Gladiator burials in York

[parthianbow]

Wow! Don't you love the way archaeology can always tell us something new. There's a man who was killed by a large cat, and lots more interesting info. Catch a TV programme on Channel 4 about it on the 14th of June too.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/news/worlds-bestpreserved-gladiatorial-relics-are-discovered-in-the-suburbs-of-york-1993282.html

[Anna Elliott]

Oh, wow--how incredibly fascinating! Nothing brings the past to life quite as vividly as finds like this. Thanks for posting!

[Vanessa]

Yes, that is fascinating. I never knew that - and my daughter's school is so very near there!

[LoveHistory]

I just read that this morning. Fascinating stuff!

[annis]

Thanks for the link, Ben, fascinating stuff, especially the bit about the development of longer right arms! Interesting the variety of nationalities involved as well.

Phaedrus, hero of Rosemary Sutcliff's novel Mark of the Horse Lord, was sold as a teenager to a gladiatorial school in Roman Britain- it's a good picture of what life must have been like for a young gladiator in a northern Roman settlement (Corstopitum, now Corbridge, Northumberland).

There have discoveries of other gladiator cemeteries around the world - there is article in National Geographic about this one found in Turkey some years ago:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/03/0303_060303_gladiators.html

[Margaret]

Both articles very interesting. The bit about the differing arm lengths makes me curious - what about the gladiatorial training would make one arm grow longer than the other? A centimeter is a significant difference. Any speculations?

[annis]

I was wondering if it was extensive training with the sword, presumably used for the most part right-handed. If this was the case, though, wouldn't any warrior of the ancient and medieval period have the same oddity? Weapons training generally started at a young age, before the skeleton fully developed.

[parthianbow]

The bit about the differing arm lengths makes me curious - what about the gladiatorial training would make one arm grow longer than the other? Any speculations?

"The discovery suggests that some men started their training at an early age, probably in their early to mid teens. Arm length asymmetry can only develop prior to reaching skeletal maturity."

Using a sword (or another weapon) year in, year out, would, thanks to the range of movements needed, cause the muscles and bones of the right arm to become stronger and longer. The left arm, on the other hand, was 'only' used to hold a shield, which is a much more passive task for the skeletal system to deal with.

[Anna Elliott]

"The discovery suggests that some men started their training at an early age, probably in their early to mid teens. Arm length asymmetry can only develop prior to reaching skeletal maturity."

Using a sword (or another weapon) year in, year out, would, thanks to the range of movements needed, cause the muscles and bones of the right arm to become stronger and longer. The left arm, on the other hand, was 'only' used to hold a shield, which is a much more passive task for the skeletal system to deal with.

I remember reading that they've found the same asymmetry when looking at the skeletons of medieval knights, who would have been trained in sword play from a very early age.

[LoveHistory]

I can't help thinking of the shirt Denise made for Theo on The Cosby Show.

[Margaret]

Interesting. So it sounds like, all other things being equal (which they aren't), our modern sedentary lives would probably have made us shorter than we otherwise would have been.

[annis]

Just had a belated thought- Romulus in Ben's Forgotten Legion is sold to a gladiator school as a youngster, isn't he? He'd be a candidate for the long right arm :)

Does anyone remember Tony Curtis' ridiculously long arm in The Vikings?
Makes me laugh every time I see it.

[Ken]

Does anyone remember Tony Curtis' ridiculously long arm in The Vikings?
Makes me laugh every time I see it.

Didn't notice! Maybe 'cos I was concentrating on Janet Leigh's pointy bits!!:p

[SarahWoodbury]

So--it isn't that I didn't realize that there were gladiators in Britain, but what happened to it all? The Romans marched away in 409 and . . . what? The Britons dropped those aspects of Roman culture like a hot potato? They were so busy surviving that they abandoned all that the Romans had built? This seems to be what David Mattingly says in his book, An Imperial Possession. He states that the ampitheatres became 'fortified refuges'. Are there some good books out there that describe these years? I know I've read one about a guy who effectively creates his own compound to defend against the chaos . . . any suggestions?

[annis]

Posted by Ken
Didn't notice! Maybe 'cos I was concentrating on Janet Leigh's pointy bits!!

Lol! Ah, yes, the Queen of the PB (http://bitmaelstrom.blogspot.com/2008/02/queen-of-pointy-breasts.html):)

[annis]

Posted by Sarah Woodbury
He states that the ampitheatres became 'fortified refuges'. Are there some good books out there that describe these years? I know I've read one about a guy who effectively creates his own compound to defend against the chaos . . . any suggestions?


David Nash Ford mentions an abandoned amphitheatre used in this way

"Caer-Ceri is Cirencester (Corinium), the old Roman Capital of Britannia Prima. It became the Capital City of King Cyndyddan who was defeated by the Saxons at the Battle of Dyrham in 577. There is much evidence for Dark Age occupation in the town. The Verulamium Gate was repaired in the early 5th century and buildings were occupied at least until the 6th. The forum was regularly cleaned, though what we might term normal urban life had probably collapsed for unburied bodies have also been found in the old Roman streets. In the amphitheatre, however, the entrance was reduced in size and a large timber building erected in the centre, from which came 5th and 6th century pottery. It has been suggested that this was a fortified stronghold perhaps of King Cyndyddan himself"
http://www.britannia.com/history/ebk/articles/nenniuscities.html

I read quite a good story by Elizabeth May called Roman Sunset (http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/roman-sunset/694523), which is about a group of Roman veterans and members of a British tribe who join forces to create their own fortified stronghold after the withdrawal of the Roman Army. Very readable, but unfortunately displays some of the common faults of self-published novels- spelling, grammar etc.

[parthianbow]

any suggestions?

There are a couple of good textbooks out there on just this subject:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Britannia-Failed-Tribal-Conflict-Britain/dp/0752446142/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276162243&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Warlords-Struggle-Power-Post-Roman-Britain/dp/0752447963/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276162243&sr=8-3