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Origins of gladiatorial combat -

The notion of gladiators originated with the Etruscans, who preceded the Romans in central Italy. Gladiator contests became popular throughout the Roman Empire from 105 BCE to 404 CE.

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A fight to the death -

A clash between gladiators was a bloody duel to the death between armed men, nearly all of whom were slaves, criminals, or prisoners of war.

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To live or die? -

Gladiators fought before the public in organized games held in large purpose-built amphitheaters. The lives of those who weren't immediately slain in the arena depended on the whim of the emperor. A thumbs up meant they lived, a thumbs down prompted the victor to finish off his opponent.

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A banned sport -

Female gladiators in ancient Rome were scarce. But evidence uncovered in art, laws, and written accounts suggests that women were involved in gladiatorial combat. By 200 CE, however, Emperor Septimius Severus had effectively slapped a ban on women entering the arena.

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Set in stone -

The most tangible proof that women participated in the brutal sport during the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire is an ancient marble relief found in Halicarnassus, in what is now Turkey.

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Amazon and Achillia -

The centuries-old tablet depicts two women battling with shields, swords, and leg protectors. The figures are labeled Amazon and Achillia (a feminized version of Achilles), likely stage names to evoke Greek mythology. An inscription over their heads indicates they fought to an honorable draw.

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Female gladiator burial site -

In 1996, archaeologists from the Museum of London discovered fragments of a charred female pelvic bone unearthed among the cremated ashes in an elaborate Roman-era grave in the London borough of Southwark.

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Grave concerns -

The assumption that they'd stumbled upon a female gladiator burial site was based on the decorative items and remains of a lavish feast occupying the grave. These included Roman oil lamps depicting scenes of gladiatorial combat and a fallen gladiator.

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A fighting female? -

Another intriguing work of art said to depict a gladiatrix is the 2,000-year-old bronze statue kept at the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbein in Hamburg, Germany. It's believed by some scholars to represent a female gladiator. She is raising a short, curved sword, called a sica, aloft in triumph. The figure is also bare-chested, as gladiators typically fought. If indeed this piece represents a gladiatrix, it is only the second depiction of a woman gladiator known to exist.

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A novelty attraction -

Gladiatrices who fought and died in the arena were often marketed as a novelty attraction. They were regarded as a subversion of the gladiator ideal, the opposite of what martial strength should be.

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Not for women -

Furthermore, the gladiatrix deviated from the norms of Roman womanhood: women were viewed as wives and, especially, as mothers. There was no place for a woman in the arena.

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A printed description -

In Satire VI, one of a collection of early second century BCE satirical poems titled the Satires, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, known in English as Juvenal, writes an extremely ungenerous description of a woman fighting as a gladiator—one of the first printed descriptions of a female gladiator.

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Disparaging remarks -

In the Satires (seen here as an early 16th-centuty manuscript), Juvenal writes disparagingly of female gladiators. He makes scornful reference to a gladiatrix's neck faltering under the weight of her helmet, and the chunky unattractiveness of her armored legs.

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No evidence of gladiatrix -

The most famous gladiator school was in Pompeii (pictured is the colonnade of the portico of the gladiators' barracks). But there is no evidence for the existence or training of female gladiators in any known gladiator school.

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The Heraean Games -

In fact, many historians shun the belief that female gladiators ever existed. But the competitive spirit demonstrated by women who took part in the Heraean Games—the first official women's athletic competition to be held in antiquity—certainly contributed towards the burgeoning cult of the gladiatrix. The Heraea was an ancient Greek festival in which young girls competed in a footrace. It was held every four years at Olympia, and probably took place around the same time as the ancient Olympic Games.

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The women of Sparta -

The women of Sparta certainly embodied a warrior spirit. Unmarried girls regularly participated in sports. And while they didn't train for combat, single females did take part in wrestling and boxing competitions. And they were superb athletes, also taking to the track in the Heraean Games.

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The first female Olympic champion -

And it was a Spartan female who became the first woman to win at the ancient Olympic Games, in 396 BCE. Cynisca, a wealthy princess, took part in the sport of chariot racing and won first prize competing with a team of horses she had trained herself.

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The Amazons -

The Amazons of Greek mythology present the original portrait of warrior women. These female fighters and hunters were as skilled and courageous as men in physical agility, strength, archery, riding skills, and the arts of combat.

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Penthesilea -

One of the Amazonian's bravest leaders was Queen Penthesilea. Savage and ruthless, she sided with Troy during the Trojan War, but was eventually struck down by Achilles.

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Boudicca -

It was a woman who led a failed uprising against the conquering forces of the Roman Empire in 60 CE. Boudicca, or Boadicea, queen of the ancient British Iceni tribe, led the revolt and, while ultimately defeated, is today considered a British national heroine and a symbol of the struggle for justice and independence.

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Joan of Arc -

Similarly, Joan of Arc, patron saint and national heroine of France, was the pious peasant girl who became a military leader and led her country to victory against England.

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Gladiatrix and cinema -

The female gladiator theme found a new medium in European film during the 1960s. The Italian-made 'Thor and the Amazon Women' (1963), released in the UK as 'Women Gladiators,' melded the cult of the gladiatrix with Amazonian myth to produce a movie described by one critic as "about as bad as they come."

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Role model -

The superhero Storm first appeared in a special issue of the 'X-Men' comic book series called 'Giant-Size X-Men,' published in 1975. The first major female character of African descent in American comics, Storm is also one of Marvel's most notable and powerful female heroes.

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Kindred spirits -

The character Wonder Woman made her first appearance as far back as 1941 in DC Comics' 'All Star Comics.' Connie Nielson, who portrayed Lucilla in the 2000 film 'Gladiator,' has spoken of how she recognized Maximus and Diana Prince (Wonder Woman) as kindred spirits, noting similarities between the main characters of 'Gladiator' and the 'Wonder Woman' films.

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Past and present -

And the depiction of a dystopian society that celebrates televised fights to the death in an arena in 'The Hunger Games' yet again raised the specter of gladiatorial combat. Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) is seen as a futuristic Theseus (the mythical king and founder-hero of Athens), and Roman gladiatorial games provided the framework for the combat scenes.

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'Pepsi Gladiators' -

Gladiatorial combat provided the theme behind the 'Pepsi We Will Rock You' commercial. Made in 2004, the three-minute achievement in advertising starred Beyoncé, Britney Spears, and Pink as three gladiatrices who enter the ring to fight each other, but instead sing Queen's 'We Will Rock You.'

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The emperor's decision -

The combative trio then proceed to drink Pepsi in defiance of Emperor Enrique Iglesias!

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Modern female gladiators -

And the modern-day equivalent of ancient female gladiators? Take in a cage fight of women's mixed martial arts and experience just how bloody and barbarous a clash between two gladiatrices must have been.

Sources: (BBC Culture) (World History Encyclopedia) (Live Science) (Smithsonian Magazine) (CinemaBlend) 

See also: What is the appeal of cage fighting? 

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