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Fighting Without Clothes: Roman Female Gladiators

L. Small
5 min readOct 30, 2020

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Photo by Ben Lee on Unsplash

In Roman history, gladiators were examples of how sadistic the entertainment attractions of Roman society were. It is not uncommon for gladiator participants to die in the arena due to being attacked by other gladiators or wild animals that are their opponents.

But did you know that gladiators are not only followed by men, but also by women called Gladiatrix?

Female Gladiators Fighting While Shirtless

Male gladiators typically fought shirtless. So when women started taking part in gladiators, they also received the same treatment. Which means they were also fighting shirtless. As for his subordinates, female gladiators wore clothes that would be exposed when she fought.

The female gladiators were also equipped with weapons and protective equipment. In place of tunics, they wore only a loincloth. Then in one of their hands, the female gladiator would hold her shield. In addition to deflecting enemy attacks, shields can also be used to beat and push your opponent back. The female gladiator also wore a helmet to protect her head — the weapon commonly used by female gladiators when fighting was a sword.

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L. Small
L. Small

Written by L. Small

My universe is one in which the past speaks through the present, shadows hold stories, and each clue leads to a new question.