Secutor Helmet

Secutor Helmet
Type	Gladiatorial helmet
Designation	Unknown
Place of Origin	Roman Empire
Produced	Mid 1st century AD-???
Manufacturer(s)	Romans
Material(s)	bronze or iron
Evolved from	Unknown
Evolved into	Unknown
Service
Used by	Secutor and Scissor gladiators
Wars	Gladiatorial games

The Secutor Helmet is a helmet of Roman origin.

Overview

The Secutor was typically pitted against a Retiarius armed with a net thus the helmet had a round egg-shaped form, minimal crest and no reliefs in order to avoid snagging into the opponent's net.

The helmet also had neck protection in the form of smooth flanges serving to deflect blows. It also had only two small eye-holes in order to prevent the Retiarius' trident from being thrust through the wearer's face.

There are various Secutor helmet shapes but the most well-known example from the Pompeii barracks had its faceplate consisting of two detachable pieces and was made of bronze.

History

It is generally considered that the Secutor type of gladiator appeared around 50 AD hence presumably this style of helmet also appeared during that period. The Secutor helmet most likely evolved from earlier stylized fish or dolphin shaped helmets worn by early murmillo gladiators around late 1st century BC/early 1st century AD.

As the Secutor was typically paired with a Retiarius his helmet was specifically designed as a counter retiarius helmet. Due to his heavy equipment and helmet, a secutor was prone to exhaustion during longer matches, and thus relied on quickly concluding the battle to gain victory. The Secutor type helmet was also used by Scissor gladiators.

The most significant example of a Secutor helmet is the one from the Ludus Gladiatorius of Pompeii.

In popular culture

Media	Notes	Date
Caesar III	Worn by the gladiator walkers, anachronistic for the pre BC scenarios	1998
Spartacus	Worn by the Secutor gladiators, anachronistic	2010-2013
Total War: Rome II	Worn by the Gladiators unit, anachronistic	2013
Assassin's Creed: Origins	It is part of the Spaniard's Armor and has the eagle crest from Cassis Crista, anachronistic	2017
Assassin's Creed: Odyssey	As the Brute's Helm and Eagle Helmet (same model from Origins), also worn by mercenaries, anachronistic	2018
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4	Worn by the Marauders	2018