The discovery of an ancient mass grave with decapitated gladiator bodies by archeologists was similar to other sites in the domain of ancient Rome. One of the hypotheses based on the nature of the grave is it has similarities to Ephesus in Turkey.
Researchers who came across the remains were not expecting to see that a grave in Britain would be very close to another Roman settlement. One assumption is that it would forever change the conquest of Britain and its beliefs until now. Ancient Rome had an impact on old Britain after conquering it.
Roman occupation in the ancient British Isles
About 2,000 years ago, the islands were finally subdued by the Roman empire, with higher culture than that of early Britons. Rome's legacy is still in the country and even in modern-day Britons that is evident, reported The Express UK.
The changes that came after Romans pacified the isles brought about new ideas about food, culture, music, and religiosity with new art concepts. But it came at the cost of Briton and Roman lives, as resistance to the enlightenment of Rome wrought wars as far as Cawdor in Scotland.
Central to the conquest of Britain is the building of Roman fortifications like walls and forts in different locations in the country. Most are in higher ground or overland areas, with more excavations where ancient mass graves with headless gladiators' bodies.
Broken Human Remains found in York
More find includes the excavation at York, which turned out to have mysteries hidden for a long time. Inside the ancient mass grave are the remains of many men suspected of having died in gladiatorial combat. Based on the unusual position of the remains, when attempts to identify was not easy, noted the Daily Mail.
A documentary on Youtube, the Smithsonian Channel, covered the topic and explored it further. Scientists made an interesting analysis of the remains of the York grave. They concluded that all the skeletons that belonged to men were mature and fighting age, not a soldier with skulls near the bodies. It could be that the men in the grave are gladiators who fought battles in arenas, who may have died in combat as well.
The documentary remarks that Gladiators were non-Romans, fighting in battle similar to the theater. Remains were dug up for support to prove it was native Britons, not Roman soldiers lying in the grave, to prove their hypothesis. The skeleton bones show injuries suffered by the men and signs of brutal fighting like a gladiator would likely sustain. Bones that were cleanly sliced, with a sharp ax or a sword, were evident.
Researchers investigated and realized this grave in Britain is similar to a Roman cemetery in Turkey, about 2,000 miles away. Ephesus is a former regional center of archaic Rome, with a theatre able to seat 25,000 at one time. In 1993, a cemetery like the York grave close to the local gladiator arena was discovered.
Bodies in the Ephesian graves were very similar, and they have assumed to be gladiators based on the skeleton condition. The documentary stated the resemblance was too coincidental to ignore. Kurt Hunter-Mann, an archaeologist, said that the ancient mass grave with decapitated gladiators' bodies is very similar to Ephesus.
