The Cavillargues medallion is a 2nd or 3rd century AD terracotta relief plaque, 16 cm wide, found in Nîmes, and depicts a gladiatorial combat between the retiarius Xantus and the secutor Eros, as the two insignia, the ministri, on either side confirm. The gladiator of the retiarius type, on the left, is lightly armed, equipped with a net and trident, and fights against a more heavily armed and armored secutor gladiator. The upper part of the medallion depicts the two combatants, alongside the inscription "stantēs missī," literally translated from Latin as "released while still standing," which signifies that the fight has ended in a draw. In fact, to the right of the combatants in the foreground, one of the two referees signals with the gesture of pollice presso or presso, that is, hiding the thumb in the fist, the granting of pardon to the combatants, and the gladiators can leave the arena on their own two feet. In ancient Rome, there were two gestures to indicate the defeat of gladiators: the thumb down, in Latin pollice verso, or the thumb hide, pollice presso, unsheathing the gladius (the sword), or putting it back in its case.

Holding the thumb up imitated the gesture of unsheathing the blade from its scabbard, recalling the act of holding a gladius, and therefore: death to the losing gladiator, by slitting the throat of the defeated; Indeed, by making this gesture, the crowd shouted "jugula," meaning "cut his throat." To grant mercy, the public and the Emperor, when present, closed his thumb in his fist, meaning presso. This gesture indicated putting the sword back in its sheath and was great news for the one who had lost the fight: in Latin: "pollice presso favor indicatur," "benevolence is indicated with the thumb inside," meaning that by bending the thumb downwards within the hand, the victorious gladiator was invited to put his sword back in its sheath, and thus to let the loser live. The lower part of the medallion depicts the barricade that separated the fighting arena from the audience. The medallion does not depict the crowd, but places the spectator in the front row among the audience, among the most elite spectators; it is like a window, a view directly onto the arena. Some scholars have identified this barricade as the summit of the platform where gladiators attempted to climb, and where combats between pontarii gladiators took place. They were called this because they fought on a kind of bridge.

The name derives from the Latin pons, meaning bridge. The pontarii were always gladiators of the secutor or retiarius type. The medallion was found in Cavillargues, in the Gard department of southern France. It is now exhibited as part of the collection of the Musée de la Romanité in Nîmes. The combat depicted perhaps represents a real encounter in the arena of present-day Nîmes, formerly called Nemausus, a Roman colony founded near a Celtic village that was soon absorbed into the new city. It became a Latin colony following the transfer of Greco-Egyptian soldiers from Antony's army, and during the reign of Augustus, who gave it the name Colonia Augusta Nemausus in 27 BC, during the reorganization of Gallia Narbonensis, new colonies, such as Narbonne and Arles, were added to it. A broad process of Romanization followed, involving customs and the acquisition of Roman law. The city grew and was enriched with splendid monuments and surrounded by a wall (16 BC), soon becoming one of the richest cities in Gaul, reaching a population of 20,000 inhabitants, thanks also to its location along the Via Domitia, the main communication route between northern Italy and Spain. The original name given to it by the Romans was: "Colonia Julia Augusta Nemausus Volcarum Aremecorum".