"There was another exhibition that was at once most disgraceful and most shocking, when men and women not only of the equestrian but even of the senatorial order appeared as performers in the orchestra, in the Circus, and in the hunting-theatre [Colosseum], like those who are held in lowest esteem. Some of them played the flute and danced in pantomimes or acted in tragedies and comedies or sang to the lyre; they drove horses, killed wild beasts and fought as gladiators, some willingly and some sore against their will."
Cassio Dio, Roman History (LXII.17.3)
The scandalous events described above, including an elephant walking on a tightrope, were provided by Nero in honor of his mother, whom he had murdered (as well as his first and second wife, and his step-sister and step-brother). In recounting the Neronian games, Tacitus, relates, too, that "Many ladies of distinction, however, and senators, disgraced themselves by appearing in the amphitheatre" (Annals, XV.32). Later, in entertaining the king of Armenia, Nero gave a gladiatorial exhibition in which Ethiopians appeared, both men, women, and children (Dio, LXIII.3.1). And Petronius, who Nero forced to commit suicide, speaks of a woman who was to fight from a chariot in the manner of essedarii (Satyricon, XLV).
Increasingly elaborate displays were hosted by Titus in the dedication of the Colosseum and baths. "There was a battle between cranes and also between four elephants; animals both tame and wild were slain to the number of nine thousand; and women (not those of any prominence, however) took part in despatching them" (Dio, LXVI.25.1). Martial, whose Spectacles were written to celebrate the inauguration of the amphitheater in AD 80, also speaks of women fighting in the arena, "It is not enough that warrior Mars serves you in unconquered arms, Caesar. Venus herself serves you too" (VII), and as venationes, "Illustrious Fame used to sing of the lion laid low in Nemea's spacious vale, Hercules' work. Let ancient testimony be silent, for after your shows, Caesar, we now have seen such things done by a women's valor" (VIII). Domitian, the younger brother of Titus, who succeeded him the following year, is explicitly said to have presented women as gladiators. He "gave hunts of wild beasts, gladiatorial shows at night by the light of torches, and not only combats between men but between women as well" (Suetonius, IV.1) and "sometimes he would pit dwarfs and women against each other" (Dio, LXVII.8.4). Juvenal, a contemporary of Martial (XII.18), is especially critical of women from distinguished and illustrious families disgracing themselves in the arena or, for that matter, being enamored of gladiators and prizing them above home and country (VI. 82ff).
"What sense of shame can be found in a woman wearing a helmet, who shuns femininity and loves brute force....If an auction is held of your wife's effects, how proud you will be of her belt and arm-pads and plumes, and her half-length left-leg shin-guard! Or, if instead, she prefers a different form of combat [as a Thraex, both of whose legs were protected], how pleased you'll be when the girl of your heart sells off her greaves!....Hear her grunt while she practises thrusts as shown by the trainer, wilting under the weight of the helmet..." (Satires, VI.252ff).
The desire for excitement and notoriety was such that several edicts were enacted to limit the participation of women in the arena, at least those who were not slaves or of low social status. Senators (but not equites) first were prohibited from fighting in the arena in 46 BC, when one had desired to compete as part of the games accompanying the dedication of Caesar's new forum (Dio, XLIII.23.5; Suetonius, XXXIX). There was another ban in 38 BC prohibiting senators (and their sons) from fighting as a gladiator (and appearing on stage) (Dio, XLVIII.43.3). In 22 BC, even the grandsons of senators could not appear on stage (Dio, LIV.2.5; Suetonius, Augustus XLIII.3). Performances in the arena were even more scandalous and must have been banned, as well. Women, given their appearance on the stage, also were included for the first time. But this senatus consultum (senatorial decree) seems to have been ineffectual. Aristocratic women and equites continued to appear on stage and the ban was lifted (Dio, LVI.25.7). In AD 11, a SC declared that "no female of free birth of less than twenty years of age and for no male of free birth of less than twenty-five years of age to pledge himself as a gladiator or hire out his services <for the arena or stage>," a ban reiterated in AD 19.
When Caligula came to the throne in AD 37, these prohibitions were of no significance. "He caused great numbers of men to fight as gladiators, forcing them to contend both singly and in groups drawn up in a kind of battle array. He had asked permission of the senate to do this, so that he was able to do anything he wished even contrary to what was provided by law" (Dio, LIX.10.1-2).
The marble relief above is from Halicarnassus in Turkey and dates from the second century AD. Now in the British Museum, it depicts two women, Amazon and Achillia, fighting as gladiators. The Greek declares them missae sunt, that they both have received missio and been granted a reprieve from this particular contest.
Although heavily armed in the manner of the secutor, with greaves and the right arm protected and carrying a large oblong shield, the heads of the women are bare (as are their breasts). The absence of helmets is a curious omission and may be due simply to the desire to see the faces of the combatants, given the rarity of such encounters and how evenly matched were the protagonists. Coleman, however, suggests that the two round objects on either side of the names represent, not spectators, but helmets, signifying that each gladiatrix has qualified for missio.
Achilles is said to have killed and then fallen in love with Penthesilea (Penthesileia), queen of the Amazons (Smyrnaeus, I.843ff), her beauty conquering the conqueror (Propertius, Elegies III.11). The names, therefore, seem especially appropriate and one wonders if they were chosen deliberately.
References: "Missio at Halicarnassus" (2000) by Kathleen Coleman, in Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, 100, 487-500; "The Senatus Consultum from Larinum" (1983) by Barbara Levick, in The Journal of Roman Studies, 73, 97-115; Quintus Smyrnaeus: The Fall of Troy (1913) translated by A. S. Way (Loeb Classical Library); Juvenal: The Satires (1991) translated by Niall Rudd.
