Gladiatores

Retiarius

This is the most uncommon type of gladiator and documented only from the reign of Caligula on (37-41 AD on). His unusual armatura consisted of a rete (net), a trident (fuscina or tridens), and a pugio or gladius. He had neither a shield nor a helmet. His only protection was a manica with a galerus (shoulder guard) on the left arm. At first he tried to throw the net over his opponent to get him entangled in it. If it was thrown without success, he tried to fight his adversary with the trident. For close combat he had to use the pugio or gladius. His standard opponent was the

Secutor ("Pursuer")

He was a kind of murmillo specialized in fighting the retiarius. The only difference between the two types was the helmet: The secutor wore an egg-shaped helmet with a smooth featureless crest, so the net of the retiarius could not get tangled. The helmet had no visor with a grille, but only eyeholes to keep the prongs of the trident from penetrating the visor.

A special form was the combat of a retiarius standing on a kind of bridge (pons) fighting against two secutores who tried to climb the bridge via ramps on each end. In addition to trident and sword/dagger he had stones he could throw at his adversaries.