One step hotter... Imagine, for a moment, that you are surrounded by thousands of people speaking, screaming or shouting. Your feet are in the sand, a bright sun shines above you, really hot at noon. You have a strange sort of helmet on your head - you don't hear very well and you can't see everything. And moreover, another guy like you starts to strike heavily on your shield. A real nightmare...
For day 16, let's get a closer look at gladiators!
The man below is a Secutor (meaning 'follower' or 'chaser'). His equipment consists of a large shield, a gladius, and a characteristic helmet with two eye-holes. It is believed that this helmet was designed to make the Secutor the usual opponent of a Retiarius, armed with a trident: its shape would prevent the man from behing thrust in the face, and made him not easy do catch.
Emperor Commodus (2nd century AD) is known to have fought as a Secutor in the Coliseum in Rome.
This man is a Myrmillo. He wears a helmet with a huge dorsal fin, a large rectangular shield and a gladius. This crest is an evocation of the momylos, a sort of sea fish that gave his name to this sort of gladiator.
That's all for today, see you tomorrow for the next day of the calendar :)
