Gladiator Ruler - 30cm

Product Description: The Gladiator Ruler is plastic and measures 30cm long. It shows measurements in both inches and centimetres. On the inches scale it includes units of 1/16 of an inch and on the centimetre side units of 1 millimetre.

On the front of the ruler are images of various classes of gladiator fighting each other and also wild animals in an amphitheatre, whilst the crowds and Emperor look on.

On the reverse of the ruler are images of six different gladiator classes, hoplomachus, murmillo, retiarius, scissor, secutor and trax. There is also historical information about the gladiators.

Information: In Latin, the name Gladiator literally translates as “swordsman”. These gladiators were professional fighters who fought in ancient Roman times, in front of a crowd, usually in large amphitheatres. Most gladiators were prisoners of war, slaves bought for the purpose, or criminals who were sold to gladiator schools where they were trained. There were many different types of gladiator with each one having a different name for the armour and weapons they used.

The most famous amphitheatre was the Colosseum in Rome built by Emperor Vespasian (r. 69-79 AD) between 72-80 AD and his successor and heir, Titus (r.79-81 AD). As well as gladiatorial contests the arena could be flooded and flat bottomed ships with soldiers on them would recreate famous naval battles.