134 



E. J. SEWELL, ESQ.^ OX POMPEII. 



The combat was to be between Piignax equipped with Thraeian 

 weapons and armour, i.e., a small round shield and short curved 

 sword or dagger, against Murranus, a Mirmillo, a man who 

 fought with Gallic arms, and had as a crest to his helmet a fish. 

 On the left we see the letters v. p. m. added by the writer 

 as showing the result of the fight, r. stands for " vicit " — " he 

 was the winner " ; ^9. means " periit " — " he was killed," i.e., he 

 was either killed by his opponent in the contest, or else, being 

 beaten and not having su acquitted himself as to please the 

 spectators, was by them condemned to death by the gesture, 

 which has been made familiar to us, of turning the thumbs 

 down. m. stands for " missus est," i.e., the gladiator, though 

 beaten, had his life spared by the spectators, who in that case 

 turned their thumbs up.* 



In the second pair, Cycnus, in heavy armour, was pitted 

 against Atticus, who carried Thraeian arms, already described. 

 Tliey are described as " Juliani," which means that they were 

 from the training school founded by Juhus Cyesar. Cycnus won, 

 but the spectators spared the life of the defeated Atticus, possibly 

 on account of his fourteen previous contests, in most of which 

 he had probably been the victor. 



The last fight is particularly interesting to us. Both com- 

 batants were " essedarii," i.e., they fought in two-wheeled war- 

 chariots in British (or Gallic) costume. Scylax was, from his 

 name, no doubt a slave. But the name of his defeated opponent, 

 Publius Ostorius, shows that he was a freedman. He had fought 

 no fewer than fifty- one times before, so he was clearly a veteran 

 gladiator, and this may have been the reason why the spectators 

 did not give the death signal in his case. 



To my mind this is a very speaking relic of antiquity. It 

 represents such a card as many men to-day take with them to 

 athletic sports for the purpose of marking the winners' names 

 and entering the time in which a race was run, or the height or 

 length of a jump, etc. Only the matter in Pompeii was a series 

 of fights for life by living human beings in tlie prime of health 

 and strength, and the letters 2^ or m stood, in one case, for a new 

 lease of life, and in the other for the death on the spot of a man 

 with an immortal soul. 



And our holy religion put down tliis frightful crime. In spite 

 of its wide prevalence, in spite of tlie great popularity these 

 displays enjoyed, and the cruel lust for blood and excitement 



The same term — " missus — was used for a soldier who was allowed, 

 after completing an honourable service, to leave the army. 



