Caligula loves his gladiators...

[Magnus]

Caligula's favoured gladiatorial match-up was a Thracian gladiator vs. a Murmillo gladiator. While this would have made for an interesting match-up on its own, it is purported that Caligula would remove certain sections of armour to make it more exciting for the crowd.

Is the above statement true? If so, where is it referenced?

Is there a gladiatorial group in PA somewhere? If so, anyone know how close to Canada they are?

[Medusa Gladiatrix]

Suetonius mentions this in his Live of the Twelve Caesars. Here's the quote from Lacus Curtius:

Caligula 55.2
2 He gave some Thracian gladiators command of his German body-guard. He reduced the amount of armour of the murmillones.97 When one Columbus had won a victory, but had suffered from a slight wound, he had the place rubbed with a poison which he henceforth called "Columbinum"; at least that name was found included in his list of poisons. He was so passionately devoted to the green faction98 that he constantly dined and spent the night in their stable,99 and in one of his revels with them he gave the driver Eutychus two million sesterces in gifts.100

97 See note on chap. xxx.3. He disliked the murmillones, as the opponents of his favourites, the Thracians.

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98 The charioteers in the Circus were divided into four parties, distinguished by their colours, which were red, white, blue, and green. Domitian added two more; see Dom. vii.1.

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99 The "stable" was in reality a kind of club, containing the quarters of the drivers as well as the stalls of the horses.

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100 The host at a dinner party often gave gifts to his guests (p489)to take away with them (hence called by the Greek name apophoreta); cf. Aug. lxxv.

Caligula favored gladiators fighting with a small shield such as thraexes and hoplomachi and disliked those with the scutum such as murmillones.

[john m roberts]

I've often wondered about this passage myself. The murmillones we are familiar with were already minimally protected. As defensive equipment they had a helmet, a shield, a very small greave on one leg and a manica. Did Caligula remove some of this? If so, what? Or, were the murmillones originally provided with more armor, and the ones we are familiar with of the post-Caligulan type?

[Medusa Gladiatrix]

The scutum is a very good cover and you could even use it offensely, the only way to get around it is either to try to stab over the shoulder in the back or to make your opponent to open his cover. If you would take the scutum away then you had only your sword to continue the fight meaning you had to parry with it as well as doing your own attacks. This is of course a big disadvantage when fighting against a thraex who still carries a parmula. Before that, i.e. both carrying their shields and gladius/sica chances were of course equal for both to win or lose. But Caligula preferring thraeces wanted to make their chances better.