Scissor (gladiator)
 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (December 2013) |
The Scissor (pl. scissores) was a type of Roman gladiator. Very little is known about the gladiator besides the name, which means "cutter, cleaver, render" (from scindo). [citation needed]
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 the slightest touch could cause a serious wound.[1]
See also
References
- ^ Marcus Junkelmann, Das Spiel mit dem Tod. So kämpften Roms Gladiatoren. Mainz am Rhein, 2000, ISBN 3-8053-2563-0.