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.
[edit] 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]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ * Marcus Junkelmann, Das Spiel mit dem Tod. So kämpften Roms Gladiatoren. Mainz am Rhein, 2000, ISBN 3-8053-2563-0.
