Spartacus TV Show Fight Scenes --How realistic were they? Part Two

Greetings! Welcome back. I'm starting to get a bit of the hang of blogging, and hope to do more consistent and regular posting over the next few months. In return, it would be nice if you, the reader, could consider following the blog, leaving comments, sharing posts, or even going so far as to purchase the items I have linked to in the posts. In other words, do what you can please to make me feel like my efforts here are being noticed and rewarded so that I find myself eagerly continuing. Over the next few months, I hope to put up posts about the Dead Rabbits / Gangs of New York miniature gaming project ( https://history-for-fun-profit-and-insight.blogspot.com/search/label/Gangs%20of%20New%20York )  , the Chop Sockey! Kung Fu Miniature Wargame Rules project ( https://history-for-fun-profit-and-insight.blogspot.com/search/label/Kung%20Fu%20gaming ), posts about historical sites I saw on my recent trip to Asia (https://history-for-fun-profit-and-insight.blogspot.com/search/label/Asia )
 , book reviews, and several posts about upstate New York Revolutionary War / American War of Independence historical sites I have visited ( https://history-for-fun-profit-and-insight.blogspot.com/search/label/American%20War%20of%20Independence ) as well as other historical and gaming projects. Please support this blog by following it, encouraging others to check it out, and letting me know you are following it too. I've got a lot of stuff I'd like to write about and share, but I could really use some encouragement and a sense that people are enjoying and appreciating what I am doing here. So please help out.  Thanks.

And this week, I go back to a subject that has interested me since the beginning of this blog. Roman Gladiators ( see https://history-for-fun-profit-and-insight.blogspot.com/search/label/Gladiators for other articles on the subject.) I do some Roman Gladiator wargaming and have a writing project on the subject partially done and moving ahead slowly. It started as a brief wargamers guide to the subject, got too long, and may ultimately become a wargamers guide and a set of rules for the period. (For those who wonder, until I write my own, allegedly perfect set of rules, I am using a set called "Hoc Habet Hoc" which can be purchased here: https://www.wargamevault.com/product/297688/Habet-Hoc-Habet-Rules-for-Gladiatorial-Combat as a download or here http://scalecreep.com/product_info.php?products_id=2951 as a physical book, which is how I bought it. By the way, I don't get kickbacks or commissions from these links so if you do follow them to make a purchase please tell them I sent you and I am a nice guy who enjoys their products. I bought mine from Scale Creep and had no problems with the order.)

Which, FINALLY perhaps, brings me to the subject at hand. Months ago I wrote an article on the historical accuracy of the fight scenes in the TV show Spartacus. I promised a sequel, and FINALLY am getting around to writing it. If you haven't read it yet, it'd probably be a good idea to bring yourself up to speed by checking out the first half of this here: https://history-for-fun-profit-and-insight.blogspot.com/2019/05/starz-tv-spartacus-series-were-fight.html

As stated, Spartacus, from Stars TV, was a delightfully lurid show full of blood and nudity, unremitting violence, sexuality, and huge servings of adult content of all kinds, set in the days of old Rome that focused on the lives of gladiators, a gladiator ludi (school), and an uprising against oppression. While not for everyone, if you could stomach it, it was very entertaining and includes such things as the most emotionally satisfying decapitation scene I've ever been exposed to on the big or small screen.

For those who are lacking, here's an exposure to one of the fights from the show (while the clip comes from a French dubbed episode, the series was originally filmed in English)

Here's another, this one set in the training hall of the ludus, where the slaves are trained to become gladiators. Hence the wooden swords and lack of armor:

Again, it's probably not a bad idea to read the first half of this before proceeding, not 100% necessary, but recommended: https://history-for-fun-profit-and-insight.blogspot.com/2019/05/starz-tv-spartacus-series-were-fight.html

Previously I noted that aside from the ahistorical helmets with exposed faces (allowing the viewer to get a better sense of the emotions and drama taking place in the story), the actual arms, armor, and styles of gladiators are often surprisingly accurate historically speaking.

What is not historically accurate, however, is the intensity and lethality of the fighting.

Perhaps, surprisingly, most historical gladiator fights in the arena were not to the death. While, generally speaking, the historical gladiators were slaves and could be used as their owner saw fit, they were quite valuable, well trained, highly skilled, and difficult to replace slaves who if utilized properly could make their owner a great deal of money. It would make no sense, economically, for the owner of such a slave to risk his investment unnecessarily or recklessly.

Therefore, gladiator battles to the death were few and far between and seen as very special events.

According to Stephen Wisdom in the Osprey book on the subject, pages 58-59, and many authors on the subject, the actual rates of death were something as follows. Of 100 1st Century duels, only 19 of the 200 gladiators who participated in the fights died. That's about 9 to 1 odds of a gladiator surviving his bout. This changed over time and according to the same source, by the third century, the odds of a gladiator dying in a bout were about 1 in 4. Now, 1 in 4 odds of dying is quite high, but it is still far less than that show in the show Spartacus. (and for those wondering the show is set around the events of 73B.C, when the famed revolt took place.)

Roland Auguet spends time describing the career path and life path of gladiators in his book, Cruelty and Civilization, The Roman Games (1972, 1994, Routledge and Barnes and Noble publishers) on pages 178-183). He describes one 30 year old gladiator who had fought in the arena 34 times. Of these he had won 21 times, the fight was declared a draw or "stans missus" 9 times, and he had lost 4 times but had his life spared. He also concludes that most gladiators only fought about twice a year during the peak of their professional career and says they should be thought of as entertainers less than fighting machines.

Thomas Wiedemann on page 119-124 in Emperors and Gladiators gives detailed information on the numbers of fights some gladiators participated in. It's interesting and informative. but such a sampling does not give a complete picture, although it most certainly provides a sense that some gladiators lived a surprisingly long life with many fights.

Nossov's Gladiators -Rome's Bloody Spectacle is probably the single best book I've found on the subject and since it is published by Osprey, it focuses on exactly the sort of detail that wargamers wish. In this work, on pages 150-151, Nossov offers interesting information on mortality rates among gladiators. He also cites the work of George Ville but says that by the 2nd and 3rd century fights to the death were increasingly the norm. Of course, this is centuries after Spartacus. He also points out that more successful gladiators were more popular gladiators and the more popular a gladiator was, the more likely the mob and the editor of the games were to spare him if he lost. Nossov considers this a factor when mentioning that some champions fought "60, 80, 88, 107, 125, and even 150" fights.

FYI,  many of these authors cite Ville, George. La gladiature en Occident des origines a la mort de Domitien ( Ecole française de Rome (1981) ). I have not read this work. It is over 500 pages and in French, a language I've never studied and have only a limited, passing knowledge of. 

If the subject of mortality among gladiators is of interest to you, Nossov includes this in his footnotes: Kanz and Grossschmidt,  Head Injuries of Roman Gladiators, Forensic Science International, Vol. 160, No 2 (2006) pp 207-16. It's another work that I have not read, at least not at the time of this writing but may hunt down and read some day.

In the academic work, Rules of engagement, by M.J. Carter, published in The Classical Journal, Vol. 102, No. 2 (Dec-Jan 2006/2007) pp 97-114, the author writes of funeral epitaphs of Roman gladiators. He offers the possibility that gladiators, who were highly trained highly valuable slaves, may have been trained in techniques to defeat an opponent WITHOUT killing or seriously wounding their opponent. He also offers an unexpected series of examples of funeral epitaphs where gladiators proudly stated in their funeral epitaphs how few people they had killed and how many lives they had saved. He argues that the professionalism of a gladiator often included not killing his peers unless forced to and that if a gladiator broke this "code," he would find himself a target for other gladiators who not only might wish to avenge the death of a friend at his hand, but also remove an unnecessary danger in their workplace. In other words, gladiators who tried to unnecessarily kill other gladiators were not much liked by professional gladiators who were already working in a dangerous job.

Therefore, as entertaining as the show Spartacus is, it is safe to say that its lurid depictions of gruesome, gory fights to the death with blood splashing all over the arena sands and the TV screen, are sensationalized and not historically accurate.

Recommended books on Types of Gladiator and their 
Arms, Armor, and Fighting Styles

These three books all have good details on the types of gladiators and how they fought. My personal favorite is Nossov's Gladiator, Rome's Bloody Spectacle and I can't recommend it highly enough if the subject interests you. The Gladiators and Caesars book is also quite good, but be forewarned only one chapter of this book focuses specifically on gladiators. The others tend to discuss things like chariot racing or animal fighting or other arena and coliseum type events.

   

Mentioned in this blog post.

This is an unusual yet well done book that contains interesting but largely hypothetical descriptions on how to train and fight in a realistic manner that may be similar to how the Roman gladiators fought. It's currently being sold by two different publishers so it's available on Amazon from two different sources. After Paladin went bankrupt, the rights reverted to the author and it was soon re-released.

    

Finally, a pair of books on the history of the Spartacus revolt. I've read both of these (I've read everything I've linked to on this page. In some cases, you can even find my reviews on Amazon for the products.) and I definitely prefer Strauss's The Spartacus War over the Osprey book. I have however included the link to the Osprey book as many people (myself included) just like Osprey books and they don't take up much space on the shelf. 

      

StarZ TV Spartacus series, were the fight scenes accurate? Part One - Arms and Armor.

I've recently begun rewatching the TV series Spartacus, a show that ran for four seasons on the Starz Cable TV network. (It's a rumored there may be a fifth one some day. We can only hope.) While one of the most lurid and visceral television spectacles, I've ever been exposed to, the show is exciting, entertaining, and addictive, just be careful who you watch it with. The high levels of  sexual content and nudity, as well as violence and blood splashing gore, is higher than in any television show I've ever seen.

As long time readers of this blog (or you intelligent people who actually take the time to look at old posts) know, over the last few years, I've done a lot of research into the Roman gladiators and done some wargaming and figure modelling for the period. (In fact, one of my motives for rewatching was trying to find ways to add backstory and better characterization to my historical miniature games based on Roman gladiators.)

For those wondering, Spartacus was an actual historical figure. There was indeed a gladiator who fought under that name, who led a gladiator uprising that became a major slave revolt and troubled the Romans for years until he and all his followers were put down. The series is a cinematic retelling of this historical event, and while much of the details remain unknown, and there are few first hand period sources to tell the story, the series creators freely admit they took great liberties with the actual history. For more details on the actual history, I've included links to a few well chosen books, all books that I've actually read, below and if you purchase them by following these links, you'll also help support this blog.

For now, we're focusing on the gladiatorial fight scenes in the arena and their historical accuracy, nothing else.

A key fight scene from Spartacus: Gods of the Arena. 

While the second season filmed, this six episode mini-series is actually a prequel to the events that occur in season one. The titular character Spartacus never appears, but we get to see more of the villainous ludus owners, a ludus being a gladiator school or troupe, who own and train and fight the gladiators, and learn more about what it was like to be part of this establishment and owned and forced to fight in the arena against one's will. 

I hope to write a few blog posts on the degree of accuracy of the fight scenes in this series, but for now:  

1. General accuracy of the arms and armor and fighting styles: 

Much to my pleasant surprise, this is actually quite high. If you watch this show, the portrayal of the gladiators and their equipment is quite accurate, particularly since many cinematic depictions of gladiators are completely off.

The gladiators fought in certain distinctive ways using distinctive styles of armor and weaponry. During the latter part of the gladiatorial period, while there were local variations and locally known styles of fighters, the types allowed in the arena was largely proscribed by law.

For instance, in the scene below we witness two fighters. One of them is wearing heavy armor and carrying a straight, short sword -the Roman gladius- and carrying a large shield similar to what a legionnaire of the time would wear. This type was called a "mymillio" and the characters in the series refer to the fighters garbed and equipped in this way by that name.

The other carries two swords and is clearly intended to portray a "dimarchus," a gladiator who fight with two swords or one sword and a dagger.

To my mind there's nothing grossly wrong with the depiction of the Myrmillio. in the scene above. If I quibble, pontificate, and wax pedantic, then I must point out, for instance, that while his helmet does look like the helmet of a myrmillio, the perfect helmet for a myrmillio would look exactly this BUT with the addition of a fish, yes, a sculpted fish, added to the crest of the helmet. (This made more sense, from the Roman perspective, when you remember that a Myrmillio was often matched against a Retarius, the net and trident man. Therefore, ipso facto, par for the corso, ergoto, you would have a fisherman --the net and trident fighter-- fighting an opponent with a fish on his helmet. See! It makes perfect sense. Fisherman VS Fish. Understand that, learn some Latin and you'll soon be right up there, seeing the world from the traditional Roman perspective.)

And in a perfect world, the Myrmillio would also wear one greave, a piece of armor for his shin. Interestingly enough, most Myrmillio only had one greave, and it was on the right shin on the side opposite the heavy shield. While Roman soldiers wore them in pairs, gladiators often did not, and many of the carefully defined classes of gladiators wore just one with it being carefully prescribed as to which side of the body they wore it. If you look carefully this gladiator, this Myrmillio, has no leg armor, but you have to watch real carefully and be looking for this detail to even notice.

As for the character, Gannicus, the man with the two swords in the above clip, he is fighting in the style of a dimarchi. This is also a historically recognized style of gladiator, but one not as common as the myrmillio.

Here, I have a bigger quibble, a more glaring complaint. Historically the fighter really should be wearing a face concealing helmet, something much closer to that worn by the myrmillio in the clip.

Face concealing helmets were an important part of the dress of most gladiators. Not only did they protect the face, but they also concealed it, dehumanizing the wearer to his or her opponent. Gladiators were often paired off to fight with other members of their own ludus (school or troupe). And they had no choice in the matter,

Not only did they tend to fight harder when they couldn't see the face of their opponent, often a friend or colleague, but the concealing helmets often concealed their fear and anxiety about the match. Therefore face concealing helmets were a pretty standard part of most gladiators gear.

Interestingly enough, the retarius, the net and trident fighter, was one of the few types that did not normally wear a face concealing helmet.

A gladiator game I held at the Council of the Five Nations, a local adventure and historical game convention. I've since expanded the arena and built stands. If you blow up the picture you can see a pair of retarii, fighting a pair of secutors while a Myrmillo and a referee watch.

By contrast the only known period depiction of a dimarchi, a sculptural bas relief, shows him wearing a face concealing helmet and holding two swords, one of which is curved,

Yet throughout the Spartacus series characters tend to fight without helmets, Why? If you watch the scene, it's obvious. Gannicus is a handsome, well built man with an expressive face and a roguish grin.  If you watch, you can clearly see that he's quite comfortable in his role as star gladiator, enjoying the fight, the adulation of the crowds, and even the thrill of the kill. And if his face were concealed? Well, you'd get none of this. Characterization and story telling benefits in this case from the removal of the helmet.

If you watch the series, other types of gladiators are reasonably well portrayed --aside, of course, from that matter with the face concealing helmets. The characters usually seem to have a helmet where you can see their face or at least enough to get a sense of their emotions, or else, perhaps even more foolishly, they somehow manage to lose or pull off their helmets in the heat of battle.

Still the gladiators portrayed in the Starz TV series Spartacus do tend to fall within recognized historical types and be reasonably well portrayed.

The retarius are there, although interesting some do have helmets. The thracians with the curved swords. The hoplomachii with their long spear and small shields and faux Greek style helmets. The secutors, a type of gladiator that was equipped similar to the myrmillio but had a smoother, rounder, helmet so that it would be less likely to be snared in the net, All these can be seen, and are depicted with reasonable yet less than 100% accuracy, in the show.

Recommended books on Types of Gladiator and their 
Arms, Armor, and Fighting Styles

These three books all have good details on the types of gladiators and how they fought. My personal favorite is Nossov's Gladiator, Rome's Bloody Spectacle and I can't recommend it highly enough if the subject interests you. The Gladiators and Caesars book is also quite good, but be forewarned only one chapter of this book focuses specifically on gladiators. The others tend to discuss things like chariot racing or animal fighting or other arena and coliseum type events.

  

This is an unusual yet well done book that contains interesting but largely hypothetical descriptions on how to train and fight in a realistic manner that may be similar to how the Roman gladiators fought. It's currently being sold by two different publishers so it's available on Amazon from two different sources. After Paladin went bankrupt, the rights reverted to the author and it was soon re-released.

    

Finally, a pair of books on the history of the Spartacus revolt. I've read both of these (I've read everything I've linked to on this page. In some cases, you can even find my reviews on Amazon for the products.) and I definitely prefer Strauss's The Spartacus War over the Osprey book. I have however included the link to the Osprey book as many people (myself included) just like Osprey books and they don't take up much space on the shelf. 

      

Finally, if you wish to support this blog, please consider buying any of the following books, all written by yours truly. People who've read them, tell me they've enjoyed them. 

     

Book review -Reconnaissance and Bomber Aces of World War 1, Osprey Aircraft of the Aces -123

Notes: 

1. If you would like to see your products reviewed on this blog please contact us.
2. This review appeared previously on a different blog that I wrote.
3. Please support this blog and its author. BUY MY BOOKS!

Reconnaissance and Bomber Aces of World War 1, Osprey Aircraft of the Aces -123.  Written by John Guttman, and Illustrated by Harry Dempsey.

Scope – Narrow, focuses on a very specific subject.

Completeness – Amazingly so.

Appeal –limited to a specific audience. 

Accuracy –Although I’m not able to judge, considering that it’s the author’s 18^th book on world war one aviation related subjects, it’s probably incredibly accurate.

Years ago, in high school, a friend of mine and I used to mock the Osprey books we saw in the hobby stores because of the obscurity and limitedness of some of their titles. Although we were snot-nosed teenagers unwittingly displaying our ignorance, this is exactly the sort of book we would target.  This 96 page book focuses, as the title says, on aces, people who shot down five or more enemy planes, while serving in the larger planes of the era, the ones with two man or larger crews. These larger planes were not intended to be used as fighters but instead, as the title indicates, were assigned to reconnaissance or bombing duties. Nevertheless, these planes and their crews often saw direct combat with enemy aircraft and a surprising number of their crewmembers became aces. This book tells the little known story of the world war one fighter aces who served in these large planes.

If this subject interests you, ignore any mocking teenagers who see no value in it. If this subject interests you, then this book should make you very, VERY happy indeed. 

Divided by nation, this book covers aces from the military air units of France, the United Kingdom, the U.S.A., Germany and Austro-Hungary. (Apparently these were the only nations who had people who became aces while flying multiperson crewed planes.)  

For each nation it discusses the planes that were used and their weaponry. (No surprise to Osprey fans.) This was interesting. For instance, I was very surprised to learn at how often, particularly when a machine gun would jam, a crewman would pull out a carbine and start firing at enemy planes and crew.

But, perhaps more interestingly, this book attempts to provide a brief biography of almost every Reconnaissance and bomber ace of the First World War. These are generally fascinating. We learn where people were born, how they came to be part of the crew of one of these planes, and, if they survived the war, where they went to next and what they did with the rest of their lives.  We learn of French aces who spent their senior years trying to sort out the division of their country into Vichy and Free French forces, Austro-Hungarians being involved in Czech independence, Americans chasing wild flying feats to earn prizes offered by pineapple tycoons, and more.  As would be expected many of these men had fascinating lives both before and after the war. –they were world war one flying aces after all, and one can’t get more exotic and exciting than that.