myrmillio only had one greave, and it was on the right shin on the side opposite the heavy shield. While Roman soldiers wore them in pairs, gladiators often did not, and many of the carefully defined classes of gladiators wore just one with it being carefully prescribed as to which side of the body they wore it. If you look carefully this gladiator, this Myrmillio, has no leg armor, but you have to watch real carefully and be looking for this detail to even notice.
As for the character, Gannicus, the man with the two swords in the above clip, he is fighting in the style of a dimarchi. This is also a historically recognized style of gladiator, but one not as common as the myrmillio.
Here, I have a bigger quibble, a more glaring complaint. Historically the fighter really should be wearing a face concealing helmet, something much closer to that worn by the myrmillio in the clip.
Face concealing helmets were an important part of the dress of most gladiators. Not only did they protect the face, but they also concealed it, dehumanizing the wearer to his or her opponent. Gladiators were often paired off to fight with other members of their own ludus (school or troupe). And they had no choice in the matter,
Not only did they tend to fight harder when they couldn't see the face of their opponent, often a friend or colleague, but the concealing helmets often concealed their fear and anxiety about the match. Therefore face concealing helmets were a pretty standard part of most gladiators gear.
Interestingly enough, the retarius, the net and trident fighter, was one of the few types that did not normally wear a face concealing helmet.
 |
| A gladiator game I held at the Council of the Five Nations, a local adventure and historical game convention. I've since expanded the arena and built stands. If you blow up the picture you can see a pair of retarii, fighting a pair of secutors while a Myrmillo and a referee watch. |
Yet throughout the Spartacus series characters tend to fight without helmets, Why? If you watch the scene, it's obvious. Gannicus is a handsome, well built man with an expressive face and a roguish grin. If you watch, you can clearly see that he's quite comfortable in his role as star gladiator, enjoying the fight, the adulation of the crowds, and even the thrill of the kill. And if his face were concealed? Well, you'd get none of this. Characterization and story telling benefits in this case from the removal of the helmet.
If you watch the series, other types of gladiators are reasonably well portrayed --aside, of course, from that matter with the face concealing helmets. The characters usually seem to have a helmet where you can see their face or at least enough to get a sense of their emotions, or else, perhaps even more foolishly, they somehow manage to lose or pull off their helmets in the heat of battle.
Still the gladiators portrayed in the Starz TV series Spartacus do tend to fall within recognized historical types and be reasonably well portrayed.
The retarius are there, although interesting some do have helmets. The thracians with the curved swords. The hoplomachii with their long spear and small shields and faux Greek style helmets. The secutors, a type of gladiator that was equipped similar to the myrmillio but had a smoother, rounder, helmet so that it would be less likely to be snared in the net, All these can be seen, and are depicted with reasonable yet less than 100% accuracy, in the show.
Recommended books on Types of Gladiator and their
Arms, Armor, and Fighting Styles
Arms, Armor, and Fighting Styles
These three books all have good details on the types of gladiators and how they fought. My personal favorite is Nossov's Gladiator, Rome's Bloody Spectacle and I can't recommend it highly enough if the subject interests you. The Gladiators and Caesars book is also quite good, but be forewarned only one chapter of this book focuses specifically on gladiators. The others tend to discuss things like chariot racing or animal fighting or other arena and coliseum type events.
This is an unusual yet well done book that contains interesting but largely hypothetical descriptions on how to train and fight in a realistic manner that may be similar to how the Roman gladiators fought. It's currently being sold by two different publishers so it's available on Amazon from two different sources. After Paladin went bankrupt, the rights reverted to the author and it was soon re-released.
Finally, a pair of books on the history of the Spartacus revolt. I've read both of these (I've read everything I've linked to on this page. In some cases, you can even find my reviews on Amazon for the products.) and I definitely prefer Strauss's The Spartacus War over the Osprey book. I have however included the link to the Osprey book as many people (myself included) just like Osprey books and they don't take up much space on the shelf.
Finally, if you wish to support this blog, please consider buying any of the following books, all written by yours truly. People who've read them, tell me they've enjoyed them.
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