03-14-2007, 10:02 PM
With the aid of Harvard professor Kathleen Coleman whom I met at the Amphitheater Conference in Chester I became hold of the highly interesting article by Stephen Brunet „Female and Dwarf Gladiaors“ (Mouseion XLVIII – Series III, Vol. 4, 2004). I’d like to give you a short summary on his conclusion:
The misconception that women gladiators fought against dwarfs is derived from six passages mentioned by ancient authors. But when having a closer look at what they are writing it says that Emperor Domitian liked to have spectacular games and therefore had munera at torch light and women and dwarfs appearing at his shows. But they were never pitched against each other but only appeared at the same occasion.
Martial Sp. 6B and 6 mentions that Titus had female venatores for his inauguration games of the Colosseum. Suetonius Dom. 4.1 mentions that Domitian held hunts and gladiatorial contests of which some took place at night and some included not just men but also women. Statius mentions in Silvae 1.6 that “women and dwarfs appeared at the same spectacle. As one of the central events female gladiators appeared some time before nightfall and fought with such virtue and spirit that the audience thought it was watching a battle involving amazons.â€
The misconception that women gladiators fought against dwarfs is derived from six passages mentioned by ancient authors. But when having a closer look at what they are writing it says that Emperor Domitian liked to have spectacular games and therefore had munera at torch light and women and dwarfs appearing at his shows. But they were never pitched against each other but only appeared at the same occasion.
Martial Sp. 6B and 6 mentions that Titus had female venatores for his inauguration games of the Colosseum. Suetonius Dom. 4.1 mentions that Domitian held hunts and gladiatorial contests of which some took place at night and some included not just men but also women. Statius mentions in Silvae 1.6 that “women and dwarfs appeared at the same spectacle. As one of the central events female gladiators appeared some time before nightfall and fought with such virtue and spirit that the audience thought it was watching a battle involving amazons.â€
