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Page: Profile: Wren's Nest News Local
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Article: 9593
[Archaeology]
Date Posted:
4/6/2004
11:08:22 am EDT
Wvox Stats
Views: 7,694
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Comments: 6
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Gladiators Chunky Not Hunky
Author: From correspondents in Vienna Source: The Australian (AU)
Title: GLADIATORS CHUNKY NOT HUNKY
Hollywood has portrayed them as muscle-bound and handsome, but Austrian anthropologists have found evidence suggesting Roman gladiators were overweight vegetarians who bore scant resemblance to Russell Crowe.
The scientists did tests on skeletons of two types of gladiator - the myrmillos and retiariae - found at the ancient site of Ephesus, near Selcuk in Turkey.
"Tests performed on bits of bone taken from the skeletons of some 70 gladiators buried at Ephesus seem to prove that they ate mainly barley, beans and dried fruit," said Karl Grossschmidt, of Austria's Institute of Archeology.
"This diet, which has been mentioned in the oral history, is rather sad but it gave the gladiators a lot of strength even if it made them fat."
The paleo-anthropologists from Austria relied on a method known as elementary microanalysis to determine what a human being ate during his lifetime. Using a sonar, they established the chemical concentrations in cells of bone samples from the skeletons.
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Community Thoughts: There are 6 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| Matter Of Perspective | Apr 7th. at 9:30:33 am EDT |
by Redvelvetdragon (Virginia) - wc_xemail
Looks like these so called paleo-archeologists are falling victim to the fat mania so many people have today. What surprises me is that they have forgotten to look at history, particularly ancient history with perspective. Times 2000 years ago were different from our times now. This comment, "This diet, which has been mentioned in the oral history, is rather sad but it gave the gladiators a lot of strength even if it made them fat." particularly infuriates me. Its not like the gladiators sat around all day eating and fooling around gaming and having fun. These were slaves. The worked their tails off. The fought to the death! Food was not so easy to get, which is why they had to eat the cheapest possible. No one is going to give a slave a steak. Furthermore its ridiculous to look back and say, look they were fat. Life was hard. What kind of energy is a skinny slim gladiator going to have if he has to fight for his life in the arena, and oh by the way if he wins he has to do it tomorrow if not later on in the day. We of the 21st century need to stop comparing our modernday mores on people who lived and died 2000 years ago.
The next thing is they'll probably reproach the Inuit for eating blubber. *rolls eyes with sarcasm*.
Redvelvetdragon
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| Difference Between... | Apr 6th. at 8:04:34 pm EDT |
by Raven (NJ) - wc_xemail
...a layer of fat and obesity. Obese, unfit people wouldn't make for a very exciting show for all the hundreds of thousands of people who turned up regularly.
There's a tendency to correlate fitness with the "ripped" look, which is all about very low body fat, which is generally achieved by athletes and bodybuilders by "dieting down" before competition, but someone well-trained and strong hasn't necessarily got that look, and people competing year round wouldn't be able to sustain such a diet. Having known a fair few competitive bodybuilders, I can tell you that while they remain fit and active throughout the year with good muscle mass, they generally look thickset, even sometimes a bit plump, but begin "dieting down" a couple of months before competition, and then lose so much body fat that they can only sustain that over-"ripped" look for a couple of weeks before becoming so weak that they talk about fainting off-stage. Then their bodies are screaming so hard for calories that they tend to binge immediately after the last competition. Their muscles are just as big the rest of the year, they're just not as well defined. I do believe that bodybuilding magazines and Hollywood films (in which Our Heroes display the "ripped" look they trained and dieting for for several weeks before filming) have given us a false sense of what a "fit" body looks like.
Oh, and as a vegan, I can tell you that if you don't exercise, you can be vegan and overweight. But I do feel awfully amazonian just by association :)
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| Hmmm... | Apr 6th. at 4:58:49 pm EDT |
by Seshen (Texas) - wc_xemail
I wonder what vegan friends I can send this too. Fat WITH veggies!
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| LOL | Apr 6th. at 4:27:39 pm EDT |
by morrighan61 (USA) - wc_xemail
Probably got kinds "windy" in the barracks too...Think about it. BEANS, BARLEY, and dried fruit...Talk about major roughage...
Morrighan
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| Those "Damn Dirty Romans" | Apr 6th. at 3:56:56 pm EDT |
by tonayallicue dark star (midwest usa) - wc_xemail
showing, and eventually proving, that americans are self-destructing like their roman ancestors faster than they might like to admit.
(self-induced) obesity + reality tv + exploitative attitudes = modern day roman gladiators...i mean, average americans (with gas-guzzling SUVs & gladiator-like road rage)
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| Perhaps... | Apr 6th. at 1:57:26 pm EDT |
by Aio (Lawton, Oklahoma) - wc_xemail - Web
It is time to rethink my dreams of being a Gladiator. Might have to put on a few more pounds, but it'll be worth it!
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