05-19-2006, 04:45 PM
The few gladiatorial representations we have from the Republic show gladiators wearing odd combinations of equipment, some of it military. The figures on the Tiber relief, for instance, seem to be wearing early Imperial Gallic helmets. I suspect that Augustus, with his passion for order and for separating everything into discrete categories, may have banned military garb and equipment from the arena. Also, the soldiers might have felt insulted by seeing gladiators in military belts.
Pecunia non olet
