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Ofc the "thumb up" vs "thumb down" to either spare or kill a gladiator is a modern myth; but in general - what do we know about Roman everyday gestures? Did they have an equivalent to the middle finger for example? Or even.. shaking hands? Etc. modern Italians use *a lot* of specific gestures.

en.wikipedia.org
u/Double-decker_trams — 9 days ago
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The 2nd largest Roman amphitheater in the world which was built in Santa Maria Capua Vetere, Italy

The 2nd largest Roman amphitheater in the world which was built in Santa Maria Capua Vetere, Italy where gladiators fought and animals were hunted for entertainment.

u/DecimusClaudius — 16 days ago
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New arena

Picked up my new Arena floor from the nice people at Warbases - pre-coloured and as you can see a perfect match for the freebie print. Will keep me going until the kickstarter arrives. No connection with the manufacturer except as a happy customer.

u/Far-Picture-322 — 18 days ago
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Best Weapons/Items For Scissor Gladiators To Use In Their 2nd Hand?

Scissor Gladiators were gladiators named after the wepaon they would use: the roman scissor which is weird hook arm looking thing but what weapon/item was the best for the other arm? Ive seen many depictions of scissors using short swords in their 2nd arm but are there any other option that they either actually used or would be smart to use in combination with the roman scissor?

u/Dugo111 — 23 days ago
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Hadrian's wall milecastle

Made a milecastle (under repair) from XPS foam for a game of Pillage. Picts vs Romano British. Plenty of things I'd do differently but a fun project. The Roman buildings are from Warbases with plaster of Paris roof tiles from a Hirst Arts mold.

u/Far-Picture-322 — 26 days ago
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Working on buildings for Gangs of Rome

But mostly just for the joy of making. Kits are Sarissa Precision, flagstones and stairs are mostly scratchbuilt, and probably impractical, forge is from IGS

u/Far-Picture-322 — 1 month ago
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Alaterva

According to Wikipedia the Roman name of Cramond may have been "Alaterva", "Rumabo" or "Carumabo".

The rock on the foreshore further west is known as Eagle Rock -the eponymous (and now much worn down) eagle supposedly carved by the Roman garrison

u/Far-Picture-322 — 2 months ago
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The rematch!

Wacvs Boncvs the Thraex and Gnaeus Bonus the Murmillo met again in a rematch on Rome’s northern frontier. Both Lanistae found the game flowed much quicker with some familiarity and although I’m sure we made a few mistakes I think we got most things right. Wacvs had a definite plan to try and pin me back against the arena wall, but some fortunate rolls countered his ploy. Gnaeus then scored a deep bleeding wound which left Wacvs accumulating fatigue at a seemingly terminal rate.

The gods however smiled kindly on the young Thraex and with what was, quite literally, his last throw of the dice, he scored a hard strike that tripped Gnaeus and forced him (me!) to concede

u/Far-Picture-322 — 2 months ago
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A stele of the gladiator Lupercus now in Thessaloniki, Greece

"The gladiator Lupercus is depicted fully armed. On the right, a young man holds his helmet. 150-200 AD" Per the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki in Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece where this is on display. Obviously the date indicates that this was clearly made in the Roman empire. Also, there were many Greek speaking gladiators after Romans exported gladiatoral games (invented by Etruscans, made popular by Romans) from Italy to other regions. Hence, the object is Roman with a Greek inscription.

Identity in ancient times was very complex and layered, including that of one's town, region, ruler, religion, language, historical alliances, etc. The Roman Empire was a multilingual, multiethnic state; its heterogeneous nature meant that control by Rome in regions outside of Italy varied and so too did local institutions, the composition of elites, the amount of migrants or veteran settlers, customs, calendars, the prevalence of local deities, etc.

After Greece was conquered militarily in the mid 2nd century BC, the Romans learned a lot from them and were inspired greatly by their art and literature. Greece became incorporated into and was an important part of the Roman Empire for centuries! Some people claim that during that time that Greek speakers were not Romans, only Latin speakers were...which is not correct. Plenty of people in Roman times in the boundaries of modern day Greece (Hellenic Republic) among the Roman provinces of Achaia, Epirus, Macedonia and Thrace had Roman citizenship...and after an edict in 212 AD all free inhabitants there had Roman citizenship. But even those without Roman citizenship were still Romans in the geopolitical sense as they paid taxes to Rome, were protected by the Roman army, received money after earthquakes from Roman authorities, benefited from infrastructure projects paid for or organized by Roman authorities, were subject to Roman laws, conducted trade with and were influenced by others in the Roman empire, etc.

The word "Greek" when referring to ancient history could refer to culture, language, geography, traditions...but not a singular nation or political union. Greek rule over all of Greece in the classical period lasted only for a bit before the Roman conquest and did not resume until the Byzantine Empire/Eastern Roman Empire which was eventually a predominantly Greek Orthodox state based in Constantinople. Then people called themselves Rhomaioi, not Hellenes (that is a whole different discussion).

u/DecimusClaudius — 2 months ago
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Graffiti of a Murmillo found on a fresco in a Brothel, Pompeii, 1st century AD. This type of gladiator was heavily equipped with gladius, rectangular shield, large closed helmet, scaled arm guard, wide belt, and shin guards. Therefore, they were usually tall and muscular warriors. [1280x853] [OC]

u/Far-Picture-322 — 2 months ago