04-28-2005, 12:23 PM
Hi there
Just a quick reply at the moment as I am at work on lunch.
It is generally understood that the later professional gladiators where probably more armoured, generally, than those from the early Empire/late republic.
The easiest example of this is manica size and length. Shorter forearm coverings seem to have been the order of the day in the earlier forms through to the heavier strapped affairs shown in the example above three-four hundred years later.
Protection from the manica is often shown starting to come round the front of the chest, under arm and back.
The growth in armour and the funeral inscriptions are frequently used to help build on the idea that the later games where a lot more bloody than the earlier affairs.
Hope this helps as a starter for ten.
Graham
Just a quick reply at the moment as I am at work on lunch.
It is generally understood that the later professional gladiators where probably more armoured, generally, than those from the early Empire/late republic.
The easiest example of this is manica size and length. Shorter forearm coverings seem to have been the order of the day in the earlier forms through to the heavier strapped affairs shown in the example above three-four hundred years later.
Protection from the manica is often shown starting to come round the front of the chest, under arm and back.
The growth in armour and the funeral inscriptions are frequently used to help build on the idea that the later games where a lot more bloody than the earlier affairs.
Hope this helps as a starter for ten.
Graham
