06-22-2006, 12:54 PM
Salvete Omnes,
I just finished reading the book "Gladiateurs - Des Sources à l'Expérimentation" by Eric Teyssier and Brice Lopez. They have the hypothesis that there existed something like a "cursus honorum" of the gladiators.
They stated that the new recruit began his training as a provocator since that was the basic equipment of all gladiator types. Also there are only very few inscriptions of of provocatores that lead them to the assumption that tirones who died in the arena usually didn't had enough money to have an epitaph with inscription.
Depending on the talents of the tiro the doctor decided then if he should continue his training as a fighter with a big shield (scutum) or with a small shield (parma and parmula).
The first step for the fighters with the big shield would be murmillo fighting agains the thraex, then murmillo fighting against the hoplomachus and then the most advanced form of secutor who fought of course against the retiarius.
For the ones with the small shield they would become at first a thraex, then a hoplomachus, because that required fighting with one long weapon (the hasta) and a short weapon (the pugio). The last step would be fighting as a retiarius because that requires the most skills since he only has a trident and a pugio and no protective armor except the galerus and a manica on his left arm.
This carreer seems to them logical when looking at the training of gladiators, that they specialized more and more the more they advanced in the training.
Esp. concerning the retiarius Susanna Shadrake states exactly the opposite in her book "The World of the Gladiator". She writes that the retiarius was at the bottom of the gladiatorial pecking order because if was a rule that the less concealed the body and face of a gladiator were the lower his status was.
It is known of course that there were ranks among the gladiators like primus palus and secundus palus etc. But I would like to know now from you what you think that these ranks were also depending on the type of gladiator you fighting in.
I just finished reading the book "Gladiateurs - Des Sources à l'Expérimentation" by Eric Teyssier and Brice Lopez. They have the hypothesis that there existed something like a "cursus honorum" of the gladiators.
They stated that the new recruit began his training as a provocator since that was the basic equipment of all gladiator types. Also there are only very few inscriptions of of provocatores that lead them to the assumption that tirones who died in the arena usually didn't had enough money to have an epitaph with inscription.
Depending on the talents of the tiro the doctor decided then if he should continue his training as a fighter with a big shield (scutum) or with a small shield (parma and parmula).
The first step for the fighters with the big shield would be murmillo fighting agains the thraex, then murmillo fighting against the hoplomachus and then the most advanced form of secutor who fought of course against the retiarius.
For the ones with the small shield they would become at first a thraex, then a hoplomachus, because that required fighting with one long weapon (the hasta) and a short weapon (the pugio). The last step would be fighting as a retiarius because that requires the most skills since he only has a trident and a pugio and no protective armor except the galerus and a manica on his left arm.
This carreer seems to them logical when looking at the training of gladiators, that they specialized more and more the more they advanced in the training.
Esp. concerning the retiarius Susanna Shadrake states exactly the opposite in her book "The World of the Gladiator". She writes that the retiarius was at the bottom of the gladiatorial pecking order because if was a rule that the less concealed the body and face of a gladiator were the lower his status was.
It is known of course that there were ranks among the gladiators like primus palus and secundus palus etc. But I would like to know now from you what you think that these ranks were also depending on the type of gladiator you fighting in.
