‘Proof of celebrity status of gladiators in UK’ coming to Hadrian’s Wall

A weapon grip featuring a gladiator volition spell connected show astatine Hadrian’s Wall successful England aft being discovered by 2 divers.

The handle, which is astir 2,000 years old, was discovered successful the River Tyne adjacent Corbridge successful Northumberland, and is thought to person been bought arsenic a souvenir.

English Heritage said: “It provides caller impervious that gladiators’ personage presumption extended to the precise borderline of the Roman empire.”

The fig of the secutor, a gladiator class, features a helmet and shield and is made of copper alloy.

It is perchance based connected a real-life fighter, arsenic helium is shown to beryllium left-handed, which historians judge would person been considered unlucky astatine the time.

Dr Frances McIntosh, English Heritage’s collections curator for Hadrian’s Wall and the North East, told the PA quality bureau the weapon was discovered successful the 1990s adjacent the Corbridge Roman tract by 2 divers, and has ne'er been enactment connected show before.

She said the weapon grip “was truly rather spectacular” and could beryllium an illustration of “fan memorabilia”.

Dr McIntosh added: “It’s not conscionable a generic idiosyncratic truthful that’s truly breathtaking arsenic well, to person a circumstantial idiosyncratic perchance represented, which means that the idiosyncratic who owns that weapon has made that truly purposeful determination to committee and get that weapon grip made of a gladiator they are a instrumentality of.”

She besides said that it is “not conscionable the colosseum successful Rome”, depicted successful the movie Gladiator and its sequel Gladiator II, released connected Friday successful the UK, that held fights successful beforehand of spectators, and determination were examples of astatine “least 12 amphitheatres wherever gladiatorial combat was held successful Britain”.

Dr McIntosh said: “Anything that benignant of puts the past successful the nationalist oculus and makes them deliberation that it could beryllium truly exciting, could lone beryllium bully for practice sites.

“And for benignant of knowing the past, due to the fact that if it gets radical excited, adjacent if it’s not historically accurate, past it means that they mightiness travel and sojourn a depository oregon person a look connected English Heritage web leafage to find retired immoderate information, oregon spell to their section depository to find retired astir the facts.”

Aside from those sites already found, she said, determination could person been travelling gladiator teams putting connected bouts passim the country, including astatine Hadrian’s Wall, which was built to support against the Picts of Scotland.

English Heritage volition show the weapon astatine Corbridge Roman Town successful 2025, alongside different finds from the River Tyne.

Gladiator II, the hotly anticipated 2nd movie successful the series, directed by Sir Ridley Scott, stars Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Connie Nielsen and Pedro Pascal.