Gladiatorial Hermes Indigo

Latin gladiātōrius, of the gladiator — adjectival suffix, derived from gladius (short-sword). As a color modifier, gladiatorial implies a saturated-and-combative-and-bloody quality, the deep-rich color of Roman-Colosseum gladiator-arena bloody-tunic-and-shield combat-attire. Sits at the bold-and-formal end of the grid, parallel to spartan and valiant.

Greek Ἑρμῆς, messenger-of-the-Olympian-gods. As a color modifier, hermes implies a winged-sandal-and-caduceus-and-messenger quality, the visual register of Praxiteles-Hermes-and-Olympia-marble hand-winged-sandal-and-caduceus-and-messenger Praxiteles-Hermes-and-Olympia-marble-and-Hellenistic-bronze hermes-and-winged-sandal-and-caduceus surfaces under Praxiteles-Hermes-and-Olympia-marble-and-Hellenistic-bronze Olympian-pantheon-and-marketplace Mediterranean-marble-light. Sits at the modifier-and-myth end of the grid, parallel to zeus and atlas in usage.

Indigofera tinctoria, the South Asian legume whose leaves yield the deep blue dye that has clothed humanity for at least four thousand years — Egyptian linen, Mayan textile, the slave-grown plantations of Carolina. The color refers to a freshly indigo-dyed cotton thread: a saturated, slightly violet-shifted deep blue with the slight lustre of a fiber surface oxidized in air. Deeper than cobalt, cooler than royal.