From a Model Protocol for Investigation of Strangulation Cases:
"Yet, while many victims present with no visible signs of injury, trauma to the neck can result in fractures of the hyoid bone, larynx, and tracheal rings as well as carotid tears and occlusions. Survivors of strangulation attacks frequently present for medical care with complaints of pain, swelling, and changes to the voice.
...
Swallowing changes are due to injury of the larynx cartilage and/or hyoid bone. Swallowing may be difficult but not painful (dysphagia) or painful (odynophagia). Breathing changes may be due to the hyperventilating that normally goes hand in hand with a terrifying event, but more significantly may be secondary to an underlying neck injury. The victim may find it difficult to breathe (dyspnea) or may be unable to breathe (apnea). It is critical to appreciate that although breathing changes may initially appear to be mild, underlying injuries may kill the victim up to 36 or more hours later due to decompensation of the injured structures."
More interesting may be in the footnotes. You may want to check some of these out:
Delayed death following strangulation. Arch Kriminol, Nov. 1987, 180:5-6, pp. 161-71. H. Maxeiner.
A case of phypoxic brain damage consequent to ligature strangulation. Nippon Holgaku Zasshi, April 1989, 43:2, pp. 186-90. S. Kubo, M. Ogata, M. Iwasaki, O. Kitamura, I. Shimokawa, H. Suyama, M. Hironaka.
On the absence of cutaneous lesions of the neck in cases of strangulation. Minerva Medicoleg, Nov. 1967, 87:6, pp. 299-302. F. Nathan, Italian.
Case report. Delayed death after pressure on the neck: possible causal mechanisms for mode of death in manual strangulation discussed. Forensic Science Int., <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />April 23, 1996, 78:3, pp. 193-97. A.M. Anscombe.
Late neuropathological consequences of strangulation. Resuscitations, Sept. 1987, 15:3, pp. 171-85. R.K. Simpson, Jr., J.C. Goodman, E. Rouah, N. Caraway, D.S. Baskin.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
Strangulation as a Method of Homicide. Arch Path, vol. 83, January 1967, pp. 64-70. James L. Luke, M.D.
Manual Strangulation Injuries of the Larynx. Arch. Otolaryngol. vol. 109, May 1983,
pp. 344-47. Robert B. Stanley., Jr., M.D., D.D.S., David G. Hanson, M.D.
Types of injuries and interrelated conditions of victims and assailants in attempted and homicidal strangulation. Forensic Science International, vol. 18, 1981, 101-23.
Throat-skeleton fractured by strangulation. Z Rechtsmed. 79:2, March 23, 1977, pp. 143-47. C.F. Hansch.
A study of fatal strangulation cases in Varanasi (India). American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, 8:3, Sept. 1987, pp. 220-24. A.K. Srivastava, S.M. Das Gupta, C.B. Tripathi.
Strangulation: a full spectrum of blunt neck trauma. Ann Otol Rhinl Laryingol. 94: 6:1, Nov. 1985, 542-46.
"A Review of 300 Attempted Strangulation Cases: Part III: Injuries in Fatal Cases," Dean A. Hawley, George E. McClane, and Gael B. Strack, Journal of Emergency Medicine: Elsevier Science Inc., vol. 21, no. 3, October 2001, pp. 318 and 319.
The location of Hyoid Fractures in Strangulation Revealed by Xeroradiography. Journal of Forensic Sciences. 1994, pp. 303-305. Michael S. Pollanen, Barbara Bulger, R.T.(R), and David A. Chiasson, M.D.
Hyoid fracture and strangulation. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 37:5, Sept. 1992, pp.1216-22. D.H. Ubelaker.
Mucosal hemorrhage of the larynx in strangulation and other causes of death. Beitr Gerichtl Med., 47: 429-435, 1989. H. Maxeiner, German.
Manual strangulation injuries of the larynx. Arch Otolaryngol, 109:5, May 1983, pp. 344-47. R.B. Stanley, Jr.
Given the nature of the Imagines, there's a good chance that the descriptions of the paintings might simply be literary devices employed by Philostratus; in other words, instead of including the raising of the hand in submission as a part of his narrative, he simply describes a picture showing it.Yes. Which makes it even less realistic. Either he's talking about an artist's impression of the match, or his own impression of what an artist's impression of the match would be (like Virgil describing Aeneas' shield). Neither alternative fills me with confidence.
Here's the relevant quote from Gunther's "On Chokes" (http://www.aikiweb.com/techniques/gunther1.html):
"Tracheal compression is less worrisome to me, even though an element of it is present in most judo chokes (correct me if I mean strangles--I'm not a judoka), simply because it takes so much effort to do it enough to flatten the C-shaped trachea. And you'd have to really flatten the trachea to prevent any air at all from going back and forth. I have been told it can be done easily from behind with a nightstick, but I have never seen it done from the front or back with hands alone; if you get your hands, or his collar, into good tracheal compression position, you're probably pressing on his jugulars and carotids too, and he'll go out from those long before you significantly flatten his airway. A good thing--the vessels recover completely from being pressed flat; the airway gets damaged, and it can swell up and choke off air flow minutes to hours later."
So according to Gunther, a choke strong enough to crush the trachea and precipitate a fatal swelling would have also pinched off the carotids and put him out. Now if there's simply an air choke going--a certain amount of tracheal compression restricting breathing, together with pain and discomfort from having the throat mashed in, but the one being choked submits his opponent and makes him let go of the choke, why should he keel over and die?
I think you may be misunderstanding me. What I'm saying is that Philostratus was working from some source that described the fight from the time the opponent got the choke to the time he was submitted. In his retelling of the story, however, Philostratus makes it more vivid by pretending to be describing a painting showing the submission. He narrates the action leading up to the submission, then describes the submission by alluding to the painting.
Pausanius' earlier description of the event takes it from the time the opponent got the choke to the time he submitted. Pausanius specifically mentions the submission as an immediate response to the pain caused by Arrichion's foot hold (Pausanius has the toe, rather than the ankle, dislocated).
My point is that there was a submission made in response to the ankle/toe hold at which time the choke would have been released.
I'm not disputing that people can die from the effects of a choke after it is released; Gunther said as much, and I have cited her two or three times. What I'm asking is whether a man strong enough to submit his opponent and make him release the choke should die from the choke. Does Arrichion's death fit the pattern of others who have died from chokes after the choke has been released? Do any of those cases mimic what happened with Arrichion?
Thanks for posting the bibliographic references in those footnotes; that's exactly the kind of literature that needs to be examined to see if there are cases that match Arrichion's circumstances. One article can be crossed off the list right now, though: Anscombe and Knight's "Case report. Delayed death after pressure on the neck: possible causal mechanisms and implications for mode of death in manual strangulation discussed." I laid hands on this back in January, but despite the promising title, it simply dealt with the case of a 44 year old woman who was choked unconscious by her boyfriend and died a week later.