Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
The World of the Gladiator by Susanna Shadrake
#1
Has anyone read The World of the Gladiator by Susanna Shadrake?

Quote:Oxbow says: Putting aside modern sensitivities and moral judgments, this study aims to uncover the realities of gladiatorial spectacles - a show of combat, bloodshed and death. With considerable experience in recreating gladiatorial shows, Susanna Shadrake explores in detail every aspect of the subject from the origins of the gladiator, the earliest gladiatorial spectacles as part of funerary games, who gladiators were, how they were trained, and their status and value, to the infrastructure surrounding them. Literary, archeological and iconographic evidence is set against the backdrop of political, social and historical events in Rome, the Roman predilection for shedding blood, for human and animal sacrifice, for celebrations and for `putting on a show'. Other issues, such as the nature of Caesar's games, the impact of the Battle of Cannae on how gladiators were regarded, how and why gladiatorial shows were transferred from the private to public domain and what events resulted in the escalation of the number and scale of gladiatorial spectacles, are included. This said, Susanna Shadrake has packed so much more into this study, reflecting on the organisation of games, discussing the different types of gladiators, attitudes towards gladiators and games (from both male and female perspectives), as well as a guide to staging a reconstruction today. An excellent study packed full of detail. 256p, 16p of col pls, 121 b/w figs and pls (Tempus 2005)

I've just got hold of a review copy, and so far it's really good.

I've had fun playing spot the re-enactor :lol:
Reply
#2
I just got my copy as well and like it though I'm only on page 47 so far. Sometimes it appears to me that she begins too much right at the beginning or wanders away from the current topic. E.g. she describes very detailed the Etruscan figures of Charun and Phersu, and she doesn't make clear distinctions if she's talking about noxii or trained gladiators.

I'll definitely will tell you what I think about the book in whole once I finished reading it.
Reply
#3
Salvete Omnes,

I finished reading the book by Susanna Shadrake now so here's my review of it:

My first impression that she sometimes wanders off was confirmed even by further reading, so I said she should have cut the topics of the proposed Etruscan origin shorter as well as the description of Samnite warriors etc.

Also she made an error when saying that the murmillo was derived from the secutor but according to Dr. Marcus Junkelmann it was the otherway around because the secutor was a specialized form of the murmillo who fought against the retiarius. Since the retiarius only came up in the 1st century CE and the murmillo is also known already in the 1st century BCE Junkelmann's conclusion seems more plausible.

Also the emphasis which (defensive) weapons are descriped in detail and which are not is biased. She described the manica and the find of one in England in detail, but not making clear that this manica was found in a military context. She totally leaves out the descriptions of the scuta and parmulae as well as the offensive weapons except for the sica.

Nice was the story of how an afternoon at the amphitheater could have been for an ordinary Roman citizen. Also she shed a light on the distribution of the tickets for munera which somehow reminded me of the ticket distribution for the current Soccer World Cup :twisted: :evil:

Very interesting was her report on how the group Britannia has reenacted a gladiator show.

Conclusion: The books contains some interesting information on gladiators but it definitely doesn't has the quality of Junkelmann's book "Das Spiel mit dem Tod - So kämpften Roms Gladiatoren"
Reply
#4
I'm still reading - had another book to review first and have generally been short of time - so am interested to hear your analysis Gaia.

In general, I think it does what it says on the tin - it covers the world of the gladiator. There are chapters on the evolution of gladiators, Caesar’s games, the making of a gladiator, organising the spectacle, pleasing the crowd, gladiatorial categories, attitudes to gladiators and the games, and reconstructing the spectacle. So, it's a good place to start for those who are unfamiliar with the field.

Is there an English translation of Junkelmann's book :?:
Reply
#5
I guess you as a librarian read books differently than I do, but you are right I just checked the index on pugio and als ended up nowhere :? I think she was referring to Karl Grossschimdt's work when writing about this weird weapon found in Ephesos but doesn't list him in the bibliography. But that might be that the Austrians have published their work so far only in the exhibition catalog of the exhibition in Selcuk/Turkey which I purchased there. Or do you have any publications from them. I would be glad if you could list it here.

Where you mentionit now I too noted that she definitely left out Georges Ville's work.

Quote:Is there an English translation of Junkelmann's book :?:

Unfortunately not yet. Sad I have a friend who works as a translator and she had been in contact with the publishing house where Junkelmann's books are published and they said something like lack of money or something like that is the reason why it hasn't been translated yet.
Reply
#6
Some of my post seems to have gone missing! I tweaked it due to a misspelling, and it's gone. Anyhow, I don't think Grossschmidt has fully published quite yet, though there are references to him in online newspapers/magazines, but the author doesn't list them, and some have appeared after publication anyway. The main thing I've seen was a programme on tv talking about gladiator diet in 2004.

There was an awful lot of information to handle, as the book covers so many aspects. I'm not surprised a few things have gone awry.
Reply
#7
Salve Sandra,

I have the catalog to the exhibition at Ephesos which was issued by the Austrian Archaeological Institute for which Karl Grossschmidt works. He wrote three articles for this catalog. Here are the details for the German edition of this catalog but I saw it also in other languages at the museum in Selcuk:

Gladiatoren in Ephesos - Tod am Nachmittag
Vienna 2002
ISBN 3-900305-42-0

Actually I saw the TV program about the gladiator diet before I went to Selcuk but I guess they overrated this fact in the TV show to have something catchy and that gladiators were fat instead of having an athletic body as we think they do. But my assumption is that this one gladiator they found there might have been fat but that doesn't count for all.

Just recently he published an article about head injuries on gladiators at the Forensic Sciente International magazine but I assume he must have mixed up gladiators with noxii. The short version of this article could be find here:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_o ... aa02a80d07
Reply
#8
Hi Svenja

The tv programme I saw, didn't so much as say the gladiators were fat, but rather had a covering of fat to afford them some protection against wounds. I'm not entirely convinced, but it's worth keeping in mind, I guess Confusedhock: TV programmes always want to have an 'angle' like the recent one hanging the decapitations in York on Caracalla.

Quote:Just recently he published an article about head injuries on gladiators at the Forensic Sciente International magazine but I assume he must have mixed up gladiators with noxii. The short version of this article could be find here:

I saw that on my web searches. I'm wondering if my univ library covers Science Direct, so I can read the whole article. :roll: It certainly came out after Shadrake's book was published.
Reply


Forum Jump: