RIGHT: Net-fighter, from Last Days of Pompeii
The retiarius was a lightly-armed/-armoured and gladiator who fights with a net. (rete = net)
Nets are associated with fishers and the sea, and generally with the realm of the feminine.
You could see the net-fighters' faces because, unlike other gladiators, they didn't wear helmets.
According to Wikipedia:
"The gladiator's lack of armour and reliance on evasive tactics meant that many considered the retiarius the lowliest (and most effeminate) of an already stigmatised class (i.e. gladiators).
Nevertheless, Roman artwork, graffiti, and grave markers include net-fighters who apparently had reputations as skilled combatants and lovers."
LEFT: Astyanax vs Kalendio mosaic (4th c. A.D.), from the National Archaeological Museum in Madrid: Kalendia, the retiarius (right), having thrown his net over the helmeted & armoured secutor gladiator Astyanax, attacks him with his trident.
The referee stands by, awaiting the outcome.
Image from here.
