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Gladiators were 'mostly vegetarian'
Topic Started: Oct 22 2014, 11:22 PM (609 Views)
CJ
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A very minor case of serious brain damage

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-29723384

Roman gladiators had a diet that was mostly vegetarian, according to an analysis of bones from a cemetery where the arena fighters were buried.

The study has been carried out by academics from the Medical University of Vienna in Austria and the University of Bern in Switzerland.

They found the gladiator diet was grain-based and mostly meat-free.

The examination of gladiator bones also found evidence they drank a drink made from plant ashes.

This ash drink was a form of health-boosting tonic to help gladiators recover after fighting and training.



Well, I certainly wasn't expecting this :P . I wonder why they had this mostly vegetarian diet - and how they found out about this plant ash drink so early in history?
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Giselle
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So the fantasy of them being heavily muscled is only a fantasy? 😭
how am I going to be a gladiators 'servant' after they have had a long day and want to relax and unwind

I wager war against this article!!
Edited by Giselle, Oct 23 2014, 03:38 AM.
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CJ
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A very minor case of serious brain damage

Well, there's always Spartans, I suppose :P .
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MegaphoneStallone
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Meat would've been too expensive and precious a commodity to waste on people who're just gonna get killed, yeah?
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GrieferLord
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Tank Sniper

yet a gladiator was also good for profit you would think they would have given them meat to help build muscle. but thinking about it they more than likely did not as they wanted to be able to "control" them so as they could not revolt or overpower the guards.

@ giselle lol go for spartans then!
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CJ
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A very minor case of serious brain damage

One thing that worries me a bit is that, because the technology is still improving, a massive array like this might be obsolete as soon as it's completed :P .

EDIT: Did I post this in completely the wrong thread <_< ? I blame Eric.
Edited by CJ, Oct 23 2014, 11:52 PM.
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Tagobs
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Being vegetarian isn't a contradiction to being strong.. ;)
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Giselle
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Tagobs
Oct 23 2014, 09:05 PM
Being vegetarian isn't a contradiction to being strong.. ;)
Lol
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CJ
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A very minor case of serious brain damage

Yeah. Just ask Popeye the Sailorman :P .
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GrieferLord
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Tank Sniper

ah dat spinich, if it was 100% iron you would never get it away from a magnet let alone chew it.

Not saying it's not but meats contain proteins necessary for muscle growth. I would have figured they would balance it so that the fights would last even longer.
Edited by GrieferLord, Oct 24 2014, 07:54 AM.
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CJ
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A very minor case of serious brain damage

Turns out it isn't. It was just thought to contain 10 times as much as it actually does, due to a misplaced decimal point :( :

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2354580/Popeyes-legendary-love-spinach-actually-misplaced-decimal-point.html
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Hedgehog121
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This really shouldn't be surprising as most gladiators were basically slaves. Meat was probably a luxury for them. And gladiators weren't chiseled at all like warriors like we make them out to be. Most of them were thin.
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Catface
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Spooky

Why would you waste perfectly good meat on a slave who was probably going to die?
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Giselle
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Catface
Oct 25 2014, 02:15 AM
Why would you waste perfectly good meat on a slave who was probably going to die?
So that their chances of dying were less?

You know, rich people weren't stupid. If they wanted to win the gamble, then they knew they had to get the strongest, fittest, and sexiest men to fight in super skimpy outfits. :wub: :wub:
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GrieferLord
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Tank Sniper

Giselle
Oct 25 2014, 09:29 PM
Catface
Oct 25 2014, 02:15 AM
Why would you waste perfectly good meat on a slave who was probably going to die?
So that their chances of dying were less?

You know, rich people weren't stupid. If they wanted to win the gamble, then they knew they had to get the strongest, fittest, and sexiest men to fight in super skimpy outfits. :wub: :wub:
sounds like you just want some extra eye candy haha.

point is true though, while they were slaves the owners would bet on them, generally if your going to put money on them you want them to be able to have good endurance.
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Giselle
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FIRST OF ALL:

I am doing research on this so I got books on this. And the books do agree that the bodies of the gladiators were something that the crowd enjoyed to look at. Their bodies were bulky and muscular!

Perhaps there was a high calorie diet version somewhere of vegetables. What would Austrians know about gladiators anyways. :P
UnfortunatelyTooFortunate
Oct 23 2014, 09:46 AM
Meat would've been too expensive and precious a commodity to waste on people who're just gonna get killed, yeah?
No. It is a professional job. The slaves, exiled, traitors/whatever, were untrained and sent there to battle cute cats for entertainment.

Gladiators were like celebrities. Experienced ones who went to school could live very long, and those who did started their own gladiator schools.

They were VERY rich by the way. They can afford meat.


Catface
Oct 25 2014, 02:15 AM
Why would you waste perfectly good meat on a slave who was probably going to die?
"They"(the trained ones) weren't going to die. Meat is abundant.
This concludes:

Bodies were muscular

Thanks
Edited by Giselle, Nov 12 2014, 03:18 AM.
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CJ
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A very minor case of serious brain damage

So, I guess even if one of these trained 'muscular' gladiators lost, the crowd would have been likely to allow them to live?

Also, just out of interest, what are some of the books you've been reading for your research?
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Giselle
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Yes, they were allowed to live. The precious ones anyways.

I'll gather you a list, hold on
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