Laquearius

Overview

The laquearius is one of the most rarely mentioned, partly disputed types of the Roman arena. It took its name from laqueus ("loop, noose, lasso"): his main weapon was a lasso twisted from leather or strong rope, which he tried to loop around his opponent's neck or limbs. As a secondary weapon he wielded a hasta (spear). In contrast to the net-and-trident equipment of the retiarius, then, we are dealing with a lightened, "lasso-and-spear" variant.

Historical accuracy and our shows

The shows of the Collegium Gladiatorium evoke the post-Augustan AD 150–200 period (the Antonine to early Severan age). The laquearius:

• Its definition by name is given by a single explicit ancient text: Isidore, Etymologiae XVIII.56 — but this is 7th century AD, and therefore of only indirect value for imperial-era arena practice.
• On the inscribed familia gladiatoria lists of the 1st–3rd centuries AD (e.g. the Pompeii Ludus, the Venosa stelae) no fighter designated laquearius clearly appears.
• Its modern reconstructions (Junkelmann, Köhne–Ewigleben) transfer the protective gear of the retiarius (galerus, manica) onto it — this cannot be verified against any direct laquearius find.

For this reason the type can feature in our shows as a rare curiosity, as a lightened throwing-weapon form set alongside the retiarius — always with the note that the contemporary sources are meagre and that the details are largely reconstructions.

Weapons

• Laqueus — a lasso twisted from leather or strong rope. The counterpart of the net, but far harder to handle: it is effective only through a loop-throw, and after a single miss it is more cumbersome to draw back and reuse.
• Hasta — a man-height thrusting spear as a secondary weapon. According to the Collegium's armoury tradition and Junkelmann's reconstruction, a spear accompanies the noose fighter.
• Pugio — a close-combat backup dagger (reconstruction; not tied to any direct laquearius find).

Protective gear

• Galerus — a bronze or leather shoulder guard on the left shoulder, c. 30–35 cm, with an upward-flaring rim. The three inscribed examples from the Pompeii Ludus can be linked to the retiarius; in the case of the laquearius the same protective piece is assumed.
• Manica — a textile / leather / metal-scale arm guard drawn onto the left arm.
• Balteus and subligaculum.
• No helmet — like the retiarius; this is one of the identifying marks of the type.

Typical opponent

The ancient sources do not record it clearly. Modern scholarship generally pairs him with the secutor or the murmillo, on the basis of the analogy with the retiarius — that is, with a larger-shielded, helmeted, less mobile opponent, against whom the loop-and-spear combination of keeping-at-a-distance and attacking makes sense.

The ancient sources (very few)

• Isidore of Seville, Etymologiae XVIII.56 — mentions the laquearii explicitly: they brought down their opponent with a lasso (laqueo). This is the only explicit textual definition by name from antiquity, but it is late-antique (7th century AD).
• Juvenal, Saturae II and VIII — in his satires of the retiarius tunicatus, some philologists have seen a reference to the laquearius as well. Juvenal himself, however, does not use the word laquearius.
• The gladiatorial passages of the Historia Augusta do not name the type; the "lasso" references attached to it are usually philological inferences.

Disputed elements

• Whether the laquearius was an independent armatura, or merely a rare, regional variant of the retiarius.
• Its geographical distribution — because of the scarcity of the sources it cannot be decided in which provinces it may have performed regularly.
• The exact make of the lasso (leather vs. hemp, length, perhaps a lead weight at the end) is, without a direct find, entirely reconstruction.
• The proportions in which the visual sources belonging to the retiarius should be reclassified — that is, how many "retiarius" figures might have to be reinterpreted as laquearius — are disputed.