What did a gladiator wear?

Answer 1

There were very few female gladiators in reality- some films and computer games have featured female gladiators, but this is pure fiction. In ancient Rome, gladiatorial combat was very largely a male phenomenon. The only women who worked as gladiators were Scythians from occupied regions of the Caucasus and the Northern regions of the Middle East, who came from a tribal culture that featured women in combat sport. Often, these women were professional display-fighters who went to Rome voluntarily to practice their art, since the pay was better. They were usually 'net fighters'- that is, they would attempt to snare an armed female opponent with a net, then kill them with their own weapons once they'd been captured. Others fought using tridents or short swords. Their costume was minimal- they wore only a short leather skirt and sandals, but sometimes went completely naked! But many Romans disliked seeing women in combat sports, even if they were willing competitors- they found it an affront to decency, and did not wish to encourage it. Women were sometimes used as victims in the gladiatorial arena, though most Romans drew the line at this and found it repugnant. Although aspects of Roman life were very brutal, there was nonetheless a basic code of chivalry, part of which included an understanding that women should not be subject to the same extremes of torment and degradation as men. Women were usually only thrown into the arena under the dictatorships of Nero and Caligula, both of whom were genocidal psychopaths who were completely insane- in such cases, many Senators boycotted the 'games' and encouraged the public to do likewise, and even a lot of male gladiators refused to take up arms against women. Most of the female victims were Christian converts, who were caught up in Nero's persecution of Christians- they were usually pitted against wild animals such as lions or bears, and whilst not given any protective clothing to wear, were usually armed, with tridents, swords or maces. They also sometimes had shields. In other cases, an unarmed woman would be tied to a post in an arena, and left to be defended by an armed male victim against savage animals. The crowd were often impressed with the bravery and courage of such innocent people who were forced to fight and kill just for 'sport', and usually demanded clemency for survivors, becoming very angry if this was not awarded.

Answer 2

a helmet a breastplate a shield and a sword steel shields and armor hope and love

the 'actual' gladiators wore their own costume, but prisoners that became gladiators had their own costume as well.

Ancient Roman Gladiators wear a bronze helmet, sandals, and sometimes they wear a chest plate. The weapons they can use are a net (Inretire), trident (Fuscina), shield (Scutum), spear (Hasta), dagger (Pugio), short sword (Gladius), and the helmet (Galea). Their bottoms have a skirt like look. There were different types of gladiators who fought different kinds of contests with different types of equipment. All of them, except for the eques, fought bare chested. They could have different types of protective gear of legs and arms and different helmets.

The equipment of the various types of gladiators was:

Andabata fought blind, had helmets with no eye holes, thus with no vision it would usually be 2 of these gladiators combating.

· The arbelas fought with a crescent shaped knife that shoemakers used to cut leather. They are only fighting against Retiarii or against each other. This type of gladiator is mentioned in only one source,

· The bestiarius was a beast-fighter.

· The bustuarius (from bustum, "tomb) was a "tomb fighter. They were gladiators who fought at funeral games (munera),

· The cestus was a fist-fighter who wore the cestus, a glove made with leather strips and sometimes filled with iron plates or fitted with blades or spikes, and used as weapons.

· The dimachaerus fought with two swords, one in each hand.

· The Eques (plural equites) was horseman. They opened the games. They started on horses, but after throwing their spears they dismounted fought with a short sword (gladius). They wore manica (arm protection) on their right arm and sleeveless, belted tunics, in contrast to other gladiators who usually fought bare-chested,

· The essedarius fought on chariots. It is likely that they were first brought to Rome from Britain by Julius Caesar.

· The hoplomachus was armed like a Thracian with metal greaves over quilted leg guards and a brimmed helmet, but fought with a round shield and a short straight sword. They were paired against the Murmillo or the Thraex.

· The laquearius tried to catch his opponents with a lasso (laqueus) and had a dagger he when he snared the adversary.

· The murmillo-fought with hoplomachus or Thracian, these gladiators had protected right arms and left legs and fought with a large rectangular shield, a brimmed helmet and short sword. They were paired with Thraex, and occasionally with the hoplomachus.

· The scissor (plural scissores) used a short sword with two blades that looked like a pair of open scissors.

· The thraex or (Thracian) was armed like a hoplomachus, but fought with a small square shield and a curved sword.

· The retiarius-fought secutor and wore manica and galerus on left arm and used a net a trident and dagger and tried to catch secutores with the net.

The secutor-type of gladiator who went against retarius, they were armed the same as a murmillo, but the smooth helmet enclosed the head entirely, apart from small eye-holes as protection against the prongs of the trident
Apart from the garments mentioned above the main elements of Gladiators Clothing consisted of protective clothing with provided forms of armor against the attack of their opponents.

Answer 3

There were many different styles of gladiatorial fighting that the gladiators could follow, each with their unique fighting style and garb. Armor could include leather or metal plate armor, shields, and helmets. Weapons were usually spears, swords, or daggers. Greaves, sandals, and gloves commonplace. But, wearing a chest plate was frowned upon as the chest gave the opponent a target and showed the wielders bravery.