Wednesday, May 12, 2021

Morituri te salutant


Linear B makes a limited edition set of resin gladiator figures titled "Morituri Te Salutant" that for some reason is not reviewed at PSR. Only 999 sets were produced, and the set I received came with 14 figures in 10 poses (although I have seen some sellers list the set as having 15 figures).


The resin is nice and firm so the casting blocks are easily removed without damaging any of the parts. There was almost no flash, but there are quite a few casting bubbles that need to be filled in.

The gladiators in the set include a retiarius with separate trident, and a secutor with separate sword arm and shield. There are also two referee figures (I'm guessing the figure with the staff behind his back is the summa rudis, while the other is his assistant). The final figure at the far right is the confector or "Charon".


The arms of the retiarius are set just a bit too wide, so either the arms or trident need to be modified for the hands to match up with the arms. I cut the shaft of one trident, and discovered that there was a metal wire under the resin.


The rod held by the summa rudis is missing the ends, so I'll add some new ones, but maybe I'll make it resemble the longer rods held by most of the referees in the Mosaic of Astyanax and Kalendio and the Mosaic of Symmachus and Maternus.



The confector is supposed to be dressed as Charon, but his mask makes him look more like Silenus. I am using the two titles interchangeably, but the Wikipedia page on gladiators claims that the "Charon" is an official who accompanied the dead from the Roman gladiatorial arena, while other sources use the term confector (executioner) to describe the official responsible for delivering the coup de grâce to fallen gladiators.

Next are the three musicians consisting of a tibia player, a cornu player, and a hydraulis player.


For some reason, this ensemble brings to mind the "Charge" fanfare from a modern hockey or baseball game.


It would have been nice if there were a second cornicen and a tuba player as seen in the Zliten mosaic.


Last up is a slave with a couple of dead bodies for him to dispose of.


I think the only thing that the set is missing are a couple of boys with rakes for cleaning up unsightly spills on the arena floor.


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