Gladiator chews out ref from grave

Gladiator chews out ref from grave

The oldest evidence of a complaint about a ref’s blown call lies written on stone, according to a close examination of an 1,800-year-old epitaph. Belonging to a gladiator named Diodorus, the tombstone shows a combatant standing victoriously over his defeated opponent, who sits on the ground begging for mercy. Demetrius' submission should have been the end of the fight, but the summa rudis (literally "chief stick") -- the referee -- allowed him to get up and fight again. "Diodorus ultimately lost the combat and died," Carter said. Full story at Discovery News.