School Colours

[Pegasus]

Can you tell me please if each school of Gladiators had there own Identification colours ? I mean would they wear Tunics of the same colour for training purposes or would they wear what they pleased ? Just a thought .

Oh by the way we are still looking for Gladiators for this new school in N/E England .



Pegasus .

[john m roberts]

We have no idea what gladiators wore when training. No surviving source mentions such a thing and in art gladiators are usually shown in fighting gear.

[Pegasus]

Ok John , I was just wondering thats all , Thanks .

[Conal]

Dont give up the theory that easily.

Its the old adage that absence of evidence is not evidence of absence :wink:

You might like to refer to dress codes in general Roman society to see if a pattern might arise which might apply to gladiators.

Steere clear of mentiong Army tunic colours though :twisted:

[Martin Moser]

"Its the old adage that absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"

Right, always handy, e.g. when you want to claim that the Romans had airplanes or some such ;-) )

"You might like to refer to dress codes in general Roman society to see if a pattern might arise which might apply to gladiators"

Would certainly be interesting if somebody would work their way through all the relevant sources, if not for things gladiatorial then certainly in terms of the broad subject of dress. That's beyond me, however ...

On the subject of identification - at least it seems that the gladiators were identified when entering the arena: there were signbearers in the parade for making known the name and number of fights/victories of the individual gladiators

[Carlton Bach]

Hmmm. given from what we know of the frequency with which professional gladiators fought and the kind of name recognition they often got (we are not talking the big naumachiae or such now), I think it is much more likely that they wore individually distinctive gear and possibly clothing or accessories. Sort of like in the WWF. The gladiatorial schools didn't have the kind of team rivalries the charioteering factions had, and their stars often fought each other. Creating a team identity just doesn't make sense that way.

[Pegasus]

I just thought that each school would be easily Identified in some way by the way of clothing ( not gear worn in the arena but by some other means) or as mentioned " signbearers" .


pegasus .

[M. Demetrius]

Well, according to Michael Grant in Gladiators, © 1967, the grand parade at the start put the gladiators in decorative capes, so if there were "school colors" that would be the place to display them. Same would probably apply to individual colors. It's been said in other books, etc., that a particular gladiator would appear in his colors of plumes, etc., but I couldn't swear to that.

In our little group, each person can pick two colors, and all his/her clothing and unique decorations will fit that color pattern. Don't know if that's really absolutely accurate, but we're doing it that way. Without some color or other distinctive, how would one Thracian be recognized from another? Same helmet and armament, especially when viewed from amphitheatre distances, yes?

[Medusa Gladiatrix]

The gladiators from one school were identified also by a school signum which was carried in the pompa in front of the gladiators from one school. I can't imagine that there was much of a school spirit among the gladiators because at the smaller events in the provinces they had to fight their own comrades only at the big imperial events they might be teamed up against a opponent from another school. The reputation of a school was more important for the lanista than for the fighter themselves becaues he could charge more the next time if his gladiators fought well.

So I don't think that there were any school colors. But it's just my assumption.

[M. Demetrius]

You are most probably right, Aelia. I doubt that the gladiators, being not exactly volunteers, most of them, had allegiance to the school, unless and until they came against members of the other school and their own personal "honor and pride" was threatened.

That would be a way the Lanista could get the gladiators to put on a better show, that and promising a reward for those who fought well. But any way you look at it, it's not a great prospect for a fun afternoon.

Some were probably interested in their own personal fame, but surely they had in their mind that if they made a mistake, they'd just be dead or mortally wounded, and then, THUMP! on the head with the mallet. Great future there, no?