L'Italo-Americano

HERITAGE HISTORY IDENTITY TRADITIONS PEOPLE THURSDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2025 www.italoamericano.org 24 L'Italo-Americano ly, the figurine's posture and equipment match what is known from depictions of male fighters, strengthening the case for this interpreta- tion. Debates also surround a b u r i a l i n L o n d o n o n c e p r o p o s e d t o b e t h a t o f a f e m a l e g l a d i a t o r , t h o u g h s c h o l a r s n o w a s s e s s t h a t claim with caution. Even so, the combination of the Hali- c a r n a s s u s r e l i e f a n d t h e b r o n z e s t a t u e t t e p r o v i d e material confirmation that women did, in fact, appear in gladiatorial roles. Understanding who these women were can be, howev- e r , m o r e c h a l l e n g i n g ; w e know that most male gladia- tors came from enslaved pop- ulations, prisoners of war, or individuals condemned to forced games, and many his- torians assume that female g l a d i a t o r s e m e r g e d f r o m similar backgrounds, espe- cially given the high risks involved in arena combat. H o w e v e r , s o m e s c h o l a r s argue that free women fac- ing poverty or debt may have entered the games vol- untarily, as was sometimes the case among men. Literary references, however, point to a n o t h e r g r o u p : e l i t e women, who were com- pelled or enticed to per- form in imperial specta- cles. In fact, both Tacitus and Suetonius imply that enough, archaeology offers further proof of the existence and (un)popularity of female arena performers. The most striking artifact unearthed is, perhaps, a marble relief from Halicarnassus, now housed at the British Muse- u m , w h i c h p o r t r a y s t w o female fighters named Ama- zon and Achillia, identified b y i n s c r i p t i o n s . B o t h a r e equipped with sword and shield, their bodies unar- mored except for protective gear typical of certain gladia- tor types. Their uncovered heads, unlike those of many male gladiators, highlight their gender for the audience, while the inscription notes that they were granted missio "while still standing," a sign of respect and an indication that the fight ended in an honorable draw. Scholars believe these two fighters were well known and per- haps performed together reg- ularly, possibly reenacting mythological duels between Amazons and Greek heroes, something mirrored in their very names. Another interesting piece, a small bronze statuette iden- tified by researcher Alfonso M a ñ a s i n 2 0 1 1 , s h o w s a f e m a l e f i g u r e h o l d i n g a curved sword and wearing minimal armor in the style of a thraex, one of the stan- dard gladiator types; crucial- e m p e r o r s l i k e N e r o a n d Domitian encouraged high- born women to participate, a practice that moralists con- demned as a sign of social decline. When it comes to training and equipment, it is very l i k e l y t h a t t h e y w e r e l i k e those for their male counter- parts, as suggested by the technical precision in the Halicarnassus relief and by scholarly analysis of gladiator s c h o o l s . T h e y p r o b a b l y t r a i n e d w i t h t h e s a m e instructors, learned the same fighting styles, and followed comparable rules. Artists tended to depict them with- o u t h e l m e t s , w h i c h m a y r e f l e c t t h e a t r i c a l c h o i c e s intended to ensure the crowd could identify them. Some researchers believe that their fights were less likely to end in death, partly because they represented a rare attraction and partly because organiz- e r s h a d i n v e s t e d i n t h e i r training. The Halicarnassus relief, which celebrates a tied match, supports this idea. Female gladiators existed, then; but they didn't have a history as long as that of their male counterparts. Their dis- appearance can be associated with a mix of social pressure, political concerns, and moral criticism: public performance by elite women clashed with Roman ideals of modesty and domesticity, making their p r e s e n c e i n t h e a r e n a a potent symbol of disorder for conservative commentators. E v e n w h e n p e r f o r m e d b y e n s l a v e d o r l o w e r - c l a s s women, the spectacle chal- lenged expectations about femininity and the bound- aries between private and public roles. The Senate's early bans targeted freeborn women specifically, which revealed a level of social anxi- ety about the behavior of powerful families. By the t i m e S e p t i m i u s S e v e r u s issued the final prohibition, f e m a l e p a r t i c i p a t i o n h a d b e c o m e a f o c a l p o i n t i n debates about decadence and t h e e t h i c a l l i m i t s o f t h e games. Eliminating it served b o t h m o r a l a n d p o l i t i c a l aims, and after the early third century, references to women fighting in arenas disappear. i f t h e p h e n o m e n o n w e r e imaginary or insignificant. Literary sources can help us get a sense of how female fighters were perceived and why they attracted attention: Juvenal, the sharp-tongued satirist of the early second century, mocks the figure of M e v i a , a w o m a n h e describes as hunting boars in the arena. His goal in the passage is, in fact, criticizing m o r a l e x c e s s a m o n g t h e wealthy, but his mention shows that audiences under- stood the idea of a woman performing dangerous spec- tacles, and were familiar with it. Petronius' Satyricon i n c l u d e s a r e f e r e n c e t o women participating in char- iot combat, another signal that elite Romans associated f e m a l e p e r f o r m e r s w i t h arena-based games. In his biography of Domitian, Sue- tonius describes how the emperor organized nighttime fights that included women as part of a broader taste for unusual displays designed to impress and shock. Tacitus himself, when recounting the r e i g n o f N e r o , n o t e s t h a t w o m e n o f " d i s t i n g u i s h e d families" appeared in shows, a detail he used to convey what he perceived as the ero- s i o n o f t r a d i t i o n a l s o c i a l norms, under the most infa- mous emperor of all. If coeval literature weren't M ost people imagine the R o m a n arena as a w o r l d o f male fighters, sand and steel, crowds roaring at the spectacle of gladiators fac- i n g o f f u n d e r t h e e y e s o f emperors; yet ancient texts, inscriptions, and archaeolog- ical finds reveal a different picture, one where women, too, fought in the arenas of the Empire. Their pres- e n c e w a s r a r e e n o u g h t o attract fascination and criti- cism, yet visible enough to leave traces in both literature a n d m a t e r i a l c u l t u r e . T o u n d e r s t a n d w h o t h e s e w o m e n w e r e , w e n e e d t o piece together scattered ref- erences, analyze a handful of images, and do a lot of read- i n g b e t w e e n t h e l i n e s o f Roman moral commentary. T h e r e s u l t i s a h i s t o r i c a l snapshot rich in implications for how Romans viewed gen- der, status, and entertain- ment. The first question is, of course, whether female gladi- ators truly existed, and the evidence supports a clear yes: R o m a n w r i t e r s d e s c r i b e women taking part in public games, although they avoid using a specific term equiva- lent to the modern gladia- trix; instead, they speak of women "performing in the arena" or refer to them sim- ply as mulieres or feminae in contexts that unmistakably involve combat. The fact that their partici- pation had to be regulated by law is telling in itself: in the early first century AD, the Senate issued decrees forbid- d i n g f r e e b o r n a n d e l i t e women under twenty from appearing in the arena, a ban that indicates how the phe- nomenon was real and trou- bling enough to require state intervention. By the early third century, the emperor Septimius Severus issued a broader prohibition, ending t h e p u b l i c p r e s e n c e o f women gladiators entirely: such a sequence of restric- tions would make little sense Female gladiators were relatively common in imperial times, but where frown upon by society (Image created with DALL-E 2) The women who fought in the arena: reassessing Rome's "gladiatrici" LUCA SIGNORINI

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