While gladiators may have used unique weapons, they also used implements of war that were more familiar throughout the Roman world. The foremost of these was the gladius, a type of short sword ...

Bloody, brutal but popular, gladiatorial contests are often seen as the dark side of Roman ... gladiators became more specialized. There were five types of gladiator, each with their own unique ...

Across the Roman Empire around 8000 people died in the arena every year. Gladiator battles ... the sorts of armour and weapon they carried. Murmillos brandished a sword, a shield, leg protectors ...

Researchers think the weapon, which had been deliberately ... and history enthusiasts unearthed a three-foot-long Roman-era sword that dates back nearly 2,000 years. “We’d never found anything ...

long sword used by Celtic auxiliaries in the Roman army during the first century CE. The spatha gradually became a standard heavy weapon used by Roman infantry in the third century CE.

Gladiators came from many different backgrounds. They largely came from the lower echelons of Roman society ... to be beaten and to be killed by the sword.” And their lives were far from ...