In this detail of a large Roman marble floor mosaic depicting gladiatorial combat, dating back to the late Imperial period, 320-340 AD, discovered in the Borghese family property in Torrenova, on the Via Casilina on the outskirts of Rome, in 1834, now part of the Borghese Gallery Collection in Rome, there is a particular scene where one can see the arm of one of the incitatores (unfortunately the rest was lost at the time of discovery, and 19th-century restorations combined slabs located initially in different sites), who used sharp and burning rod to burn particularly weak or cowardly gladiators. He attempts to burn the back of a secutor-type gladiator with the pointed, sharp, and burning rod, seen from behind, bleeding from under his loincloth, while he is fleeing.
This act in amphitheatres infuriated the audience, who shouted "ure!" "Burn him," to the incitatores; in this case, in the upper section (not visible in the posted photo), there is an inscription indicating the incitator by name, Purpureus, a nickname for those who handled objects with incandescent tips in the arena, derived from the Greek word "pur", meaning fire.
This mosaic seems to bring to life the words of Seneca, who in his Epistolae (VII) writes: "Now the crowd is picking on an amphitheater official who can't bring himself to use a whip and a red-hot bar on a lazy gladiator, one who, according to them, is a waste of time because he fights too calmly. Hear what they shout: "Burn him, whip him, slit his throat!".