Era / Region: Roman Imperial Period, Italy
Lifespan: Unknown (active mid–1st century CE)
Primary Role(s): Gladiator
Alternate Names / Titles: —
The Life
Marcus Attilius is known through surviving graffiti discovered near the Nucerian Gate at Pompeii. These inscriptions record gladiatorial contests held at Nola and preserve the names and outcomes of several fighters. Unlike most gladiators named in the graffiti, Marcus Attilius bears both a praenomen and a gens name, identifying him as a free-born Roman citizen rather than a slave.
Attilius entered the arena as a voluntary gladiator, enrolling in a gladiatorial school by contract. By doing so, he temporarily surrendered his legal rights and social standing for the duration of his service. He fought as a murmillo, a heavily armed gladiator equipped with a gladius, a large rectangular shield, a crested helmet, and protective shin guards.
The graffiti records that the games at Nola marked Attilius’s first appearance in the arena. Despite being a tiro, or novice, he was matched against Hilarus, an experienced gladiator who had fought fourteen times and won twelve victories and who was associated with the household of Emperor Nero. In this contest, Marcus Attilius forced Hilarus to surrender and was declared the victor.
Attilius fought a second bout shortly thereafter against another veteran gladiator, Lucius Raecius Felix, who had also achieved twelve victories in previous contests. Attilius won this fight as well.
Because Hilarus was associated with the household of Emperor Nero, Marcus Attilius’s activity can be placed within the reign of Nero, between 54 and 68 CE.
These victories were recorded by spectators in painted inscriptions, showing Attilius armed as a murmillo and listing his opponents and results. The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE buried Pompeii and preserved these graffiti, ensuring that Marcus Attilius’s career survived in the archaeological record.