I saw a picture a while back that depicted a gladiator wielding a standard looking gladius in his right hand and a trident with what looked like a small leaf bladed spear head on the bottom in his left. I have been trying to find anything that documents this style of fighting to no avail. And I cannot find the picture again either. Can anyone tell me if something like this is documentable and point me in the right direction?
I know that any number of weapons combinations must have been used in the effort to entertain but I have not seen anything else that depicted this particular combination.
The gladiatorial fresco from Ashik's crypt in Panticapaeum, 1st century date, shows a man carrying an oddly large and elaborate trident that seems to have a spearhead at its base, but he carries no other weapon and I know of no other depiction of this sort of trident. The retiarius is frequently shown using sword and trident together, without his net, and in some very early depictions the sword seems to be legionary size. Gladiators also seem to have occasionally picked up fallen weapons and fought with them. A single grafitto in Pompeii shows a helmeted man bearing a scutum fighting with a trident. I would very much like to see the picture you speak of.
Welcome to the forum, by the way.
I would also love to see this picture again. Unfortunately i was retarded and did not get a copy of it at the time and do not know how to find it presently. Thanks for the info and welcome. This is far more than I had previously and will help alot.
here are three interesting pics I have come up with. two of them show a retiarius with what appears to be a trident with a point or spear head on the opposite end and the third is interesting in that it seems to show the retiarius holding a small knife in the same hand that he also holds the forward portion of the trident.
Quote: the third is interesting in that it seems to show the retiarius holding a small knife in the same hand that he also holds the forward portion of the trident.
Way out of my area, but I seem to remember reading (somewhere) that the retiarius carried a pugio as a back-up weapon.
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Mark Hayes
"The men who once dwelled beneath the crags of Mt Helicon, the broad land of Thespiae now boasts of their courage"
Philiades
"So now I meet my doom. Let me at least sell my life dearly and have a not inglorius end, after some feat of arms that shall come to the ears of generations still unborn"
Hektor, the Iliad
You will note that the original Chester gladiator looks somewhat different than in the old drawing. The retiarius is very often depicted in art holding his pugio in the hand while manipulating his trident. It looks awkward, but retiarius reenactors tell me that it is not too difficult. You should run a search on this forum for discussions of the matter. Unlike movie gladiators, the real ones never seem to have carried sheathed weapons, with one possible (very early) exception. They were given their weapons in the arena and had to leave them there.
The First image is perhaps the first image i have seen with a galerus/manica on a retiarius'right arm. Perhaps the image is reversed?
Either way, there goes many many years of belief.
rats
regards
richard robinson
aka
miles minimus
