His gravestone states his record to be an impressive 21 wins from 34 matches, of which 9 were draws, and only four were defeats. The ANDABATA fought blind and with his arms tied up, as he wore a helmet that deprived him of vision.[6]. Some experts believe that it was one of two designations of Samnite, and that Samnites were called hoplomachi when battling a Thracian, and a secutor when matched against retiarii. Our site includes quite a bit of content, so if you're having an issue finding what you're looking for, go on ahead and use that search feature there! [citation needed] German historian and experimental archeologist Marcus Junkelmann has propagated an idea, based on an unlabeled, unclear image that he decided might be a scissor, that this type of gladiator fought using a weapon consisting of a hardened steel tube that encased the gladiator's entire forearm, with the hand end capped off and a semicircular blade attached to it.[28]. Really proud of this one, here I used a black Sabertooth helmet backwards and a pair of Thraex plumes for hands. Now came the singers, followed by the robed priest. It is speculated[by whom?] Flamma was an exceedingly popular secutor, who was awarded with a rudis (small wooden sword) four times during his career, for his impressive fighting skills. The Thraex left is defending himself kneeling on the ground. His weapons were the spear and a short sword. Cicero makes a joking reference to the andabata in a letter he wrote to his friend Trebatius Testa, who was stationed in Gaul. There were many different types of gladiator in ancient Rome. Lluites de gladiadors a l'amfiteatre de Tarragona, durant la Tarraco Viva del 2009. The Roman gladiator calls to mind a fierce fighter who, armed with an assortment of weapons, battled other gladiators—and even wild animals. Although he was initially a Syrian slave, this award enabled him to take early retirement and become a free man. All were trained in prisonlike schools. He traded in slave gladiators, and rented those he owned out to a producer (editor) who was organizing games. [12], The sponsor who financed gladiatorial spectacles was the EDITOR, "producer."[13]]. [23][24], A gladiator who had earned his freedom received a wooden sword (a rudis) or perhaps a wooden rod (a rudem, which was a "slender stick" used as a practice staff/sword). bioarchaeologist at the University of West Florida, Scholars Identify Biblical King Balak on the Mesha Stele, 2,000-year-old Inkwell Found in Khirbet Brakhot, Ancient Clay Tablet Offers Insights into the Gilgamesh Epic, Early Bronze Age: Megiddo’s Great Temple and the Birth of Urban Culture in the Levant, http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200272417, The Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament, The “Original” Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Different gladiators specialized in different weapons, and it was usual to pair off combatants with widely different, but more or less equivalent, equipment.