Hoplomachus (left) vs thraex (right) (terracotta, British Museum)
The Thraex (pl.: Thraeces), or Thracian, was a type of Roman gladiator, armed in the Thracian style with a small rectangular, square or circular shield called a parmula (about 60 x 65 cm) and a very short sword with a slightly curved blade called a sica (like a small version of the Dacian falx), intended to maim an opponent's unarmoured back. His other armour included armoured greaves, a protective belt above a loincloth, and a helmet with a side plume, visor and high crest.
Ludia's female gladiators used the same weapons and armour.
Murmillo (left) defeating a thraex (lying down) (lamp, Louvre)
He and the hoplomachus, with his Greek equipment, were usually pitted against the murmillo, armed like a legionary, mimicking the opposition between Roman soldiers and their various slaves.[citation needed]
The Thraex (pl.: Thraeces), or Thracian, was a type of Roman gladiator, armed in the Thracian style with a small rectangular, square or circular shield...
tall, oblong shield in the legionary style. Murmillones typically fought a thraex, but occasionally the similar hoplomachus. A parmularius (pl parmularii)...
Thrax or Thraex (Latin borrowing of Ancient Greek Θρᾷξ "Thracian") may be Historical figures: Dionysius Thrax (c. 170-90 BC), a Hellenistic grammarian...
order to prevent calluses and blisters. The murmillo usually fought the thraex (Thracian) or hoplomachus, with whom he shared some of the equipment (notably...
challenge. His usual opponent was the murmillo, but he might fight the thraex in exceptional cases. Justus Lipsius conjectured that it was one of two...
secutor-based types such as the Murmillo were secutarii. Lighter types, such as the Thraex, were equipped with a smaller, lighter shield called a parma, from which...
of an opponent's shield, and stab or slash them in the back. Since the thraex gladiator's usual opponent was the scutum (large shield) carrying murmillo...
translit. Spártakos; Latin: Spartacus; c. 103–71 BC) was a Thracian gladiator (Thraex) who was one of the escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major...
by the legions. There is some question as to Spartacus's nationality. A Thraex was a type of gladiator in Rome, so "Thracian" may simply refer to the style...
to belong to the late 1st or early 2nd century AD, whereas the type of thraex and murmillo’s helmets seem to be intermediary between that of Pompeii and...
language Thracian mythology Thraco-Dacian Thraco-Cimmerian Thraco-Illyrian Thraex Dioscorides's book (known in English by its Latin title De Materia Medica...
legions. There is some question as to Spartacus's nationality, however, as a Thraex (plural Thraces or Threses) was a type of gladiator in Rome, the title "Thracian"...
Maison aux Fleurons (house of flowers) in the rue de la Paix Mosaic of a Thraex gladiator in a house at the hautes promenades. Mercurius of a house. Several...
fighting sword was the sica, a short single-edged curved sword used by the Thraex gladiators in the Roman world. The sica was developed during the Bronze...
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