Roman shield

[Crispvs]

Actually there are rather a lot of depictions of Gladiators and although there are some apparently odd mixtures, including what appears in some cases to be ex-military equipment, most of these are from the late Republic and early first century AD, apparently before things became so standardised, which they seem to have done within only a few years. It is worth remembering that although most people these days think of the Secutor, Retiarius, Murmilo, Thracian, Hoplomacius and perhaps Provocotur gladiator types, there were actually around twelve distinct types, including Eques, in addition to non gladiator types such as bestiarii. Therefore at least a percentage of what seem to be odd mixtures may well be less well known but still standard gladiator types.

If you can read German get hold of Marcus Junkelman's 'Das Spiel mit dem Tod', which features an unrivaled collection of contemporary images of gladiators, including many grave stelae, along with some very good reconstructions. If you can't read German, take a look at it anyway, just for the fantastic collection of images.

Crispvs