Dimachaerus

The dimachaeri (singular: dimachaerus) were a type of Roman gladiator that fought with two swords (dual wield). The name is a borrowing into Latin of Ancient Greek διμάχαιρος dimákhairos 'bearing two knives' (δι- di- 'two' + μάχαιρα mákhaira 'knife').

The dimachaeri were popular during the 2nd to 4th centuries CE, and were probably considered to be "insidious" by many Romans.^[1] Both written and pictorial records on dimachaeri are scant and rather indeterminate.^[2] Thus, an inscription from Lyon, France, mentions such a type of gladiator, here spelled dymacherus.^[3]

^ Nossov, Konstantin (2009). Gladiator: Rome's bloody spectacle. Osprey. p. 208. ISBN 978-1-84603-472-5.
^ The Power of Spectacle in Ancient Rome: Gladiators and Caesars, ed. by Eckart Köhne and Cornelia Ewigleben (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 2000), p. 63. ISBN 978-0-520-22798-9
^ CIL XIII, 1997

[nossov-1] Nossov, Konstantin (2009). Gladiator: Rome's bloody spectacle. Osprey. p. 208. ISBN 978-1-84603-472-5.

[2] The Power of Spectacle in Ancient Rome: Gladiators and Caesars, ed. by Eckart Köhne and Cornelia Ewigleben (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 2000), p. 63. ISBN 978-0-520-22798-9

[3] CIL XIII, 1997

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