Discover eight different classes of deadly fighters
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Thracian
⚔️Weapons: Short sword, triangular shield
💪Strengths: Agile warrior
😨Weaknesses: Ranged attacks
✅Most likely to win against: Laquerius, Velitus
❌Would struggle against: Murmillo
Did you know?
The Thracian’s sica was a smaller version of the falx. It would often be used to swing into an opponent’s unprotected back, which would often end the contest there and then.
Murmillo
⚔️Weapons: sword, square shield
💪Strengths: Well equipped with a large sword and shield
😨Weaknesses: Susceptible to agile attacks
✅Most likely to win against: Laquerius, Velitus
❌Would struggle against: Dimachaerus
Did you know?
The Murmillo class was introduced to replace the similarly slow and powerful Gallus discipline. It favoured strong warriors.
Retiarius
⚔️Weapons: Rete (weighted net), fuscina (trident)
💪Strengths: Agility, ranged attacks
😨Weaknesses: Little to no armour
✅Most likely to win against: Secutor, Murmillo
❌Would struggle against: Samnite, thracian
Did you know?
Due to their lack of armour – some wore nothing but a loincloth – many viewed them as the lowliest of classes.
Secutor
⚔️Weapons: Gladius, dagger
💪Strengths: Heavily armoured
😨Weaknesses: Slower than many other classes
✅Most likely to win against: Samnite
❌Would struggle against: Retiarius
Did you know?
Secutor, with its anti-trident and anti-net armour, was a class designed to fight the more agile Retiarius class.
Velitus
⚔️Weapons: Spear
💪Strengths: Speed, mobility, ranged attacks
😨Weaknesses: Lightly armoured
✅Most likely to win against: Dimachaerus
❌Would struggle against: Everybody
Did you know?
Gladiators fighting as the Velitus class were not seen as good prospects. They usually fought in groups against one or more chariots and didn’t normally last long.
Samnite
⚔️Weapons: Short sword, shield
💪Strengths: All rounder
😨Weaknesses: Abdomen and legs (unarmoured)
✅Most likely to win against: Thracian, Secutor
❌Would struggle against: Retiarius
Did you know?
The Samnite class fell out of favour when Samnium (the previously defeated enemy who provided the inspiration for the class) returned as an ally to Rome.
Dimachaerus
⚔️Weapons: Dual swords
💪Strengths: Skilled in close-quarters combat
😨Weaknesses: Lightly armoured
✅Most likely to win against: Laquerius
❌Would struggle against: Thracian
Did you know?
In the Spartacus TV series, the producers chose to have Spartacus himself favour this particular gladiatorial style despite evidence suggesting he was a Thracian.
Laquerius
⚔️Weapons: Noose, trident
💪Strengths: Able to disarm opponents
😨Weaknesses: Open to rush attacks
✅Most likely to win against: Velitus
❌Would struggle against: Samnite
Did you know?
Some historians have speculated that the Laquerius class was actually a form of jester who came into the arena to mock great battles of old.
Originally published in All About History 19
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