uncommon weapons form (sword and trident)

[john roberts]

You will note that the original Chester gladiator looks somewhat different than in the old drawing. The retiarius is very often depicted in art holding his pugio in the hand while manipulating his trident. It looks awkward, but retiarius reenactors tell me that it is not too difficult. You should run a search on this forum for discussions of the matter. Unlike movie gladiators, the real ones never seem to have carried sheathed weapons, with one possible (very early) exception. They were given their weapons in the arena and had to leave them there.