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In some mosaics, paintings, etc., gladiators wear what appears to be a cloth string with tassels on one or both legs, just below the knee. I have found some speculative info from books that this was a measure of rank, or number of victories. Does anyone have more information on what that might represent?
Or was it perhaps just decoration?
M. Demetrius Abicio
(David Wills)
Saepe veritas est dura.
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You also sometimes see long fringe dangling from the manicae, probably tightening cords. I think both had the purpose of waving about, magnifying the fighter's movements and making them more visible to distant spectators, like the monkey-fur kneebands worn by African dancers. They seem to show up at the same time that amphitheaters grew very large, putting most spectators far from the action. At the same time everything got exaggerated - towering crests with big feathers, redundantly wide brims on the helmets, etc. They made for a better show and helped the spectators follow the action.
Pecunia non olet
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Well, the way we make our cloth arm and leg pads, the leather strips go around the pad (I whipstitch them on) and the "active" strip goes through a tight fitting hole in the "passive strip".
The friction makes the strip stay put...unless it's under a lot of stress, like an elbow...that allows the wearer to tighten it with one hand. A few of them need a knot, like the top at the bicep, and the elbow. But you need the "dangling end" to give slack so you can take the manica off without untying everything. We tie an overhand knot in the end of the "active" strip so it is not prone to come apart.
I still wonder about the leg cloth, though. It could be purely decorative. Not a lot I've found about that. We will probably use them for "the more tassels, the more victories" kind of decoration.
M. Demetrius Abicio
(David Wills)
Saepe veritas est dura.
D 