Roman gladiators brutalized brown bears inside arenas, new archaeological evidence reveals

There was some real “grizzly” violence in the arena.

It turns out that the “Gladiator” movies’ lurid depictions of man-on-beast gladiatorial bouts aren’t as far-fetched as some might believe — scientists in Serbia have discovered the first ever fossil evidence that a brown bear went claw-to-toe with human combatants in the arena.

“[It’s] likely that this bear participated in more than one spectacle,” wrote the authors of the unbearable study, which was published Monday in the journal “Antiquity.”

The scientists came to this conclusion by analyzing a fragmented skull of a brown bear that was exhumed in 2016 near the amphitheater at Viminacium, a Roman military outpost in modern-day Serbia, Livescience reported.

It was part of a graveyard of animal bones, including those of a leopard, that were uncovered near the entrance to the 7,000-seat arena, which dates back to the 2nd century AD. The discovery of this “pet” cemetery conflicted with previous research that animals dispatched in the arena were butchered.

Needless to say, this grizzly find likely proved that said bruin was a participant in interspecies death matches.

“We cannot say with certainty whether the bear died directly in the arena, but the evidence suggests the trauma occurred during spectacles and the subsequent infection likely contributed significantly to its death,” the study’s head author Nemanja Marković, a senior research associate at the Institute of Archaeology in Belgrade, told Live Science.

While historical accounts and artists mention that Baloo participated in gladiatorial showcases, this discovery marked the “first osteological (bone-related) evidence for the participation of brown bears in Roman spectacles.”

It’s yet unclear in what manner of barbearic spectacle the critter was forced to compete.

However, this beast of hurtin’ could’ve been made to brawl with other animals or “venatores,” gladiators who specialized in hunting — a la the notorious bear fight scene from “Game Of Thrones.”

Either way, the cranial inspection proved just how brutal these “mixed” martial arts exhibitions could be. Using ancient DNA analysis, researchers determined that the critter was male and likely originated from “the local Balkan brown bear population,” the Daily Mail reported. They deduced that the pet pugilist was around six years old when it died — possibly due to the large lesion on the skull.

This head wound showed signs of healing as well as signs of infection.

This suggested that, at the time of death, he was suffering from the injury, which researchers deduced could’ve been inflicted by a “venator’s” spear.

Meanwhile, excessive wear and tear to the canine teeth further “indicates cage chewing,” indicating that the grizzly gladiator was behind bars for a prolonged period, potentially because he was featured in repeated displays at the Viminacium.

“This bear was likely kept in captivity for years, not just weeks,” Marković said.

Most importantly, this find provided a tragic “glimpse of the significance of brown bears in spectacles across the wider Empire,” the study authors wrote.

This isn’t the first evidence that gladiator bouts weren’t strictly mano-a-mano.

This past spring, archaeologists recently discovered skeletal evidence in York, England proving that these warrior slaves went at it with lions to sate ancient Romans’ blood lust.