Posted on 04/17/2012 7:25:53 PM PDT by DogByte6RER
Rare Ancient Statue Depicts Topless Female Gladiator
A small bronze statue dating back nearly 2,000 years may be that of a female gladiator, a victorious one at that, suggests a new study.
If confirmed the statue would represent only the second depiction of a woman gladiator known to exist.
The gladiator statue shows a topless woman, wearing only a loincloth and a bandage around her left knee. Her hair is long, although neat, and in the air she raises what the researcher, Alfonso Manas of the University of Granada, believes is a sica, a short curved sword used by gladiators. The gesture she gives is a "salute to the people, to the crowd," Manas said, an action done by victorious gladiators at the end of a fight.
The female fighter is looking down at the ground, presumably at her fallen opponent.
The "precise real-life" details of the statue suggest the depiction was inspired by an actual person, a real woman who fought, Manas told LiveScience in an interview.
It’s not known where the statue was originally found, though it is currently in the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbein Hamburg, Germany.
The rarity of such statues likely reflects the idea that female gladiators in ancient Rome were scarce. They were banned by Emperor Septimius Severus in A.D. 200 with only about a dozen references to them in ancient writing surviving to present day. The only other known depiction of them is a carved relieffrom the site of Halicarnassus (now in the British Museum) that shows two female gladiators fighting. There have been claims made in the past of burials of female gladiators being uncovered, but none has attracted widespread support among scholars.
Identifying the gladiator
Scholars had initially suggested the statue represented a female athlete scraping herself with a strigil ...
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
Legless statue of topless gladiator?
This is Lorenus Bobadus of Rome.
I went into this Bar, the sign said TOPLESS!!! BOTTOMLESS!!! I get inside, there was nobody there!
The emperor’s name must have been BILLUS CLINTONUS when there’s naked chicks around..
Where’s the Black Knight picture?
“’Tis but a scratch.”
Pamelus Andersonus.
LOL!!!
What is that object in her hand?
She was a hottie in those days.
“Are you entertained?”
Yup... at my age doesn’t take much...
See post # 22
It looks like a strigil.
The Romans didn’t know about soap and water. After a strenuous workout in the arena they would slather themselves with oil, then scrape off the dirt, sweat and oil with a curved strigil.
She’s getting ready to squeegee herself.
She only had one leg and one hand so it must have been the Handicapped Gladiatorial Games.
PS Most likely she was one of the scantily clad gals that paraded around the arena holding up cards showing the rounds in numerals (Roman, of course).
PPS parading around=hopping around
That’s not a female gladiator, that’s Lorena the First, Queen of the Bobbits
‘man boobs’ sagging too much...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.