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The Colchester Vase
The "Colchester Vase" is a cremation vessel decorated with a continuous frieze depicting scenes relating to arena spectacles, including the combat between two gladiators named Memnon and Valentinus. Memnon is a well-armoured secutor gladiator who fights with a sword and shield and wears a distinctive, encasing helmet. His opponent, Valentinus, is a retiarius gladiator, identifiable by the trident that he has dropped to the ground, although he has lost his net. The vessel was found buried alongside other ceramic grave goods and dates to the late 2nd century CE. It is one of the finest examples of ceramic art known from Roman Britain.
Colchester Castle Museum, UK.
Questions & Answers
Where did the gladiators fight?
- Gladiators fought in oval-shaped amphitheatres, specially designed for gladiatorial combats. The most famous amphitheatre was the Colosseum (or Flavian Amphitheatre), built in the 1st century CE in Rome. The massive arena could hold about 50,000 spectators. However, until the 1st century CE, gladiators fought in the Forum Romanum, the Circus Maximus, and other arenas with stands made of wood.
What was the venatio?
- The venatio was a form of gladiator entertainment in Roman amphitheatres, which included the hunting and slaying of wild animals, such as lions, bears, elephants, leopards, tigers, boars, and many others. The lion was extremely popular in venationes. Julius Caesar (l. 100-44 BCE) is said to have celebrated the consecration of his forum in Rome with the slaughter of 400 lions in one venatio.
Were there female gladiators?
- Historians believe that women also fought as gladiators until it was outlawed in the 3rd century CE. The Roman historians Cassius Dio (l. 155-235 CE) and Suetonius (l. 69-130 CE) mention female gladiators in their writings. Archaeological evidence includes a marble relief found at Halicarnassus (now in the British Museum), which depicts two female gladiators facing each other and holding swords and shields.
License & Copyright
This image was first published on Flickr.
Original image by Carole Raddato. Uploaded by Carole Raddato, published on 26 June 2024. The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike. This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon a work even for commercial reasons, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. When republishing on the web a hyperlink back to the original content source URL must be included. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms.
