4th July 2010, 09:41 PM
Why is it that any hint at a 'Gladiator' kicks off loads of press speculation?
The reference to the London 'female gladiator' in the speech bubble above links to an article in Heritage-Key which states this:
Leaving aside the obvious; site excavated by MOLAS in 1996-7 not the BM, extra-mural roadside cemeteries common practice in the Roman world, loads of speculation about the deceased's lifestyle etc. I have never worked in London but I remember watching the inevitable one hour TV special on the 'Worlds only Female Gladiator', and comparing its claims with the Great Dover Street site monograph which references 'gladiators, female' just once on Page 28:
I think to be fair, I seem to recall that the programme cited some additional botanical evidence as well.
The reference to the London 'female gladiator' in the speech bubble above links to an article in Heritage-Key which states this:
Quote:The site, at 159 Great Dover Street in Southwark, was excavated in 2000 by the British Museum. The grave sparked some controversy and debate, because it seemed fairly clear from the contents that it was the grave of a great gladiator. And yet it was in Southwark which, I hate to break it to residents of that fine Borough, has never exactly been a salubrious part of the city.
It turns out that women were a rarity in the male world of gladiators - they would go top of the bill at the Colosseum as a special "treat". So, typically, the female who works in a traditionally male job paid not only with her life (hazard of the job, fair enough) but with her "respectability". Hence, the speculation is, she rose to greatness in the arenas of Europe, and was honored hugely, but, because she was "just" a woman and shouldn't have been seen out in leather armour in front of the jeering masses, she was buried somewhere a little bit out of the spotlight.
Leaving aside the obvious; site excavated by MOLAS in 1996-7 not the BM, extra-mural roadside cemeteries common practice in the Roman world, loads of speculation about the deceased's lifestyle etc. I have never worked in London but I remember watching the inevitable one hour TV special on the 'Worlds only Female Gladiator', and comparing its claims with the Great Dover Street site monograph which references 'gladiators, female' just once on Page 28:
Quote:The presence of the fallen gladiator lamp adds a further dimension to the picture, and it might be significant that in the arena slaves dressed as Mercury Psychopompus or Charon dragged away the fallen bodies. The cremated remains are those of a woman and one should consider the possibility that she was a gladiator, a practice which may have been more common than is generally realised... Clearly an interpretation of the cremation burial as that of a female gladiator can only be speculative and may indeed be too simplistic. An alternative, and perhaps more acceptable interpretation, is that the lamp symbolises funeral games, the origin of gladiatorial combat in Republican timesMackinder, A, 2000, A Romano-British cemetery on Watling Street: Excavations at 165 Great Dover Street, Southwark, London, Museum of London Archaeology Service Archaeology Studies Series 4, p28
I think to be fair, I seem to recall that the programme cited some additional botanical evidence as well.