A later variant of the helmet worn by the Thraex, the brim flares over the forehead rather than being horizontal. The visor, with its distinctive eye gratings, was hinged and opened at the front. There are sockets on the side for feathers and the angular crest, which is vaguely reminiscent of a fish's fin, could be decorated with a plume of horse hair.
Originally, the retiarius was matched against the murmillo (or myrmillo), whose name derives from the representation of a fish, the morimylos, which adorned his helmet. A retiarius is quoted as calling after his opponent: "It's not you I'm after, it's your fish; why are you avoiding me, you Gaul?" (One does wonder, if the purpose of the secutor's unadorned helmet was to deflect the trident of the retiarius, what the rationale was for the elaborately embossed design and vulnerable eye gratings of the murmillo's helmet.)
This example from Pompeii is in the British Museum.
Reference: "Familia Gladiatoria: The Heroes of the Amphitheater" by Marcus Junkelman, in Gladiators and Caesars (2000) edited by Eckart Köhne and Cornelia Ewigleben; Das Spiel mit dem Tod: So Kämpften Roms Gladiatoren (2000) by Marcus Junkelmann; Pompeii: AD 79 (1978) by John Ward-Perkins and Amanda Claridge; Cruelty and Civilization: The Roman Games (1972) by Roland Auguet.
