Female Gladiators - Part Of The Lure Of The Roman Arena

Sarah Bond writes in Forbes on the lure of women fighting in the arena:

The use of the word 'gladiatrix' (pl. gladiatrices) is a pseudo-Latin term for these fighters not actually applied in antiquity. In reality, there was a great deal of ambiguity about how one should refer to them. The Roman satirists Martial and Juvenal employ the word 'ludia', which could also be used to refer to an actress or a theatrical dancer, but is most often used to refer to a gladiator's wife.

Relief from Halicarnassus of two female gladiators

The status of these fighters is an oft-discussed point in the literature on these women. Those that were a part of the arena were given a debilitating legal and social stigma called infamia. Yet this did not stop some Roman elites from fighting anyways. The historian Tacitus notes that during the reign of Nero, there were high-ranking women who entered into gladiatorial combat and fought: "

Many ladies of distinction, however, and senators, disgraced themselves by appearing in the amphitheater." Historian Barbara Levick has argued that the ban on elite women participating in the arena likely first came into effect under the emperor Augustus, in 22 BCE. We know that the emperor Septimius Severus re-banned elite women from fighting in the arena in 200 CE. Clearly there was a lure for both men and women. 

Read entire article here @ Forbes