Touring Exhibition Offers Look at Gladiatorial Combat in Roman Britain

Photo Credit: Geoff Moore / The Travel Trunk

A special touring exhibition dedicated to Roman gladiator combat, supported by the British Museum, has opened in Dorchester, Dorset. The Dorset Museum & Art Gallery will have some rare artifacts of national importance on display from museums around the United Kingdom until May 11, 2025.

Roman-era restraints. (Photo Credit: Geoff Moore / The Travel Trunk)

The exceptionally rare gladiator’s Hawkedon Helmet, the only confirmed gladiatorial armor ever found in Roman Britain, forms part of the display, along with another striking item: the Colchester Vase. This is regarded as one of the very best preserved pots of local origin from that period, with it dated to around 175 AD.

On loan from Colchester Museums and made from local clay, it was found in 1853 containing ashes and was donated to the local museum.

The vase has several scenes around it, including gladiatorial combat, an animal hunting scene and an animal-on-animal fight. The gladiatorial combat is between two men: Memnon and Valentinus, a member of Legio XXX Ulpia Victris. Memnon is recorded on the pot as being victor “VIIII,” meaning he won nine fights.

His likely stage name means he could have been of African descent, being named after an Ethiopian King.

Hawkedon Helmet. (Photo Credit: Geoff Moore / The Travel Trunk)

Dorchester – or Durnovaria, as it was known under Roman rule – is one of very few towns in England to still have the remains of an amphitheater, now called Maumbury Rings. It would’ve been the place for entertainment in Roman times, but its history goes back much earlier than that.

It was a Neolithic henge, located to the south of Dorchester. This large circular earthwork measures 85 metres in diameter, with an earth bank and an entrance to the northeast section. Some two and a half thousand years later during the Roman occupation, it was modified into an amphitheater, probably with wooden tiered seating, for the citizens of Durnovaria.

Colchester Vase. (Photo Credit: Geoff Moore / The Travel Trunk)

Many more items from that period form part of the exhibition, with one item specifically recreated for this tour: a copy of a face mask.

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At the Dorset Museum & Art Gallery, you can also, in a separate hall, see some excellent examples of Roman mosaic flooring that were found in the area. Two large sections, excavated from two houses in Dorchester during the early 1900s and relaid within the museum, can still be seen in the Victorian Hall.

These artifacts, along with others, reveal the violent spectacles that entertained the public and also underscore the significance of gladiators in Roman Period culture.

Events that still capture the public imagination today regarding the Romans are often of the amphitheater, the wild beasts and the enslaved fighters. This touring exhibition brings together some of England’s most important gladiator-related objects and relics to tell the story of Roman Britain’s entertainment venues, while connecting people to those who died to the roar of the crowd.

One of two large floor mosaics on display at the Dorset Museum & Art Gallery. (Photo Credit: Geoff Moore / The Travel Trunk)

The exhibition is organized by the British Museum Partnership Exhibition with Colchester/Ipswich Museums and delves into the lesser-known history of gladiatorial contests in Roman Britain. It will tour four UK venues, tracing the footsteps of the gladiators who once fought in Britain’s amphitheaters.

Over the next year and four months, it will tour from the south to the north of England, with the other dates as follows:

The former amphitheater that can still be seen today in Dorchester. (Photo Credit: Geoff Moore / The Travel Trunk)

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The touring exhibition will reveal the violence of the arena and the importance of spectacle within Roman culture.

Geoff Moore: An experienced writer and photographer who's been traveling the world for the last 30+ years. Before that, Geoff had a military background, having been trained as a photographer in the Royal Navy. Later, he went on to train members of Special Forces in then pre-digital photographic techniques. He continues to travel, and he's always on the lookout for travel, military and war history stories to write, photograph or video.
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