"Gladiator II Ave Deo"
Life-sizel Bronze Sculpture Allegory by James Muir Bronze Allegorical Sculptor-Artist

“Ave Deo” (Hail God!)

This sculpture depicts a Retiarius, Fisherman, who was sometimes termed the ‘runner,’ as he wore no armor except the aforementioned galerus and manicae. He is generally armed with only a net, trident, fascina, and dagger.

Together, paired with Ave Caesar, these pieces glorify not the Gladiatorial combats, but are a tribute to that rare kind of courage so often displayed in the arena by thousands of doomed men. At a higher level, the pair represent the conflict between the material and the spiritual, between rendering unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s.

The Myrmillo is weighed down by the mass of his material armor and weaponry. The Retiarius moves unencumbered, his net a symbol of retaining only the essential Truths of life while the three-pointed trident is a reminder of focusing heart, mind, and soul on the spiritual target. While the head of Hercules on the Myrmillo’s helmet screams in defiant range against the inevitable, the crab on the Retiarius’ galerus crawls its way steadfastly upward toward the Light, supported by the feather of Truth, Ma’at, and the ‘fish’ of the Christ, with the focused thrust of the trident, where the last vestiges of our own shells shall at long last be divested.