Pompeii's Regio V: Vibrant gladiator frescos and proof of October eruption date

This fresco of gladiatorial combat, unearthed in Pompeii in 2019, was found in a basement room of a building that scholars think was a tavern frequented by gladiators in the city.  The tavern was found not far from the gladiators' barracks in Regio V.

The wounded Thraex, bleeding profusely from injuries on his wrist and chest, raises a finger to indicate his submission and request for mercy. The victorious Murmillo, wearing a plumed, wide-brimmed helmet with visor, holds aloft his large rectangular shield in his left hand while gripping his short sword in his right.

For historians, probably the most significant find from Regio V was unearthed in 2018.  Excavators uncovered an inscription proving the city was destroyed after October 17, 79 CE instead of August 24 as previously thought.  The August date had been suspect for some time as a number of the 1,150 victims recovered from the ruins were discovered wearing heavier clothing than the light summer clothes typical of August. Fresh fruit and vegetables in the shops were typical of October – and conversely the summer fruit typical of August was already being sold in dried, or conserved form. Nuts from chestnut trees were found at Oplontis which would not have been mature before mid-September. Wine fermenting jars had been sealed, which would have happened around the end of October. Coins found in the purse of a woman buried in the ash include one with a 15th imperatorial acclamation among the emperor's titles. These coins could not have been minted before the second week of September.

Victorious Murmillo from Gladiator fresco found in Regio V of Pompeii in a tavern near the gladiator barracks

Defeated and badly wounded Thraex from Gladiator fresco found in Regio V of Pompeii in a tavern near the gladiator barracks

Gladiator fresco found in Regio V of Pompeii in a tavern near the gladiator barracks

Images courtesy of @DrJEBall and @pompeii_sites (digitally enhanced)

 

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Roman scissors and the scissores gladiator

The earliest known scissors appeared in Mesopotamia 3,000 to 4,000 years ago. These were of the 'spring scissor' type comprising two bronze blades connected at the handles by a thin, flexible strip of curved bronze which served to hold the blades in alignment, to allow them to be squeezed together, and to pull them apart when released.

Spring scissors continued to be used in Europe until the 16th century. However, pivoted scissors of bronze or iron, in which the blades were pivoted at a point between the tips and the handles, the direct ancestor of modern scissors, were invented by the Romans around 100 CE. They entered common use in not only ancient Rome, but also China, Japan, and Korea.

A specialized weapon known as a scissor was also used by a class of gladiators called scissores. It consisted of a long, thin cylindrical-shaped pipe terminating in a crescent-shaped blade. A handle inside the tube allowed the gladiator to maintain control. The shape of the blade could produce a serious wound from even the slightest contact.

"The scissores class of gladiators often fought with the retiarius class whose specialty was the net-like weapon they used. So the scissors were used to cut this net and slaughter the opponent. The tube-like structure that is attached to the arm was also used as a shield to block attacks. The shape and nature of the weapon made it versatile, lethal, and capable of blocking an opponent’s blows from stabbing and slashing." 

https://www.ancienthistorylists.com/ancient-civilizations/top-10-popular-ancient-weapons/

Inlaid shears with Egyptianizing motifs, 2nd century CE that may have served a ritual function at a sanctuary of Isis in ancient Trebizond (modern Trabzon) on the Black Sea courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

Roman Scissore 54mm miniature by Pegaso Models beautifully painted by Alfonsito.

 A gladiator's scissor courtesy of ancienthistorylists.com. 

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The dark side of early Saturnalia

  Give to others readily, and cherish good hopes.  Marcus Aurelius. Meditations. Book 1.

Image: Month of December from the Chronography of 354 with Saturnalian dice on the table and a mask (oscilla) hanging above by the 4th century CE calligrapher Filocalus.  

Although Saturnalia is usually remembered for festivities, gift giving, and, in the ancient Roman world, role reversal between slaves and their masters, there was a less benevolent aspect of the chthonic god, Saturn that connected him to the underworld and its ruler Dis Pater also known as Pluto.  Ten days of gladiatorial events were presented by quaestors throughout December and early Christian critics of the 3rd century CE, in their anti-pagan campaigns, claimed the primeval Saturn had at one point before the establishment of the Republic, demanded sacrificial male victims (virorum victimis).  It was said, though, that when Hercules visited Italy, the civilizing demigod insisted that the practice be halted and the ritual reinterpreted. Instead of heads to Dis Pater, the Romans were to offer effigies or masks (oscilla).  Figurines (sigillaria) exchanged as gifts were also thought to represent token substitutes.

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Roman gladiator armor and helmets

Yesterday and today I uploaded a group of my images of gladiator helmets and armor that I photographed at various Pompeii exhibits to Wikimedia Commons and added a gallery of those images to the gladiator Wikipedia page. The images are now freely available for teaching, writing, and research.  Most of the equipment was found at the gladiator barracks in Pompeii although one of the most ornate pieces with a relief depicting scenes from the Trojan war was found in Herculaneum.

Roman gladiator helmet with relief depicting scenes from the Trojan War from Herculaneum
1st century CE

Roman gladiator shin guard depicting Hercules 1st century CE

Roman gladiator helmet with relief depicting scenes from the Trojan War from Herculaneum
1st century CE

Roman gladiator helmet with relief depicting scenes from the Trojan War from Herculaneum
1st century CE

Ornate Roman gladiator shin guards depicting Silenus and swans fighting serpents

Ornate Roman gladiator shin guards depicting Silenus and swans fighting serpents

Ornate Roman gladiator shin guards depicting Silenus and swans fighting serpents

Heart-shaped spear point found in Gladiator barracks in Pompeii 1st century CE

Roman gladiator shin guard depicting venus riding a dolphin-shaped ship 1st century CE

Iron gladiator helmet 1st century CE

Roman gladiator shin guard depicting Athena 1st century CE

Close up of Athena relief on Roman gladiator shin guard

Roman gladiator helmet depicting Priapus and entourage found in gladiator barracks in Pompeii 1st century CE

Roman gladiator helmet found in the gladiator barracks in Pompeii 1st century CE

Spear point found in gladiator barracks in Pompeii 1st century CE

Gladiator shin guard depicting Hercules 1st century CE

Closeup of gladiator shin guard depicting Hercules 1st century CE

Another gladiator shin guard depicting Hercules 1st century CE

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Review: The Emperor's Knives, Empire VII by Anthony Riches

A historical resource article by Mary Harrsch © 2017

In Book 7 of Anthony Riches' Empire series of novels, the hero, Marcus Tribulus Corvus, formerly Marcus Valerius Aquila, finally gets the opportunity to return to Rome and take revenge on Praetorian Prefect Tigidius Perennis and his cadre of assassins who slaughtered Marcus' family to confiscate their wealth. But, the four men, referred to as "The Emperor's Knives," present quite a challenge to Marcus and his officer comrades, who have sworn to help him. One is a serving Praetorian officer.  Another is the leader of one of Rome's most vicious street gangs. The third is a powerful senator with a taste for salacious entertainment and the last is none other than Rome's reigning gladiatorial champion.

Closeup of the left side of Myrmillo-style bronze gladiator
helmet with bas-relief depicting scenes from the Trojan War
 found in Herculaneum 1st Century CE. Photographed by
Mary Harrsch © 2015

A senator whose son served with Marcus in Dacia has hired an informant to assist Marcus and his friends. But, the duplicitous informant, a ruthless former imperial grain officer Marcus encountered in Britannia,  has several employers with different agendas.  Although he seems to be providing accurate information, Marcus is certain he will ultimately lead them to a disastrous outcome. So Marcus recruits some of the Tungrians to become street-savvy spies themselves to ensure Marcus, Tribune Scaurus and Marcus' assorted barbarian companions  won't end up at the wrong end of Emperor Commodus' sword before their mission is completed.

The emperor Commodus, dressed as Hercules, admired
gladiators and even competed in "arranged" matches himself.
Photographed by Mary Harrsch at the Capitoline Museum in
Rome, Italy. © 2005

In the other six novels, we have seen Marcus use his formidable swordsmanship to get out of almost impossible situations. Now we have a chance to see Marcus pit his skills against some of the best gladiators in the Flavian amphitheater in his final act of revenge.

Riches' vibrant descriptions of combat that even include details of which foot is used to pivot or launch an attack result in the reader feeling totally involved in the action. His descriptions of ancient Rome's back alleys and less than savory street life are also quite evocative.  As is the case in his other books, Riches maintains suspense with a well organized and fast-paced narrative while reserving a few surprises for the revealing conclusion.

I was surprised, though, that one loose thread was not addressed. Marcus had learned in a previous novel that his younger brother had been sold into slavery. However, he apparently makes no effort to locate his brother or ascertain if he still lives. Maybe this issue will be addressed in a future book.

Once again I highly recommend this entire series!

A Kindle preview:



Other suggested reading:

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Headless Romans of Eboracum focus of new studies

Just in time for Halloween - I see that the Journal of Archaeological Science has released the results of a study of 80 headless Roman skeletons that were unearthed back in 2004 and 2005 in York - ancient Eboracum. In an effort to determine their place of origin through differences in their diet that had been transmitted to their bones, a team led by Gundula Müldner of the University of Reading in the U.K analyzed the skeletons for the presence of different elemental isotopes.

Roman Sarcophagus with Battle Scene Antonine
Period  2nd century CE Marble.  Photographed
at the  Dallas Museum of Art in Dallas, Texas.

"Based on the geology and climate of where a person grew up, their bones hold telltale traces of isotopes absorbed from the local food and water," Mülder explained.

Oxygen and strontium isotopes in the bones of the headless Romans indicate that just 5 of the 18 individuals tested came from the York area...The rest of the men came from elsewhere in England or mainland Europe, possibly from France, Germany, the Balkans, or the Mediterranean. Traces of carbon and nitrogen show that five of the headless Romans ate very different foods from York's local population. And two individuals had a carbon signature from a group of food plants—including sorghum, sugarcane, and maize—not known to have been cultivated in England at that time.

Although Mülder's team favored evidence that the men were probably Roman soldiers because Eboracum contained a large garrison and the skeletons bore evidence of contact with bladed weapons, other evidence suggests the men may have been gladiators.

Evidence for this notion includes some skeletons' unequal arm development—associated with the specialized use of single-handed weapons—and, on one skeleton, tooth marks from a large carnivore, possibly a gladiatorial lion or bear.

"If the carnivore bite mark is indeed genuine, then, why not, they may indeed have been gladiators," Müldner said. - More: National Geographic

However, if they were gladiators, I wonder why so many were decapitated? Even gladiators ritually killed in the arena were not usually decapitated. However, decapitation was a common practice by victorious Celts if you think about the evidence found by Germanicus and his troops sent to retrieve the remains of the legions massacred in the Teutoburg Forest. Celts also routinely kept and employed war dogs, quite large and capable of inflicting substantial tooth marks. As for the unequal arm development, veteran legionaries would probably exhibit the same physical trait from training and frequent use of their weapons.

A Good background series on the Roman Invasion of Britain: (Part 1 of 5 - other parts will appear in a list to the right of this clip on YouTube.)

Related articles

• More Decapitated Roman Remains (rogueclassicism.com)
• Hadrian's Wall child murder: estimated time of death pre-367AD (guardian.co.uk)

        

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Maximus vs. Achilles makes exciting face off!

This morning I received a note about a great fake movie trailer for "Star Trek vs. Star Wars" from my daily "How to Geek" subscription. The Youtube producer was so talented I couldn't help but check to see if he/she had any other remixes and found this great face off between Achilles and Maximus:

I know some ancient history enthusiasts have discussed at length whether Roman army tactics could defeat a Greek phalanx (we're split on that one - some think the maneuverability of the Roman maniple could outflank a phalanx formation but others think it would depend on the topography of the battlefield.) Of course, from the descriptions of the Greeks battlefield behavior in the Iliad, the Greeks at the time of the Trojan War didn't fight in the disciplined phalanx that was used later in Greek history.
But, history itself shows that the Romans repeatedly defeated phalanx formations:

The first encounter between a Greek phalanx and a Roman legion was the battle of Heraclea in 280, in which Pyrrhus of Epirus overcame his Italian enemies, but suffered heavy losses because the Roman army was more flexible and could replace the soldiers in the first line; they could continue to fight much longer. This flexibility was Rome's main advantage, especially when rearrangements had to be made during the battle - something that was always necessary during a fight on a hilly terrain. In June 197, at Cynoscephalae, the Roman commander Titus Quinctus Flamininus overcame the Macedonian king Philip V, and the Greek historian Polybius of Megalopolis concluded that this battle was the best example to show that legions were superior to the phalanx  (World History, 18.28-31).  - Courtesy of Livius.org

Image of a Secutor (standing)  fighting a downed retiarius courtesy of  Wikipedia.As for a mano-et-mano confrontation between a seasoned Roman-trained officer and a Greek hoplite skilled in the use of a thrusting spear, I'm not so sure myself,  although it appears that the mighty Maximus is about to be victorious in this clip.  Achilles would have a much greater reach with his spear but a  full panoply of his own time period - a breastplate, greaves,  hoplon, and a tunic of stiffened linen - would weigh as much as 15 kg,  Maximus is dressed in only a ragged tunic and leather armor and armed with only a short gladius. Maximus would have speed and agility on his side like a retiarius but without the net and a longer weapon.
Russell Crowe and his character Maximus are admired as physically fine examples of an alpha male in our society but the Romans would have interpreted his lack of armament as a symbol of a demeaned status, even more than a slave.

The more skin left unarmoured and exposed, the lower a gladiator's status and the greater his perceived effeminacy. Likewise, the engulfing net may have been seen as a feminine symbol. The light arms and armour of the retiarius thus established him as the lowliest, most disgraced, and most effeminate of the gladiator types...
...There is evidence that those net-men wearing tunics, known as retiarii tunicati, formed a special sub-class, one even more demeaned than their loincloth-wearing colleagues.The Roman satirist Juvenal wrote that:

So even the lanista's establishment is better ordered than yours, for he separates the vile from the decent, and sequesters even from their fellow-retiarii the wearers of the ill-famed tunic; in the training-school, and even in gaol, such creatures herd apart….

The passage suggests that tunic-wearing retiarii were trained for a different role, "in servitude, under strict discipline and even possibly under some restraints". Certain effeminate men mentioned by Seneca the Younger in his Quaestiones naturales were trained as gladiators and may correspond to Juvenal's tunic-wearing retiarii. Suetonius reports this anecdote: "Once a band of five retiarii in tunics, matched against the same number of secutores, yielded without a struggle; but when their death was ordered, one of them caught up his trident and slew all the victors." The reaction of Emperor Caligula showed the disgust with which he viewed the gladiators' actions: "Caligula bewailed this in a public proclamation as a most cruel murder, and expressed his horror of those who had had the heart to witness it." The fate of the retiarii is not revealed. This was probably not a standard competition, as real gladiators did not surrender so easily. Rather, such tunic-wearing net-men may have served as comic relief in the gladiatorial programming. - Wikipedia

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• Odysseus's palace is best left to imagination (telegraph.co.uk)
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• Review: The Face of Captive Greece in Rome (nytimes.com)

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Over 300 Roman artifacts displayed in "Ancient Rome & America" exhibit

Ever since the U.S. became involved in Iraq, I have seen a plethora of articles and books comparing "America" with the Roman Empire.  Now, the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia has teamed up with ten Italian museums to produce a new exhibit "Ancient Rome and America" that will be on display at the center in Philadelphia until August 1, 2010.  It sounds quite interesting and will include over 300 ancient Roman artifacts including this 1st century CE cavalry mask shaped like the face of the god Dionysos  [Image Courtesy of the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Florence] , a bronze citizenship tablet issued to a soldier by the emperor Domitian in 93 CE and the head of an eagle from a Roman military standard.  The exhibit will even include a beautifully preserved example of a gladiator helmet  [Image Courtesy of the Museo della Civilità Romana, Rome]  Objects from over 40 lending institutions in the United States will also populate the exhibit.

"Ancient Rome & America" showcases the cultural, political, and social connections between the lost world of ancient Rome and modern America...Covering over 8,000 square feet, Ancient Rome and America is organized into five galleries: Introduction, Building a Republic, A Classical Revival, Expansion and Empire, and Epilogue." - Ancient Rome and America, National Constitution Center

My husband wants to drive to Topeka, Kansas in June to attend the national Military Vehicles Preservation Association conference.  Afterwards, we'll probably swing up to Chicago to visit my son and his family so I'll point out that its not that much farther to head on over to Pennsylvania to visit my daughter.  She and her family live only about 1 1/2 hours from Philadelphia so maybe I'll get to see this fascinating exhibit!!

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