Aug 3, 2022
Among Ancient
Romans, bestiarii (singular bestiarius)
were those who went into combat with beasts, or were exposed to
them. It is conventional[1] to
distinguish two categories of bestiarii: the first
were those condemned to death via the beasts
(see damnatio ad
bestias) and the second were those who faced them
voluntarily, for pay or glory (see venatio).[2] The
latter are sometimes erroneously called gladiators; to
their contemporaries, however, the
term gladiator referred specifically to one who
fought other men. The contemporary term for those who made a career
out of participating in arena "hunts" was venatores.
Content Warning: Cruelty to animals.
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