andabata

gladiator class

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Last updated

June 18, 2026

Quick Summary

The term "andabata" refers to a hooded cope worn in outdoor processions in the Eastern Church. It is not a gladiator class.1

In ancient Rome, gladiators were professional combatants who fought in arenas. There were various classes of gladiators, distinguished by their equipment and fighting styles. The andabatae are believed to have fought on horseback and worn helmets with closed visors, essentially fighting blindfolded. Other gladiator types included the Samnites, Thraces, mirmillones, retiarius, secutor, dimachaeri, essedarii, hoplomachi, and laquearii. Gladiatorial games were a popular form of entertainment, evolving from funeral rites to large-scale spectacles involving many pairs of fighters.2

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gladiator
There were also the andabatae, who are believed to have fought on horseback and to have worn helmets with closed visors—that is, to have fought blindfolded; the dimachaeri (“two-knife men”) of the later empire, who carried a short sword in each hand; the essedarii (“chariot men”), who fought from…
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There were also the andabatae, who are believed to have fought on horseback and to have worn helmets with closed visors—that is, to have fought blindfolded; the dimachaeri (“two-knife men”) of the later empire, who carried a short sword in each hand; the essedarii (“chariot men”), who fought from…
Read More