Were there ever any Jewish gladiators?

Off topic but based Murmillo

just based, murmillo, that is all.

>>304548
I'd be comfortable being anything other than the retiarius tb.h, from my understanding deaths were actually pretty rare but the odds are definitely greater being that much more exposed

>>304584
Was the net actually useful, like, at all?

>>304736
If you got wrapped in it, definitely

But I feel like that once you throw it its done, whether they dodge it or tear it (if that's possible) they're more open, a shield aside from offering greater protection, will continue to serve you in the fight.

>>304584
I like retarius because tridents are cool.
Plus the single arm pauldron

>>304542

There were, and in fact Rabbi Simon Ben Lakish (a fairly prominent Amorah era rabbi) did a stint in the arenas before he became famous for his scholarship and is talked about in the Gemara (gittin 47a)


I remember reading somewhere that Jewish gladiators weren't considered very good, but I don't remember where or how reliable said source might have been.

Was there ever a consensus on which gladiator type was the most successful? I've always assumed it was murmillo.

>>304764
>I remember reading somewhere that Jewish gladiators weren't considered very good

So the Jews have been unathletic fucks since antiquity?

>>304756
Yeah, single shoulder pauldrons gave me a hard on because of fantasy games

>>304796
Jews actually dominated the basketball scene until the mid twentieth century when blacks showed up.

>>304796
Never forget Barney Ross

also bill Goldberg, the only man to make Brock lesnar shit himself, was a yid

>>304796

Not really, and especially because in a more professional military context, the Romans generally thought of the Jews as pretty tough: It took literally half of the Empire's legions to put down the Bar Kokhba revolt (and quite a few of them came back mauled or didn't come back at all), Titus's second in command during the Jewish revolt of 66-70 was himself Jewish, and Jews in the legions were generally regarded as good soldiers.

>>304837
>Jews in legions

What? How? We're they forced? I feel like that was a more grievous offense than breaking the sabbath to them.

>>304840
There were Jews in Wehrmacht too

>>304840
Even tho they were exempt from conscription a good amount were loyal to Rome. They would have most likely joined a Assyrian or Greek speaking legion

I've read somewhere (wikipedia) that some of the helmets were designed deliberately to reduce airflow and vision of the user. This was a way of "nerfing" the strongly armed gladiators, with less air they were faster exhausted and with the small vision slits they had low periferal vision, their best bet was to end the fight fast lest a more agile fighter like the retiarius would outlast them. It wasn't unsual for a gladiator to collapse from exhaustion in the arena.

>>304841
That was out of survival though
>>304851
Must've been those Sadducees bastards.

File: scout x.jpg (77KB, 553x720px) Image search: [Google]

77KB, 553x720px

How would we make gladiator fights that incorporate firearms? Would that even be possible? What would the arena look like, and what "classes" would there be?

>>304865
solution: they both fire in the same direction and the winner is based on the more accurate and precise shooter

>>304840

I know there was one example of conscription in the reign of Tiberius, from a Jewish community in Sardinia, but for the most part, they seemed to be volunteers.


>>304858

Or just hellenized Jews. A lot of the Jews we know about in the Roman military used Greek names. Titus's second in command was known as "Tiberius Julius Alexander".

>>304865
There should be heavy body armor used, and only .22 lr incorporated.

>>304858
Joining the Roman army meant stability too. During Pax Romana you were guaranteed food, water, clothing, housing, and pay. Also retirement from the army meant a higher social status and land. This was very appealing to a unstable life of someone from a area of constant war.
A problem they would probably face would be citizenship. You had to be loyal to the emperor in order to maintain citizenship. Jews were loyal to the country but when they were asked to view the emperor as godlike that would have been to much. This meant that without citizenship they couldn't join the actual army. Their were probably more Jews in the auxiliaries than in the actual legions. If you retired as an auxiliary they would probably overlook your previous views and give you citizenship tho

>>304872
I'm probably mixing up time periods here, but I thought the whole hellenized stuff ended after the Maccabees took over.

>>304874
kek, that might actually work
>lightly armored guy with ruger 10/22
>medium armored dude (give him a flack jacket and a helmet) with a bolt action .22
>heavily armored guy (full riot gear) with a single shot .22 pistol

>>304890
We should get /k/ on board

>>304879

Not really. I mean, the Maccabees themselves were pretty anti-hellenization, but you still had a huge and pervasive culture surrounding Israel/Judea, and you had lots of people who would rather do things like go to orgies and watch the arena fights than hang around with rabbis all the time.


Jewish assimilation isn't really anything new, and it's not a surprise really that there were a bunch of people who felt the pull of Roman/Greek culture.

>>304899
Interesting, I thought the nation was pretty static in terms of culture (minus religious differences obviously)

>>304910

If you ever get a chance, go check out the Jewish catacombs in Rome. You see a lot of weird iconography all over the place, an almost random mish-mash of imagery. There's one that I recall, a very obvious Hermes/Mercury, with the prominent sandals and the staff, kneeling before a burning bush.

>>304910
The North was pretty Hellenized. Alexander era Jews were pretty pro Greek because Le Persians. The problem with Rome was Centralized Government. Alexander gave A SHIT TON of autonomy to his conquered people and peacefully encouraged civilization. Romans were more "my way or the highway"

>>304841
Only people who were technically Jewish due to maternal descent, really.

>>304921
>>304924

It's actually very interesting you mention that, I went to Italy last December. Jewish studies really fascinate me but I must admit Ive just scratched the surface of it.

>>304897
get them on board, I'll call it in

>>304933
I'm a former jew and memes asside it's interesting as fuck. The sects go apeshit. There is also a tribe in south Africa that migrated from Palestine during the Roman era

>>304943
Sauce? Sounds strikingly like a we wuz kings meme

There were gladiators from everywhere.

The best and most famous ones were overwhelmingly Gauls though, at least in late Republic times.

>>304947
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemba_people

>A Y-DNA genetic study in 1996 of 49 Lemba males suggested that more than 50% of the Lemba Y-chromosomes are West Asian in origin, and shared by both Arabs and Jews.

>>304962
Wowzers

Are there any surviving accounts of actual Gladiators and their personalities?
I know most Gladiators wouldn't die in actual battles due to being big money makers, so I always imagined them as a roman era WWE

I'd love to see a Gladiator movie with pro-wrestler personalities and gimmicks. Just imagine Roman Macho man Randy Savage versus Roman Hulk Hogan

>>304981
Apparently they were given large amounts of respect and praise comparable to modern athletes. I wonder if there were any scandals comparable to modern athletes.

> "Did you hear that Cornelivs likes to pray to Persia gods"?
Boom. Instant scandal

>>304943
>former Jew
How does that even work?

>>304831
>Brock lesnar
You mean an actor?

>>305064
It doesn't. Judaism is (at least, in the Orthodox/Conservative traditions) passed down through the mother and remains in the lineage, even if one converts.

>>305064
>>305212

>this meme

Yeah, you're still ethnically Jewish, but if you don't put any stake in that identity and don't care about obeying the religion, culture, or tradition, then you're not Jewish in any meaningful way.

>>304865
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. arena was pretty cool

I don't know of any gladiators, though there were some well known Jewish boxers when boxing was still done in muddy streets surrounded by disgusting peasants.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Mendoza

HOP is OP
pls nerf

>>304865

Like paintball but everyone uses simmunition and type IV armor rating.

It'd be better to just keep the swords though.

>>305212
>>305227
This

I'm minutely, ethnically Ashkenazi Jewish, and so I can say "I'm part Jewish" but not a practitioner of the religion.

>>306241
+1