The Boys at 6 Driffield Terrace.

[smokingboot]

A while back, the discovery of bodies at 6 Driffield Terrace set the archeological world buzzing. They were corpses from Roman times (circa 250 AD) all adult men under 45 and many bearing evidence of wear and tear associated with athletes Speculation divides into two propositions: that they were legionaries or gladiators. Being gladiators would fit with some of the wounds they suffered (One had puncture wounds commensurate with being mauled by a large carnivore, unlikely in Roman York, unless it was in an arena.) But no such arena has been found, plus, these guys were buried with burial goods while gladiators were usually the lowest of the low, slaves and prisoners. Soldiery would be the other option, except that most of these seem to have been Brits, and legions never drew their recruits from locals. One more thing; Many of them were decapitated before or just after death. Was this then a mass sacrifice?

Why does it interest me? Apart from pure gruesome fascination, I appear to be related to a couple, 6DRIF-21, A Celtic Gladiator/Soldier (chromosome 3), and 6DRIF-22 a Gaulish Gladiator/Soldier (chromosome 19). I doubted at first and asked the suppliers how certain they could be. 'You can check with Gedmatch,' came their rather lofty reply, because everyone goes back to Gedmatch for this stuff. So OK, I used the Gedmatch models now extended by their original creators, and treated as holy writ by the entire world of historical DNA. They don't get any of the above. Alongside some other stuff that seems to bear out with what I know of family history, they give my relation as 6DRIF-23, but they don't give Chromosome matches. 6DRIF-23 is described as 'Insular Briton,' and the battle rages among DNA-ologists (is that a word?) about whether they were Welsh or not.

6DRIF-21's osteology is almost understandable:
Fracture of distal R tibia; Fracture of left fibula & soft
tissue trauma to left tibia; Avulsion fracture of R
hamate; Lytic area in bodies L1 & L2; Cribra orbitalia;
Maxillary sinusitis; Os acromiale; Avulsion fracture of
R ulna; Lamellar bone on both tibiae, right ribs 11 &
12; Calculus; Caries; DEH; Abscess; PD
He was aged 36 to 45.

6DRIF-22 has his own drama:
Penetrating injury to left occipital; ?Stab to neck;
Lamellar bone on L & R ribs 11 & 12; Caries;
Abscess; Cyst in left femur; Joint disease; Cribra
orbitalia; Maxillary sinusitis; Additional thoracic
vertebra; Ivory osteoma; AMTL; Calculus; PD
Other reports cite that penetrating injury as coming from a block shaped instrument so hard that it pushed part of the skull into the brain. This might be the work of a Charon official finishing him off and sending him to Hades. He was aged between 26 and 35.

Both of these were buried with hobnails, which is a Roman custom in origin. Those would have been there to symbolise or assist in ensuring that their caligae were sturdy enough for the long walk to the otherworld. That would suggest legionaries rather than gladiators to me.

Meanwhile 6DRIF-23 is interesting for a number of reasons, first of all because he was buried with a horse, and secondly because his beheading is a proper mess.
Cut to R mandibular ramus; Four cuts to C2-5 &
mandible; full decapitation at C5
Calculus; PD
He died between the ages of 18 and 25.

Why the head and horse? I recall that while Romans could be appalling in a number of ways, they were generally tolerant to beliefs and customs in the lands they conquered, wanting no truck with angry supernaturals. Often they assimilated; the celtic horse-goddess Epona was quite popular among them, and while they had no history of funerary decapitation, the various tribes of western Europe lumped under the term 'Celts' very much did. That custom echoes on today, from the tale of the Head of Bran, to the beheadings on Tower Hill.

There's a drama-documentary on these which makes for intriguing though horrible viewing. (https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3ewe5g). If these men were indeed gladiators, they fought for an ugly audience. Having said that, I can imagine some lofty Roman senator raising an eyebrow at me and asking if I really believe we are any better. My answer would have to be that of course I do, of course we are.

Of course.

Comments

[caddyman]

They could be Legionaries - the Romans recruited locally after about AD 100 because they needed the manpower.

[smokingboot]

That would make sense, these skeletons date from after that time. One of the other Driffield corpses is from the middle East. Who would bring a gladiator from that far away to York? And in all this speculation, where is the arena? For me, this lack is the biggest argument against them being gladiators.

As far as I can make out the main arguments for these men being gladiators are: 1) There is a mass burial pit in Ephesus that has conclusively(!) been identified as a gladiatorial graveyard, and claims are made that there are similarities to Driffield Terrace, but I haven't yet found what these similarities are. I do not know if these gladiators were beheaded.

2) The wounds suggesting the death of a possible bestiarius. If he died in York, where did he meet this beast? I would be tempted to suggest that it might be a bear, though it seems that the puncture are very similar to those created by the teeth of a lion or tiger.

If there is more conclusive evidence of them being gladiators, I haven't found it yet, but admittedly I haven't been looking very long!