With its new summer exhibition “Gladiators. Heroes of the Coliseum”, the Musée de la civilization, in Quebec, revisits the theme of gladiatorship. The collection of ancient pieces, on loan from Italian museums, sheds light on more human and intimate facets of the world of Roman gladiators.
Cnemide (leg guard), manica (arm guard), ocrea (shin guard), glaive (sword), scutum (shield), mirmillon or provocator helmet are all artifacts full of history that we can contemplate within the framework of Gladiators. Heroes of the Colosseumat the Musée de la civilisation, until September 22, 2024. This exhibition has been presented in several European countries, but also in Australia, the United States and in Ottawa, at the Canadian War Museum, in 2015. The content has been particularly enriched over the course of the outings and presentations.
In total, 160 pieces are on display including, among other things, combat weapons and armor, surgical tools related to the care of gladiators, everyday objects and jewelry. Based on recent scientific rereadings, the exhibition aims to offer a revisited perspective on the most famous amphitheater of the Eternal City and on its protagonists: the gladiators who fought there for centuries.
“ Gladiators. Heroes of the Colosseum offers a look behind the scenes to discover all the complexity and humanity of this extraordinary life. […] The opening of this exhibition marks the start of a high-caliber summer season, eclectic and strong, I would even go so far as to say impactful,” explains Stéphan La Roche, president and CEO of the Musée de la civilization, during the press tour of the exhibition, Thursday June 20.
The multimedia system, interactive technology, models and the possibility of donning the costumes and accessories of different types of gladiators allow visitors to familiarize themselves with the life of these warriors and the entertainment of yesteryear.
“Death is not the spectacle”
From their training sessions to ludus right through to their performance in the arena, the objects on display provide a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the daily lives and personal lives of these men. Among these elements is notably the funerary stele of Urbicus, a gladiator of the type secutor (called “pursuer” in Latin, equipped with a sword, a manica, an ocrea and a shield close to the scutum of the legionnaires), died at the age of 22, leaving behind his wife and their children.
All of these pieces, from the site of Pompeii and the Colosseum in Rome, reconstruct more intimate and human points of view, which nuance the bloody and barbaric myths surrounding the gladiators.
“Death is not the spectacle. Death is part of the spectacle, it is a risk, but we realize that the gladiators were cared for and received a whole series of medical care,” explains Carlotta Caruso, from the National Roman Museum, during the guided tour. “The fight is the show. The more spectacular the fight, the more honorable it is. »
For her, it is important not to consider gladiators as cannon fodder or savages who fight without rules, but as professionals. “Imagine the contradiction of living and eating with a person who, from one day to the next, could be your adversary,” says the museologist.
Other perspectives are cast on the individuals gravitating around these characters with glorious and tragic destinies. The identification of artifacts such as dice, musical instruments, sewing or makeup utensils allow us to know a little more about the habits of citizens, including children.
The place of women in the arena is also discussed. Several roles, first or second level, could be attributed to them: huntress, condemned to death, promoter of combat and even, on rare occasions, gladiator to ridicule their combat skills from the virile perspective of the Romans…
A transatlantic collaboration
The exhibition at the Museum of Civilization was prepared in collaboration with archaeologist Rossella Rea, former director of the Colosseum in Rome, and two private Italian firms. Contemporanea Progetti designs and produces traveling exhibitions, while the Expona company ensures their distribution within museum institutions throughout the world.
Logistics becomes a crucial element for such projects, which require a lot of organization. Contemporanea Progetti imagines exhibition subjects and chooses precise angles with scholars. She then contacts different museums that hold useful collections and brings together the pieces to form a proposal offered to museums around the world. “There is the Italian Ministry of Culture, the different departments, the management, the museum stewards. […] It’s a huge bureaucracy,” explains Federica Montani, head of exhibitions at Contemporanea Progetti. For meme Montani, this way of doing things would make it possible to lighten the task incumbent on Italian museums, in particular that of organizing with the various interested parties.
This kind of collaboration is also a “win-win” situation, again according to Mme Montani: it’s not just about giving money to Italian museums, it’s also a way of promoting them and potentially restoring their pieces.
Gladiators. Heroes of the Colosseum was able to be purchased with the help of the Ministry of Culture and Communications and the City of Quebec, which provided an amount of $500,000 as part of the Cultural Development Agreement — more precisely, with the measure of Financial assistance for state museums for major international exhibitions — the aim of which is to invigorate cultural life for the benefit of citizens and the municipality.
“There is a rental cost for the project itself, but the presenter, that is, we [le Musée de la civilisation]we also pay for the transport of the works, the manufacturing of the boxes, the plane travel for foreign curators,” explains Philippe-Antoine Hamel, curator at the Musée de la civilization.
The exhibition will be open until September 22, 2024, in parallel with the exhibition Struggle. Quebec in the arena, which is sort of about today’s fake gladiators. Summer will therefore be “muscular” at the Musée de la civilization.