Archaeologists Find Rare Gladiatorial Artifact at British Roman Encampment

A 2,000-year-old Roman knife with a handle carved into the figure of a gladiator has been found by archaeologists in England, Live Science reported.

The dagger has a handle cast from carved copper alloy which depicts what's known as a secutor gladiator with his shield. Secutor gladiators were a highly trained subset of gladiators trained in close-quarters combat. The figurine is left handed, particularly notable in gladiatorial tradition because left-handed fighters were believed to be unlucky. However, some gladiators purposefully learned how to fight with their left hand as they felt it gave them an advantage in battle. Scientists believe the handle is supposed to represent a specific warrior rather than a general gladiatorial archetype.

The discovery was made in a river in Corbridge, a former Roman settlement previously known as Corstopitums. It was located alongside Hadrian's Wall and dated from 79 A.D. to sometime around 400 A.D.

Researchers say the discovery indicates that gladiators were well known outside of Rome. "Despite being enslaved and socially outcast due to their profession, gladiators could become huge celebrities," Frances McIntosh, Curator for English Heritage's Hadrian's Wall and the North East, said in the statement. Gladiatorial combat was one of the most popular forms of public entertainment in ancient Rome.

"Even now, almost two thousand years later, the fascination around gladiators persists and has expanded even further into modern popular culture, as evidenced by the excitement surrounding the new Gladiator film sequel," McIntosh said.

English Heritage has plans to put the rare knife handle and other artifacts found in the river on display at Corbridge Roman Town at some point in 2025.

A giant female Chinook salmon flips on her side in the shallow water and wriggles wildly, using her tail to carve out a nest in the riverbed as her body glistens in the sunlight. Now, less than a month after those dams came down in the largest dam removal project in U.S. history, salmon are once more returning to spawn in cool creeks that have been cut off to them for generations. Video shot by the Yurok Tribe show that hundreds of salmon have made it to tributaries between the former Iron Gate and Copco dams, a hopeful sign for the newly freed waterway.