James Lawrie

I'm highly dubious that short swords are ineffective or the least effective weapons. ScholaGladiatora seem to get their bee in a bonnet about many things which seem to work only for them such as their spear obsession. Remember, HEMA is a cesspit of pet theories and personal rivalries and unsupported theories like this balloon in them. Short swords persist long into history, weapons that last that long tend to have a viable use. Short swords seem to work well in very close combat and are effective at keeping yourself dragged down and stabbed with a dagger, one of the prime dangers of that sort of fighting (along with having your head stove in by a honking great stone someone threw into the air). Short swords even persisted into the era of white harness and long basilards were common among the Swiss and the katsbalger among the Landsknechts.

And now you have me racing off to read Scheidel so I can think on this. Best of luck with the thesis, it sounds like an interesting angle.

Well, libertini (freedmen) had limited rights, not quite as onerous as dediticii, and the libertini gained more rights as the empire progressed

It also seems that gladiators who were sentenced damnatio et ludii when manumitted weren't given full rights but were instead made peregrinus dediticius; a person who was free but considered a possible danger to the state. This meant that a freed gladiator did not get citizenship under the Constitutio Antoniniana. This meant that if they came within one hundred miles of Rome they were subject to re-enslavement, although this may not have been automatic and more of a form of parole.

Why do moderns pronounce 'Cicero' with a soft 'c'?

Over the course of their existence were the vigiles an armed force? If they were, what arms and armour did the carry normally and in emergencies? It's my understanding that the vigiles were not a paramilitary organisation, but did they veer into one at any point of their existence? From what I know (ie: I don't have a source 😄) the cohortes urbana patrolled 'half armed' without pila and scutum but otherwise in battle array, is this a model for the vigiles?

Just revisiting this for anyone reading this thread re: does infamia spread through ownership. To add to @caldrail's comment: Nossov, K. "Gladiator" 2009. (An Osprey edition so not an academic work but I thought an interesting confirmation in print)

I think the simple question "What was the social institution of slavery like under Roman rule and what would life have been like as a slave? Were there any redeeming features that made slavery less morally reprehensible than we assume it be today?" runs into the Historians' Maxim: Everything Changes With Time And Space. This makes it almost impossible to answer. Rome existed over an immense time and immense area and it varied so wildly across that area. Some areas evolved different traditions from others and some areas the concept of slavery was considerably out of step with urban Rome. Even then the lot of a mining slave, widely considered to be the worst job a slave could have, varied on exactly what job they did in the mining enterprise, where it was and when it was.

Poor old Gaius, he really should not have annoyed the senate or he'd have gone down in history as a top bloke 😀

According to a single source it was a collegium for gladiators. I was wondering how such a thing could exist, the bulk of gladiators being unfree. It's from the mid to late Republican period

Does anyone have any information on the Collegium Armariorum, such as when it was founded and under what rules it operated and who was permitted to join?

In addition to this, as people were usually part of a larger family unit it'd be scandalous for a member of your group to be wandering around aping an equestrian for instance. It wouldn't be unlikely I think for the patria familia to drag an offender to an aedile as an example of how upstanding and obedient to mos maiorum the family was. Similarly, neighbours might indignantly do the same thing.

Thanks, I should be able to get a line on them now.

Can someone please direct me to a text list of vectigalia and a description of each tax?

Thanks. I knew infamia can spread through a family but I was unsure if it could be transmitted the manumission. I suppose it would be unlikely you'd hold onto a former infame as a client but if you were a position to own one I suppose your reputation might be a bit dodgy anyway.