33. Ancient graffiti found in Pompeii show just how crazy women and young girls were about the best-known gladiators
If Faustina did indeed have an affair with a gladiator, this wouldn’t have been so shocking at the time. Indeed in Ancient Rome, many gladiators were seen as sex symbols. Graffiti scribbled on the walls of Pompei show this was the case. This notes how one gladiator was “the delight of all the girls” while another “catches the girls at night in his net”. Women and girls from the lower classes would adorn their bedroom walls with pictures of their heroes and would delight at seeing them in action. Noble women, meanwhile, might request a gladiator be sent to her bed-chamber after a fight.