Chiselled out of stone in around the 1st century AD, the scene in this image gives a powerful snapshot of the excitement of gladiatorial combat. In this carving found in Turkey – once a key part of the Roman empire – the opponents face each other head-on, with a look of grim determination. From behind their curved rectangular shields, both appear ready to lunge with short stabbing swords.
However, this gladiatorial fight differs from what you might expect in one crucial way: both opponents are women. Look closely enough and you will see the gladiator on the left has her long hair in a plait which snakes down to a bun at the bottom of her neck. But it’s the stage names underneath the figures that provide the most compelling evidence that this was a different kind of fight. One gladiator is called Amazon, after the mythical tribe of female warriors. The other is Achillea, the feminine version of the Greek hero Achilles.
If you’re a fan of gladiator films, this may well come as a surprise. From Kirk Douglas to Russell Crowe and now Paul Mescal, you will have got the impression that these ancient prize-fighters couldn’t be anything but men. But multiple sources of written and archaeological evidence show that, while they were far more rare, female gladiators fought all over the Roman empire – and possibly even in Britain – until they were banned in 200 AD by the Emperor Septimius Severus for bringing women into disrepute.
Male writers of time deemed female gladiators unworthy of their attention, and it seems Hollywood’s filmmakers have so far done the same thing. But as our fascination with gladiators is showing no signs of going away – Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II was one of the biggest films of last year – I’d say it’s time to give the women in the arena the credit they deserve.
The true details are sketchy. Most mentions of female gladiators are passing – because girl-on-girl fighting was considered less noble and not worthy of attention. But though we tend to imagine all gladiators fighting to the death in front of bloodthirsty crowds, the best ones were entertainers who could forge decent careers to become the celebrities of their day. And for some women with the aptitude, volunteering to enter the profession was one of the few ways they could win freedom and independence. This means that well before the suffragettes of the early 20th century, Roman women were responsible for the earliest – and boldest – acts of feminism in human history.
The appeal of pursuing such a brutal and dangerous path makes more sense when you consider the oppression of women under the Roman patriarchy. If you were one of the estimated one in ten women who were enslaved, telling your master you’d like to train up was a way to get out of a lifetime of domestic drudgery and hard labour. Scholars believe it’s possible that physically strong female slaves would volunteer to enter gladiator training because if they did well enough they might earn their freedom.
But it wasn’t just female slaves who were willing to give it a go. Free women were also heavily constrained in Roman society, expected to devote their lives to providing heirs and running households. But some – such as divorcees and widows with financial means – could pay for gladiator training and pursue a life of glamour and excitement.
While it’s not known how many female gladiators entered the arena, or ultimately died there, evidence suggests women were only pitted against each other – or wild animals brought in from around the empire for contests.
Well before the suffragettes of the early 20th century, Roman women were responsible for the earliest – and boldest – acts of feminism in human history
For the Roman male writers, who clung to rigid ideas about gender roles, the female gladiator was both a novelty and an aberration. Some mocked them, accusing them of play-acting or doing it for the opportunity of meeting male gladiators – who were the rock stars of their day – for sex. Others saw women gladiators – particularly those from higher class backgrounds – as a symptom of Rome’s moral corruption and decline.
Classical historian Professor Catharine Edwards says the idea of a female gladiator was a troubling irritation for Roman masculinity. And Amy Zoll, an expert on the Romans, writes in Gladiatrix: The True Story of History’s Unknown Woman Warrior: ‘A female gladiator is a hugely paradoxical notion for Romans. The spectacle of an athletic, confident woman wielding a sword might well have been found exciting in all sorts of different ways for the Roman male viewer. Such a figure is perhaps embodying the worst fears of the anxious Roman male. Is this what’s really lurking inside every apparently demure Roman female? The gladiator waiting to get out?’
Whatever view men took of them, however, it seems becoming a gladiator was a risk some women were prepared to take – if it offered them a chance to live life on their own terms. Indeed, the frieze of Amazon and Achillea shows that by entering the ring, they may have been slaves able to win their freedom. Above their heads is the word ‘Apleythesan’ – a Greek term for honourable retirement from gladiatorial combat, which could be earned after a good fight.
Two thousand years on, Amazon and Achillea may be forever frozen in time in marble at the British Museum. But it’s still not too late for them to claim a new victory – to be seen as history’s first feminists.
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