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The history of the Roman governments
The history of the Roman governments
Gladiatorial combat in ancient rome
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Gladiators When the Romans went to the gladiator fights, they wanted to watch a very exciting and entertaining contest. So, the Romans purposefully set up the gladiator fights to be unfair by making the matchups unbalanced. The gladiator’s living conditions affected the fight. Yet, with all the morals and myths that the Roman government promoted as what was expected of the roman citizens, the brutal battles that were in the coliseum wouldn’t be tolerated, but they were. The unpredictable outcome of these matches were what made these so entertaining. When the Romans went to the gladiator fights, they wanted to watch a very exciting and interesting contest. So, the Romans purposefully set up the gladiator fights to be unfair by making the matchups unbalanced. The unpredictable outcome of these matches were what made these so entertaining. One way they did this was by putting someone with no advantages up against someone who had a ton of advantages. The secutor and the retiarius (the fisherman) almost always fought each …show more content…
One moral that was about fair fight was the legend of Hercules. Hercules was sent on a test by Zeus, to do 7 tasks to prove himself worthy of being a god. One of his tests was to fight a lion. He fought with the lion fairly and won. He took the lion’s hide as a trophy for his accomplishment. Another thing that the Roman government tried to promote was fairness and equality. For example, they put the goddess Equitius on coins. This was their attempt to make fairness and equality an important piece of society. Yet, even though the Roman government did try to make equality an important thing for the Roman culture, they were also the ones who provided and sponsored the coliseum and gladiator fights, which turned the audience into a crowd of angry and ruthless gods, deciding who would live and who would die, so it would make them choose whoever they
Consus where the opening sacrifices took place was located in the center of the Circus Maximus where the racing took place. Like racing, gladiators probably originated as funeral games, with religious significance attached to what in affect was the ritual sacrifice of the gladiators themselves. The first recorded gladiator fight was in 264BC, when 3 pairs of gladiators fought to the death during the funeral of Junius Brutus. The gladiator fights were known as munera as they were originally 'duties' paid to dead ancestors. They gradually lost their connection to funerals under the Roman Empire and became an important stage for emperors and leaders to put on spectacles for their own reasons.
The author of Gladiator uses sequence to organize his ideas and tells about events in the order they happened, which helps readers understand what brought about the beginning and end of the gladiator tradition in Rome. Usually, history is best written with events in the order they occurred. Imagine reading about a handful of events with dates ranging from 264 b.c. to a.d. 404 out of order.
Horatius Cocles demonstrates Roman values with his readiness to assert himself for the good of the community despite any ramifications. He even attempts to advise his men in the direction of virtue by claiming “that it was vain for them to seek safety” (Livy, 20). These men appear to follow standards typical of the Greeks, as their personal motives guide their actions instead of the needs of others. Their lack of concern for the entire state of the Republic is an example of what individuals were not to do. The success of the individual, in this case Horatius, is a victory in Rome, which contrasts the idea of individual arete, valued by the Greeks. The greatest honor for a Roman was saving the life of another Roman whereas in Greek culture, an individual displays excellence in competition (Burger 91). For the Greeks, an individual may achieve honor at the cost of defeating another. In contrast, Romans sought to achieve honor by protecting what was best for all. Therefore, Romans valued self sacrifice while Greeks appear more self-centered (Burger 91). Horatius Cocles demonstrates the values of the Roman society in his steadfast opposition to the enemy. He is a model to the state for his courage in adversity.
The essence of the bloodthirsty entertainment was in the form of the gladiator. The word gladiator comes from the Latin for swordsman, from gladius or sword. The first gladiators were part of a sacrificial rite adopted from the Etruscans in 264, BC, nearly 500 years after the founding of Rome (Johnston 238). The sons of Junius Brutus first displayed gladiatorial combat when they honored their father at his funeral by matching three pairs of gladiators. Gladiatorial combat was originally part of a religious ceremony that was intended to insure that the dead would be accompanied to the "next world" by armed attendants and that the spirits of the dead would be appeased with his offering of blood (Johnston 286). Gladiators were generally condemned criminals, prisoners of war or slaves bought for this purpose. By the end o...
The gladiators competed against one another for the sake of public entertainment at festival games. Although some gladiators fought wild animals, the combats usually featured a pair of male human contenders. They fought in diverse styles depending on their background and how much training they had endured. Originally as captured soldiers, they were made to fight with their own weopons.
A gladiators life was far from easy. Most were slaves, prisoners of war, or hardened criminals, therefore they were not free men. Often times they were trained and forced to take part in the events, hoping for their freedom if they were to conquer their grim fate and survived for a few years (wik). This was depicted in the most recent movie GLADIATOR. In this film Russel Crowe Maximus' starts out as an army general under Marcus Aurelius, until Commudus murders his own father out of spite for his fathers loyalty to Maximus and not him. He then inherits the title of king, and condemns Maximus to a gruesome fate as a slave/gladiator. Though this doesn't sound like the ideal life, to some at the time is was an appealing, so much so that some free men degraded themselves so they could battle in the games. Was it for basic living? Possibly but more than likely it was for the Fame and Prestige of a Gladiator. These free men were known as Professional gladiators.
Some of these may seem unfair but it was the Romans belief in their superiority.
sunset. The gladiators not only fought against other gladiators but also against wild beast such
The first scene in Gladiator has many different meanings and purposes. It has to fill in the audience with specific information, in a small scene. The time and place (Germane, 185AD) must be explained so that the scene can be established quickly. The most important character
The first chapter of Strauss’ work, titled “The Gladiator”, explores both Spartacus’ background as a gladiator and Rome’s fascination with the sport. Strauss outlines how a gladiator match worked in Rome, usually in carefully chosen pairs starting with a practice match with wooden weapons followed by the real officiated match that was generally to the death unless the crowd decided that the wounded deserved to live. The attention is then turned to where the Spartacus legend begins, Capua. Strauss gives a sweeping view of Capua’s history in the Roman Empire, from being punished for allying itself with Hannibal to returning to some prominence as a slave center, in particular for gladiators. Gladiators were usually slaves, and much like Spartacus, were foreign. Spartacus was a Thracian, feared by Romans for their fierceness on hors...
Michael Crawford states that the Roman society gave rewards for military victory. The people were often rewarded when an army experienced victory in a battle. ''The loyalty of the Roman population to its leaders was assured by a share in the rewards of victory''(Crawford 1). The people had a share of goods, moneys, lands, and slaves when a territory would be conquered.
Alan Baker states in his book The Gladiator – The Secret History of Rome’s Warrior Slaves that, “attendance at the amphitheater was an essential part of being a Roman, a member of a powerful warrior state” (Baker 2000, 39). It is said that the Romans were known for their honor and glory as a reflection of the society they lived in. This may perhaps explain why the gladiator games were popular to the citizens, because the Romans enjoyed observing these characteristics throughout the battles. Most of the time the contestants were slaves, these individuals were bought and traded at the coliseum with the intentions of battling in these games until their death.
Much like today’s athletes gladiators competed with one another to decide a victor and is a form of entertainment for people spectating. But Gladiators competed much different than professional athletes do today. Gladiators were forced to fight for the entertainment of others and were considered slaves (“ The Roman Gladiator”). Gladiators did not just fight for friendly sport either they had to fight to the death. This made the gladiatorial games so exciting for the people watching. The people loved to watch others fight and the gore that they would see while the gladiators were fighting. It may sound horrible in today’s society but back then it was the most prominent form of entertainment. Different from today’s athletes and entertainers, gladiators were slaves and were told what to do against their will. Much of the gladiators were slaves, criminals, and prisoners of war. Gladiatorial games were mostly held by the Roman Republic and forced there enemy’s to fight for their lives in the...
Throughout the history of the Republic, there was a difference between the gladiatorial contests and other forms of spectacular entertainment. The Romans did not invent the concept of gladiatorial fighting; there is some uncertainty as to the exact source. One ancient source says it was the Etruscans, a non-Indo-European people who lived directly north of the Romans.
The expectancy theory proposes an individual will behave or act in a certain way because they are motivated to select a specific behavior over other behaviors due to what they expect the result of that selected behavior will be. In essence, the motivation of the behavior selection is determined by how much one desires the outcome to be. This is shown when Maximus is initially recognized as a supreme gladiator by his owner Proximo, the man who taught him how to fight as a gladiator. Proximo took great interest in Maximus’ abilities and encourages him to go to the Roman Coliseum to fight for his freedom. Proximo advises him that if he is able to “win the crowd”, he will earn their respect and eventually his freedom. Performance to Outcome poses the question on whether success will lead to reward. The reward in this case would be after successfully winning battles, and the crowds’ favor, Maximus would gain his freedom and seize his opportunity to kill Commodus. Maximus’ strong desire of vengeance for the murder of his family drives him to win every battle he comes up against. Infuriated by Maximus’ success, Commodus sets up a fixed fight between Maximus and Tigris of Gaul, the undefeated gladiator. Maximus prevails in the battle and against Commodus’ orders, spares Tigris’ life. Maximus’ defiance of the emperor and mercy to Tigris made him more popular to the crowd than even Commodus