Recognising Gladiators: Ⅴ the Thraex

Thraex

"Thraex" means “Thracian”, as in an inhabitant of Thrace, which was the name of the area where now the borders of Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey meet. 

☑　Clothes

Like most types of gladiators, murmillones wear a “subligaculum”, which is a loincloth held in place by a wide belt called “balteus”. Also like most other types, they often have some kind of cloth or leather covering the top of their feet, but they are almost never shown wearing shoes with soles. The term “gladiator sandals” therefore seems to be an invention of the sword-and-sandal movies of the 1950s and ‘60s. It was later further popularised by the fashion industry.

 

☑　Manica (armguard)

Only on the right arm, there is a “manica” (arm guard) because this is the arm that will need to leave the protection of the shield to lash out at the opponent. The left arm is usually behind the shield so there is no need for a manica. In fact, wearing one on the left arm would only add extra weight and hinder the arm’s movement.

 

Fig. ❶ Funerary relief with murmillo (left) and a thraex (right).30-50 CE, Chieti (Italy), Gladiator exhibition ("Gladiatoren: Helden van het Colosseum"), Gallo-Romeins Museum, Tongeren (Belgium).

☑　Ocreae (greaves)

Unlike the scutarii ("scutum-carriers" like the murmillo and the secutor), the thraex has an ocrea on each leg (Fig. ❶), not just on the left leg. These ocreae are significantly longer than those used by the scutarii and the upper legs are also protected by fasciae (thick padding) to make up for the small shield. 

 

Fig. ❷　Thraex helmet clearly showing a griffon's head on top. 50-79 CE, Pompeii (Italy), Gladiator exhibition ("Gladiatoren: Helden van het Colosseum"), Gallo-Romeins Museum, Tongeren (Belgium).

☑　Cassis / galea

The helmet of the thraex is quite similar to that of the hoplomachus, but there is one important difference. As can been seen on Fig. ❷, the crest ends in a griffon’s head. The style of this helmet evolved throughout the Imperial period, but the evolution is similar to that of the murmillo’s helmet except for the crest (Click here for an image of the evolution or the murmillo's helmet).

It is believed that feathers were used instead of horsehair to crown the thraex’s crest [i].

☑　Parmula

Some statuettes [ii] show a thraex carrying a shield with straps similar to the shield used by the hoplomachus (and therefore also similar to the Greek aspis ἀσπίς), but this is rare.

Fig. ❸ Bronze statuette of a thraex pushing his parmula forward with his sica ready to strike at his right hip. Gladiator exhibition ("Gladiatoren: Helden van het Colosseum"), Gallo-Romeins Museum, Tongeren (Belgium).

Usually, thraeces are depicted with a parmula ("small shield") that looks a lot like the much larger semi-cyllindrical scutum, but without an umbo (shield boss) in the middle (Fig. ❸). Modern re-enactors tend to give this type of shield a vertical centre grip [iii], but the evidence for this is not conclusive as far as the author is aware.

Some statuettes like the ones on Fig. ❹&❺ may be depicting a vertical grip, but it is not even clear if these are in fact depictions of thraeces as the sword is rather straight and helmet’s crest is missing on the statuette in Fig. ❹ and the statuette's head is completely missing on Fig. ❺.This oil lamp [iv] also shows the back of the parmula, but the lack of detail makes it hard to determine how the shield is being gripped.

Fig. ❹ Bronze statuette of a thraex pushing his parmula forward, exposing what might be a vertical centre grip. The griffon's head is missing and the sword looks rather straight, so it is difficult to identify him with certainty. Getty Villa, Los Angeles (USA).

Fig. ❺ Bronze statuette of a murmillo (left) and a defeated thraex (right) down on the ground, exposing what might be a vertical centre grip. The thraex's head is missing, so it is difficult to identify him with certainty. Gladiator exhibition ("Gladiatoren: Helden van het Colosseum"), Gallo-Romeins Museum, Tongeren (Belgium).

Whether it had a horizontal grip or a vertical grip, it clearly had a centre grip. The comparatively light weight of the shield enabled the thraex to move it to the position where it was needed in a quick manner. This makes him considerably more agile and mobile than scutarii.

 

Fig. ❻ Roman oil lamp depicting a thraex (right) stretchting his shield arm towards a murmillo (right). Gladiator exhibition ("Gladiatoren: Helden van het Colosseum"), Gallo-Romeins Museum, Tongeren (Belgium).

As shown on these oil lamp (Fig. ❻ and [v], he could stretch out the arm in which he was carrying the shield towards his adversary to create distance, but also to intercept thrusts and slashed before they gained momentum. Using the much heavier scutum in this manner would put a great deal of strain on the left arm.

The most remarkable part of the thraex’s equipment, is his curved sword called a “sica”.
Some of these swords just curve upwards gently [vi], but most depictions show a sica that curves upwards quite abruptly in a more or less 45 degree angle (Fig. ❸&❼).

This weapon is similar to the swords that were used by Dacian and Thracian [vii] warriors. The large Dacian ones are called falces (singular: falx).

Fig. ❼ Thraex named Araxios, 200-300 CE, Akhisar, Turkey. Gladiator exhibition ("Gladiatoren: Helden van het Colosseum"), Gallo-Romeins Museum, Tongeren (Belgium).

Opponents

The thraex is most often depicted fighting the heavily armed murmillo (Fig. ❶).

The thraex on the one hand is agile, but vulnerable and the murmillo on the other hand, is slow but well protected, which makes for an interesting dynamic.

If the thraex managed to use his superior speed and the angle of his sword to his advantage, he could get around the murmillo’s scutum, but if his attack was too predictable, it must have been easy for the murmillo to counter and try and strike at a part of the thraex’s torso that became exposed during the his attack.

Another combination is that of a thraex versus a hoplomachus [viii], but this appears to have decreased in popularity as time went by as most depictions are quite early.

At least one relief has survived on which a match between two thraeces seems to be depicted [vi].

Fig. ❽ Thraex versus Murmillo

 

Fig. ❾ Thraex versus Hoplomachus

 

Fig. ❿ Thraex versus thraex

References:[i] Nossov, Konstantin (2011) Gladiator: The Complete Guide to Ancient Rome's Bloody Fighters. Rowman & Littlefield: p87.]
[ii] Alan. "Figurine of a Thracian type gladiator. British Museum.". Flickr.com. https://www.flickr.com/photos/kaptainkobold/58133843/in/gallery-40060535@N05-72157627351464811/ (accessed September 23, 2016).
[iii] Gladiatorenschule AMOR MORTIS. "Trainingskampf Murmillo - Thraex | AMOR MORTIS". YouTube.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGhUakVJ7-w (accessed September 23, 2016).
[iv] "Lamp with a gladiator Roman, Imperial Period, A.D. 50–100"  from MFA Boston, available from Jeremy Aronson on pinterest.com. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/19281104630148832/ (accessed September 23, 2016).

[v] oomegamann. "Gladiatoren Tonlampe Murmillo Thraex". Flickr.com. https://www.flickr.com/photos/40060535@N05/4299333823/ (accessed on September 23, 2016).
[vi] I. Sh. "Base of a statue with a depiction of training of gladiators. Marble. Late 1st — early 2nd cent. CE. Inv. No. 1915. Patras, New Archaeological Museum". Ancientrome.ru. http://ancientrome.ru/art/artworken/img.htm?id=5964#sel=2:1,3:3 (accessed September 23, 2016).

[vii] Nossov, Konstantin (2011) Gladiator: The Complete Guide to Ancient Rome's Bloody Fighters. Rowman & Littlefield: p100, 174.Steff. "Pottery fragment depicting the Thraex or Thracian gladiator (left), fighting a hoplomachus". wikipedia.org. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inaugural_games_of_the_Flavian_Amphitheatre#/media/File:Greek_pottery_2.jpg (accessed September 23, 2016).]