Retiarius

The Retiarius was a gladiator with a heavy three-pronged fork (fuscina, tridens) and a net, but no armor, and wore nothing on his head. Since this class of gladiators cannot possibly be confused with any other, our information in regard to it is most exact. The retiarius, so named from the net (rete or jaculum), became immensely popular. The retiarius was armed with a net, was bareheaded, and had nothing on but a short tunic and a girdle; his left arm was in a sleeve; his arms were a net (idculum), a trident (fuscina), and a dagger. The retiarii were the only gladiators who appeared without a covering for the head (Suetonius, Claud., 34 ; Juvenal, viii, 200- 206). They wore a short tunic or a simple subligaculum (a short apron above the hips), as usually on monuments (in the Mus. Borgh. white).

The retiarii had no defensive armor except a leather protection for the shoulder. With the exception of some bandages round the legs, their defensive arms were limited to the broad belly-band (balteus) and a sleeve on the left arm, with a kind of leather or metal shoulder-piece, rising above the left shoulder, to supply the place of the shield. This shoulder-piece (which is especially large on the Bignor mosaic and looks like a wing) was called galerus. So unsuitable a name would certainly arouse suspicion, if it were not evidently a technical expression. The spira was a string fastened on one side to the galerus, on the other to the rope of the net, so that it fell from the former round the breast of the retiarius. According to some, the spira was rather the circular coiled up rope of the net, which the retiarius, when he wishes to throw, must guide to the left shoulder on which is the galerus ; probably the spira was fastened to the balteus, but in such a manner that in case of need it could be detached.

He carried a huge net in which he tried to entangle his opponent, usually a secutor or a myrmillo, despatching him with a dagger or trident if the throw was successful. The retiarii carried it folded together, before they flung it (Isidorus, Origines, xviii, 54 : ferebat occulte rete). It is not probable, as assumed by Meier (p. 32) and Henzen, that the retiarii did not always carry the weapon after which they were named and the clever handling of which must have constituted the chief interest of the combats in which they took part. If unsuccessful he took to flight while preparing his net for another throw, or if he had lost his net tried to keep his opponent off with a heavy three-pronged spear (fuscina), his only weapon beside the dagger. If he missed the first throw he was obliged to fly from the pursuit of the Secutor till he had prepared his net for a second cast, while his adversary followed him round the arena in order to kill him before he could make a second attempt.

The throwing of the net may have been an old method of fighting, occurring in the duel between Phrynon and Pittacus (Diog. Laert., i, 74 ; Polyaenus, i, 25 ; cp. also Diod. Sic., xvii, 43), according to whom the Tyrians used tridents and fishing nets against their Macedonian besiegers). Strabo (xiii, i, 38, p. 600) has evidently added the trident in his account of the duel in order, like the Roman archaeologists (Festus, s.v. retiarius), to make this engagement the prototype of the retiarii combats. Whether the gladiatorial net and harpoon were really borrowed from fishing or not, such weapons were bound to suggest the idea of fishing.

From the fact that the retiarii had no covering for the face (Juvenal, viii, 200) and were most lightly armed, Henzen (p. 113) concludes that they were the most despised of all the gladiators. The retiarii also fought in troops (gregatim ; Suetonius, Calig., 30), but evidently never against one another, but against the Galli, murmillones (Valerius Maximus, i, 7, 8 ; Pedo Albinovanus in Quintilian, vi, 3, 61), Samnites (who occur as opponents of the retiarii especially on the Bignor and Borghese mosaics, and also on that of Nennig, whose editor erroneously takes the Samnis for a murmillo) and secutores. The combats of the retiarii with the latter continued to a very late date . The opponents of the retiarii are also represented by the term (originating in gladiatorial circles) contrarete [i.e. contraretiarius] ; this is also the meaning of >RET written by the side of six names of gladiators in CIL, vi, i, 636 (a.d. 177).

Samnite

The oldest class of gladiators was that of the Samnites. They had belts, thick sleeves on the right arm (manica), a visored helmet (worn also by other classes) with wings [piniue], crest and very long plume, greaves on the left leg, short swords, the long shield (scutum), and a piece of armor or armlet on the right arm, which was not protected by the shield. They were particularly distinguished by the oblong scutum. As they are last mentioned by Horace, Meier (pp. 19-25) conjectures that later, as the opponents of the retiarii, they received the name of secutores, which first occurs under Caligula (Suetonius, Calig., 30) ; as opponents of the Thraeces, that of oplomachi. The equipment of the Samnite soldiers as described by Livy (ix, 40) was somewhat modified in the case of the gladiators named after them. In the year 332, just when Alexander the Great was making his conquests in the East, his uncle Alexander, king of Epirus, brother to his mother Olympius, came to Italy. To overthrow the Samnites was the great object of Rome at this time, and for this purpose they offered their protection and alliance to all the cities that stood in dread of that people.

Hoplomachus / Oplomachi

Hoplomachi appear to have been those who fought in a complete suit of armor. Under the Empire the name Samnite was gradually lost and gladiators with equivalent equipment were called hoplomacki (heavy armed), when matched against the lighter armed Thracians, and secutores, when they fought with the retiarii. Lipsius supposed that it was a later name for the Samnites (taken from their scutum), and that this name was disused under the emperors, and hoplomachi substituted for it. The occurrence of Samnis together with oplomachus in the list IRN, 737 (= CIL, ix, 466) may be explained by the assumption that the former name for the opponents of the retiarii had not yet been superseded by the later secutor, whereas the opponents of the Thraeces were already called oplomachi. In the Pompeian list (CIL, vi, 2508) they appear not only as opponents of the Thraeces, but also of the murmillones and dimachaeri.

A hoplomachus, one who fights like a hoplite, was a type of gladiator armed in a parody of a Greek hoplite's weapons and armor (ie heavy armor and helmet, round shield). The hoplomdchus, or heavily armed gladiator, wore a breastplate, as well as visored helmet, and greaves. He was often pitted against the murmillo who was armed like a Roman soldier. These bouts were a re-enactment of Rome's wars in Greece. The name hoplomachos also means 'armed fighter' and was only armed with a lance or spear and the roman shord sword the gladius. They also used the shield was as a weapon.

Murmillo / Mirmillones / Myrmillonas

The Gauls were heavy armed, but it is not clear how they were distinguished from the Samnites. In later times they were called murmillones, from an ornament on their helmets shaped like a fish (mormyr or mormylos). Their arms were like those of the Gauls, and they did not differ much from the kind called Galli. They are believed to have been originally Gauls, but the derivation as well as the meaning of the name is very doubtful. The myrmillo, who was also often matched against the retiaritius or Thracian, was armed in Gallic fashion with helmet, sword and shield. The Murmillo gladiator, armed like a Roman soldier, was the most heavily armored of the premier branches to overcome the advantages of the retiarius.

Thraex / Thracian

The Thraex or Thracian was a gladiator, armed in the Thracian style. They were usually matched with the myrmillones. The Thrax wore, like his countrymen, a small shield (parma or parmula), and were opposed to the Samnites, who were armed with the large shield (scutum). According to Pliny (Nat. Hist., xxxiii, 129) the parma was round and somewhat concave: ' plurimumque refert concava sint (specula) et poculi modo, an parmae Thraecidicae'; and so it appears on the monument of Scaur us. More frequently, however, it is not round, but square, like the scutum, otherwise Martial (xiv, 213) could not have spoken of it aa capable of being used as a scutum by a dwarf.

Their characteristic offensive weapon was the sica (the national weapon of the Thracians) a short sword or dagger (sica) curved in the form of a sickle, or bent at right angles, used with the intention of maiming an opponent's unarmored back. The want of the large shield was compensated by a more complete equipment. The Thracians had much the same equipment as the Samnites, though in other respects his equipment was more complete than the Samnite's, for he had greaves on both legs and the small shield (parma) in place of the scutum. His other armor included a protector for his sword arm and shoulder, a protective belt above a loin cloth, and a gladiator helmet with a plume, visor, high crest and a broad rim. When fighting, he often received his opponent in a crouching or kneeling posture, as here shown, which aptly illustrates and explains the allusion of Seneca, who designates a person of lowly stature by assimilating him to the figure of a Thracian gladiator awaiting the attack. It was natural that these heavily-armed combatants should generally be recruited from men of great stature.

Laquerarius

In later times the place of the retiarius was sometimes taken by the Laquerarius, who wore the same light armor, but carried a short sword or spear and a noose (laqueus), which he threw over his adversary and pulled him to the ground. They are only mentioned in Isidorus, Origines, xviii, 56 : ' quorum pugna erat, fugientes in ludo homines injecto laqueo impeditos consecutosque prosternere, amictos umbone pelliceo '. According to representations (on a gem and a clay-relief in Meier, p. 44) they also wore the galerus, but had no other defensive weapons.

Secutor / Contraretiarus

A Secutor or chaser was armed similarly to the Murmillo gladiator (armed like a Roman soldier), usually with a Roman gladius or dagger. The Secutor was also known as the Contraretiarus, and was specifically designed to combat the Retarius in the Gladiatorial Arena. The secutor, or pursuer, was so called, because he was generally set to fight with the retiarius, who retired before him. Ho was as lightly equipped as his adversary, but armed with helmet, sword, and shield. The Secutor's combat with the Retiarius formed one of the most lively scenes in the bloody sports of the amphitheater. The smooth, rounded and streamlined helmet of the Secutor with its small eye holes and fin like crest looked much like a fishes head. This well suited its role in combat against the Retarius as a fisherman with is net and trident. The Secutor was armed with an helmet, sword, and buckler; his naked antagonist had only a large net and a trident; with the one he endeavoured to entangle, with the other to dispatch, his enemy. Secutores are supposed by most writers to be so called because the secutor in his combat with the retiarius pursued the latter when he failed in securing him by his net. The Secutor was a type of Roman gladiator said by some sources to have originated around 50 AD. But if the old reading in a letter of Cicero's (ad Alt. vii. 14) is correct, Julius Caesar had no less than 600 secutores in his ludus at Capua; but one probably ought to read scutorum instead of secutorutn.

Provocator / Provocatores

Provocator's were medium gladiators and usually fought each other. The two categories of gladiators that normally fought only opponents of the same type: the eques (also, equites), ("horseman") [pictured] and the provocatores ("challengers"). Their apparel made them easy to identify: brimless helmet with visor and two feathers, and a sleeveless tunic, which was belted at the waist and ended at mid-thigh (in comparison with the naked torso of most gladiators). As with other gladiators, the lower legs were wrapped and there is a manica on the right arm. A small round shield was carried, as well as a short sword and lance. By some accounts, they were armored with a visored helmet, a breastplate, a half-length greave on their left leg and padding on their right arm. Provacatores fought with the Samnites (Cic. pro Sest. 64, 134), but other sources relate that nothing else is known respecting them except their name. They are mentioned in inscriptions. (Orelli, 2566.) The Provacatore mentioned by Artemidorus (ii. 32) appears to be the same as the provocator. The Procavatores was a diator equipped with scutum, sword, and greave (the Samnite accoutrement). On the other hand, in Garrucci (p. 13) there is an inscription : Mansuetus provocator victor Veneri parmam feret (unless we should read palmam ; cp. Garrucci, Bdl, 1865, p. 79). From the inscription of a prov(ocator spat(arius) (= CIL. vi, 7659) Garrucci assumes a special class of provocatores, who were armed with the ' gladii minores, quos spatas vocant' (Vegetius, De re mil., ii, 15). Wilmanns (E. I., 2609, i)

Dimachaerus

The dimachaerus, or men who fought with two swords, were apparently the production of a later time. The dimachaeri were the cutters of Nero's time ; without casque.without cuirass, without buckler, without greaves. They fought with a sword in each hand, as cavaliers of the times of the Fronde did with sword and dagger, one in each hand. Wherefore these combats were looked upon as the triumph of art, and sometimes the champions were no others than the fencing masters themselves.

Velites

Velites had light spears (Ovid. 76. 45; Cic. de Orat. ii. 78, 316). Velites were light-armed troops, instituted at the siege of Capua. They had no armor, hence their name velites = those who go in an over-garment (velum) like arquites, pedites, &o. : they had a scull-cap (cudo), the parma, gladius Hispaniensis, and hastae velitares. As skirmishers they replaced the ancient velati, which comprised the ferentarii and rorarii; but after B.C. 107 they were no longer used. Though Liv. 26, 4, 4 states that they mounted behind the cavalry on that occasion, this isolated assertion is hardly sufficient for us to infer that this was always so. It was their duty to encounter the elephants. In the best times of the republic the levy of the troops was made in a general assembly of the citizens at the capitol or on the Campus Martius. The recruits were then sworn in and dismissed until required. When called in, the youngest and poorest were taken for the velites, the next in age and means for the hastati and principes, the oldest and wealthiest for the triarii. Every legion counted 1,200 velites, 1,200 hastati, 1,200 principes, 600 triarii, and 300 horsemen (knights); in all, 4,500. The hastati, principes, and triarii were each divided into ten maiiipuli or companies, and an equal number of velites attached to each. The velites (rorarii, acceiisi, ferentarii) formed the light infantry of the legion, and stood on its wings along with the cavalry. The velites, lightly equipped, carried light short javelins. In the later periods of the republic, when barbaric auxiliaries undertook the light service, this class of troops disappeared entirely.

Paegniarii

Paegniarii are mentioned in Orelli, 2566 = CIL, vi, 631 (inscription of the colleg. Silvani) and Henzen,6i76 = CIL, vi, 10,168 (a ' paegniarius ludi magni', who lived to nearly 100) ; Wilmanns, E.I., 2617 ; CIL, vi, 10,182. Suetonius, Calig., 26, ed. Roth : tabidis fens vilissimos senioque confectos gladiatores, quoque paegniaris patres familiarum notos sed insignis debilitate aliqua obiciebat (cod. Mem. pegniares, other codd. pegmares, for which Scutilli [De coll. glad.] and Marini [Iscr. alb., p. 12] had already conjectured paegniarios). The paegniarii, or gladiators who amused the spectators by burlesque combats, are usually represented with a small oval shield, and a pedum, though they sometimes carry a whip or a small club. Such a combat is shown on the mosaic from Tusculum in the Museo Kircheriano (.Inn. d. 1st. 1870, p. 66), where the participants are costumed to represent a Bacchant and Faun defeating Indians. The Paegniarii used harmless weapons, and their exhibition was a sham one. That they were dwarfs, as conjectured by Cavedoni (Bdl, 1846, p. 191) is improbable. Perhaps they carried arma lusoria (arms incapable of causing death). The mosaic found at Nennig represents a fight between two paegniarii; they are protecting themselves with small shields, and carry in the left hand a staff bent round at the top with a large knob, in the right a whip. Meier (Westd. Ztschr., i, 157) believes that they appeared at the midday interval, according to Seneca (Epp., 7) : casu in meridianum spectaculum incidi lusus exspectans et sales et aliquid laxamenti, and Tertullian (Ad Nai., i, 10 = Apolog., 15) risimus et meridiani ludi de deis lusum (? a pantomime).

Scissores

Scissores are attested only in the list IKN, 737 = CIL, ix, 466, where a Marcus Caecilius scisso(r) is mentioned, as a tiro, killed or dead (Meier, p. 43, 2). The special short sword, called the Roman Scissor, had two blades (that looked like a pair of open scissors but without a hinge). It is speculated that they attempted to trap their opponent's weapon between the twin blades in order to disarm them.

Sagittarii

Meier concludes from the following passages that not only those who fought with wild beasts, but also gladiators proper used bow and arrows: Persius (iv, 42) : caedimus inque vicem praebemus crura sagittis-ilia subter caecum vulnus habes, sed lato balteus auro praetegit; cp. schol. Nux,1 171 : corpora praebemus plagis, ut saepe sagittis, quern (codd, cum) populus manicas deposuisse vetat (i.e., quern populus non mittit). In the latter passage gladiators may be meant, whose death was demanded by the people, and who were obliged to serve as targets for archers. In the former caedimus leads to the assumption that gladiators differently equipped (? horsemen) were matched with the archers.

Equites

Equites were those who fought on horseback, armed with small Gladius, the Roman military sword, which was attached to a shoulder-strap round the neck, or to the girdle round the waist. The common soldiers wore it on the right side; the officers, having no shield like the common soldiers, on the left. It was a short, sharp, two-edged weapon, used more for thrusting than cutting. In the republican period it was only worn by magistrates when acting as military officers; but under the Empire it was the emblem of imperial power, and in consequence one of the insignia of the emperor and the commanders nominated by him. After the introduction of the sword instead of the axe in executions, the ius gladii was the term expressing the full criminal jurisdiction conferred by the emperor on the provincial governors. ' Equi gladiatorum ' are mentioned in Cicero (Pro Sestio, 59, 126) ; IRN, 736 = CIL, ix, 465 ; eq. vet. lud. mag. (CIL, vi, 10,167) ; Artemidorus, I.e. ; Isidorus (Origines, xviii, 53) : genera gladiatorum plura, quorum primus ludus equestrium. duo enim equites praecedentibus prius signis militaribus, unus a porta orientis alter ab occidentis procedebant in equis albis cum aureis galeis minoribus et habilioribus armis, sicque atroci perseverantia pro virtute sua inibant pugnam. The horsemen fighting with one another on the monument of Scaurus have long coats of mail, small round shields, brassards on the right arm, tunics, visor-helmets, and spears ; cp. also Meier in Westd. Zeitschrift, i, 165. Equite are the least well known of the gladiators, they also appear to wear tunics. They should start on horseback but are also shown fighting on foot.

Andabatae

Andahatae (Cic. ad Fam. vii. 10) wore helmets without any aperture for the eyes, so that they were obliged to fight blindfold, and thus excited the mirth of the spectators. For these gladiators, art and skill were altogether useless. They had their heads completely enclosed in a casque, which had no opening but opposite to the mouth, to permit them to inhale the air, and to their ears, to enable them to hear. They fought, therefore, like blind men. The populace were delighted ; for the rest, in this terrible-blindman's buff, in which every blow stricken, must needs take effect, the adversaries wore no armor which could either deaden or avert a blow. They are generally believed to have fought on horseback, but this is denied by Orelli (liner. 2577) and Friedlander. The name is perhaps Celtic, with the meaning "blindfighter " (Whitley Stokes, in Academy, Feb. 9, 1889). Meier conjectures that they were gladiators who, like the Samnites, Galli, and Thraeces appeared in their national armour. Nothing further is known of them except that they fought without being able to see, i.e. they probably wore a visor without eye-holes (Jerome, Adv. Jovin., i, 37, Adv. Helvid.. 3, p. 3A, Contra Rufin., 3, p. Ioia ; cp. the ' combat a 1'aveuglette' in Lacroix, Meeurs, etc., au moyen age, p. 236). Lipsius (Sai.,ii, 12) without reason took them for horsemen, but it is quite inadmissible to conclude from this, not only that the horsemen could not see, but that the andabatae and equites were identical. Turnebus (Adv., ii, 20) with as little reason identified andabatcs with the Greek dva/Sdnp, according to which he fought from a chariot. What Orelli (2569) says is correct. They are rarely mentioned on inscriptions or monuments, and by no writer of the imperial period (Jerome probably only draws from Varro) ; so perhaps this method of fighting fell into disuse at the end of the republic.

Essedarii

The Essedarii (from Essedum, a British war-car with two horses) fought in chariots. Essedarii fought from chariots like the Gauls and Britons. They are frequently mentioned in inscriptions. Every Gallic chariot carried a driver and one warrior. Essedarii (Cicero, Ad Fam., vii, 10), probably introduced by Caesar. No doubt they imitated as closely as possible the British fighters in chariots, thus described by Caesar (De Bell. Gall., iv, 33). "Chariots," says Caesar, "are used in action in the following way First of all the charioteers drive all over the field, the warriors hurling missiles ; and generally they throw the enemy's ranks into confusion by the mere terror inspired by their horses and the clatter of the wheels. As soon as they have penetrated between the troops of cavalry the warriors jump off the chariots and fight on foot. The drivers meanwhile gradually withdraw from the action, and range the cars in such a position that if the warriors are hard pressed by the enemy's numbers, they may easily get back to them. Thus they exhibit in action the mobility of cavalry combined with the steadiness of infantry." Professor E. B. Tylor, referring to Pomponius Mela, Lucan, and Silius Italicus, argues that the Britons used chariots armed with scythes: Tacitus, who derived his information from Agricola, says that the British army which encountered the latter in the Grampians included covinnarii, who, according to Pomponius Mela, were warriors who fought in scythed chariots; and Jornandes says that the chariots of the Britons were armed with scythes : but if the Britons whom Caesar encountered had used such chariots, he would certainly have mentioned the fact; and no scythes are to be seen. The essedarii may have come especially into vogue as the result of the wars in Britain under Claudius and Nero ; British women appear to have frequently taken part in battle.

Meridiani

Meridiani was a class of very lightly armed gladiators, who fought as a sort of interlude at midday, after the termination of the combats with wild beasts, which took place in the morning. (Senec. Epist. 7; Suet. Claud. 34; Orelli, 2587.)

Bestiarius

Bestiarius was trained and attired to fight at the Circensian games in the Roman amphitheater, or upon any particular occasion when shows of this nature were exhibited to the people. The Bestiarius was thought inferior to and distinct from the gladiator.' At first, however, he was, like the gladiator, fully protected with offensive and defensive armour: viz., a helmet, shield, knife or sword, and defences for the legs, most of which particulars are shown in the illustration. Afterwards the bestiarius became more distinct in his accoutrements and mode of fighting having no body-armour, beyond bandages for his legs and arms, and, as offensive weapons, carrying only a spear or a sword in one hand, and a piece of colored cloth, like the Spanish matador, in the other. What was called Venatio, or the fighting of wild beasts with one another, or with men called Bestiarii, who were either forced to this by way of punishment, as the primitive Christians often were; or fought voluntarily, either from a natural ferocity of disposition, or induced by hire (auctoramento). An incredible number of animals of various kinds was brought from all quarters, for the entertainment of the people, and at an immense expense. They were kept in enclosures, called Vivaria, till the day of exhibition. Pompey, in his second consulship, exhibited at once 500 lions, which were all despatched in five days; also eighteen elephants.