Roman Gladiators fought BEARS in the arena, fossil evidence reveals for the first time

Ridley Scott may have been ridiculed for portraying gladiators riding rhinos and scrapping with sharks^[1] in his latest film. 

But it seems the real Roman fighters did pick fights with a colourful array of wild animals.

Scientists in Serbia have presented the first fossil evidence of a brown bear (Ursus arctos) that took on human fighters in Roman amphitheatre. 

The unfortunate mammal’s preserved skull reveals that it suffered a sharp blow the head which may have contributed to its untimely death. 

It likely fought and died in a Roman amphitheatre at Viminacium, an important Roman settlement in modern-day Serbia, experts say. 

This oval fortress, akin to today’s football stadiums, was capable of holding 12,000 spectators, all baying for blood. 

‘We cannot say with certainty whether the bear died directly in the arena,’ study author Nemanja Marković at Belgrade’s Institute of Archaeology told Live Science^[2].

‘But the evidence suggests the trauma occurred during spectacles and the subsequent infection likely contributed significantly to its death.’ 

The 1,700-year-old fossilised brown bear skull (pictured) shows human fighters and bears squared up in Roman amphitheatres 

The brown bear (Ursus arctos) has an average lifespan of 25 years in the wild. The species is one of the largest land predators in the world and known for having an exceptionally large brain

The brown bear skull was excavated in 2016 near the remains of the amphitheatre at Viminacium, which was an important military base at the Roman frontier. 

According to the new analysis, the bear was male and ‘most likely originated from the local Balkan brown bear population’ prior to capture.

‘It remains possible that civilians [and] professional hunters… were involved in capturing beasts for games,’ the team say. 

During battle, the bear had suffered an impact fracture to the frontal bone – a traumatic injury possibly inflicted by a spear. 

Sadly, the healing of this large lesion was impaired by a secondary infection, which it was trying to fight off around time of death, aged six years old. 

‘Lesions observed on the frontal bone are consistent with an impact fracture that shows signs of healing but which subsequently became infected, leading to osteomyelitis (inflammation of the bone),’ the team add. 

Excessive wear to the canine teeth further ‘indicates cage chewing’, suggesting the animal was in captivity for a ‘prolonged period’ behind metal bars. 

This bear was likely kept in captivity ‘for years, not just weeks’, suggesting it would have featured repeatedly in Roman spectacles at Viminacium. 

The Roman Empire pitted men against animals for entertainment, including bears. Pictured, a Roman mosaic floor depicting a man fighting a bear, Römerhalle, Bad Kreuznach, Germany

The six-year-old male brown bear (Ursus arctos) suffered an impact fracture to the frontal bone, the healing of which was impaired by a secondary infection. Excessive wear to the canine teeth further indicates cage chewing 

This annotated map shows the location of the amphitheatre at Viminacium, which was an important military base at the Roman frontier

The spectacles, which took place in the mornings, included animal fights, combat between animal fighters (venators) and beasts, as well as animal hunts and displays. 

Wild animals were also used for the execution of convicts during midday shows. 

Ancient crowds were wanting to be entertained and were baying for blood, so the inclusion of fearsome animals may have been a highlight. 

Other creatures making appearances in Roman amphitheaters included wild boars, bulls, panthers, dogs, lions and many more. 

The brown bear features prominently in Roman written accounts and iconography, deployed as performing animals, combatants for gladiators or other animals and executioners for convicts. 

Ancient texts also show that bears were transported from regions such as Lucania, Caledonia, North Africa and the Balkans to participate in games in Rome, where the famous Colosseum still stands.

But this study, published in Antiquity^[3], provides the first evidence for the participation of brown bears in Roman spectacles that’s based on fossil bones. 

It offers ‘a glimpse of the significance of brown bears in spectacles across the wider Empire’, the study authors add. 

Viminacium was a city, military camp and capital of the Roman province of Moesia in modern-day Serbia. In June 2012, during an excavation, an amphitheatre was discovered there which had an estimated 12,000 seats. Pictured, Viminacium amphitheatre remains

The Roman Empire was a huge territorial empire existed between 27 BC and AD 476, spanning across Europe and North Africa with Rome as its centre. Violent gladiator battles were hosted around the empire, including at Rome’s Colosseum, the remains of which still stand today

Other evidence that gladiators fought bears include a Roman vase found in Colchester^[4], England, which depicts two men baiting a bear. 

Three types of entertainment that were commonly on display in the Roman amphitheatre – men fighting men, men fighting animals, and animals fighting animals.

Kathleen Coleman, a professor at Harvard University’s department of classics, points out that strictly speaking gladiators^[5] fought other men, not animals. 

‘The people in combat with beasts were a separate category of person – bestiarii, who did not fight other men,’ Professor Coleman told the Daily Mail.

So when we talk about gladiators fighting animals, the correct term to use is actually bestiarii.