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I just got my copy of "Gladiator - Rome’s Bloody Spectacle" by Konstantin Nossov.
I plan to write a thorough review later, once I am finished, but the first impression is quite positive.
The auther draws on Junkelmann as one of his main references, and he features an interesting fresco from the black see coast, that seems to show unique gladiator equipment used on this extreme border of the roman influence.
Olaf Küppers - Histotainment, Event und Promotion - Germany
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I got a review copy for this book to do a review for Ancient Warfare and Jasper will publish it but doesn't know when. Me or Jasper could inform you when it is in Ancient Warfare.
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Well I have read through it already (preordered form Osprey) and will write a quick summary review later this week.
I still find it a good read, but of course its not as scientific as Junkelmann.
It is a lot better then the old Stephen Wisodm book by Osprey however and I personaly prefer it to Susanna Shadrakes recent puplication.
Olaf Küppers - Histotainment, Event und Promotion - Germany
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Basically I agree with Olaf that what is new and interesting is this frescoe from the Black Sea Coast. The book of course is more accurate and correct concerning the types and pairings of gladiators esp. when compared to the old Osprey booklet by Stephen Wisdom which shows a provocator fighting against a hoplomachus. It is a basic introduction to the topic and even covers the architecture of amphitheaters but it does not contain (besides the aforementioned frescoe) anything new. I would recommend this book only to those who just want to get a brief overview on gladiators and amphitheaters.
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Hi Svenja
Who did the artwork if any, or is some of it reused from the other Osprey book?
Graham.
"Is all that we see or seem but a dream within a dream" Edgar Allan Poe.
"Every brush-stroke is torn from my body" The Rebel, Tony Hancock.
"..I sweated in that damn dirty armor....TWENTY YEARS!', Charlton Heston, The Warlord.
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OK since there is some interest, here some more details:
The book is a translation of his russian book: "Gladiators: History, Types, Armament, Organisation of Spectacles" (St. Petersburg, 2005 - Atlant)
The Artist is Vladimir Golubev, who does a good job of accurately portraing the various Gladiator types.
Some of the archeological items are also reproduced as drawings by him in a very accurate and professinal way.
Here is a quick Pro and Contra list:
The Pros:
He has read Junkelmann (the 2000 edition) and uses him as a major reference.
He also references information from italian and russian sources that were new to me.
The Gladiator types are described in line with Junkelmann
The helmets typology from Junkelmann is used but not extensively discussed like Junkelmann does
The development of the equipment from rebulican to late imperial times is noted
It is a good straightforeward read without any speculation or moralic judgement
it has pictures of a few iconographic items not pictured in the Junkelmann
A crypt-fresco from Panticapeum is briefly discussed as showing Gladiators on the borders of the empire with very different armament than the known types.
It has an extensive bibliography listing both primary and secondary sources
The Contras
Though he does not classify them as Gladiators he does devote a lot of space to Venators and Venationes.
Sadly it seems he has not included any of the new information from the 2nd edition of Junkelmann.
He is focusing mainly on the Pompejian times concerning Gladiator types and equipment.
In his chapter about the history of the games he draws on a lot of primary sources but delivers them as facts.
He does not mention that storys on bad emperors like Comodus appearing naked or in female clothing in the arena are most negative propaganda by political enemies.
All in all its is not as scientific as Junkelmann but a good overview on the present scientific knowledge about Munera and Venationes.
It is a lot better then the previews publication from Osprey though
Olaf Küppers - Histotainment, Event und Promotion - Germany
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I've now read this book and while there is nothing new in it, I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone beginning a study of gladiators and the games. I can remember when there were no texts in English devoted exclusively to the Roman games except for Mannix's sensationalist "Those About to Die" and Grant's brief, moralizing "Gladiators."
I think Nossov draws some wrong conclusions, such as the retiarius using the manica-clad left hand for throwing the net, but these are minor.
I am intrigued by the Panticapaeum frescoes as well. Surely these are the most lightly-equipped gladiators yet - not even a manica to be seen among them. And are we certain that those are helmets they are wearing, and not some form of Phrygian bonnet? Just as intriguing is that Hollywood-style trident with a spearpoint at its butt and some sort of attachments or decorations on it. It looks like something from a bad gladiator movie. Is there a possibility of finding larger, more detailed pictures of these frescoes?
Lastly, the English translation suffers from numerous typos, the clear result of a publisher content with running the text through a spell-checker instead of doing a line-by-line proofread.
Definitely worth the money and highly recommended.
Pecunia non olet
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I've completely read Nossov's new book "Gladiator" and it supplements Junkelmann's book well because he gives an english translation to the concepts originally presented by Junkelmann's German book "Das spiel glad....". In this regard, he explains the evolution of the helmets (especially the brims).I liked the illustrated pair-off of the early category on provocators since it's the first illustration I've seen of this pair-off. Other books only showed the photos of this pair-off with stone carvings, etc. ///////// The book "Gladiator" also photographed a 4th century fresco that showed the earliest gladiator combat of at least 5 fightersfrom Campania, with 3 of the fighters wearing the samnite helmet of the Italo-Attic type and without the cheek flaps. This type helmet is photographed by N. Sekunda in Osprey's other book named "Rome's Early Armies". Now, it's very clear to me about what the "samnite" category of gladiator truely is, since the term "samnite gladiator" always had inaccurate descriptions or connotations about it in the past literature. The photograph in Nossov's book showed a different fresco than that showed by Junkelmann's book.
Michael
