Abstract

Roman pocketknives carved in the form of gladiators offer vital insight into the ambiguous status of the athletes they represent and how ancient consumers related to them. Gladiator knives objectified male gladiators as a key site for embodying and grappling with Roman conceptions of masculinity, sex, and enslavement. The knives reflect the popularity of gladiatorial combat as a sport in the Roman Empire, but they also commodified gladiators as mascots: utile bodies rather than autonomous individuals. Gladiator knives suggest how art historical analysis can illuminate the role of sports merchandise as an everyday mechanism of power outside institutionalized sporting practices.

摘要

罗马小刀雕刻成角斗士的形状，为了解他们所代表的运动员的模糊地位以及古代消费者与他们的关系提供了重要的洞察力。角斗士刀将男性角斗士物化为体现和应对罗马男性气质、性和奴役概念的关键场所。这些刀反映了角斗士作为一项运动在罗马帝国的流行，但它们也将角斗士商品化为吉祥物：实用的身体而不是自主的个体。角斗士刀表明艺术史分析如何阐明体育商品作为制度化体育实践之外的日常权力机制的作用。