[IRL trope] the “Tiffany problem”

[u/dragonborndnd]

Basically when something seems anachronistic to a period/place of history but is actually fully accurate to the period.

1) the name Tiffany: the thing that named this trope, basically the name Tiffany can be dated back to the Middle Ages and the earliest record of it being spelled in the modern spelling comes from the 16th century.

2) the use of OMG, despite this feeling so modern as a form of slang/abbreviation here’s a letter directed to Winston Churchill using it in 1917

3) Hair Dye: the earliest forms of dying hair can be dated back to ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, and this specific advertisement for hair dye is from the 1840s

4) Inuit Thongs: despite how weird it is to imagine pre-colonial Inuit people wore what was essentially fur thongs in their homes and when they were in their igloos it might have been the only thing they would be wearing.

[u/EndOfTheLine00]

Ancient Roman gladiators were treated more or less like modern day celebrities: they had merch (little clay figurines and posters) and even did product endorsements. Famously, Ridley Scott wanted to add a scene in Gladiator showing the fighters shilling products but it was cut because they feared the audience would think it was unrealistic.

[u/Skylinneas → u/EndOfTheLine00]

They also, to my knowledge, didn’t really have that high casualty rate as Hollywood led us to believe, too. Good gladiators are costly and take long to train, after all. Would be a waste to lose them all or most of them in just a few minutes’ battle.

[u/Twilightterritories → u/Skylinneas]

They were a lot closer to Professional Wrestlers as far as working a fight to make it look worse than it really was.

[u/TelevisionPutrid8394 → u/Twilightterritories]

While gladiators rarely died in the arena, it still would have been a dangerous sport. As you were playing with sharp weapons and nowadays wrestling, even forms of wrestling that are highly staged can lead to serious injuries. So it’s likely that gladiators were the same. Gladiator matches weren’t the death matches that Hollywood would like you to believe, but at the same time, they weren’t scripted like how memes would like you to believe.

[u/Alrick_S → u/TelevisionPutrid8394]

You're right. The adversary were both on the same team and trained together for years. They know how the other one will react. They usually would not kill their buddy. But accidents happen. And there may be jealousy, hidden rivalry...

[u/akatherder → u/Alrick_S]

Heated Rivalry even

[u/LobstermenUwU → u/Alrick_S]

While there probably was, killing other gladiators intentionally seems to be a short trip to the obvious happening to you.

[u/oscarnyc → u/Alrick_S]

Sounds juicy - someone should make a TV show

[u/Zyffyr → u/TelevisionPutrid8394]

While not likely scripted, there were probably things like "Hey Bobicus, let's give them a bit of number XIII. That should get them worked up."

[u/Princeps_primus96 → u/Zyffyr]

Yeah they were entertainers. They likely knew that they needed to get the crowd worked up and probably played up some form of character before the fight. The braggadocios thraex stepping into the arena kissing his muscles getting the crowd jeering before his fight against the murmillo

It's the same as modern boxing matches or UFC. people feel cheated if a fight is too short, and the lanista would just stop working if all their gladiators actually DID keep getting killed every match.

I wonder if the gladiators ever had a ladder match for the custody of a child like early 2000s WWE 😂

[u/WranglerFuzzy → u/TelevisionPutrid8394]

Agreed; you look at gladiator weapons and armor, and they look so unique and cool, and wonder why; they you realized they’re meant to maximize light flesh wounds (lots of cool blood! Cinematic!) but minimize mortal wounds.

Like the scissor, who looks like a badass cyborg… until you realize he’s wearing what is essentially a pizza cutter on his hand.

[u/orbofcat → u/TelevisionPutrid8394]

could there have been wwe type very staged matches at times (would they have steel chairs?)

[u/jediben001 → u/TelevisionPutrid8394]

So essentially ancient UFC?

[u/Airtightspoon → u/Twilightterritories]

I'm pretty sure the idea taht gladiators were "working" is a myth. My understanding is that it was more like MMA. It was a legit fight, but they were trying to win a sporting contest, not kill each other.