DESCRIPTION:
1.
The Lure of Gladiatorial Combat
In
addition to the bowie knife and the tomahawk there were the
gladiators. I was only 12 years old in Miss Castle's 6th grade
class when I ran across a turn of the century painting of
Gladiatorial combat. The unique helmets, exotic armor, and
weapons brought up a strange desire within me to go grab a
sword and fight in the arena. That interest has been with me
ever since. In fact it was that ‘warrior ethic’
those ancients projected which drew me into athletics, the
martial arts, and has been the subject of much of my early
artwork. I like gladiators. This class is about their weapons
and how they were used.
If
you are into reenactment and role playing within the ancient
Roman world you will probably like this class. If you
work with stage combat and choreographed fighting it may
enhance the realism of your presentations. As a historian, you
probably will not agree with some of my conclusions but
hopefully I may stimulate thought in the way you approach your
interpretation of combat in the ancient world. This class is
about how to use the Roman Gladius, Sica, and the Hispanic
Falcata within the context of gladiatorial combat. It is drawn
from the some of the research I’ve done that serves as a
base for a training manual that I am currently working on.
In
this class we will examine the fighting methods for the
Mirmillo, Thraex, and Hoplomachus class of gladiators in
one-on-one combat with each other. These three gladiator
classes were selected for the diversity in techniques with
their respective swords and shields. You might say that this is
class on fundamental short sword and shield work. Due to space
and travel constraints, we will only be using the larger
variety of gladiatorial shield, such as the Scutum used by the
Mirmillo, for within the context of demonstrations. We will be
focusing our practical study on the use of the small rounded
buckler size shield, similar to that used by the Hoplomachus
and those used on the Iberian peninsula. From the perspective
of weapons you will learn to use the shorter version of the
Roman short sword called the Gladius. We will explore the
unusually shaped Sica that was employed by the Thraex class of
gladiator as well as the Hispanic Falcata. While there is
little historical evidence to indicate that the Falcata was
used in the arena, it was a very popular weapon of the time and
highly sought after by the soldiers in the Roman army. As there
were gladiatorial schools in Spain, it is very likely that this
weapon made it to those arenas.
We
will be working with a variety of drills and combat scenarios
that stress the use of the small shield in conjunction with a
cut and thrust system of fighting.
2.
Resource
No
prior reading is required. I’ll give a brief introduction
to my research method for analyzing Roman art for gladiatorial
fighting methods at the start of the class.
3.
Who May Attend This Class
Anyone
from beginner to advanced student. No roman soldier, or
gladiator outfits please! Just regular workout clothes. Please
be aware that the techniques taught in this class are not
exactly the same as those currently being taught for the
medieval sword and shield in the I.33 manuscript. Come prepared
for a slightly different approach.
4.
Equipment Required
Eye,
hand, forearm, and groin protection. You should bring a wooden
training sword with a 13 to 15 inch blade. Try not to be over
18 inches since most of the arena gladii were slightly smaller.
Training Falcata and Sica will be provided. Eye, hand, forearm,
and groin protection is required. If you have a buckler or
small round shield please bring it as I have a limited number
of these for use. If you have a Roman Scutum bring it.
5.
Class Outline
A.
Introduction to Gladiator class,
armor, weapons and historical research protocol
B.
Demonstration of the Scutum
C.
Gladius and small shield drills
D.
Falcata and small shield drills
E.
Sica and small shield drills
F.
Two-person sets with Gladius and Sica
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