Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. A third century mosaic lost during World War I likely depicted a gladiatorial scene that challenges widespread assumptions about gender dynamics in ancient Rome. After reexamining notes first compiled in 1860, University of California sports historian Alfonso Mañas believes artwork excavated in Reims, France, showcased the first known illustration of a venatrix—a woman beast-fighter.  Ancient Roman gladiatorial games weren’t restricted to brutal spectacles between male pit warriors. They featured a diverse (and frequently rotating) cast of professional combatants, criminals, enslaved citizens, and even wild animals facing off against one another. Only a handful of primary sources reference female gladiatrix fighters, and even fewer mention women squaring off against captured predators like big cats or bears. The earliest example dates to the reign of Nero (54–68 CE), while other documents mention venatrix matches at the Colosseum’s opening in 80 CE. Most historians have long believed women beast-fighting events fell out of favor by around 100 CE, while gladiatrix warriors occasionally …