Talk:Gladiator
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[edit] Article
Here's an article on Gladiators from "A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities", John Murray, London, 1875. Someone might want to integrate this with the main text. (It is at:
[1] (copy up to "html") - copyright status seems to need better investigation (see related policy)).--Imran 16:44 Jul 21, 2002 (PDT)
[edit] Dodgy definition
The definition from the article
- A Gladiator is a low-class infantry soldier, specifically selected for highly risky operations or combats.
seems to be highly non-standard. Every other source I consulted, including the text above, defines gladiators as Roman entertainment fighters. I will change the article correspondingly. AxelBoldt 23:06 Dec 19, 2002 (UTC)
[edit] Thumbs up or down?
I have a question about the thumbs up/down bit...
- "If the audience (or sponsor or emperor) wanted that the loser should be killed, they pointed their thumbs downwards. If they wanted him to live, they raised their fist but kept their thumb inside it (ie. they did not point upwards as commonly believed)."
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- I have also heard (from various teachers and profs, and various books) that they used the thumbs up/down the same way we do, or they used it the opposite way, or no one knows which was which. I have even had two classics profs at UWO give two different explanations (the latter two I listed). Is there actually any consensus? Adam Bishop 13:46, 5 Aug 2003 (UTC)
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- Roman writers described the gesture as "Pollice verso", literally "turned thumb". But no-one really knows whether this was up, down, or neither. Matthewmayer
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- I've removed the current reference to it, since the grammar and spelling shown was terrible, and we have no guarantee that the thumb was turned one way or another. Perhaps that should be added in the previous bit of info's stead. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.60.99.253 (talk) 07:38, 25 February 2007 (UTC).
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[edit] Reliable info about thumbs issue and other things
Please check out http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/arena.html. She also has an interesting contribution on the meaning of "pollice verso".
In addition, you may want to check out at least some of the literature on this syllabus: http://history.wisc.edu/Courses/600_Seminars/Spring2005-06/HISTORY%20600%20Seminar%205.pdf. For a start, I'd recommend esp. the book by Eckart Köhne & Cornelia Ewigleben, Gladiators and Caesars, Univ. of California Press 2000, because it makes the research of German experimental archaeologist Marcus Junkelmann on gladiators accessible to English-speaking readers and has great illustrations, and the articles by Hopkins and Coleman, all standards.
In its current form, as you will see when you read these texts, the article contains a lot of misinformation. For example, gladiators, at least in the proper technical use of the term, did not fight against wild animals - this was the job of the bestiarii. Gerome's picture reflects the stand of the historical research of his time, but there are numerous mistakes on it. For example, the combination of armour the gladiator in the center wears is not authentic, as Junkelmann discusses in his recent book, "Hollywoods Traum von Rom." Xiphophilos 07:32, 9 August 2006 (UTC)
I've heard that thumbs-up/down was not the only way the fate of the loser was determined. If the crowd waved handkerchiefs, the loser would be spared. -Artemis/Apollo collaberation on Feb. 19, 2007
[edit] Disambiguation of Seneca
I've pointed the reference to Seneca to Seneca the Younger, as it seems to be the most likely source. However, I have no particular knowledge here, and it could be a reference to Seneca the Elder. Please, if someone knows for sure, say so here, and correct the article if necessary. -Anthropos 14:01, 31 Dec 2003 (UTC)
[edit] Odd looking sentence
What does this line mean ? "There was even a belief that nine eaten gladiator livers were a cure for epilepsy." Eaten by who ? Jay 08:10, 10 Aug 2004 (UTC)
I did my senior resarch paper on the gladiators of rome. I've added some interesting things to this article.
- Thanks...but don't delete other comments on the talk page :) Adam Bishop 16:21, 12 Jan 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Cleanup?
Apol0gies, why did you add a cleanup tag to this article? What needs to be cleaned up? Adam Bishop 22:09, 14 Feb 2005 (UTC)
[edit] The gladius
The gladiator article states that the weapon called "gladius" was used by "some" gladiators, and that the weapon inspired the name of the fighter (...makes sense). The gladius article states that "[c]ontrary to common belief, the gladius was not used by gladiators, who used a version with a shorter blade". Could this please be clarified and fixed? Also, does this shorter weapon have a name, and if the gladius was not used by the gladiators, how did one name inspire the other? Thanks. --Liberlogos 22:28, 20 Apr 2005 (UTC)
[edit] History Section
, with the intention of keeping alive his memory” (Baker, Gladiator 10). These were held for notable people and were repeated every one to five years after the person’s death. I noticed that the history section starts out in the middle of a sentence, and I can't tell what you were trying to say. I looked at the edit history but still couldn't figure out what had been changed...I just thought that I ought to bring this to someone's attention.
--Lara (--70.179.84.171 04:23, 8 June 2006 (UTC))
- Fixed it, I think. Thanks! Adam Bishop 04:52, 8 June 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Vandalism target
[edit] Reverting vandal attacks
For some reason this article seems to attract schoolboy vandals like horse droppings attracts flies. Please look to history before reverting as multiple attacks may have occurred and a simple revert via pop-ups will not restore the page.
Ask me how I know. --DV8 2XL 12:51, 2 April 2006 (UTC)
Fixed some vandalism I noticed. 207.118.191.107 18:29, 7 June 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Incessant vandalism
Have there been any useful edits on this article in the last 6 months? This article seems to attract anonymous vandals several times a day. Is there some level of protection we should or could do for this? Just wondrin' Mlouns 23:51, 10 December 2006 (UTC)
- Yeah but process-wonks love to come by and unprotect things after a few days, so it never makes any difference. Adam Bishop 19:23, 11 December 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Addition for consideration
the following information are taken from a talk from David Potter on the gladiators, and may possibly be verified by information online and in publication.
On Referees:
One commonly overlooked part of gladiatorial combat was the existence of the referee: Gladiatorial combat after all, was an athletic sport. Gladiators as a rule fought in pairs, and the referee's purpose was simply to keep the gladiators from inflicting permanent/fatal damage on their opponent. Often matches were halted after first blood.
On weaponry:
Armor placement was designed to direct most of the blows towards non-lethal areas of the body. The raising of fingers that signified a gladiator's concession to defeat was almost identical to the signal greek wrestlers used for the same purpose. Weapons were blunted, and sharp weapons had to be secured by the express permission of the host.
Possible Citations: http://www.powells.com/biblio?show=TRADE%20PAPER:USED:9780812969665:10.95&page=excerpt http://www.amazon.com/Just-Facts-Ancient-Rome/dp/B0000507PG
24.62.7.239 02:39, 11 February 2007 (UTC)
[edit] What type of sheltering did they have?
Where were the Gladiator's "living quarters" as it were.
