Laquearius
Roman gladiator that fought with a lasso or noose in one hand and a poniard or sword in the other
The laquearius, laquerarius, or laqueator (plural laquearii, laquerarii, and laqueatores; literally, "snarer") was a class of Roman gladiator that fought with a lasso or noose (laqueus) in one hand and a poniard or sword in the other. The laquearius appeared late in the history of the Roman games. They may have made up a full-fledged gladiator class that fought actual bouts in the arena. If this was the case, the snarer likely followed the same tactics as the retiarius, a gladiator who wielded a throwing net and trident. Such combat-oriented laquearii fought by attempting to snare their adversaries with the lasso to allow for a follow-up strike from the blade. The snarer's armour was probably similar to that of the retiarius; it consisted mainly of a retiarius armguard worn over the left shoulder. Another possibility is that the laquearius was a kind of paegniarius, or clown. These men fought mock battles in the arena as comic relief between real matches.
Most gladiator types were based on real-world antecedents. Because the Romans did not use lassos on the battlefield, it is unlikely that the laquearius was based on a Roman model.
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This entry incorporates text from “Laquearius” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.