Were There Female Gladiators in Ancient Rome?

The Roman Empire is famous for its arenas like the Colosseum where gladiators fought each other in gory skirmishes. But were any of these gladiators ever women?

Several lines of evidence, including historical records and artistic depictions, suggest that female gladiators did exist in the Roman Empire, but they were much rarer than their male counterparts.

However, this evidence is limited to roughly a dozen texts and inscriptions, and an even smaller number of artifacts that depict them. For instance the Roman senate passed laws in A.D. 11 and A.D. 19 banning upper class women and freeborn women under age 20 from fighting as gladiators. And another text mentions that around A.D. 200, emperor Septimius Severus banned female gladiators because after one show, jokes about the fierceness of the women were "directed at other very prominent women" (translation by Mary Lefkowitz and Maureen Fant).

Who were the female gladiators?

In Rome, women tended to be excluded from politics and could not serve in the military. However, they did have some freedoms, and some ran their own businesses or worked as doctors. They could also own property and make contracts.

But less is known about female gladiators, so it can be difficult to know who they were and how they competed.