A Shocking Revelation About Ephesian Gladiators was made. Analysis of the bones of Roman gladiators buried in the ancient city of Ephesus shows that these warriors were mostly vegetarian!
Examination of two gladiators’ bones revealed that they ate a grain-based diet, mostly did not consume meat and drank a beverage made from plant ashes. The drink made from plant ashes contributed to the strengthening of the body and bone healing after physical exhaustion.
In historical sources and ancient texts; Gladiators, whose diet consisted mostly of grain and beans, were referred to as “barley eaters”. It is estimated that gladiators consisted of prisoners of war, slaves, and criminals. But people who had voluntarily trained and wanted to fight could also become gladiators. Warriors who take part in gladiator battles are thought to have a roughly one in nine chance of dying for each battle.
What Did the Gladiators of Ephesus Eat?
The gladiators of Ephesus ate mostly plants: bread and porridge of wheat and barley, beans and other legumes, very little meat and almost no fish, which is a surprise for a city with a harbor. We know this from their bones. What a person eats for years leaves a chemical mark in the bones, and the bones from the gladiator cemetery of Ephesus carry the mark of a plant diet, the same as the townspeople buried nearby.
The cemetery lies at the north foot of Panayır Mountain, not far from the stadium, beside the old road that left the city toward the Temple of Artemis. It was in use in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. The graves, the healed wounds and the gravestones are in my post on the gladiators of Ephesus, so here I stay with the food.
Romans called gladiators hordearii, the barley men, and it was not a compliment. Barley was the cheap grain, food of the poor and of animals, and a soldier who was punished got barley instead of wheat. The trainers did not mind. A big bowl of barley and beans every day made a heavy fighter.
It is believed the layer of fat under the skin was wanted too. It protected the veins and the nerves from shallow cuts of the arena, so a man bled for the crowd and still finished the fight. Lean was not the goal, strong and padded was.
The Ash Drink of the Gladiators
After training the men drank a mineral drink made with the ashes of burned plants. Plant ash is full of calcium, so this was the calcium tablet of the Roman world. The gladiator bones from Ephesus hold about twice as much strontium, a mineral that travels together with calcium, as the bones of the other people of the city. That is the trace of the ash cup.
Roman writers knew this drink too and said it was taken to strengthen the body and to help the bones after the hard knocks of training. It fits what the bones say. By the way, when I tell this in front of the gladiator reliefs in the Ephesus Museum, somebody always asks me if it tasted terrible. I think it did. 😀
Frequently Asked Questions
Were the gladiators of Ephesus vegetarian?
Nearly, but not by choice or belief. Their bones show a diet of grain and beans with little meat, the normal food of the time in Ephesus. Meat was costly, and the trainers wanted bulk, not lean muscle. Some milk or cheese was possible too, so vegetarian is close, vegan is not.
Why were gladiators called barley men?
Because barley was the base of their daily meals. The Latin word is hordearii, from hordeum, barley. Romans saw barley as poor food next to wheat, yet the gladiator schools served it every day with beans, because it was cheap and it put weight on the fighters. The nickname stuck to the whole profession.
I hope we will stand together in front of the gladiator gravestones in the Ephesus Museum one day, after a walk in Ephesus Ancient City. Write to me if you need to learn more about the gladiators of Ephesus or want to hire me as your licensed tour guide in Ephesus. See you soon, Hasan Gülday.
