ABSTRACT
CONTESTS with boxing gloves were thought to be a very good test of strength among northern fighting-men, yet they were seldom practised, because the men’s hands were so weighty and powerful that those who engaged with each other had no need of leather, or of lead sewn into it, to strike a heavier blow; they could crush the head or body confronting them with their fist alone, as though with a hammer. For it is well known that Hhe cord of the gloves used by ancient pugilists was nothing other than a strip of ox-hide wound round the hands, enabling them to feel an impact less and hit their opponent with more force. Furthermore, when they sewed lumps of lead into the leather it was highly dangerous, or even fatal, as they pummelled each other’s shoulders. Of these thongs, which we find used only by the strongest men, the poet relates: Into the ring he threw two gloves of immense weight, which the violent Eryx was wont to wear for combat, wrapping the tough leather round his arms. Men were astounded to see seven huge bull-hides, stiff with the lead and iron sewn inside them. 1
Strong men use hands as a hammer
Cord of the gloves
Virgil, Aeneid V
