Lost secrets of gladiators

new_direction

http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2007/05_may/02/gladiator.shtml

'The Gladiator grave at Ephesus contained the intermingled bones of 68 corpses – nearly all young men under 30 – totalling over 2,000 bones, with a further 5,000 fragments. ... Franz and Grosschmidt used a spectrometer to establish the amount of strontium in Euxenius's bones.  Levels of strontium indicate the amount of vegetable matter consumed over a lifetime, the higher the levels the more likely that the diet is devoid of meat.  The pair thought that strontium levels would be lower in Gladiators, as they would need a protein rich diet in order to build muscle tissue. ... What they found in Euxenius, and other unnamed Gladiator corpses, was to astound them.  The results proved that Gladiators in fact had an almost completely vegetarian diet.  They probably ate a diet of barley and beans washed down with a vinegar/ash drink – the forerunner of sports drinks. 

"The Romans may have known more about the human body than we ever thought possible," says Dr Kanz. 

"Today in osteoporosis research a lot of work is being done to see if administering strontium instead of calcium will build strong bones.  It has been found that if strontium is administered, the healing process takes place faster and the bones become more stable.

"Higher levels of strontium could have meant that Gladiators were less likely to receive crippling injuries and wounds."