A 2,000-year-old Roman gladiator knife handle—evidence of the star power of gladiators in ancient Britain—will go on show next year at the Corbridge Roman Town site on Hadrian’s Wall, UK. The discovery was announced by the conservation organisation English Heritage to coincide with the release of the blockbuster film Gladiator II, starring Paul Mescal.
The handle, made of copper alloy, depicts a secutor gladiator with helmet and shield—the secutor is the “chaser” gladiator who pursued opponents in the amphitheatres of Rome. The object is testament to how pervasive gladiator celebrity culture was, reaching all the way to Hadrian’s Wall at the very edge of the Roman Empire, says Frances McIntosh, English Heritage’s collections curator for Hadrian’s Wall and the North East (UK), in a statement.
“Gladiators and the ‘spectacles’ were an integral part of Roman cultural life, taking place all across the Roman Empire. The phenomenon inspired the creation of sporting memorabilia, such as decorated ceramics and glass cups, lamps and figurines,” she adds.
“[The knife handle] was found several years ago by two divers in the River Tyne next to Corbridge Roman Town. One of the divers has since passed away; the other diver kept the knife handle in his private collection and has just recently made English Heritage aware of it,” says a spokesperson for English Heritage.
“He will be lending it to English Heritage, along with some other Roman objects he found in the river, for an exhibition next summer, so it will go on display then.”
English Heritage has built up an extensive collection of “gladiator memorabilia” including a Samian bowl found at Richborough Roman fort and amphitheatre in Kent, which shows various fight scenes including a victorious gladiator standing with his defeated opponent kneeling before him.