Some gladiatorial attire questions

[cjacksonii]

Howdy!

I'm trying to do some attire reserach on gladiator attire and have a few questions. I was talking to a friend who I went to Austin to participate in the Gladiator fights at the Austin Celtic Festival this past weekend and he suggested I post here about the question I currently have. I did do a search in the Ancient Combat Sports forum and was unable to locate my answer, so I'm going to post the question.

The attire I want to wear as the gladiator persona I'm portraying inclues (at least from the place I want to order it from) a Roman Battle Skirt. The question I want to ask is: Is there any documentation anywhere that can say whether or not it was or was not worn by a gladiator in Ancient Rome? (I honestly haven't been able to locate anything on the web that says one way or the other). Or is this attire more of something that Hollywood created? And regardless of the answer, another question on the same subject comes to my head. In the event that it was a Hollywood stereotype, how "out of place" would it be if worn at a gladiator games reenactment?

I appreciate all the help I can get on this question.

C. Jackson
Dallas, TX

[Martin Moser]

The attire I want to wear as the gladiator persona I'm portraying inclues (at least from the place I want to order it from) a Roman Battle Skirt.

Sorry, but what exactly do you mean by "Roman Battle Skirt"?

In the event that it was a Hollywood stereotype, how "out of place" would it be if worn at a gladiator games reenactment?

Probably as much as Viking Helmets, medieval plate armor, Napoleonic muskets and Imperial Trooper Laserguns ;-) )

[jvrjenivs]

You can find more about the subligaria here:
link from old RAT

For the rest of the clothes, you first have to find out what type of gladiator you wanna be.

Here you can find more about books about ancient combat sports:
link from old RAT

Don't know when the English version of Junkelmanns 'Das spiel mit dem Tod' comes out, but I found that one the most handy source for starting with gladiator re-enactment. (But I can read german). Otherwise it has a lot of good pics in it, which are always very usefull.

[john m roberts]

If you're referring to pteryges - a skirt of overlapping leather straps hanging below the cuirass - they were worn only with military armor, never gladiatorial. Although it would make you look really butch.

[Medusa Gladiatrix]

Here are some pictures of the Junkelmann gladiator group at the festival in Manching, Germany last year. They are the most authentic group and as long as you don't have the book by Junkelmann these pictures surely give a very good impression:

http://ww-photodesign.de/galerien/museu ... fault.html

[Conal]

If you're referring to pteryges - a skirt of overlapping leather straps hanging below the cuirass - they were worn only with military armor, never gladiatorial. Although it would make you look really butch.

Though there are a few images where there appears to be a section of Clingulum worn at the back of the belt.

[F. Antili Oregensis]

I think he referring extra protection. Think in terms of a Kilt only leather.

Jeff

[cjacksonii]

Thank you everyone for the information. I think I should have probably done some searching and found an example of what I was looking for. I did find a leather shop in Colorado called "CJ's Leather" (and note: they specialize in more "adult" leather, but they do have a section for renaissance faire style armor (and some of it looks really nice). I'm not sure if this'll work properly, but a direct link to the image of what I'm thinking about is:

Battle Skirt from CJs Leather

[If the link doesn't work, their website is www.cjsleather.com , go past the legal page, select custom portfolio, and about 3/4 of the way down on the left is the battle skirt.]

This is what I was thinking about wearing with my gladiator persona, but didn't want to wear it if it wasn't actually worn.

Thanks again, and I'll continue looking forward to any more input on this topic! :-) )

C. Jackson
Dallas, TX

[M. Demetrius]

I'm not an expert, but I don't recall seeing anything like that in any book, mosaic, painting, or description...except in B grade movies, that is. Gladiators more typically wore a wide belt, belted at or above the navel, and a cloth sash/loincloth or breechclout rig. Basically underwear.

[Martin Moser]

I'm not sure if this'll work properly, but a direct link to the image of what I'm thinking about is:
Battle Skirt from CJs Leather

Ok, what you are thinking of has been talked a lot about here on RAT, I suggest you do a search on Pteryges (and, alternatively for pteruges) for pics of reconstructions and of contemporary depictions. Common opinion is that it wasn't like a skirt but attached to some sort of garmanent that covered the body and/or acted as armor padding.

Next you should browse this section here, there are a lot of pics (or links to such pics) of gladiator depictions (mosaics, gravestones etc.) that should serve well to give you an impression of what gladiators actually looked like.

Finally, the short answer to your question is no, sorry, there are no depictions of gladiators wearing pteryges as far as I'm aware.