GLADIATORS, BEYOND THE STEREOTYPES
Everyone knows the Murmillo; nobody knows, however, that there were three myrmillonic armours… even more before Caligula. How many types of Thraex are there? Not just one… as you think.
From 12 December 2023 to 7 January 2024, at the prestigious headquarters of the Archaeological Museum of Bergamo in Piazza della Cittadella di Città Alta, there will be a small but complete exhibition on the gladiators’ world. Curator of the event the President of Ars Dimicandi, Dario Battaglia, in collaboration with the Director of the Museum Dr.ssa Stefania Casini and with the patronage of the City of Bergamo. Special thanks to the Assessore of Culture Nadia Ghisalberti.
Special thanks also to Dr.ssa Federica Rinaldi, Official archaeologist of the Archaeological Park of the Colosseum in Rome, for the frequent conversations and exchanges of ideas on around the theme of gladiatura and the improvements on content of this event.
The exhibition will show six reconstructions of armor in order to disprove a series of errors that have dragged for decades on the naming of gladiatorial categories. Armors combined with reproductions of frescoes, mosaics and literary quotes, reveal the origins of the phenomenon and its ritual function linked to funerals and a “non-mortal” blood sacrifice.
“We hope it will be the beginning of a long collaboration with the Museum…” says President Dario Battaglia, “… so that year after year we can explore the countless themes related to the gladiatorial universe. On the other hand, this was one of the most engaging, mysterious and controversial phenomena that crossed the Roman Civilization”.
With the exhibition in Bergamo, Ars Dimicandi inaugurates a long cycle of events that in 2024 will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the association, born in Bergamo in 1994.