Day 5: Gladiator School

On Day 5 of our trip we went to Gladiator School.  Located in the beautiful Italian countryside outside of Rome, Castrum Legionis is run by Alex, a former NATO Special Forces officer.  When we arrived, Alex went over briefly what the boys could expect during their training session.  Here he has Christian DiAntonio show the primary weapon of the Roman Legionary, the gladius.  The gladius was a short sword used primarily for stabbing.  Its short length made it ideal for using with the large Roman shield, or scutum.

After the brief introduction Alex had the boys change into training tunics, girded by their cingula or belts.  Here the boys line up and prepare to march.

 Alex began with a few warm up exercises to make sure the boys were awake and ready to go.

After a quick warm up, Alex then had each of the boys take up his rudis, the wooden sword used in Legionary training.  He instructed the in some basics of fencing position and footwork, here aligning them in the "ready" position.

After the boys mastered advancing and retreating in the ready position, Alex taught them the proper technique for stabbing. Here the boys practice stabbing wooden poles.

After stabbing, he taught them the proper technique for a forehand slash.

The boys practice their forehand slash against the wooden poles, advancing and retreating as ordered, holding their scuta (shields).

Here he goes over the proper footwork for advancing and retreating.

 Then Alex taught them the backhand slash.

After mastering the stab, forehand slash and backhand slash, Alex had the boys switch from the wooden swords to iron swords.  They then practiced their techniques against metal poles.

Sword training completed, Alex then taught them the rudiments of archery.  The boys shot at targets ten and twenty meters away.

Alex called on Ms. Thorner to call out the signals for an archery attack.

With sword and archery training complete, it was time to experience a little gladiatorial combat.  Christian DiAntonio was chosen to put on the armor of a retiarius, a type of gladiator who fought with a trident and net.  The Retiarius would try to snag his opponent with his net, and then finish him off with the trident.

 Here we see Christian fully attired, except for a helmet.  Note that the retiarius wore armor that protected only one side well.

Here we see the boys trying to attack Christian, while he tries to snag them in his net.  CJ Calcinari was a tremendous resource for Christian, volunteering to act as his "squire" and retrieve the nets after he had thrown them.

Of all the Avon retiarii that have fought in the last three years, Christian was by far the most skilled, managing to capture seven of the boys in his nets, some more than once.  After everyone had a couple of chances to take Christian on, our day at Castrum Legionis came to an end, with the boys tired and happy.

Here, Dylan Lightbourn, Adrian Wowk and Henry Allen get a final picture with Alex.

On the way back to the hotel we drove by the Baths of Caracalla (a nasty Roman emperor who at least built a huge public bath complex) and the Circus Maximus.

Stay tuned for another post today, as our day isn't over yet.  We will be going to Piazza Navona this evening and pictures from that excursion will be posted later.