Roman Martial Arts?

[Tarbicus]

As far as I can ascertain, wrestling was regarded highly, and as I say, I can see why it would be the MA of choice for the gentleman, simply because he'd take less facial damage - the mark of plebeian?

As long as you don't apply that to Republican or early Imperial 'gentlemen', otherwise you're possibly transplanting Eton and Harrow onto an ancient upper class who were literally nobody of importance unless they bore wounds, scars, and the like, to prove their worth as Roman citizens. Virtus and manliness were held with high regard, where a 'pretty boy' was an object of disdain. He may have had more luck with the ladies, but in actual fact there is as much reason to believe he wouldn't and may have enjoyed more attention from men. You only have to look at plenty of early Principate and Republican busts with weathered faces and broken noses to see what I'm talking about :wink: I'll repeat that Marius partook in wrestling and boxing with the common soldiery, in a way to try win popularity against Sulla, but I think that only emphasises my point.

Added: Note the line from this article on Rogueclassicism: Boxing in Antiquity
"When Sulla plundered Olympia in 80 BC, the Greek Olympic tradition effectively ended, although boxing was evidently in vogue in very ancient times in Italy,.....During the Republic, boxing was cultivated as a gentlemanly exercise, but contests increased in violence and depravity at the dawn of the Empire."