Terracotta Figurine of a Gladiator in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, July 2007

Terracotta statuette of a gladiator
Roman, 1st-2nd century AD

Accession # 10.210.78

The gladiator wears protective body armor and carries a shield and a short sword. He can be identified by the helmet with eyeholes as a secutor, who was usually matched against a retiarius wielding a trident and a net. Such a pair mimics the contest between a fish and a fisherman.

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.