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Retiarius equipment specifics/finds
#1
I've decided to take what gear I've already got made for a work in progress Murmillo impression and make up what I would need to do a retiarius in the mean time. I've made the cloth bits and the samnite belt but am going to be waiting a while for my helmet and Ocrea as I'm commisioning some rather than bye off the shelf, that and I'm moving to a different country this coming year which slows things up no end!
I'm making a trident out of a Regia Anglorum style ball ended spearhead (the benefits of having a forge!) based on what I've read in a previous topic and I want to make the pugio and Galerus soon but can't find any pictures of originals or detailed info on them. I've seen that the Pugio has a sturdy, bullet shaped blade that looks about 20cm long with a rectangular hilt but I can't see what the handle and pommel look like or what materials the furniture is constructed from. With the Galerus I had thought about trying some repouse work and putting a design into it similiar to the only one I've been able to find (the decorated one I think is from Pompeii) and had thought I'd put some dolphins or mermaids (sirens?) on it to go with the whole "Nautical" theme, does this sound about right? And could this be worn over the top of a metal Manica, I'm having a hard time telling whether some of the Manica I see in mosaics are padded or metal over padding. Gods, but I'm full of question's these days!! :oops: :roll:
Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated as I'd really like to get this kit right!
Jason Rogers
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#2
The handles of the daggers found in the gladiator school in Pompeii are made from bone. Unfortunately I don't have any digital pictures right now.

Then about the depiction of animals in repousse on your galerus. That's good to do anyway. The retiarius (rete = net) so net-fighter comes from fisherman, so a sea-theme would be right. If we take a look at the finds from Pompeii (I don't know of any galerus found outside Pompeii) these are decorated with repousse. One shows us a trident, a dolphin, a lobster and an anchor.

About using metal manica under your galerus. That's most probably which period you want to portray. To me it seems like the first century mostly fabric manicae were used, and the metal segmented and scaled ones only appeared later on. As far as I know, no metal one was found in Pompeii IMHO.

And as with gladiator gear. You probably might consider buying Marcus Junkelmann - Das Spiel mi dem Tod, even if you can't read German. At the end of the book you will find a nice catalogue with a lot of gladiatoral items including measurements (and with a little bit of interglot.com you surely will be able to understand these little descriptions). (also contains a lot of other resource pictures)
________________________________________
Jvrjenivs Peregrinvs Magnvs / FEBRVARIVS
A.K.A. Jurjen Draaisma
CORBVLO and Fectio
ALA I BATAVORUM
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#3
Dolphins are abundant in classical art. I believe the mermaid is a medieval legend. The galerus is always shown with the fabric or leather manica. When the manica was made from scale or mail, the galerus was omitted, if we are to believe the artwork.
Pecunia non olet
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#4
I'd dearly love to own a copy of Das Spiel mit dem Tod but I've never really got $200 that isn't already earmarked for something else. When I get back to England I'll try and find a copy, several friends over there can probably help me out with translations. As an aside I heard a rumour (somewhere on RAT I think?) that they were publishing an English version, anyone know about that?

I've seen the Galerus you mentioned Jvrjenivs (sorry should have mentioned that earlier) but wasn't aware that there are others! Are they all as heavily decorated or is this one exceptional. I've been looking for images of those daggers on the net and at the library for a little while now and haven't found a single image bigger than thumbnail size, which dosen't give me many clues about how to re-create them Lol.

I think you might be right about the mermaids John as the earliest reference I could find was a 6th century source, before that depictions of sirens are pretty common on death steles and things instead. Seems the modern Mermaid became common in the 9th-10th century. It's funny the things you learn researching these kind of projects isn't it Lol.
Jason Rogers
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#5
You must be able to get a cheaper one (also check the 2nd hand copies):
[url:15muiavm]http://www.amazon.de/Gladiatoren-Das-Spiel-mit-dem/dp/3805337973/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229335458&sr=8-1[/url]

I also heard about an English translation, but don't know anything more about it.
________________________________________
Jvrjenivs Peregrinvs Magnvs / FEBRVARIVS
A.K.A. Jurjen Draaisma
CORBVLO and Fectio
ALA I BATAVORUM
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#6
Quote:You must be able to get a cheaper one (also check the 2nd hand copies):
[url:1wcuk3x2]http://www.amazon.de/Gladiatoren-Das-Spiel-mit-dem/dp/3805337973/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229335458&sr=8-1[/url]

I also heard about an English translation, but don't know anything more about it.

Since I wrote the review of the book for Ancient Warfare I have been in contact with the publisher. Just before the conference I was checking again with them if there are any news re the English translation. Unfortunately they could not tell me anything, still negotiating. This is going on and on and on... To be honest I doubt the English translation will ever happen, but I hope for all you guys who do not speak German that I might be mistaken.
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#7
Quote:The handles of the daggers found in the gladiator school in Pompeii are made from bone. Unfortunately I don't have any digital pictures right now.

But I do! Picture taken by me last year at the exhibition Luxus und Dekadenz in Bremen
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#8
The most original gladiatorial items which were found are those from Pompeii. Due to being covered under the volcanic ashes they are pretty well preserved.

The gladiator school at Pompeii was an Imperial one so their armor was splendid, nicely decorated. Gladiators from provincial schools or even itenerant groups most likely did not have such richly decorated gear, their stuff was much plainer. This you always have to take into consideration when thinking of what your gear should look like.

Jurjen, you are right, no metal manicae were found in Pompeii.
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#9
It is unfortunate that the Pompeii finds were excavated at a time when archaeology was in its infancy. If there were metal manicae in the Pompeii armory, they were probably of such thin metal that their remains, crushed under the ash, would have been mere strips of rust or green verdigris on the floor. These would have been ignored by the treasure-hunters of the 18th century, but might have revealed reams of information to modern archaeologists.
Pecunia non olet
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