The serious combats in the Roman arena were announced by a procession and a preliminary fight with the weapons used in practice. This mock struggle excited the men, and made them ready for the terrible trial of skill which followed. Lots were drawn, and the combatants arranged in pairs, but sometimes mêlées were planned, in which large numbers were engaged. It was possible for a man to draw a bye, and so to fight only with the winner of a previous round; probably, however, a gladiator seldom fought more than two fights in a single day.
A fight might end in three ways: (1) the better gladiator might kill his adversary in the heat of the fray; (2) the vanquished gladiator might lay down his arms and raise his left hand as a sign of defeat and a prayer for mercy. See lamp, No. 165 (fig. 54). It rested officially with the giver of the spectacle to grant or refuse the defeated man's request, but the matter was really decided by the spectators, who expressed their desire that he should be spared by shouting for his discharge, waving a piece of cloth in the air, or raising the left hand. The opposite decision was expressed by pointing the thumb downwards and shouting "slay" (jugula). (3) If two men fought on equal terms and displayed great courage, they might both be discharged before the combat reached a definite result (stantes missi). The victor, when finally discharged from service in the arena, was presented with a wooden sword (rudis), similar to those used in practice, as a sign that he had fought his last serious fight. Horace alludes to this in his Epistles, when asking Maecenas if he may retire from his service.
Fig. 54.—Fight between "Samnite" Gladiators (No. 165). Diam. 3¾ in.
Fig. 55.—Bronze Statuette of a "Samnite" Gladiator (No. 166).
Gladiators were divided into classes according to their equipment and mode of fighting. The following were the most important:—(1) The Samnite (figs. 54, 55). He wore a helmet with high crest, one or sometimes two greaves, and a guard on the right arm. He also had an oblong shield. The equipment is well shown in the bronze statuette (No. 166, fig. 55), lately acquired from the Gréau and Weber collections. (2) The retiarius or net-thrower (No. 167, fig. 56), who carried a trident, a dagger, and a large net in which he tried to envelop his adversary. The net-thrower was matched against a gladiator called a secutor, who was armed like the Samnite, and perhaps received his name because he was the follower (secutor) of his lightly-armed foe. (3) The Thrax (Thracian), armed with the Thracian curved dagger, a small shield, and a helmet. He fought the hoplomachus, another variety of Samnite. (4) The mirmillo, the origin of whose name and nature of whose equipment are not certainly known. He was opposed to the net-thrower, and later to the Thracian. Among other classes of less importance may be mentioned the mounted gladiators (equites), who appear on the left of fig. 57 (a Pompeian relief).[34]
