An Ancient Roman Gladiator School Was Discovered In Austria, And At Least 80 Gladiators Lived There In Prison-Like Cells
In 2014, an ancient gladiator school was discovered in Austria. It was complete with cell blocks, a bath complex, and a training area.
The buried remains of the school were found at the site of Carnuntum, which is located outside of Vienna. The gladiator school was hidden beneath a pasture and was detected through non-invasive remote-sensing techniques.
Researchers were able to reconstruct the gladiator center in virtual three-dimensional models. The discovery provides a clear look into the lives that these warriors led in the Roman Empire during the 2nd century A.D.
“It was a prison; they were prisoners,” said Wolfgang Neubauer, the lead author of the study and an archaeologist at Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology. “They lived in cells, in a fortress with only one gate out.”
The gladiator school covered 30,138 square feet and consisted of two stories. The complex was arranged around a central courtyard. The site also included baths, infirmaries, plumbing, heated floors for training in the winter, and a graveyard.
“The most prominent feature inside the courtyard is a free-standing circular structure 19 m [62 feet] in diameter, which could be interpreted as the training area for the gladiators,” wrote the study authors.
At least 80 gladiators lived there. They were kept separate from the town of Carnuntum, which was founded on the south bank of the Danube River in A.D. 124 by Emperor Hadrian.
They slept in 32-square-foot cells with one or two people. The cells were in a different area from a wing that held bigger rooms.
The more spacious chambers were reserved for the highest-ranking gladiators or their trainers, many of whom were retired gladiators who survived combat.
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The layout showed that they were housed and trained the same way as gladiators in the metropolis of Rome. It was every man for himself, with each gladiator focusing on their own training.
For over 100 years, archaeologists have been studying Carnuntum. Previous excavations at the site have revealed parts of the ancient town, a fortress, and an amphitheater.
Even though more than 100 gladiator schools were constructed throughout the Roman Empire, the only known remnants are in Rome, Carnuntum, and Pompeii.
The researchers found the outline of the Carnuntum gladiator school using non-invasive techniques like ground-penetrating radar, aerial photography, and magnetometer surveys. They also used an electromagnetic induction sensor attached to a four-wheeler ATV to analyze the area.
The method allowed the researchers to transmit an electromagnetic field and create electric currents in the soil to reveal the location of any hidden bricks. Then, they built a three-dimensional model to demonstrate what the site looked like in ancient times.
The details of the study were published in the journal Antiquity.
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