Jupiter Images
Inspired by the Timewatch programme on Gladiators, our community debated the finer points of fighting to the death.
Page Tags:
Sign in or create a free account to add tags to your personal tag cloud using
More like this
Article: Ancient city life in Greece & RomeThe concept of the city was central to both the Roman and the Greek sense of identity.
Taster: Studying religionThis unit will give you an opportunity to think about some of the key concepts and...
Course: MA in HistoryThe MA in history will provide you with theoretical and practical training in major...
Taster: Getting started on Classical GreekThe aim of this unit is to enable you to get started in Classical Greek. It has been...
- Course: Exploring the classical world
Develop your interest in classical Greece and Rome, studying everything from Homer to...
Taster: Introducing the Classical worldHow do we learn about the world of the ancient Romans and Greeks? This unit will provide...
- Course: World archaeology
Explore the human past across the globe, from the last Ice Age to the eighteenth century,...
Taster: The African diaspora: An archaeological...In many ways the African diaspora is a contentious episode from the past (and indeed...
Taster: Science in the Scottish EnlightenmentHow is it that a small, poor country in northern Europe became one of the most dynamic...
- Course: Exploring history: medieval to modern...
A wide-ranging introduction to the study of European and Atlantic history – medieval to...
Taster: Dundee, jute and empireBritain was the first country to industrialise, and it acquired the largest empire ever...
Taster: The origins of the wars of the three...From Catholic rebellion to Civil War, what happened during the latter years of the reign...
About the author
More by The Timewatch team:
-
Article: Stonehenge: Timewatch Team diaryBringing something new to a story that everyone thinks they know: That's the challenge...
-
Article: The Making of Timewatch: Last day of World War IThe Producer and Director of the Last Day of World War One, John Hayes Fisher reveals how...
-
Article: The making of Wreckers 12: Knocking back the 'Whisky'
After a late-stage viewing session the decision is taken to pull one of the segments of...
-
Article: The making of Wreckers 13: Robin Hood joins the wreckersThe Timewatch programme on Wreckers finds its voice
-
Article: The making of Wreckers 10: The appeal of the House Of Lords
Preparing for the series on wreckers, the Timewatch team consult ancient documents in the...
-
Article: The making of Wreckers 11: Hitting the books
The Timewatch Wreckers series reaches the edit stage.
Comments
Article Information
Publication details
Copyright information
• Body text - Copyrighted: The Open University
• Image 'Gladiator contest' - Copyrighted: Jupiter Images
Article Feeds
If you enjoyed this, why not follow a feed to find out when we have new things like it? Choose an RSS feed from the list below. (Don't know what to do with RSS feeds?)
Remember, you can also make your own, personal feed by combining tags from around OpenLearn.
About OpenLearn
HideExplore
Explore
Thinkstock
Dip into insights from OU academics. Watch, listen, debate, play and discover more about your passions. Read more : Explore
Try
Try
The Open University
Take the next step with our LearningSpace - packed with thousands of hours of free OU course materials. Read more : Try
Study
Study
Thinkstock
Turn your passion into a career changing qualification - study in depth with the UK's most flexible university. Read more : Study
OU Courses
Tag Clouds
HideSite Cloud
- debate
- architecture
- philosophy
- Charles I
- astronomy
- management
- evolution
- heritage
- BBC
- BBC Two
- politics
- communication
- Education
- bang goes the theory
- points for debate
- English Civil War
- diary
- internet
- health
- creative climate
- geology
- physics
- language
- food
- technology
- bottom line
- biology
- business
- history
- environment
- science
- climate change
My Cloud
Discover the latest about your passions - Sign In or Register and start a personal tag cloud.
http://www.open.edu/openlearn/sites/all/themes/ole/flash/tagcloud.swf
What's Hot
HideViews
- no change Looking for Open2.net?
- increase Get your free Frozen Planet poster
- decrease The History of English in Ten Minutes
- increase To lie or not to lie?
- increase World Cup 2010 - World Cup strategic shoot out
Votes
- no change Between The Stacks: October 2003
- no change Obesity over time
- no change Digital Film School
- no change OU on the BBC: Protecting Our Children - 3. I Want My Baby Back
- no change Writing family history
Commented
- increase Bodies of knowledge
- decrease Obesity over time
- decrease Social work and public perception
- decrease Brave New World re-imagined
- no change Try A Day in the Life Of A Social Worker
Except for third party materials and otherwise stated, content on this site is made available
under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Licence
Login or Register to post comments
Timewatch: Gladiator 2-finger sign
I was interested to hear that holding two fingers out on an outstretched arm meant, effectively, "no more, I'm done" and was a plea for mercy.
That reminded me of my childhood in the late 1950's when, in a game of chase say, when about to be caught we would show two crossed fingers and say "vay-nights" (phon) meaning that you were temporarily opting out of the game.
Is there any connection?
Gladiators DVD?
Does anyone know if there is a possibility of the Gladiator Graveyard Episode being released as a DVD? Unfortunately I missed the episode in question but really wanted to watch it as Charlotte Roberts was one of my tutors at University! If not does anyone have a videotaped copy I could loan?
Many thanks!
Tracy
Re: Gladiators DVD?
I'm sorry to say that there are currently no plans to make this Timewatch commercially available. Sorry!
Gladiators Diet
Any idea on what actual food stuffs the gladiators were fed on ?,it was mentionend in programme that they would of possibly been on a vegetarian diet ? getting strontium for strong bones & healing quickly ?
Re: Gladiators Diet
The gladiators ate a diet of Barley and beans usually in a soup or similar. they suplemented this with a vinegar and ash drink - which has a similar effect to sports drinks available today. It was thought that gladiators were not the skinny atheletes as depicted by Hollywood, but were actually chubby - the layer of fat acting as added protection to the vital organs. I hope this goes some way to anserwing your question.
Re: Gladiators Diet
Many Thanks for your feedback on gladiators diet, Very Interesting,Cheers Now,paul E
Re: Timewatch: Gladiator 2-finger sign
Very probably. "Fay-nites" is actually a corruption of the Latin "finites" meaning "I am finished" or similar (hence many European words of similar meaning, for example in French films the word "Fin" is displayed on the screen - The End).
The mercy gesture should not be confused with the vulgar two-fingured gesture often seen at football matches or at pub chucking-out time. This originates in the Hundred Years War when English archers who were at pains of having their shooting fingers removed if captured, would taunt French opponents by sticking two fingers up at them - in effect saying, I can still shoot, so beware!
Re: Timewatch: Gladiator 2-finger sign
Thanks John.
Re: Timewatch: Gladiator 2-finger sign
This depiction of what Gladiators really went through was so life like and realistic that there were times when I had to look away from the screen.
The level of barbarity to our 21st century eyes is just beyond our comprehension and I am so thankful I am living in this century and not those so long ago when savagery and blood shed were an every day occurrence and in a society which seemed to positively thrive on such things.
gladiators bones
the bones of the gladiators held extra amounts of a substance but am not able to remember what type it was
Re: gladiators bones
The substance the programme referred to was strontium. The idea is that the higher up the food chain (literally) you are, the lower the strontium content of your bones - so vegetarians have higher bone strontium than meat eaters.
Unfortunately, this may not be the only reason for a high bone strontium - it has been suggested that high seafood or high mineral diets can have the same effect. Sometimes bones can also become contaminated with strontium during burial too.
An interesting finding though.
Thumbs Up?
I enjoyed the programme on gladiators, although I hope that Timewatch will not do too many more forensic programmes. (We seemed to have had a lot recently, it's soon going to have to be called Silent Witness!) One thing that interests me and that was used in the programme. Somebody told me that the device of thumbs up (live); thumbs down (die) was invented by Hollywood. We don't know what signs the Romans used to convey this decision. Is this true? Best wishes, John
Re: Thumbs Up?
In reply to John Kirkaldy. Thumbs up/thumbs down was indeed a case of hollywood rewriting their own version of history. In fact thumbs up meant death to the fallen and not thumbs down. The emperor held his thumb up for the plebians to see that he agreed with them when they were baying for blood. this was known as Politi Vercco.
Re: Thumbs Up?
The thumb signal is a matter of controversy because the references are vague: "pollice verso" means "with the thumb turned". Mosaics and paintings don't help much. One interpretation is that a thumb turned up imitated the blade at the throat, while a thumb turned down indicated that the victor should throw down his weapon. Another, seen on "Time Team", suggests that the the fist was held out knuckles up, with the thumb "sheathed" in the fingers for mercy, or sticking out for death. What does deem to be agreed (except by Hollywood and the makers of this Timewatch) is that the thumbsup/down signal of our culture was NOT employed by Roman audiences or magistrates.
Re: Thumbs Up?
Thanks for this very interesting information. A classical example of how popular culture influences our lives. I found myself recently using thumbs up/thumbs down in India and finding myself perfectly understood. As I expect I would have been any where in the world. Hollywood has a lot to answer for! Best wishes, John
Re: Thumbs Up?
I seem to remember this statement about 'thumbs' from a history programme not too long ago...anyone else care to comment?