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Cyrene Gladiator Arena

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View of the Cyrene arena

The Cyrene Gladiator Arena was a gladiator arena in Cyrene. As one of the gladiator arenas located in Kyrenaika, it was popular among the citizens of Cyrene and the province.

History[edit | edit source]

The Roman general, Julius Caesar, challenged the arena at some point, clashing against Polymestor, a Thracian gladiator. Caesar defeated the gladiator, sparing him and giving him a sword to signify his freedom.[1]

Sometime later, the Medjay Bayek challenged the arena in 47 BCE, having being directed by Felix Martialis, the owner of the arena in Krokodilopolis.[2] Bayek clashed with opponents from various parts of Europe, namely The Hammer from Britannia, The Axes from Germania, The Hoplite and The Seleucid, both from Greece, and The Duelist from China, defeating them with a variety of weapons.[1]

Not long after, Bayek returned to fight in the arena once again, this time facing hordes of fighters, as part of a deal with Thanasis to free Kosey from his employment. Upon finishing his battle, Bayek left the arena, only to find out that Thanasis had betrayed his part of the deal and left to find Kosey.[3]

Rewards[edit | edit source]

Behind the scenes[edit | edit source]

Frieze of polychrome glazed brick showing men carrying spears, bows and quivers, thought to be "The Immortals", the royal guards of Darius I / 6th-5th cent. BCE (Achaemenid Period)

The arena appears to be visually based on the Amphitheatre of El Jem or more likely its reconstruction by Jean-Claude Golvin considering that he consulted the development team of Origins.[4] Locationwise the arena appears to stand in for a Roman theater built in the market of the city.[5] However, the El Jem architecture of the arena is anachronistic and the market theater was also probably built later than the game's period. Instead, during this time the Cyrene Theatre was utilized by the Romans and was expanded in the 2nd century CE to serve as arena.[6][7][8]

There are Persian columns and Lamassu statues present in the arena.[9][10]

Gallery[edit | edit source]

Appearances[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Assassin's Creed: Origins
  2. Assassin's Creed: OriginsThe Lure of Glory
  3. Assassin's Creed: OriginsHere Comes a New Challenger
  4. Jean-Claude Golvin. North Africa. jeanclaudegolvin.com. Accessed 28 April 2020.
  5. Temehu. A Map of The Archaeological Sites of Cyrene. temehu.com. Accessed 28 April 2020.
  6. Cyrene, Shahhat, Jabal al Akhdar, Libya. www.triphistoric.com. Accessed 21 September 2018
  7. Pleiades. Theater of Cyrene. pleiades.stoa.org. Accessed 28 April 2020.
  8. The Theatre-Amphitheatre of the sanctuary of Apollo at Cyrene. ghn.globalheritagefund.org. Accessed 28 April 2020.
  9. Assassin's Creed Origins - Cyrene Arena Work. www.artstation.com. Accessed 14 May 2019
  10. Persian Assets in Origins and Odyssey. www.reddit.com. Accessed 14 May 2019