In ten rooms the excavators found a great quantity of weapons of the kinds used by gladiators, including fifteen helmets, a shield, greaves ([Fig. 72]), several broad belts trimmed with metal, and a couple of armlets; there were more than a hundred scales of horn belonging to a coat of mail, and a half dozen shoulder protectors, galeri, which the net fighter, retiarius, who carried no shield and was armed only with a net and a trident, wore on his left shoulder. The weapons were mostly for defence, but remains of a few offensive weapons were found, as the head of a lance, a sword, and a couple of daggers. In the same room with the daggers and the sword (perhaps 7) were the remains of two wooden chests containing cloth with gold thread; this may have been used in gladiators' costumes.
The helmets are characteristic ([Fig. 73]). They are furnished with a visor, and part of them have a broad rim, richly ornamented with reliefs; their shape corresponds exactly with that of the helmets seen in paintings and reliefs representing gladiatorial combats. The shield, which is round and only about sixteen inches in diameter, would have been quite useless in military service. In a room under the stairs the skeleton of a horse was found, with remains of trappings richly mounted with bronze; one class of gladiators, the equites, fought on horseback.
Fig. 73.—A gladiator's helmet.
One of the small rooms on the west side (8) was used as a guard room. Here were the stocks, the remains of which are shown in [Fig. 74]; they were fastened to a board. At one end of the under piece was a lock, by which the bar passed through the rings could be made secure. The men confined had the choice of lying down or sitting in an uncomfortable position. The four persons whose skeletons were found in this room, however, were not in the stocks at the time of the eruption. That such means of discipline should be employed in controlling gladiators is entirely consistent with ancient methods.
Fig. 74.—Remains of stocks found in the guard room of the barracks.
Besides these finds, there were others not so easily explained. In the two rooms in which the spearhead and the other offensive weapons were found, there were eighteen skeletons, among them that of a woman richly adorned with gold jewelry; she had a necklace with emeralds, earrings, and two armbands, besides rings and other ornaments, and in a casket a cameo, the elaborate setting of which is in part preserved. In a room near the southwest corner the bones of a new-born infant were found in an earthen jar. A number of weights also were discovered, and vessels of terra cotta and glass; in three rooms there were more than six dozen small saucers. Were the barracks wholly given up to gladiators at the time of the eruption, or were some other persons allowed to have quarters here, perhaps some of those whose houses had been destroyed by the earthquake of 63 and had not been rebuilt? A certain conclusion cannot be reached.