Gladiatrix: The Women Who Fought And Died In Rome's Arenas

Join a team of archaeologists as they investigate the role of women warriors in ancient Rome and speculate on the possibility of a 'Gladiatrix,' or a female gladiator.
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[@Useaname]

I worked on this years ago, late 90s. We went to some land near Birmingham where they had built a section of wooden arena, I think about a quarter or a third. I was a spectator in the crowd. The girl fighters were mainly dancers who were fighting very well after a few hours training. They were really very good. The main gladiatrix, Cecily, was an expert in some kind of Thai sword combat, and had a martial arts school somewhere in Southern England. She's performed all over the world as far as I know.

[@konkyolife]

Man we gotta hear more of that story!!!

[@Useaname]

@@konkyolife I don't recall that much. I made some props that I delivered, and was asked to be in the crowd as several people hadn't shown up. It was a wet day and I guess the rain put them off. The guy who provided a lot of the Roman crowd was called Dan. He runs a reenactment group called Britannia, or used to. I haven't seen him since the filming. It was very surreal arriving at the land and seeing a one third built Roman arena full of people. But most film sets outdoors are surreal.

[@konkyolife]

@@Useaname Thanks for that. What a cool experience. This documentary was very good and the actors and sets very convincing, great job!

[@NickCharles-v2p]

Thanks for letting us know! I enjoyed the doc and it's nice to hear about your experience behind the scenes.

[@susanandrews2294]

Trained dancers would be perfect fighters as they have amazing body awareness, sense of timing and spatial awareness, and have probably worked with props. And they also tend to be fairly small (coming from someone almost 6' tall) so that means more fast-twitch muscles. I certainly can deliver a knockout blow, but it comes more slowly than it would from one of these lasses!

[@robbleeker4777]

Gladiators were often slaves. Rome also captured female slaves. So, to turn them into a Gladiator would not surprise me at all

[@MyLolle]

they woud have to be transwomen, in that case. :D. because the beautiful ones were rather 'used' for other...activities.

[@shelleymcafee8197]

…And, at least some of the captured Women would (like Boudicca) have been Warriors; I imagine the Romans would have found that fascinating.

[@lw3646]

​@shelleymcafee8197 was boudica a warrior? She lead a rebellion, but there's no account of her doing any fighting. In Julius Caesar's accounts of his battles he's not in the thick of fighting.

[@Bethlam]

@@MyLolleI could see a woman being too much trouble if she didn’t want to do “other activities”. If she could fight as a gladiator I bet she could have hurt her clients without allowing anything happening.

[@lw3646]

I don't know about thos one, even the experts seem conflicted. You have a woman in her 30s of some wealth buried in a poor burial area. Is that enough to say she was a gladiator? The rest of the documentary is basically about amphitheatres in other parts of the empire and the fragments of text referenceing female gladiators. Its a big leap though to jump from one to the other.

[@kaarlimakela3413]

Please see comment here by whitefriarnaerd, an orange W. Two weeks before your comment here. There are written records where the women gladiators are mentioned contemporaneously.

[@Okami404]

This is Highly Appreciated! Thank You! 🏋️‍♀️🥋🏏😳

[@USA50_]

❤❤❤❤May we remember as many people as possible ❤❤❤❤

[@shelleymcafee8197]

I’d say that it’s possible She could have been both - gladiatrix AND a follower of Isis. …Wish We knew Her genetic origins!

[@lw3646]

I'd say she's likely to have been one if she was buried with some weaponry or there's some evidence from the bones she died a violent death. Though a fractured skull wouldn't necessarily equal a warrior, it could be an accident or murder. Dying in your 30s back then was not necessarily a sign of violence, it could be childbirth or catching something. I guess the problem is its all a question of interpretation when you only have the archeology and there's no text going into any detail about London at this time and area.

[@WinstonMelbourne-vt2vt]

big thanks for this video very nice

[@cristofaraon]

I am from rooftop of the sky ... I am from beyond the sky ... I am nothing under the sky ... Neither must nothing or have nothing under the sky ... I am what I am Neither am I alone or nothing am I, Nothing for nothing ... 🎉

[@kaarlimakela3413]

A riddle! 🤔

[@Aetius-ju1tc]

I think it is a pretty known fact that Rome would have had women gladiators. It would not be as honourable, but it definitely did happen as it was entertaining.

[@DenverSubiah-z5e]

O this is brilliant ❤🇿🇦👍😎❤️‍🔥

[@democraticman3602]

We haven't moved on from here, have we? It's only two millennia.

[@shainemaine1268]

The only people doing anything like this today (in the free world at least) are doing so entirely by choice. The Roman empire was an absolutely FUCKED place, where the public rape of someone's children was an acceptable legislative action, and an effective motivator for your slave labor was to apply shards of broken glass and iron filings to your goddamn whips. Idk what the agenda is behind the comment but mate if you honestly think we "haven't moved on" since then, you're insane or seriously deluded. Sorry it sounds so harsh but it 100% needed to be said...

[@NintendoFan---481]

Real Life Aethena🕊

[@whitefriarnerd]

I love when the subject of female gladiators come up, its like a litmus test for people who are actually interested in Roman history and are well read in it vs creepy arseholes who are deeply offended at the idea of the Romans not following their Victorian notions of gender roles. I haven't finished watching this video yet but let's be clear: we know female gladiators existed because multiple Roman authors talk about them over two centuries of Roman history (Suetonius, Juvenal, Statius, Martial and Cassius Dio just off the top of my head), we have an inscription from Ostia of a Magistrate named Hostilianus BOASTING about being the first to bring women to the arena to fight and there are multiple attempts by the Roman government to ban NOBLEwomen (and men) from fighting in the arena in the first century in particular.

[@wedgeantilles8575]

Yes they existed, I don't think anybody who has some knowledge about Rome will deny this. But at the same time they were very rare, they were not - contrary to the male gladiators - celebrated and admired and in general it seems that the majority did not really appreciate the idea of gladiatrix. The first? time we have female fighters mentioned is during Neros reign, where he staged a fight between woman for some foreign king or something like that. They were banned by Septimus Severus in 200 AD, which I guess would not have happened if they were very popular. Generally speaken, you already stated that there are historical evidencec for at most 200 years. Which is not a lot, considering that gladiatorial games are documented for roughly 1 millenia. So only during 20% of this time seem gladiatrixes have to be a case and even then they were only a small percentage. So while you are undoubtedly correct that they exist - and to deny that is insane - it is as well insanity to claim like they played an important role. During most time they played no role at all and when they existed they were a rare spectacle. That is the truth as well.

[@whitefriarnerd]

@@wedgeantilles8575 Were they rare? We don't exactly have complete schedules of Roman spectacles, and given our surviving literary sources are primarily from conservative elite Romans that is going to skew our perception of them. Certainly the Roman aristocracy had a low opinion of them, some also had a very low opinion of male gladiators too. They could be rare, but it has to be acknowledged this is an assumption based on limited evidence. I am not arguing they are NOT rare, I'm arguing against assumptions. One of the first things I learned studying archaeology is absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. There is a law from 19CE banning noblewomen (just noblewomen, not all women) from fighting in the arena, which is the earliest solid evidence of the practice, but yes the first description of them fighting is under Nero They were banned in 202 I believe, its a valid interpretation that its because they were not popular, its equally valid that its because they were too popular. Either way its interesting that there were multiple bans over two centuries of the early Empire, which suggests it was a persistent issue if nothing else. I'm not arguing they played an important role, I personally think based on the evidence they were probably much more common than often but I acknowledge that is an interpretation of the evidence and other interpretations are equally valid. Note I say much more common, not important. You are right to say they did not have the same cultural weight as male gladiators had in the deeply patriarchal Roman society. This is one reason I find them so interesting, we know a lot about the Roman elite, and a little about the plebs but even less about those living on the very margins of Roman society, its a great area for study. I genuinely appreciate your good faith engagement on this!

[@hjusn]

Like today, you have to constantly come up with something new to keep the masses entertained. As you already know, the Romans used about every living creature to butcher in the arena with various scenarios. As women were on the bottom of the social order, female gladiators would be a game changer, especially for outer territories that did not have access to the resources of Rome.

[@ShaneMcGrath.]

@@hjusn Lion food!

[@tamagothchic]

Yeah I was really frustrated that the documentary kept dragging out the "mystery" of whether or not female gladiators existed bc... they definitely did, that isn't really a shock, at least among the historians who actually studied these remains it shouldn't have been all that surprising or contraversial

[@randynesbit4497]

Are you not entertained!!!

[@lw3646]

How many men have walked into the colloseum and quoted that bit since the film came out? "My name is Gladiator."

[@chrissslike-n1h]

JACKIE of time team!!!!👍👍👍👍

[@2012escapee1]

The gladiatrix on the thumbnail has an Adam's apple. 😅

[@natmorse-noland9133]

I hope you're sitting down for this, but... some women have Adam's apples.

[@MakesiGaither]

It's a Prehistoric Diddy Party

[@Ebbagull]

That's a throat. 🤦🏼‍♀️ I recommend you touch some grass and spend less time on the internet. Go outside and look at real women. It'll be good for you.

[@thebootlegknitter]

I did not know about this! 😮

[@SpiritGirlSF]

Built a whole show and narrative around "possibly" "could have" and "might be" in early dei for the first possible female "gladiatri"x". And an English one at that. Rewriting his story in action way back what 30 years ago?

[@taylorlibby7642]

So one grave that could possibly, but not definitely, be from a female gladiator has everyone excitedly racing to a (currently) politically expedient conclusion?

[@Bildgesmythe]

Do you feel the same about her being a devotee of Isis?

[@whitefriarnerd]

No. Ironically the grave is probably not that of a female gladiator, but we KNOW female gladiators existed because multiple ROMAN authors wrote about them, there are inscriptions mentioning them, artistic depictions (some controversial, some not) and multiple laws passed in the first century banning noblemen and noblewomen (and noblewomen only, not women of lower class) running away to fight in the arena. The irony of your politically expedient conclusion comment is that you, out of ignorance, are projecting your own modern assumptions around gender roles backwards onto the Romans.

[@speakupriseup4549]

Pretty good summary, modern females tearing down the Roman patriarchy 😅

[@drkmwinters]

Male fragility alert ⚠️ 📢

[@MyLolle]

@@speakupriseup4549 that's funny. and sadly, it could be true. ;-) we all see what is going on with modern females...

[@a44489]

Seen a gladiatrix in roman atari spinning in minds eye

[@RafiRizqullah-qn2rb]

yes

[@neilwiththedeal]

2024 anyone?

[@personofinterest8731]

Yeah, forever riveted!😊

[@SuzanneCoe]

Fascinating to watch, why should there not be female gladiators, Girl Power!!! 😁😁👍👍👍

[@fabiodeoliveiraribeiro1602]

Unmarried free adult Roman women were legally subject to their fathers; if they were married, they were subject to their husbands. But it was not uncommon for a free Roman woman to become independent. Slaves, regardless of gender, could gain their freedom. And some free and freed slave women achieved fame and wealth as merchants. The mother of the teenage Nero, for example, was effectively a Roman empress before he got rid of her. During the Second Punic War, for example, Roman women gained the right to drive chariots and wagons in Rome. Even though there is not much written record about female gladiators, this hypothesis is not entirely absurd. In fact, it is quite possible because of the Roman appetite for violent entertainment and grotesque novelties. During the slave revolt led by Spartacus, freed slave women also accompanied the rebels. Perhaps some of them fought alongside their male companions, because their fate would certainly not have been different if Rome had defeated the rebellion.

[@SkyFly19853]

wow...

[@John.Flower.Productions]

Gladiatorial exhibitions were usually akin to professional wrestling, meaning that it was fake. This is how the same two gladiators were able to _'fight to the death'_ three days in a row.

[@Andy_Babb]

I would imagine gladiatorial combat was still a lot more violent and dangerous than like WWE. I think gladiators also killed criminals sentenced to fight in the arena… my memory blows, so I’m probably wrong and I’m too lazy to look it up 😬

[@dabreal82]

Bro keeps commenting the same shit.. like if he says it enough someone will believe it...

[@WildMen4444]

As others have stated, you're not wrong but I wouldn't go that far. There were risks involved that take it a step above something like WWE. They certainly tried to have the fights come to a draw their injuries were quite real. Which is why a lot of gladiators actually were on a diet that encouraged body fat growth so that their cuts would be bloody but not necessarily life-threatening.

[@dabreal82]

@@WildMen4444 it's estimated over 400k gladiators died in the coliseum alone. In 400 years. There is nothing comparable about the 2

[@WildMen4444]

@@dabreal82 Which is why it's wrong to say it was all staged. You and I are in agreement

[@John.Flower.Productions]

The earliest known mention of a _gladiatrix_ did not come until the 5th century and it was just mocking nude dancers by referring to them as being _gladiatrix-meretrix_ (gladiator prostitutes). This is because gladiators were equivalent to professional wrestlers, i.e., sports entertainers (trained fake fighters).

[@taylorlibby7642]

Yes and no. Calling them "fake fighters" is a bit extreme. Not every fight was meant to be to the death, slaves are an investment after all, but there were most certainly plenty of bouts that were carried to that extreme.

[@Bildgesmythe]

The writing of Galan describing the medical treatments given seem a bit rougher than professional wrestling.

[@John.Flower.Productions]

@@Bildgesmythe Watching a few minutes of any popular _wrestling injuries_ video should suffice to convince you/anyone otherwise.

[@dabreal82]

​​@@John.Flower.Productionshow many wrestlers were stabbed, budged, speared, or killed by wild animals???

[@John.Flower.Productions]

@@dabreal82 More than a few wrestlers have experienced those very things but neither they, nor any gladiators, were killed by wild animals while performing. There was staged hunting scenarios, as well as animals being used for mauling/executing people but gladiators were not involved in those things. The amount of time/money/effort it took to train gladiators meant that they were valuable performers. Hundreds of gladiators would have had to fight/die every day if things actually happened the way that most people imagine because the shows lasted all-day long and usually ran for several days in a row, sometimes even longer.

[@anil42518]

Those poor women & men having to fight to the death to entertain others... thank God TIME'S HAVE CHANGED !!

[@WildMen4444]

Most of the time it wasn't to the death. Gladiators were expensive to maintain and popular gladiators raked in a lot of money which made it too costly to allow them to fight to the death every match. Because of this, most fights were to a draw

[@michaelmcveigh8880]

💫🤯☠️🦉👩‍🚒👩‍🍳🌌🌑🐿️🦌🐻🐹🦧🦚🐾🎯🎭⚜️👑😳🙊

[@whoabro615]

There are more slaces in the world now than at any other point in history, and most are sex slaves

[@a44489]

Just sutle now someone could blow a fart and they would have a heart attack.

[@shelleymcafee8197]

It would be interesting to examine Her DNA. …Was She Celtic?

[@lw3646]

Odds are she's Celtic, purely because most people in Britain were then? But I wouldn't rule out someone from the Egypt because of the ISIS connection, plus the fact the romans only arrived in 43 AD. I'm not an expert but I don't know how quickly the Brits began adopting foreign gods, 30 years seems fast.

[@ianscovell3702]

So much of this was such bad ahistorical nonsense, trying to push a weird feminist agenda, the modern day dramatic recreations of 'girl-boss' gladiators and end shots directly comparing them to modern day female kick boxers were laughable. Female gladiators were seen as something like a freak show by Romans, they mostly made them fight against dwarfs as a joke before the main events, I notice the 'experts' conveniently didn't mention that, though tbf they did mention a few of the unsavoury other things that were done to them. Rome was an extremely patriarchal and misogynistic society why anyone would try to paint them as into promoting women's equality is baffling! The lady trying to use the stone relief of an 'amazon' fighting a 'female achilles' (two very mythical characters) as hard evidence for female gladiators was just plain bizarre. All in all a very weird 'documentary' that presented a very warped version of the truth, some obviously fell for it though so kudos I guess.

[@whitefriarnerd]

Cassius Dio said they fought dwarves in SOME games hosted by Domitian, Suetonius mentions women fighting but does not mention dwarves. Statius mentions dwarfs but the language implied ach group fought amongst themselves (dwarfs vs dwarfs, women vs women). Your statement they mostly made them fight dwarves is a gross misrepresentation. The idea that it was a joke is somewhat undermined by the inscription left to us by Ostian magistrate Hostilian from the second half of the 2nd century CE where he BOASTS about being the first to bring women into the arena at Ostia "to fight". Also the fact that Cassius Dio, Suetonius, Statius, Martial all talk about female gladiators without scorn EXCEPT when Caligula and Nero forced noblewomen to fight which was seen as degrading to their upper class status. Rome was extremely patriarchal and misogynist yes, but what do you think this proves? The famously misogynist poet Juvenal is one of the Roman writers who wrote about female gladiators (he loathed them and their male compatriots) for instance. The aforementioned Statius wrote if you were watching the women fight you would think you were watching Amazons (Silvae, book 1), which possibly implies they were costumed as such but at least confirms the Romans themselves were making the connection between female arena performers and amazons. He also describes women as "unskilled with swords" because the existence of female gladiators in no way negates Roman gender roles. Good Romans watched spectacles, they did not participate them. Hence laws outlawing noblewomen from fighting in the arena (which is itself evidence they were fighting in the arena). So, you think two women dressed as gladiators fighting in a relief being described as gladiators is "bizarre", but then imply the Romans thought Achilles was a woman? A bold argument I will give you that.

[@ianscovell3702]

@@whitefriarnerd Hi thanks for your input and impressive citing of primary sources correcting on some of my sloppy use of language/mistakes. I do have to pick you up on a few of the points you made though that I disagree with and think you misread/misunderstood me. Firstly I’m sure you’ll agree stating anything from ancient history as hard fact is nigh on impossible due to us only having a fraction of surviving source material, sources being written at later dates, needing a large degree of interpretation of often ambiguous text through a modern lense. It’s entirely possible for two people to read the same source and come away with very different interpretations of the authors meaning. “Cassius Dio said they fought dwarves in SOME games hosted by Domitian, Suetonius mentions women fighting but does not mention dwarves.*doesn’t mean they didn’t* Statius mentions dwarfs but the language implied ach group fought amongst themselves (dwarfs vs dwarfs, women vs women). *this is your interpretation could be right or wrong* Your statement they mostly made them fight dwarves is a gross misrepresentation.” So we are both agreed the sources say they fought dwarves and also other women its just my use of the word “mostly” you disagree with? Fair enough nobody could conclude an exact amount so would happily correct to “often” or “ regularly” I think “mostly” is far from a gross misrepresentation personally merely an impossible unknowable detail. Can I ask did you watch the doc all the way through? They very deliberately exclude this fact as it didn’t fit the narrative they were trying to create, they also recreated them fighting men/women but not dwarves as it would ruin the badass women narrative they were trying to create. They spent over an hour on stupid completely fiction speculation like they used women in the arena to represent Boudica with zero cited evidence, yet not one mention of dwarf fights. “ The idea that it was a joke is somewhat undermined by the inscription left to us by Ostian magistrate Hostilian from the second half of the 2nd century CE where he BOASTS about being the first to bring women into the arena at Ostia "to fight". Also the fact that Cassius Dio, Suetonius, Statius, Martial all talk about female gladiators without scorn EXCEPT when Caligula and Nero forced noblewomen to fight which was seen as degrading to their upper class status. “ I don’t think that undermines the fact the Romans saw gladiatrix V dwarf as a joke at all, if they took them seriously they would have fought men at the top of the bill, they were used as a freak show warm up act to the main events. This isn’t my opinion its Mary Beard’s opinion too I learnt it from her books she’s absolutely disdainful of the idea of a heroic gladiatrix, I’m just a casual fan of Roman history so feel free to ignore me but the worlds foremost authority on Roman for me is Mary. “Rome was extremely patriarchal and misogynist yes, but what do you think this proves?” That they wouldn’t take them serious. See above they saw them as a joke. “So, you think two women dressed as gladiators fighting in a relief being described as gladiators is "bizarre", but then imply the Romans thought Achilles was a woman? A bold argument I will give you that.” Again did you watch the doc? I’m referring directly to the final section a professor is talking through in detail a relief from the British museum which potentially shows two female fighters/gladiators, the relief names the left figure as “amazon” and the right “Achillies” but in a female name form. I don’t find the women being depicted as gladiators fighting is bizarre at all but I did find it bizarre that she would choose to use two completely fictional characters as a citation as proof of the existitance of female gladiators. Using this did more harm than good imo to the case she was trying to make, that I found bizarre. And just for clarity no I don’t believe the Romans thought achilles was a woman, hence fictional character not a good citation for the existance of real female fighters. Anyway have a nice day think we both enjoy Roman history a lot and you are probably a lot more knowledgeable than me, I’ve mainly read secondary sources not primary so maybe missing plenty of knowledge. But what I can spot is a really crappy ahistorical document with an agenda that lies through omission, I struggle to see how anyone with any knowledge could defend this absolute trash.

[@harpmaster480]

Threatened? 😏

[@whitefriarnerd]

@@ianscovell3702 First, I appreciate you responding in good faith to my comment. I absolutely agree this is all based on interpretations, and I try and couch my language in those terms. We know female gladiators existed, and some people interpret the evidence to say they were rare or unusual. I think they were somewhat more commonplace(and I'm not along, other far more expert academics share this opinion). Re: the dwarfs. So yes it is down to how you translate and interpret the latin. I am not an expert here so I defer to academics Stephen Brunet and Anna McCullough who discuss it in some detail ("Women with Swords Female Gladiators in the Roman World" by Brunet and Female Gladiators in Imperial Rome: Literary Context and Historical Fact.” by McCullough). But we have evidence for female gladiators fighting in three cities (Rome, Ostia, Hallicarnassus) over two centuries and only one mention of them maybe fighting dwarfs at one set of games. Brunet even makes the case that the language Statius uses implies that while th dwards were a sort of comic relief act the female gladiators were taken seriously. Framing this entire issue as "female gladiators fought dwarfs as a comic act" I feel is misleading, as it implies they were a linked thing instead of something that happened once if at all. So the next issue is were they taken seriously. I do not think female gladiators were respected by the Roman elites (they didnt have much respect for male gladiators either, if we are being honest). But we need to remember by the 1st century gladiator fights had evolved (or devolved depending on your POV) into entertainment, they no longer had serious religious meaning. I think female gladiators were considered highly entertaining or Magistrate Hostilianus wouldn't have boasted about them. I think they were probably something that popped up regularly and were appreciated or even loved but were never the main event. I would draw a comparison here to, say, womens wrestling in 1980s America. I think it is unfair to just dismiss them as a rare novelty of little importance, if nothing else they are a fascinating insight into how people at the margins of a society can undermine its expectations around gender. Regarding the relief, I don't think the fact that the female gladiators had names inspired by Greco-Roman mythology/history should be surprising. That was part of the gladiators gimmick, most if not all of the "types" of gladiator were sort of fantastical reimaginings of historical foes like Sarmatians and Thracians and whatnot. As we saw with Statius making the link with Amazons earlier there being a gladiator named Amazona seems reasonable. Not very subtle perhaps. Same with Achillia, obviously intended to invoke Achilles. I don't see why this should hurt the documentaries credibility in itself. The relief itself is quite fascinating, if you look at the full think you will see that while they are helmetless their helmets are placed underneath them on either side of the platform they are performing on. This is a structure that indicates the fight was fought to a standstil, and that both combatants were able to retire from the fight instead of one losing. So this seems (I'll cite Brunet again to back me up here) to indicate the monument was erected to celebrate a particularly dramatic fight between two female combatants. Interesting itself, also implies that they were taken seriously enough that some fans would spend real money erecting stone monuments to them. As to the documentary, I agree it has some issues. I will give them credit for at least acknowleding the opposing theory that the burial represents a priestess of Isis, and I agree the fact its buried in the poor area doesnt make sense for it to be a priestess of Isis since they were highly respectable. But they don't mention that the archaeologiss that excavated the site did NOT come to the conclusion it was a female gladiator, and are quite scornful of the media attention it generated. I think its plausible she was a gladiator, i dont think we will ever know. Personally I think it might be someone like a brothel madame or sex worker, someone who made enough money for a good burial but was socially very low status hence the location of the burial. I think making a whole documentary on the premise she was a gladiator is overstating how much we can know for certain about the burial. Having said all that I don't think it was oversensationalised particularly, the dramatisations of them fighting men were certainly wrong though. The comparison to modern female boxers didn't feel problematic to me, there is a comparison to be made. Women have been boxing and wrestling since at least the Victorian era but have only really been taken seriously as a sport in popular culture in the last decade or two. This shouldn't diminish their dedication and skill, and the same can be said for Roman female gladiators who were probably never considered much more than a special treat for the arena going public. Remember the documentary doesnt need to prove female gladiators existed, we know they did, it just wanted to make an argument that this burial was a female gladiator. They do that, but they do omit a lot of things too, you aren't wrong about that. If you are interested in some further reading on this subject, in addition to the sourced mentioned already I would recommend "Femina Furiosa: Female Arena Performers and Their Role in Ancient Roman Spectacle" bu Courtney Tuck-Goetz. You don't need to take my word for any of this, you can look at the works of far more qualified academics. Thanks for the thoughtful response, I really do appreciate it.

[@Breaks4Life]

Hail Medea 🎉🎉🎉

[@DenverSubiah-z5e]

But quiet insane to say👿🙏⚰️

[@dabreal82]

@@DenverSubiah-z5e quite???

[@DenverSubiah-z5e]

@@dabreal82 why quite

[@DenverSubiah-z5e]

Now I no why men are intimidated by women dats why (quit astonishing u no warrior women Hella sexy wouldn't u agree wid me salute 2 these warriors and u as well 👿☠️👹👻🇿🇦❤️💋👍😍😘💯

[@donnysandley4649]

I've literally watched this channel turn into crap over the years

[@mamandapanda185]

because...why?

[@Sietched]

What

[@FriedPi-mc5yt]

So don’t come to it to comment.

[@donnysandley4649]

@@FriedPi-mc5yt I did

[@donnysandley4649]

@@FriedPi-mc5yt I did

[@808bigisland]

Very few, very rarely. Watch todays girls mma. Maximally ridiculous. Still no her-story. Something is seriously wrong with females.

[@speakupriseup4549]

Ahh yes the Fallacia Feministis

[@kenkneram4819]

Remember. This is the society upon which The United States Of America was based. 🤔

[@dabreal82]

That would be Greece... Not Rome...

[@WildMen4444]

​@@dabreal82It's both in certain respects

[@dabreal82]

@@WildMen4444 true but much more Greek than Roman...

[@MayaLarsen-y3r]

All women are queens.

[@GenuinelyCurious120]

Oh God! More girl power bs... Just what we need more of...

[@dabreal82]

Yes... Because being enslaved and dying is the epitomy of "girl power"

[@WildMen4444]

I mean, it's a fascinating topic. What were the lives of these women like? It's an interesting chapter in the history of women's sports and it deserves study just like any other part of history

[@WinstonMelbourne-vt2vt]

grow up please why do you think it's BS it's you who have the problem, do you think seeing 2 woman fighting would not bring in a big crowd?

[@lw3646]

​@@WildMen4444 on the one hand the lives were very sad I expect, you were a slave forced to fight and die for the entertainment of the crowd. But gladiators also became kind of the rock stars of their day, even their sweat was bottled apparently.

[@WildMen4444]

@@lw3646 It was more of a rhetorical question. That being said, it's certainly interesting to think about. My honest guess is that these women probably didn't think of their lives as sad. They probably didn't think their lives were great but I have often found that people in these kinds of situations where they are forced by circumstances to do things they otherwise wouldn't ideally want to do usually either just accept it for what it is or they take pride in it. The human mind is resilient like that. Not to mention, the ones that got too depressed about it probably didn't do so well which would make getting over it a matter of survival.

[@bingeltube]

Video too long; did not watch! Please provide a shortened version under 20 minutes!

[@dabreal82]

@@bingeltube there isn't one video on this channel that's only 20 minutes. Maybe you should stick to Instagram reels or tiktok.

[@bentoonders6695]

​@@wildrose2748that's an ignorant comment. Generalizing an entire generation, with no information besides, this commenters impatience. I'm a millenial and watch videos like this specifically. Not fond of the short ones. Perhaps in the future, you keep your ignorance to yourself. And I'll keep my boomer observations to myself.

[@bentoonders6695]

@@wildrose2748 gen x with boomer tendencies then. Quit being a Karen.

[@chanicook3989]

could have been done with relitive ease considering the fact that they have no evidence to prove or disprove any of the points they made aside from the fact they know women fought in the arena. Long and short of it is they think a burial in England was a female gladiator but they cant prove it so tried to come up with an argument to support the theory and failed. Tried to use the possibility that bones in pompeii sorounded by jewellery could have been female gladiotors or maybe just concubines but gosh darn it some one moved all the bones and mixed them up so we will never know. Its a weak attempt to try and prove a burial in England is something that they will never truely be able to determine by woman who are feminists. And i dont find your comment ignorant as i agree with it it was a waste of time watching it so you have at least kept an hour that i will never get back. Your fan bellow is the apparent Karen here.

[@shawnsmith11]

bs on this