The Gladiatrix - The Roman gladiators that were women [View all]

The Gladiatrix were the female equivalent of the Roman Gladiator, that fought other Gladiatrix or wild animals during rare occurrences in arena games and festivals.

There are no defining Latin words from the Roman period for a Gladiatrix (a modern invention), and documented accounts or historical evidence is limited.

To the Romans, combat involving Gladiatrix was a novel event (although contemporary accounts often report in a derogatory manner), in which the combatant would most likely be pitted against fighters of similar skill and capacity.

According to the Roman poet, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, the Gladiatrix trained for gladiatura using the same training methods and weapons as men, however, there is no surviving accounts of a ludus (gladiator school) that performed such training for the female gender.

Juvenalis also implies that women of all classes, both high class (feminae), and common women (mulieres) trained in gladiatura, but it seems unlikely that a feminae would fight in the arena due to the stigma attached.

Roman society rarely cared about the actions of a mulieres, so appearing on stage as a performer (ludi), or in the arena would have little social scorn, or unlikely to bring one’s family into disrepute.

More:
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2021/07/the-gladiatrix-the-roman-gladiators-that-were-women/139803