Scissor (gladiator type)

The Scissor (pl. scissoris) was a type of Roman gladiator about which almost nothing beyond the name, meaning "cutter, cleaver, render" (from scindo, cf. "schism") is known.

The Scissor in popular culture

German historian and experimental archeologist Marcus Junkelmann has propagated an idea, based on an unlabeled, unclear image that he decided might be a scissor, that this type of gladiator fought using a weapon consisting of a hardened steel tube that encased the gladiator's entire forearm, with the hand end capped off and a semicircular blade attached to it. A handle inside the tube might have allowed the gladiator to maintain control in the heat of battle. This weapon might have been both deadly and versatile; the gladiator could use his protected arm to block his opponent's blows and quickly counterattack, the shape of the blade being such that even slight contact could cause a serious wound.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ * Marcus Junkelmann, Das Spiel mit dem Tod. So kämpften Roms Gladiatoren. Mainz am Rhein, 2000, ISBN 3-8053-2563-0.