Gladiator-lion battles were a real thing in Rome, and an 1,800-year-old skeleton bears proof

Researchers have found proof that Roman gladiators fighting lions is not just fiction, but it actually happened in real life. A skeleton found in a Roman cemetery in York, UK, is proof that a man valiantly fought a lion 1,800 years ago. Archaeologists say it bears bite marks, which is the first time evidence of such an act has been discovered.

The cemetery has long been thought to carry the remains of soldiers or slaves. But now scientists say they have proof that gladiators are buried in the ground there. 

The skeleton belongs to a male who was between 26 to 35 years of age. He was a fighter, as proven by the multiple injuries on his body that healed over time. One of it is a bite wound on his hip bone. Researchers say this is a sign that gladiators who fought lions were buried at the cemetery.

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Malin Holst, lecturer in Osteoarchaeology at the University of York, told the Daily Mail, "The bite marks were likely made by a lion, which confirms that the skeletons buried at the cemetery were gladiators, rather than soldiers or slaves, as initially thought."

She added that this is the first "osteological confirmation" that humans engaged with lions in a "combat or entertainment setting in the Roman world."

While his other wounds healed, this one spelt doom for the gladiator who likely died because of it.

The gladiator is one of 82 other skeletons that were excavated from the Driffield Terrace graveyard in 2010. He was buried with two others, with horse bones laid on top of them. He also seemed to have suffered from some health complications, such as inflammation of his lungs and thighs, as well as malnutrition.

The wound was confirmed to be from a lion bite after the scientists compared it to a sample from a zoo. 

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Humans getting into a battle with lions has largely only been a fictional tale till now, with some hints in historical texts and pictures painted by artists. Professor Tim Thompson, from Maynooth University in Ireland, 'This discovery provides the first direct, physical evidence that such events took place in this period, reshaping our perception of Roman entertainment culture in the region."

The Colosseum in Rome has been seen as a place where combat events took place in that era. However, such activities were not limited to it, experts say, and were spread far and wide in Rome. "An amphitheatre probably existed in Roman York, but this has not yet been discovered", Holst added.

Researchers say that gladiator events were part of the lavish social life of senior generals and politicians. In fact, they believe such events were held in York until as late as the fourth century AD.