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Roman army training
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Message 1.Β
Posted by TonyG (U1830405) on Wednesday, 2nd May 2007
Just seen a documentary on TV which claimed that when Marius introduced his new training methods to the Roman army, he employed gladiators to teach the soldiers how to fight. I must admit that I had not heard this before. Can anyone confirm whether it is true? Did the practice continue afterwards, or was it just a one-off?
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Message 2
Posted by Anglo-Norman (U1965016) on Wednesday, 2nd May 2007
Never heard that, and I find it hard to believe; gladiators were trained to fight in a very flashy, showy style (a bit like stage fighting, really, except with real swords and blood
). The killing wasn't important (and indeed until the 2nd C AD the majority of combats weren't fatal). Legionaries, by contrast, were trained for a quick, clean kill. They were trained by the Optios (deputy centurions-cum-drill sergeants).
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