LIVING HISTORY
BRITANNIAS
GLADIATORS IN
LONDINIIJM
DAN SHNNNRKE OF BruTENNIA DISCUSSES THE
SUCCESS OF THIS SUMMENS SELL-OUT GLADIATORIAL
SHOW IN LONDON,S GUIToUALL YRnn
Photos: Andy Pilkington (Wayland) and Mags Martin, Britannia
ln 1988, archaeologists lrom rne Tfl"'on ,r.',-
dr*r-made an incredible discovery that chanqed
our knowledge of &"^or..London At long last, the city's
only &r,-*@was located in Guildhall
Yard during an archaeological dig taking place in
preparation for the new Art Gallery building pro_1ecl
ritannia was invited to stage an event to
mark the opening of the art gallery and Ro
man amphitheatre. The Museum wanted
a gladiator show and approached us fol-
lowing our work on the Ridley Scott film
Gladiator. lnitially we were cautious, mainly because
gladiatorial reenactment was practically unheard of
and untested, compared to established reenactment
genres like the English Civil War or even Roman military
reconStruction.
Our first gladiator shows were staged on the site and
were a great success; these acted as a launch for our
Gladiatorial Spectacle. We have taken our hugely suc-
cessful show around Britain and also to ltaly. We have
been privileged to perForm in the amphitheatres at Caer-
leon and Chester as well as other historic sites. We have
twice staged our gladiatorial spectacle at the London
Guildhall on the excavated area and were honoured to
be asked to mark the anniversary of the opening. We
have gained a good list of filming credits to our name
,(
as a result of gladiatorial re€nactment; Slgl One's recent
historical drama Life and Death ln Rome, Battlefield De-
tectives, Channel 4's Secrets of the Dead: Gladiator Girl,
the comedy feature film Gladiatres, Gladiators: Back
from the Dead, and more recently Hoffible Histories
(where our fight at a Roman funeral was the opening
sketch of the first series).
After Britannia worked on Gladiatof we could tell
that there had been so much interest in the film that
there was obviously public demand to see more of this
type of action. Our sole purpose is to bring the true his-
tory and passion of the arena to life so that the public
can get as close as possible to the experience of gladi-
atorial combat in the arena. Since that first spectacle our
shows have been in great demand but we found our-
selves yearning for the atmosphere we had felt at the
site of our launch venue.
Coming home
After nearly a decade of touring with the show we
SKIRI\/ISH - LIVING H]SIORY 49
i: :r,::it,.ili.:tl't,lrriri.i,iitr:'

were flattered and thrilled to be asked back by the Mu-
seum of London for preliminary talksin 2009.
Head archaeologist Jenny Hall set up a meet,ng
with the promotional department and it was clear
from the client's brief thatahuge gladiator show, on a
larger scale than we'd done previously on the site, was
wanted. We were asked to provide a full gladiatorial
spectacle that covered every aspect of the games,just
as we had previously, but we were determined to pull
out all the stops for this event. We would provide the
gladiators, arena slaves, the lanistae for each ludus, the
officials of the arena, a ritual figure of Charon {ferryman
to the dead) and the Emperor and his entourage, not
to mention guards, musicians, Roman citizens, Roman
cooks, the priestesses of Fortuna, and rows of market
stalls and crafumen. ln shoft, the sort of lively and vivid
market scenes you'd be iikeiy to come across outside a
provincial Roman amphitheatre like Londinium's.
The lrrief was to fill the GuildhallYard with the sights,
sounds, tastes and smells of Roman London and we
had 18 months to do itl We knew it was vital to por-
tray an authentic interpretation of what life and death
was like for the gladiators
of Roman Britannia, not
to mention their baying
spectators, with the main
aim being the staging of a
complete Roman spectacle
asitwould have been 2000
years ago (or as close as it
gets without actual blood-
shed!).
Bearing in mind that
today's audience is just as
fond of variety as the an-
cient crowd. each of the
main differenttypes of glad-
iators had to be displayed in
the arena. lt was also important to avoid the stranger
'novelty' categories that create controversy and confu-
sion, such as the fully armoured 'crupellarius', which
was known only to Gaul, and then briefly. The client
stipulated a gladiatrix or two because despite being
a comparative rarity, they had caused such a stir and
been popular with the crowd in previous appearances.
ln this kind of situation, with the client wanting variety
and the 'exotic', we found ourselves rather unsurpris-
ingly having much in common with the lanistae, the
trainers who ran the gladiator schools and hired out
their'products'- the customer is always rightl
Challenges
We started work immediately. commissioning new
armour from some of the UK's top suppliers: Len Mor-
gan's fabrica, Armamentaria. Heron Armoury, John
Watson (shields) and Nodge Nolan. We invited Sally
Grainger (author of the Classical Cookbook, and Api-
ciusl to provide a cookery display to add authentic
Roman flavours and smells to the day, just as she had
done for us before. The Praecones Britanniae (headed
LIVING HISTCRY
by Valerie Marshall of Ancestral Instruments) were ap
proached to provide atmospheric music to enhance
the combats and the living history between shows
and we arranged for the Devil's Horsemen to provide
the chariot to deliver the Emperor into the Yard itself.
Further liaison with the Museum's marketing team,
event coordinators and Guildhall Yard representatives
were required and meetings ensued regarding health
and safety issues, seating plans, sketched maps, pre
jected views, changing facilities. logistics of set-up and
breakdown and of course, the burning question of the
most suitable fighting surtace! The surface of the Guild-
hall is white stone and black granite decoration. ln fact.
the outline of the original amphitheatre can be seen.
picked out on a large black granite oval. lt is lovely to
look at but prone to chipping and so, from a selfish
point of vieq this was an unforgiving and frankly ter-
rible surface on which to fight. Previously. rolls ofjute/
sisal had been used but not only were they poor sur-
faces for traction it was also a trip hazard - some of our
performers ended up with friction burnt not a typical
gladiatorial iryury by any meansl This time, we wanted
to achieve a better stand-
ard of authenticity and
go for the obvious choice:
sand. This would mean
the style of fighting would
more closely match that of
the original amphitheatre
and provide a much more
dramatic (and cushioned!)
arena - the Latin word
arena or harena meaning
sand, after all.
Setting up
After months of prepara-
tion, we finally reached the
moment of truth.
The company providing the banks of raised bleach-
er seats had been setting up since Thursday night and
had done a lovely job of incorporating the imperial
box thatwe had requested. We arrived early onFriday
morning.
A lot of issues had to be accommodated in one fell
swoop - the gap between seats and arena had to be
larger than previous occasions, our risk assessment
had to allow for fire engine access and to satisfr our
insurers' criteria, and health and safety dictated that a
sturdy barrier had to be in place at the edge of the are
na. This was wrapped in the ubiquitous and always
handy hessian, (fot as all reenactors know, hessian is
a cloaking device that renders everything anachronis-
tic invisible to the eyes of a modern audience). Once
the set was 'dressed'we were able to take delivery of
the sand and spread the huge pile over a three inch
layer.
The day had arrived - everyone that promised to
turn up did, our street of histoD/ was provided by the
Colchester Romans, the Taverna for the gladiators by
SKiRM]S-! L]V]NG i]]STORY 5I
 I
Debbie Wink of Armamentaria and a blacksmith (Dai
BathJ arrived from Wales.
Let the games begin
After rehearsals and safeqr briefings, we were ready
to gol The show opened with a blast of Roman trum-
pets and the clash of a huge cymbal (praecones Britan-
niaeJ, and the sound of rumbling chariot wheels her-
alded the approach of the Emperor. First into the yard
were the Batavians, a spectacularly dressed group of
advanced Roman armyscouts, then of course, the entry
of the Emperor in his chariot. This was an essential ele.
menf after all. what better editor could there be? (The
eminence paying for our enteftainment). Although it
was a departure from strictly accurate history, there
was a need to have a universal 'baddie'and Domitian,
the twisted and pathologically disturbed Emperor fitted
the bill. Encouraged in this choice by the clien! Domi-
tian has become a runaway success, a counterpoint to
the drama of the arena. purists may disapprove (there,s
no record of him ever visiting Britannia), but it gave the
pedect balance to the proceedings and enabled an ac-
companying imperial guard of several tough Roman
legionaries to impose the feeling that Rome was not so
far away.
The Emperors entourage - his secretaDi, wife, and
personal slaves were all present. The pulvinar, the im-
-
perial box, was absolutely a prerequisite for Domitian s
despotic tendencies to be showcased.
Foilowing the Emperor were the glorious I 4th Gemi-
na (RMRS), who we were glad to welcome back into
the Guildhall Yard as they provided the Roman army
escort at our first show in 2000.
After this gleaming column of Roman solders in their
blue livery came the pompa, musicians, libitinarii
{under-
takersl and the priestesses of Fortuna Nemesis (a deity
associated with gladiators).
The gladiators entered the arena with a huge roar
from the crowd. Because this was at heart a theatri-
cal peformance toga-wearing masters of ceremonies
(Matt Bunker and Chris GrocockJ, playing local dignitar-
ll were on hand to explain their role in the afternoon's
ies,
52 SKIiiMiSH LiV]NG H1STORY
drama.Taking them through their basic Latin of iugula',
(kill) and 'mitte; (let them go), exptaining the prorocots
and delivering a dedication to the goddess Nemesis
and to the Emperor in Latin, was another doorway into
the past.
When the intention is to arouse the audiences ata-
vistic tendencies by brutal slaughter. there has to be a
format. ln this case, as well as the fake blood convinc-
ingly delivered, there was the need to get the audience
to support the gladiators.
Rival teams
ln the London of the first century, the crowd would
have had the opportunity to peruse the programme
and choose their favourites, to catch up with fighters
they had seen before. We could not reproduce that. Sq
once again. in the service of a greater good, history and
recreation briefly parted company. To induce the audi-
ence's sympathies and support, the gladiators were in-
troduced as two troupes, not one, with the home team
London (Londinium) and its red banners and livery in
opposition to the yellow draped interlopers from Col-
chester {Caumulodunum); comparisons with football
supporters are unavoidable.
After the noxii (condemned prisoners) were slaugh-
tered (which included two thieves and a female poi-
soner, who put up a convincing fight before being
despatched) the gladiatorial contests began. The gladi-
ators wore distinct colours on their subligaria Iloincloth
wraps). their shields and sometimes helmet crests; we
wanted a very distinct visual identity for the teams. Even
the detail on the shield fronts was important: red oryel-
low facades had creatures from GraeceRoman myth
on them, rather than geometric patterns. This was a
conscious decision and made them easy to identiry.
Hand-painted banners by one of Britannia's resident
artists Simon Barnes adorned the stands so the audi-
ence was left in no doubt as to which terrace they were
sat in or who their team was. This all helped to stir up
the mob. By the time the fights started the crowd was
already roaring support for their gladiator in their team's
colour or screaming abuse at the opposition.
 There will be blood
We'd assembled a special effects team headed by
Britannia s Pete Watson and Jools Hyland. They threw
themselves into creative solutions that made the show
more realistic regarding wounds and killing blows.
Scars, hidden blood bags, pumps and tubes were
used to shower arterial blood over several feet. pete
Watson said that he'd approached every project with
the thought, "how can this be hidden?" as opposed ro
"how much blood can we chuck around?" Some of the
effects were sickening to look at. (lt's wofth pointing out
that the client mentioned that some of the scenes were
graphic and not suitable for veryyoung children when
the eventwas adveftised; there were no complaints as a
result of this disclaimer). The drama of the human strug-
gle for survival and the nobility of that struggle is central
to the arena performances. The blood was a way of
emphasising both the depth of that emotion and that it
is serious, not slapstick. lt would be entirely undesirable
to treat the project as a comedy. What we never lose
sight of, particularly when performing in amphitheatres,
is that many people and animals died, where we arejust
pretending.
Looking around the amphitheatre during a particu-
larly dramatic combat which resulted in a gladiator's
death, the shouting, screaming and stamping was deaf-
ening.
Re€nactment within reenactment
We were able to field all of the main categories during
the event: the thraex, murmillo, hoplomachus, secutor,
retiatius and of course gladiatrix. Eve0/ bout was differ-
ent but the surprise hit of the weekend came about be
cause we were over-subscribed with fighters. We sent
six out at once to re€nact the battle of Philippi for the
entertainment of the Emperor. Three gladiators from
Londinium's red team played the forces of Brutus and
Cassius and the three from Colchesters yellow team
represented the army of Mark Anthony and Octavian
(Octavian was keen to avenge the assassination of Ju-
lius Caesar in a bloody civil war that followed his mur-
der). The crowd went wild at this 're€nactment within a
reenactment'. The last two standing. Colchester team's
'Octavian'and 'Mark Anthonl/ were then forced into a
fight to the death by a blood crazed Domitian. Foftu-
nately. sticking to historical accuracy (we can say this
with a glint in our eye). Octavian won in what one of
our commentators described as a 'battle of Actium with-
out the boats', much to the crowd's laughter and roars
of approval.
Our team and guests worked hard and worked
well together; our gladiators had trained constantly
throughout the previous l8 months and the perform-
ances were exciting. thrilling and great to be a part of
and watch. Some of ouryounger gladiators were very
ambitious and Ifound myself roaring along with the au-
dience. but feeling very envious of their energy. creativ-
ity and combat techniques. They were far better than I
was at that agel
Success
The showwas a selloutsuccess. The clientwas thrilled,
not only with the venture's commercial success but with
the public response and the huge awareness that the
event generated for the Museum of London and the
Guildhall Yard.
We do stress that our show depicts graphic violence
(as we use stage effects mentioned earlier) as combat in
the arena is obviously represented. Howevel children
can be bloodthirsty creaturesl About a week later, the
client phoned to say how delighted they were and that
the public response was overwhelmingly positive. The
one complaint, out of 6000 people, came from an eight
year old boy who said, "Next time. I want to see more
bloodl"
Britannia; www.durolitum.co.uk
Museum of London:
www.museumofl ondon.org.uk
Guildhall Yard Artgallery and Amphitheatre:
www.cityoflondon. gov. uk
SKIR\4ISH "LIVING I_]ISTORY 53