Historic sources report that gladiators had their own diet. This comprised beans and grains. Contemporary reports referred to them as hordearii (barley eaters). The result shows that gladiators mostly ate a vegetarian diet. There is virtually no difference in terms of nutrition from the local normal population. Meals consisted primarily of grain and meat-free meals. The word barley eater relates in this case to the fact that gladiators were probably given grain of an inferior quality. The difference between gladiators and the normal population is highly significant in terms of the amount of strontium measured in their bones. This leads to the conclusion that the gladiators had a higher intake of minerals from a strontium-rich source of calcium. The ash drink quoted in literature probably really did exist. Plant ashes were evidently consumed to fortify the body after physical exertion and to promote better bone healing, explains study leader Fabian Kanz from the Department of Forensic Medicine at the MedUni Vienna.
Posted on: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 23:34:00 +0000
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