Unearthed - The Gladiators of York

The concept of “Gladiator” typically conjures up images of ancient Rome and the Colosseum, where the sun would beat down on the ferocious combatants as they entertained their audience with violent confrontations.

What it doesn’t immediately bring to mind is the city of York, over two thousand miles away in Northern England. Yet, genome technology used to cast light on a mysterious excavation conducted more than a decade ago has put York on the map as the Roman capital of the North of Britain. 

Roman York

York’s history truly began with the arrival of the Romans in approximately 71 AD - no evidence of a permanent settlement has been found to exist there prior to this time.

The Romans founded York - then known as Eboracum - after seemingly migrating from the south of England due to a love triangle between royals. Cartimandua - the queen of a Celtic tribal group known as Brigantes - rather enjoyed collaborating with the invading Romans. However, her estranged husband Venutious unequivocally did not. 

According to legend, once the royal pairing separated, Venutious went to war against his former wife and her Roman colleagues, fortifying the cities where they previously resided. The situation was worsened by Cartimandua finding a new lover in the king’s previous armour bearer. After the queen’s brief capture and subsequent rescue, the Romans decided that establishing some distance from the Celtic tribe was probably for the best and set their sights on more Northernly pastures. And if any English city was suitable for the Roman’s fort-building prowess, it was York. 

Eboracum wasn’t much to look at initially, but it was the perfect location for defending and launching attacks against the Brigantes, and the natives provided little resistance. The countryside in its current state was also easily accessed by land and sea, as it was the area where the River Foss meets the River Ouse. In time, through the establishment of forts and the development of the city, Eboracum became the capital of Northern England. 

What was unearthed in York?

In 2004, on a site called Driffield Terrace which was destined for a housing development and lay just to the south of the medieval walls of York city, a routine excavation began to clear the site for building work. Previous minor excavations of the area - as well as some chance encounters - unveiled artifacts that hinted at a richer wealth of findings. Yet, what the archaeologists found was highly unexpected. 

Driffield Terrance turned out to be the burial ground for eighty skeletons - sixty of which were in a complete state. The remains were dated and found to be from between the early 2nd to late 4th century - therefore, the period of Roman occupation. Furthermore, features found in the area, including a pit, a ditch, and inhuman and cremation burial sites, were also of Roman date - as were the pieces of pottery found in the area.

The burial site did not appear to be a mass grave, as the bodies were buried at different times. Most of them were ruled to be male (seventy-five) and under the age of forty-five. This was considered to be unusual for a cemetery of this type. As was the fact that the men buried there were clearly well developed, strong, and tall for people of this time period. Whats more, the bones showed evidence of many healed, and unhealed wounds - whoever was buried at Driffield Terrace had clearly experienced lives of violence.

However, as fascinating as the discovery of the skeletons was, the most interesting element of the find was the condition of the remains. All eighty bodies were obviously celebrated in their death, as well as decapitated and arranged in a manner that wasn’t typical of Roman customs.

Who was buried at Driffield Terrace?

There were a number of intriguing factors about the cemetery at Driffield Terrace; the fact that most of the skeletons were male and under the age of forty-five, the discovery of many wounds and injuries over their lifetimes, and whoever was buried there were obviously given respectable burials. This led scientists to wonder whether the remains were those of celebrated soldiers, but at that time at that time, soldiers weren’t buried inside city walls. Thus, the idea that the remains were those of gladiators was born. 

Further examination of the skeletons was slow and arduous, but the results supported the theory of the existence of York gladiators; through DNA evidence, many of them were found to have been from the Roman Empire, and they showed indications of having been trained fighters. Also, it was not uncommon for defeated gladiators to be decapitated, making the argument that Driffield Terrace was a gladiator burial ground even more compelling. Furthermore, parallels were found between the way the remains in York were buried and those found in Ephesus, where a tombstone confirmed that those buried there were gladiators. 

Although the wounds on the skeletons are evidence of them being gladiators in life, it is how these injuries were clearly medically treated which is most convincing. Gladiators were expensive and valuable investments during this period; therefore, their owners would have placed a lot of attention and money into their physical upkeep. What’s more, some of the injuries supported the theory that a number of the bodies belonged to Bestiarii - a type of gladiator that predominantly fought against animals - specifically bite marks from an adult male lion. Which, much like the remains found in Driffield Terrace, was obviously not native to York. 

However, there are still some unexplained factors to consider - such as why the skeletons were arranged with their heads placed between their legs, who the female bodies belonged to, and the fact that some debate that gladiators were not routinely decapitated upon defeat. Although the theory of Driffield Terrace being a gladiator graveyard is by no means concrete, the evidence is still compelling. What’s more, if it is accurate, then the cemetery in York may be the best example of its kind in the world.

DNA Analysis

Detailed analysis of these gladiators from York revealed some fascinating results.

The bones showed various degrees of wear and tear as one might expect from the dangerous sport: 6DRIF-18 revealed a spinal fracture of the first vertibrae, 6DRIF-21, 6DRIF-3, and 3DRIF-16 meanwhile have fractured forearms, ankles and wrists.

6DRIF-22 has a skull injury as well as a stab to the neck - his extra vertebrae did not seem to assist with his fate. 6DRIF-23 meanwhile had four cuts to his jaw and was fully decapitated - clearly not the best fate to have.

Last but not least, 3DRIF-26 is fascinating indeed - he had a left shoulder injury, fractured ribs, damage wrists - and from a genetic standpoint is a deviation from the rest. His background compared to ancient samples from the time period matches very close to Ptolemaic Egyptians or the Near East.

Conclusion

The findings at Driffield Terrace helped to reveal just how Romanized Britain was during this era, and enriches our understanding of the role of the gladiators in Roman culture.

Have you already checked if your DNA is linked to the Roman Gladiators from York?