Roman lawmakers took the unusual step of forbidding women from fighting as gladiators. The ban suggests a moment of moral panic, and possibly the clearest proof yet that female gladiators were a real and troubling presence in Roman society.
Features
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Martial described gladiatorial combat and hinted women fought—but can hand-copied texts be trusted?
A Roman Satirist Mocked Female Fighters. Was He Describing Real Gladiators?
Did Juvenal’s mockery prove female gladiators existed?
This Roman Statue Was Misidentified for 100 Years — Until Now
Once thought an athlete, this Roman statuette may depict a female gladiator in combat pose.
The Only Relief of Named Female Gladiators Ever Found
This rare depiction may be the greatest surviving monument to women in the Roman arena.
An Everyday Roman Object Suggests Female Gladiators
A Roman oil lamp shows two female gladiators fighting like men—strong visual proof women fought.
Queens of Combat
Experts search for evidence that female gladiators once existed in Ancient Rome.
TRANSCRIPT
-Oh, here we are.
What I've got here is the back of the tablet.
This very definitely mentions women.
It very definitely mentions gladiators.
It's extremely exciting.
It starts off here that these laws are going to apply to those who "qui contra dignitatem ordinis" -- so "contrary to the dignity of their order," their class -- men and women are not allowed to offer themselves out by contract to become a gladiator.
-It's the inclusion of women that makes this ban so significant.
Women are being warned not to fight in the arena like men.
The ban reveals a deep conservative paranoia behind the words.
-There's a sense of moral panic in it to me, which tells us that there was extreme anxiety about women performing as gladiators.
Now, it could be that somebody just decided to dream up a law that they shouldn't, but I don't buy that for an instant.
The reason they're passing this law is because there's a problem.
-This decree has been dated to 19 AD, the early days of the Roman Empire.
The ruling emperor Tiberius enacted waves of strict social reforms, and the Senate had cracked down on immorality.
-Emperor Tiberius was incredibly anxious to demarcate the class difference between people of the senatorial and equestrian ranks, and the rest of people.
-His ban was not concerned with enslaved people, but the upper classes.
For an elite woman, performing in the arena would carry deep social shame and dishonor.
The penalties were severe.
Flouting the ban would lead to a total loss of her privileged status.
-As a woman, that wrecked your marriage chances completely.
To have women cavorting in the arena, you cannot have that.
You have to keep your women in order.
-This tablet shows men believed there was enough risk posed by women fighting in the arena to warrant a ban.
And the law is a compelling piece of evidence because it was contemporary and not written later.
-This is certainly the first authentic piece of evidence.
So yes, we found it.
We found the earliest evidence for female gladiators in existence.