Women gladiators in ancient Rome fought topless and had stage names like Amazon
Ancient Rome hid a secret about the arena: women fought in VIP bouts for emperors and high officials. Some gladiators fought without helmets and topless, new discoveries reveal. Stone signage from Halicarnassus — now in Turkey — depicts two women gladiators holding shields and swords with the stage names ‘Amazon vs Achillia’. Like the men, female fighters slugged it out bare-chested. But unlike the men, they were not allowed helmets either, so watching crowds could ogle them. Experts say duels between women were unlikely to have been fights to the death, as no female gladiator’s tombstone has ever been found. Still, they did not pull their punches. Poet Statius, who lived from AD 45 to 96, was so impressed by the brutality of one all-female fight that he wrote: “You would think a band of Amazons was battling by the river Tanais.” According to LiveScience: “Several lines of evidence, including historical records and artistic depictions, suggest that female gladiators did exist in the Roman Empire.” Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info
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Evidence for female gladiators is scarce, limited to roughly a dozen texts and artefacts
Yet these fighters were much rarer than male gladiators. The evidence is limited to roughly a dozen texts and inscriptions and an even smaller number of artefacts that depict them. As LiveScience reports: “Several lines of evidence, including historical records and artistic depictions, suggest that female gladiators did exist in the Roman Empire.”
Bans and regulations: laws restricting female gladiators in the early Empire
Records show in AD 11 and 19 the Roman senate passed laws banning upper-class and free-born women under 20 from fighting as gladiators. In AD 200, emperor Septimius Severus banned female gladiators because their fierceness triggered jokes ‘directed at other very prominent women’.
Who were these women? Origins, status, and motives behind gladiator fighting
Polish university lecturer Anna Miaczewska said: “I believe women gladiators were primarily slaves who committed crimes.” Others were likely women with high debts who were forced to sell their freedom to a gladiator school. Ancient texts suggest a few women from the upper classes also competed. Roman writer Tacitus wrote that in AD 63 a large gladiator show was put on by then-Emperor Nero during which ‘many distinguished ladies and senators disgraced themselves in the arena’. US classics professor Stephen Brunet said women fought bare-breasted like men. A recovered statue of a female gladiator showed her wearing just a loincloth and no helmet. University of California Berkeley, US, researcher Alfonso Manas said he suspected appearances played a sizable role in the selection of female gladiators and they were told not wear helmets so their faces could be seen by the audience. Nicolaus of Damascus, who lived from 64BC to AD 4, wrote that women who were selected to fight were not the strongest or most skilled but rather ‘the most beautiful’. Virginia Campbell, a lecturer at The Open University in the UK, said physical fitness would also have played a part. “There is an expense associated with training and keeping gladiators,” she said. “The selection of women - and men - would at least in part depend on their physical fitness and ability to fight. Gladiators, after all, were meant to entertain, not meant to die.”
Appearances, class and purpose of female gladiators
Scholars note that appearances and economics shaped the participation of women in Roman gladiator games. The expense of training and maintaining gladiators underscores the financial side, and the selection of women — and men — would partly depend on their physical fitness and ability to fight, since gladiators were meant to entertain, not to die. Alfonso Manas argues that appearances played a sizable role in selection, with some told not to wear helmets so their faces could be seen by the audience. Together, these details reveal a Rome where female fighters existed within a complex mix of spectacle, class, and constraint.
