Posted on 06/23/2011 4:58:38 AM PDT by Mikey_1962
An enigmatic message on a Roman gladiator's 1,800-year-old tombstone has finally been decoded, telling a treacherous tale.
The epitaph and art on the tombstone suggest the gladiator, named Diodorus, lost the battle (and his life) due to a referee's error, according to Michael Carter, a professor at Brock University in St. Catharines, Canada. Carter studies gladiator contests and other spectacles in the eastern part of the Roman Empire.
He examined the stone, which was discovered a century ago in Turkey, trying to determine what the drawing and inscription meant.
The tombstone shows an image of a gladiator holding what appear to be two swords, standing above his opponent who is signalling his surrender. The inscription says that the stone marks the spot where a man named Diodorus is buried.
"After breaking my opponent Demetrius I did not kill him immediately," reads the epitaph. "Fate and the cunning treachery of the summa rudis killed me."
The summa rudis is a referee, who may have had past experience as a gladiator.
The inscription also indicates Diodorus was born in and fought in Amisus, on the south coast of the Black Sea in Turkey.
snip
"Demetrius signals surrender, Diodorus doesn't kill him; he backs off expecting that he's going to win the fight," Carter said.
The battle appears to be over. However the summa rudis — perhaps interpreting Demetrius' fall as accidental, or perhaps with some ulterior motive — thought otherwise, Carter said.
"What the summa rudis has obviously done is stepped in, stopped the fight, allowed Demetrius to get back up again, take back his shield, take back his sword, and then resume the fight."
This time Diodorus was in trouble, and either he died in the arena or Demetrius inflicted a wound that led to his death shortly thereafter.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Gladiator: "Pepperoni and extra cheese!"
Kill the Umpire!
Wow. And I thought the SEC refs were bad...
Their bad calls look pretty tame in comparison.
What did the replay show?
Or, Demetrius had a foreign object hidden in his tights...
Probably the same referee from Ben Hur’s chariot race that turned a blind eye to Massala’s spiked chariot wheels...
Hilarious photo! I have a funny memory of Mr. McEnroe, lying on the ground at the French Open - after losing a point - screaming “I hate ME!”
Referees get it wrong even back when!
What did you call me?
Rome Penalty Number XXVII, Glutius Maxiums, five minutes for unsportsmanlike stabbing...
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