The thumbs-up/thumbs-down gestures which stem from gladiatorial events had different if not opposite meanings to what they do today. A down-turned thumb by an official symbolized the winner burying his sword in the sand and the loser's life spared; an upturned thumb expressed delivering the killing stroke, symbolizing a slit throat. The actual gesture remains unknown - our belief in the thumbs-up/down stem from a painting by Gerome (pollice verso - with turned thumb) the surviving descriptions 'Infesto pollice' (with hostile thumb) and 'pollice premere' (with thumb pressed down) are too ambiguous to conclusively state what gesture was used in reality.

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