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Story summary
- A third-century mosaic fragment from Reims, France, provides first visual evidence of female beast fighters, known as venatrices, in ancient Rome.
- UC Berkeley sports researcher Alfonso Mañas notes the mosaic shows a topless huntress fighting a leopard with a whip.
- A surviving drawing by archaeologist Jean Charles Loriquet offers insight after the mosaic was destroyed in World War I.
- This finding shows huntress exhibitions were more accepted in Roman society.
