Gladiator begins faq
Again nice poses and good-looking figures. Both hold an extended bladed gauntlet over the left hand, which was a particular feature of these men as far as we know today. Both these men have a simpler helmet and no shield, and in compensation they wear mail or solid armour on their body. The last figure in the first two rows is a scissor. We also liked the poses a lot, as they are well done and very energetic. Everything here is entirely accurate, and represents this major type of fighter very well.
One man has greaves on both legs, one on just the leading left leg, and the third is unclear, and all have fabric and/or metal protection on the sword arm. They too had a short, straight sword, and carried a large shield not unlike the military model of the day. Literally meaning ‘pursuer’, these men wore an egg-like helmet lacking much decoration as they often fought a rival with a net, so did not want the net to snag on them. The first three poses in the second row are secutors. The first man holds his shield high, and the wrong way round, which is strange, but at least it reminds us that the shield could also be an effective offensive weapon. Any figures holding a shield behind them looks weird to us as it can hardly be used as protection like that, so we liked the second of these three poses the best, and the third the least. They carried the short gladius sword and a good shield, and everything about these figures matches what we know of these men well. Like most gladiators they had some protection on the sword arm and on the legs, but wore no other armour.
#GLADIATOR BEGINS FAQ FULL#
The theme for these men was part man part fish, and they wore a large helmet with full face-guard and crest shaped something like a dorsal fin. The first three figures in the top row are gladiators of the myrmillo type. The box for this set is very helpful in identifying all the elements to be found here, so we will follow this guide and look at each group of figures in turn. The risks were high, but the rewards could be great, and while many were forced into the arena, some actually chose the lifestyle with all its hazards. Even at the time there were those who saw gladiatorial contests as barbaric, yet they were very popular among the masses, and gladiators who survived could amass both wealth and great renown, as well as attracting considerable interest from some women. Serious injury and death are of course rare in boxing, but all too common amongst the gladiators of Ancient Rome, where the audience would expect to condemn to death a man who fought poorly and yielded to a superior fighter. In the modern world boxing is perhaps the closest activity, where two men train hard and then fight each other until one is recognised as the winner. The gladiator is an enduring image from the Roman World still widely recognised today, and while not a military subject, he has been a popular theme for plastic figures over the years.