Preview | Queens of Combat
Preview: Season 23 Episode 3 | 32sVideo has Closed Captions
Experts search for evidence that female gladiators once existed in Ancient Rome.
What if women were hidden among the ranks of Ancient Rome’s fearsome gladiators? A group of experts searches for evidence to prove women once fought in the arena just like men. Combining history, archaeology, and forensic investigation, journey across Europe in a quest for answers. If a female gladiator's existence can be proven definitively, what can we learn about their lives?
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
SECRETS OF THE DEAD is made possible, in part, by public television viewers.
Preview | Queens of Combat
Preview: Season 23 Episode 3 | 32sVideo has Closed Captions
What if women were hidden among the ranks of Ancient Rome’s fearsome gladiators? A group of experts searches for evidence to prove women once fought in the arena just like men. Combining history, archaeology, and forensic investigation, journey across Europe in a quest for answers. If a female gladiator's existence can be proven definitively, what can we learn about their lives?
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
How to Watch Secrets of the Dead
Secrets of the Dead is available to stream on pbs.org and the free PBS App, available on iPhone, Apple TV, Android TV, Android smartphones, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire Tablet, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, and Vizio.
Buy Now
Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship-On "Secrets of the Dead"... Gladiators: Ancient Rome's most glorified warriors.
-Gladiators are celebrities, like the sports stars of today.
-They are the Roman ideal of masculinity.
But what if, hidden among their ranks, were women?
-I realized that I was actually looking at female gladiators.
-This is the search for Ancient Rome's... Queens of Combat, on "Secrets of the Dead."
An Everyday Roman Object Suggests Female Gladiators
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S23 Ep3 | 2m 59s | A Roman oil lamp shows two female gladiators fighting like men—strong visual proof women fought. (2m 59s)
New Analysis Changes the Identity of a Roman Statue
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S23 Ep3 | 3m 2s | Once thought an athlete, this Roman statuette may depict a female gladiator in combat pose. (3m 2s)
The Only Relief of Named Female Gladiators Ever Found
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S23 Ep3 | 2m 39s | This rare depiction may be the greatest surviving monument to women in the Roman arena. (2m 39s)
A Roman Poet’s Clue to Women Gladiators in the Arena
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S23 Ep3 | 2m 34s | Martial described gladiatorial combat and hinted women fought—but can hand-copied texts be trusted? (2m 34s)
A Roman Satirist Mocked Female Fighters. Was He Describing Real Gladiators?
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S23 Ep3 | 2m 22s | Did Juvenal’s mockery prove female gladiators existed? (2m 22s)
This Roman Law May Be Proof of Female Gladiators
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S23 Ep3 | 2m 54s | The ban hints at moral panic, and possibly the clearest proof that female gladiators truly existed. (2m 54s)
Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship
Support for PBS provided by:
SECRETS OF THE DEAD is made possible, in part, by public television viewers.