ACI Roman Gladiator Murmillo Flamma

From Wikipedia :
The murmillo (also sometimes spelled mirmillo or myrmillo, pl. murmillones) was a type of gladiator during the Roman Imperial age. The murmillo-class gladiator was adopted in the early Imperial period to replace the earlier Gallus, named after the warriors of Gaul. As the Gauls inhabiting Italy had become well-integrated with the Romans by the time of the reign of Augustus, it became undesirable to portray them as enemy outsiders the Gallus-class gladiator thus had to be retired.

The murmillo usually fought the thraex or hoplomachus, with whom he shared some of the equipment (notably arm guards and all-enclosing helmet, and the dangerous short sword). A number of ancient authors, including Valerius Maximus and Quintillian, assert that he also regularly fought the retiarius. It would certainly have been an unusual pairing, contrasting a slow but heavily armoured gladiator with a fast but lightly equipped one. However, this pairing is disputed; visual depictions of murmillones show them fighting the thraex or hoplomachus rather than the retiarius.

The Murmillo fighting style was suited for men with large muscular arms and strong heavy shoulders needed to help him carry the weight of his shield and sword. Men who played the Murmillo were shorter than most other Gladiators but very muscular. The Murmillo depended on his strength and endurance to survive the battle against foes who were more suited to attacking. The tower shield gave him an edge in defense and his gladius also gave him the ability to thrust and swing at his enemies when in close range. The Murmillo were also trained to kick their enemies with the thick padding worn around their legs.

Examples of the pairing between murmillones and other gladiator types can be seen in frescoes and graffiti in Pompeii. In one well-preserved example, a murmillo named Marcus Atillus, who is credited with one match and one victory, is depicted standing over the defeated figure of Lucius Raecius Felix, a gladiator with 12 matches and 12 victories. His opponent is shown kneeling, disarmed and unhelmeted. The graffito records that Felix survived the fight and was granted his freedom .

To an unlearned person (me) in Gladiator history, the coolness factors plays a part in me deciding to pick this up when it was available. Not long later, Kaustic Plastik also offers a similarly geared Gladiator which I also bought with the intention of displaying them side by side as "brothers in arms" as I thought they are from the same school. After reading up Wikipedia that I realize they actually fought each other as a natural pairing in duel. Well, still within a "team" concept although they are at each others neck.
Personally, I prefer plastic gear as it can have more defined detailing. But if you are a true historical accuracies buff, you'd prefer the rustic cast metal with rough detailing as I reckon this is how it was being made, by hand, from blacksmiths back in the days. I can't imaging the Murmillo has a metal cast arm armor...
The fact that the Gladiator doesn't wear any shoes nor sanders and are barefooted, I think ACI had this in mind and sculpted the feet with considerable details. Although I think it can be better but it is at least not a halfhearted attempt to give you a feet for the sake of having it in the boots if you know what I mean. The body is also sculpted nicely. Joints are tight, so tight to the extend that posing is a light chore. Not enjoying the posing process actually. That is why you see only a few pose in these pictures.
ACI also gave the Murmillo a cloak and 3pairs of spare left & right hands.
When I took out the Murmillo for this photo shoot, it has already been in my display cabinet since Sep 2011, the pleather is already disintegrating. Top part is flaking off already. Maybe in the future, I need to restrap with real leather strip.
Overall, ACI Gladiator Murmillo Flamma is a very nice figure. And with the recent booming of ancient 1/6 soldiers offerings from Kaustic Plastik and ACI, I'd probably want to clear a shelf space and dedicate it to these ancient warriors. Hope one day there is a Greek Hoplite, Greek General and a Carthaginian soldier.