Three guys up today, two are reitarii (using a trident or spear and net) and one had an unnatural axe.
You will notice the variety of skin tones used in my gladiators. There are a number of purposes here.
First, is to show the diversity of fighters Romans liked to see. I imagine that good gladiator shows were something akin to watching a modern-day wrestling event. There is hype about matches; fighters with a variety of backgrounds clashing over ancient affairs, different origins and a good measure of faces and eels. Could you, as a promoter of fights have a fight between "Marcus the Hiberian" face "Fluvius the Nubian", pitting a light vs dark skinned fighter not come up with all types of schemes to encourage betting, and boost attendance.
Like when Sergeant Slaughter fought the Iron Sheik in the early 90s... It's could be a completely fabricated affair (Marcus was born in Rome and Fluvius is not really from Nubia). But for the crowd, the showmanship. A black guy vs a white guy... That's money in the bank!
Professional wrestling does this best: they fabricate all kinds of feuds between its fighters then gets us, the audience to pick a side. One time, its the sympathetic white guy set upon by a mob of fighters, another time its the down-on-his-luck fighter who wins against the established guys. I can see gladiator trainers and promoters use the same scheme.
And they would've worked then as well as they do today (WWE events are pretty full all the time!) Now who can resist it: muscled guys beating each other up with interludes of scantily clad ladies, dwarves fighting and doing high flying maneuvers, guys shouting threats at each other and moves for the crowd to chant or mimic. This is a winning recipe that's been around since ancient times!
Wow. That pun was horrible. But oh-so à-propos... Horrible and awesome.
There are no Christians vs. lions today but that's something I'm fine with. I mean who could we throw to the lions like that these days? I'll let you fill the gap here. But there are many WFB players we could do without...
Back on track. Second, I wanted to paint some "black" and "brown" skin. Since I did not want to paint them with flashy colors for their loincloths, armor or weapons, I fell back on what was most visible: skin. I should take a group shot of the guys together. It makes a rather colorful display and really drives home the variety.
JP
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