A gladiatrix was the female counterpart to the male gladiator

Gladiator

A gladiator was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their legal and social standing and their lives by appearing in the...

, an armed fighter who engaged in violent combat with humans or animals for the entertainment of audiences in the arenas of the Roman Republic

Roman Republic

The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...

 and Roman Empire

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

. Though very rare, gladiatrices are attested in archaeology

Archaeology

Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...

 and literature.

Larinum decree as evidence

The Larinum decree under Tiberius

Tiberius

Tiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...

 banned senators'

Roman Senate

The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...

 daughters, granddaughters and great-granddaughters, and "any female whose husband or father or grandfather, whether paternal or maternal or brother had ever possessed the right of sitting in the seats reserved for the equites" from training or making paid appearances as gladiators, implying though not confirming that some females did already appear as gladiators. Their first attested appearance is under Nero

Nero

Nero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....

, at the games organised by Patrobius for Tiridates I of Armenia

Tiridates I of Armenia

Tiridates I was King of Armenia beginning in AD 53 and the founder of the Arshakuni Dynasty, the Armenian line of the Arsacid Dynasty. The dates of his birth and death are unknown. His early reign was marked by a brief interruption towards the end of the year 54 and a much longer one from 58...

  There is also a reference in Petronius

Petronius

Gaius Petronius Arbiter was a Roman courtier during the reign of Nero. He is generally believed to be the author of the Satyricon, a satirical novel believed to have been written during the Neronian age.-Life:...

's Satyricon

Satyricon

Satyricon is a Latin work of fiction in a mixture of prose and poetry. It is believed to have been written by Gaius Petronius, though the manuscript tradition identifies the author as a certain Titus Petronius...

- possibly based on a factual show - to a female essedarius

Essedarius

An essedarius was a type of gladiator in Ancient Rome who fought from a chariot. There may have been just one man in the chariot, or two, a driver and a fighter. The word is also used of charioteers in other instances, such as in Caesar's Gallic War, in his campaign against Cassivellaunus in...

, or one who fought from a Celt

Celt

The Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Roman-era Europe who spoke Celtic languages.The earliest archaeological culture commonly accepted as Celtic, or rather Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture , named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria....

ic-style chariot.

The Emperor Domitian

Domitian

Domitian was Roman Emperor from 81 to 96. Domitian was the third and last emperor of the Flavian dynasty.Domitian's youth and early career were largely spent in the shadow of his brother Titus, who gained military renown during the First Jewish-Roman War...

 liked to stage torch-lit fights between dwarves and women, according to Suetonius in The Twelve Caesars. From depictions it appears they fought bare-chested and rarely wore helmets, no matter what type of gladiator they fought as. Women apparently fought at night, and the fact that this coincided with the main events of a Games indicates the possible importance or rarity of female gladiators. Most modern scholars consider female gladiators a novelty act due to the sparse writings about them, but writer Amy Zoll notes that the fact that those ancient historians that do mention them do so casually may suggest that they were "more widespread than direct evidence might otherwise indicate." The author of an inscription found in Pompeii

Pompeii

The city of Pompeii is a partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Along with Herculaneum, Pompeii was destroyed and completely buried during a long catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius spanning...

 boasts of being the first editor (promoter

Promoter (entertainment)

An entertainment promoter i.e. music, wrestling, boxing etc is a person or company in the business of marketing and promoting live events such as concerts/gigs, boxing matches, sports entertainment , festivals, raves, and nightclubs.- Business model :Promoters are typically hired as independent...

 or sponsor) to bring female gladiators to the town.

Dio Cassius

Dio Cassius

Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus , known in English as Cassius Dio, Dio Cassius, or Dio was a Roman consul and a noted historian writing in Greek...

 (62.3.1) mentions that not only women but children fought in a gladiatorial event that Nero

Nero

Nero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....

 sponsored in 66 AD. It is known the emperor Nero also forced the wives of some Roman senators into amphitheaters, though it is not known if they were forced to fight. A 1st or 2nd century marble relief from Halicarnassus

Halicarnassus

Halicarnassus was an ancient Greek city at the site of modern Bodrum in Turkey. It was located in southwest Caria on a picturesque, advantageous site on the Ceramic Gulf. The city was famous for the tomb of Mausolus, the origin of the word mausoleum, built between 353 BC and 350 BC, and...

 suggests that some women fought in heavy armour. Both women are depicted as provocatrices in combat. The inscription names them as “Amazon” and “Achillia” and mentions that both received a missio (honourable discharge) from the arena despite fighting each other (both were deemed to have won). Mark Vesley, a Roman social historian speculates that as gladiatorial schools were not fit places for women, they may have studied under private tutors in the collegia iuvenum. These schools were for training high ranking males over the age of 14 in martial arts, but Vesley found three references to women training there, including one who died... An inscription read: "To the divine shades of Valeria Iucunda, who belonged to the body of the iuvenes. She lived 17 years, 9 months."

The gladiatrices employed by Emperor Domitian

Domitian

Domitian was Roman Emperor from 81 to 96. Domitian was the third and last emperor of the Flavian dynasty.Domitian's youth and early career were largely spent in the shadow of his brother Titus, who gained military renown during the First Jewish-Roman War...

 are mentioned in Suetonius

Suetonius

Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, commonly known as Suetonius , was a Roman historian belonging to the equestrian order in the early Imperial era....

, Martial

Martial

Marcus Valerius Martialis , was a Latin poet from Hispania best known for his twelve books of Epigrams, published in Rome between AD 86 and 103, during the reigns of the emperors Domitian, Nerva and Trajan...

, and Statius

Statius

Publius Papinius Statius was a Roman poet of the 1st century CE . Besides his poetry in Latin, which include an epic poem, the Thebaid, a collection of occasional poetry, the Silvae, and the unfinished epic, the Achilleid, he is best known for his appearance as a major character in the Purgatory...

.

Juvenal

A strong condemnation against female gladiators of the Flavian and Trajan

Trajan

Trajan , was Roman Emperor from 98 to 117 AD. Born into a non-patrician family in the province of Hispania Baetica, in Spain Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian. Serving as a legatus legionis in Hispania Tarraconensis, in Spain, in 89 Trajan supported the emperor against...

ic eras can be found in the Satire VI

Satire VI

Satire VI is the most famous of the sixteen Satires by the Roman author Juvenal written in the late 1st or early 2nd century. In English translation, this satire is often titled something in the vein of Against Women due to the most obvious reading of its content...

 of Juvenal

Juvenal

The Satires are a collection of satirical poems by the Latin author Juvenal written in the late 1st and early 2nd centuries AD.Juvenal is credited with sixteen known poems divided among five books; all are in the Roman genre of satire, which, at its most basic in the time of the author, comprised a...

, decrying the fact female gladiators were typically from upper-class families and seeking thrill and attention.

Who has not seen the dummies of wood they slash at and batter

Whether with swords or with spears, going through all the manoeuvres?

These are the girls who blast on the trumpets in honour of Flora.

Or, it may be they have deeper designs, and are really preparing

For the arena itself. How can a woman be decent

Sticking her head in a helmet, denying the sex she was born with?

Manly feats they adore, but they wouldn’t want to be men,

Poor weak things (they think), how little they really enjoy it!

What a great honour it is for a husband to see, at an auction

Where his wife’s effects are up for sale, belts, shin-guards,

Arm-protectors and plumes!

Hear her grunt and groan as she works at it, parrying, thrusting;

See her neck bent down under the weight of her helmet.

Look at the rolls of bandage and tape, so her legs look like tree-trunks,

Then have a laugh for yourself, after the practice is over,

Armour and weapons put down, and she squats as she used the vessel.

Ah, degenerate girls from the line of our praetor

Praetor

Praetor was a title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to men acting in one of two official capacities: the commander of an army, usually in the field, or the named commander before mustering the army; and an elected magistratus assigned varied duties...

s and consul

Consul

Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...

s,

Tell us, whom have you seen got up in any such fashion,

Panting and sweating like this? No gladiator’s wench,

No tough strip-tease broad would ever so much as attempt it.

Banning

Septimius Severus

Septimius Severus

Septimius Severus , also known as Severus, was Roman Emperor from 193 to 211. Severus was born in Leptis Magna in the province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary succession of offices under the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. Severus seized power after the death of...

 banned female gladiators around AD 200. A later inscription at Ostia

Ostia Antica

Ostia Antica is a large archeological site, close to the modern suburb of Ostia , that was the location of the harbour city of ancient Rome, which is approximately 30 km to the northeast. "Ostia" in Latin means "mouth". At the mouth of the River Tiber, Ostia was Rome's seaport, but, due to...

 advertises “mulieres” (women) competing so the ban apparently was ineffective.

Halicarnassus

The most compelling piece of evidence for the existence of female gladiators is a marble relief found in Halicarnassus

Halicarnassus

Halicarnassus was an ancient Greek city at the site of modern Bodrum in Turkey. It was located in southwest Caria on a picturesque, advantageous site on the Ceramic Gulf. The city was famous for the tomb of Mausolus, the origin of the word mausoleum, built between 353 BC and 350 BC, and...

 and currently on display at the British Museum

British Museum

The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...

. The relief depicts two female gladiators. With an adopted nom de guerre appearing beneath each of them (Amazon

Amazons

The Amazons are a nation of all-female warriors in Greek mythology and Classical antiquity. Herodotus placed them in a region bordering Scythia in Sarmatia...

and Achillia), they are depicted in loincloth

Loincloth

A loincloth is a one-piece male garment, sometimes kept in place by a belt, which covers the genitals and, at least partially, the buttocks.-History and types:Loincloths are being and have been worn:*in societies where no other clothing is needed or wanted...

s and wearing traditional gladiator equipment such as greave

Greave

A greave is a piece of armour that protects the leg.-Description:...

s and a manica

Manica (armour)

The Latin word "manica" means a sleeve. A manica was a type of iron or bronze arm guard, with curved and overlapping metal segments or plates, fastened to leather straps, worn by Roman gladiators called crupellarii, and later by soldiers....

. Each is armed with a sword and shield; neither is wearing a helmet nor a shirt (they are bare-breasted, as in contemporary sculptural depictions of amazonomachy

Amazonomachy

An Amazonomachy was a portrayal of legendary battle between Greeks and Amazons...

, but perhaps also implying a degree of sexual titillation in the use of female gladiators).

Southwark

A female Roman skeleton unearthed in Southwark

Southwark

Southwark is a district of south London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Southwark. Situated east of Charing Cross, it forms one of the oldest parts of London and fronts the River Thames to the north...

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 in 2001 was identified as a female gladiator, but this was on the basis that although wealthy she was buried as an outcast outside the main cemetery, had pottery lamps of Anubis

Anubis

Anubis is the Greek name for a jackal-headed god associated with mummification and the afterlife in ancient Egyptian religion. In the ancient Egyptian language, Anubis is known as Inpu . According to the Akkadian transcription in the Amarna letters, Anubis' name was vocalized as Anapa...

, a lamp with a depiction of a fallen gladiator engraved on it and bowls containing burnt pine cones

Conifer cone

A cone is an organ on plants in the division Pinophyta that contains the reproductive structures. The familiar woody cone is the female cone, which produces seeds. The male cones, which produce pollen, are usually herbaceous and much less conspicuous even at full maturity...

 from a Stone Pine

Stone Pine

The Stone Pine , is also called Italian Stone Pine, or Umbrella Pine , and Parasol Pine. It is in the pine family Pinaceae and occasionally listed under the invalid name Pinus sativa. The tree is native to the Mediterranean region...

 placed in the grave. The only Stone Pines in Britain at the time were those planted around the London amphitheatre as the pine cones of this particular species were traditionally burnt during games. Most experts believe the identification to be erroneous but the Museum of London

Museum of London

The Museum of London documents the history of London from the Prehistoric to the present day. The museum is located close to the Barbican Centre, as part of the striking Barbican complex of buildings created in the 1960s and 70s as an innovative approach to re-development within a bomb damaged...

 states it is "70 percent probable" that the Great Dover Street Woman was a gladiator. Hedley Swain, head of early history at the Museum, stated: "No single piece of evidence says that she is a gladiator. Instead, there’s simply a group of circumstantial evidence that makes it an intriguing idea." She is now on display at the end of the Roman London section of the Museum of London

Museum of London

The Museum of London documents the history of London from the Prehistoric to the present day. The museum is located close to the Barbican Centre, as part of the striking Barbican complex of buildings created in the 1960s and 70s as an innovative approach to re-development within a bomb damaged...

. This gladiator was the subject of a program on the UK's Channel 4

Channel 4

Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

.

Herefordshire

On July 2, 2010, the BBC reported that archaeologists engaged in a rescue dig at Credenhill

Credenhill

Credenhill is a village and civil parish in Herefordshire, England,Near Credenhill is the site of the former Royal Air Force station RAF Hereford, which is now the headquarters of 22 Special Air Service Regiment.-Notable residents:...

 in Herefordshire

Herefordshire

Herefordshire is a historic and ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire" NUTS 2 region. It also forms a unitary district known as the...

 had uncovered the remains of what might be a female gladiator. The burial, which was in a wooden chest secured with three iron bands and a number of iron nails, was in a crouched position. Such a coffin indicated the dead person's status. When removed, the leg and arm bones were found to be unusually heavy with large attachment points for what were clearly strong muscles. The pelvis and head, however, were clearly that of a woman.

The area where the burial was found appears to be part of a suburb of the Roman town of Kenchester

Kenchester

Kenchester is a parish in Herefordshire, England. It is about west-northwest of Hereford.-History:Kenchester is near the Romano-British town of Magnis. It was once part of the Angles' Magonsæte kingdom....

, which makes the find even more unusual as burials were forbidden by Roman law within city limits. A team of archaeologists from Worcestershire Historic Environment and Archaeology Service, working in close co-operation with Amey Consulting

Amey plc

Amey plc, previously known as Amey Ltd and Amey Roadstone Construction, is a United Kingdom based infrastructure support service provider. It was once listed on the London Stock Exchange but since 2003 it has been a subsidiary of Spanish company Grupo Ferrovial, S.A....

 and Herefordshire Council

Herefordshire Council

Herefordshire Council is the local government authority for the county of Herefordshire in England. It is a unitary authority.It is a relatively new council, formed on 1 April 1998 following the split of Hereford and Worcester back into two separate counties.It is currently run by Conservatives. It...

's archaeology team, were excavating a 10-metre wide corridor, to allow a flood culvert

Culvert

A culvert is a device used to channel water. It may be used to allow water to pass underneath a road, railway, or embankment. Culverts can be made of many different materials; steel, polyvinyl chloride and concrete are the most common...

 to be built when they made their discovery.

However, there is insufficient proof to say categorically that the corpse was or wasn't a gladiatrix. The established 'Heritage Key' website claims that the project leader of the excavation himself doubts that the dead woman was a gladiatrix. His doubts were reported on the website by Bija Knowles, a freelance journalist based outside Rome.

In Renaissance art

Among the pictures commissioned in Italy by king Philip IV of Spain

Philip IV of Spain

Philip IV was King of Spain between 1621 and 1665, sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands, and King of Portugal until 1640...

 for his Palacio del Buen Retiro in Madrid, there is a series on Roman circuses including a picture of female gladiators.

External links

• Female Gladiators of the Ancient Roman World
• Portal on Female Gladiators
• Ludus
• Historical sources for female gladiators
• Professor Steven Murray, "Female Gladiators of the Ancient Roman World" Journal of Combative Sport 2003
• The Light Bearer, Woman Gladiator Historical Fiction
• Women Warriors Fine Art, Stories, Links
• Worcestershire Historic Environment and Archaeology Service