Was Reish Lakish a Gladiator?

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14232/suc.2021.2.119-127

Keywords:

gladiators, Talmud, Reish Lakish, Resh Lakish, the Roman Games, Simon ben Lakish, Gittin

Abstract

It is often mentioned that Reish Lakish (Shim’on ben Lakish), one of the most important rabbis in the land of Israel during the 3rd century AD, had been a gladiator before he became a rabbi. They all base their opinion on one legend in the Babylonian Talmud, and especially one sentence in it. The current article wishes to revisit this issue and to prove that there is no concrete basis for this assumption.

Author Biography

Haggai Olshanetsky, Bar Ilan University

Haggai Olshanetsky is writing a doctorate on Jewish soldiers in the Hellenistic and Roman armies under Professor Dueck in the Department for Classical Studies at Bar Ilan University. From the same university, he holds two master degrees, one from the General History Department and another from the Land of Israel and Archaeology Department.

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Published

2021-12-15

How to Cite

Olshanetsky, H. (2021). Was Reish Lakish a Gladiator?. Sapiens Ubique Civis, 2, 119–127. https://doi.org/10.14232/suc.2021.2.119-127

Issue

Vol. 2 (2021): Sapiens ubique civis II

Section

Articles