10 Gladiators

1. Secutor

The name of the secutor, means ‘chaser’ and this is what this gladiator was supposed to do when fighting their common opponent the retiarius. This gladiator was supposed to represent the god of fire with the retiarius representing the god of the sea.

2. Samnite

The samnite was one of the earliest gladiators and was based of the defeated men of Samnium who were bested by Rome in battle in the 4th century. Their place in the amphitheatre was a reminder to the Samnites of their loss.

3. Retiarius

The retiariis name translates to ‘net fighter’ and these gladiators were easy to spot with their trident and net that they used to try and ensnare their foe and then stab them.

4. Eques

The eques gladiator was unique, in that they entered the amphitheatre on horseback! These gladiators would fight with spears until either one was dismounted or they both stepped off horseback to continue the battle on foot.

5. Provocator

The provocator fought only other provocators and their name translated means ‘challenger’. This gladiator style changed subtly over the years, but they often carried lots of armour including breastplates, helmets, manicas and greaves.

6. Murmillo

The murmillo was that typical, quintessential gladiator class, the one that almost everyone think of when envisaging a gladiator. The murmillo wore a heavy bronze helmet, and carried a scutum and gladius.

7. Hoplomachus

The hoplomachus was the gladiator equivalent of a Roman legionary, with very similar armour and weaponry. These gladiators essentially represented a Roman soldier when they might fight a gladiator class from a battle Rome had already won.

8. Cruppellarius

The cruppellarius was the most heavily armoured of all the gladiator classes, and was something akin to a medieval knight. The biggest difference is that a cruppellarius did not have metal armour on their hands or their feet, but otherwise it was pretty much all the way metal armour for these heavily protected gladiators.

9. Andabatea

The andabatea were less gladiator and more comic relief for the Roman crowds. The andabatea were put in the arena with each other, often blinded by a helmet with no eye holes or just one. This led to what is described as a rather comical affair with multiple andabatea all swinging widely trying to survive with limited or no visibility.

10. Dimachearus

The dimachearus was built for offensive attacks with dual curved swords known as scimitars. These gladiators were something of a mystery, and were not as common or well documented as many of the other gladiator classes.