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Roman shield
#16
Quote:...however my point was more that like boxers and athletes of today they still wanted to WIN! which means they would have modified their equipment i'm sure to some extent, extra armour, different materials to make their swords lighter

Um, don't want to sound like I'm laughing at you, here, but what sorts of materials could you be thinking of? By the first century, swords had been developing for about 2000 years and were as highly refined and perfect as they could be. We have trouble matching their performance today. What modifications could a gladiator have come up with that thousands of soldiers and incredibly skilled craftsmen before him hadn't thought of?


Quote:I guess sometimes my imagination does run away with me...

Yup, that's what it looks like! If you can come up with even a hint of historical evidence to support any of this, we'll all listen. Until then, beware of modern preconceptions!

Vale,

Matthew
Matthew Amt (Quintus)
Legio XX, USA
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#17
What ho Claudius, I think I've discovered titanium!! see how light my sword is :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
Visne partem mei capere? Comminus agamus! * Me semper rogo, Quid faceret Iulius Caesar? * Confidence is a good thing! Overconfidence is too much of a good thing.
[b]Legio XIIII GMV. (Q. Magivs)RMRS Remember Atuatuca! Vengence will be ours!
Titus Flavius Germanus
Batavian Coh I
Byron Angel
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#18
Quote:What ho Claudius, I think I've discovered titanium!! see how light my sword is :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

shhhhhhhhhhht!

i was more meaning like grips and hilt alterations, things that a gladiator could do himself rather than wapping out his forge! :evil:
Lucius Duccius Rufinus Aka Kevin Rhynas.

"Fortes fortuna adiuvat".
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#19
Quote: shhhhhhhhhhht! :evil:
Confusedhock: Confusedhock: :roll:

Ohh dear, someones going to be scrubbing latrines this year.........
Visne partem mei capere? Comminus agamus! * Me semper rogo, Quid faceret Iulius Caesar? * Confidence is a good thing! Overconfidence is too much of a good thing.
[b]Legio XIIII GMV. (Q. Magivs)RMRS Remember Atuatuca! Vengence will be ours!
Titus Flavius Germanus
Batavian Coh I
Byron Angel
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#20
Quote:
Lucius Duccius Rufinus:aksiu564 Wrote:shhhhhhhhhhht! :evil:
Confusedhock: Confusedhock: :roll:

Ohh dear, someones going to be scrubbing latrines this year.........

I would..... IF someone would make the Latrines Tongue
Lucius Duccius Rufinus Aka Kevin Rhynas.

"Fortes fortuna adiuvat".
[url:10c24pem]http://www.ninthlegion.co.uk[/url]
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#21
Quote:
Gaius Julius Caesar:1042xe3a Wrote:
Lucius Duccius Rufinus:1042xe3a Wrote:shhhhhhhhhhht! :evil:
Confusedhock: Confusedhock: :roll:

Ohh dear, someones going to be scrubbing latrines this year.........

I would..... IF someone would make the Latrines Tongue


Thats ok, it would be less of a punishment if there was something concrete to clean..... :twisted:
Visne partem mei capere? Comminus agamus! * Me semper rogo, Quid faceret Iulius Caesar? * Confidence is a good thing! Overconfidence is too much of a good thing.
[b]Legio XIIII GMV. (Q. Magivs)RMRS Remember Atuatuca! Vengence will be ours!
Titus Flavius Germanus
Batavian Coh I
Byron Angel
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#22
Quote:i was more meaning like grips and hilt alterations, things that a gladiator could do himself rather than wapping out his forge! :evil:

That'd involve NOT taking his weapons and equipment away from him as soon as he was out of the arena. I think you'd have a very short career as a lanista if you made that sort of error.

A top rank, popular gladiator might well fight with equipment that was reserved for him (elaborately decorated helms etc) but wouldn't have been given access to any of it when not fighting or training with it.
"Medicus" Matt Bunker

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#23
There is also the account of the Gladiator Claudius Automaticus Vehiculator, who rode the arena in a self propelled vehicle which looked, according to the mosaics and murals i investigated in my dreams, like a very proto Volkswagen Beetle, including very sharp pointy stakes and knife like extensions.......

Confusedhock:

M.VIB.M.
Bushido wa watashi no shuukyou de gozaru.

Katte Kabuto no O wo shimeyo!

H.J.Vrielink.
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#24
Quote:i was more meaning like grips and hilt alterations, things that a gladiator could do himself rather than wapping out his forge! :evil:

Ah, gotcha. Those were generally wood, bone, or ivory--can't get much lighter. Even if they were metal (and I'm not sure there is firm evidence that they ever were), they'd actually serve to counterbalance the weight of the blade. Plus, they'd make the hilt more effective for smacking your opponent in the face! But again, if that were seen as a notable advantage, military swords would have been made that way, and they just weren't.

Vale,

Matthew
Matthew Amt (Quintus)
Legio XX, USA
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#25
Something the movies always leave out is the referees. There was always one and sometimes two for each pair of combatants, carrying staves with which to signal and to separate the fighters when necessary. They were there to see that all the rules were observed, and there seem to have been a great many rules. Granted, we know very little about the fighting styles and rules of combat during the Republic. The few depictions surviving from that era show gladiators wearing oddments of armor and helmets of varying styles, but there are not enough of these to determine whether there was any system to their equipping or pairing, so I guess producers have some licence when filming fights from that period. But, yes, there is very little you could do to make weapons and armor of that period somehow superior. As to a sharpened shield rim, besides being dangerous to the wielder, if you have a shot at your enemy's neck, why not just break it with the conventional rim (as described by Robert Graves in "I, Claudius")? He'd be just as dead as if you'd beheaded him.
Pecunia non olet
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#26
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
Who is called \'\'Paul\'\' by no-one other than his wife, parents and brothers.  :!: <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_exclaim.gif" alt=":!:" title="Exclamation" />:!:

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