During the middle and late third century Roman republic era gave rise to the arena games and became a great phenomenon for the Romans. An amphitheater, also known as a coliseum, housed these dangerous games that potentially harmed the audience as well as those who participated in them. Gladiatorial combat originated as part of funerals for deceased influential Romans. These large gladiatorial games were held by emperors during funerals of important roman officials, but were also included during other occasions. Over time the connection among the gladiator games and funerals decreased, and the upper class put on the games mainly to raise their social standing and gain favor with the public. Many politicians held these highly known games to help them sway votes of power and popularity (Meijer 2003, 27). “The arena was the embodiment of the empire.” (Futrell 1997, 209). The contestants, or the gladiators, had more significance of the Roman Empire beyond that as their role of entertainment.
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.
Soldiers that were captured at the end of a battle were chained to one another a...
... middle of paper ...
...2013.
Futrell, Alison. The Roman Games: A Sourcebook. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing
Inc., 2006.
Futrell, Alison. Blood in the Arena: The Spectacle of Roman Power. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1997.
Hopkins, Keith. Death and Renewal: Sociological Studies in Roman History.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983
Johnston, Harold Whetstone. The Private Life of the Romans. Scott, Foresman and Company,
1903.
Kohne, Eckhart and Cornelia Ewigleben, eds. Gladiators and Caesars: The Power of
Spectacle in Ancient Rome. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000.
Meijer, Fik (Liz Waters, trans.). The Gladiators – History’s Most Deadly Sport. New
York: St. Martin’s Press/Thomas Dunne Books, 2003.
Potter, David S. and David J. Mattingly, eds. Life, Death and Entertainment in the
Roman Empire. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 1998.
The games in ancient Rome have a long and colorful history, and were an incredibly large part of the culture of the great empire. For the purposes of this essay, 3 main functions of the games w... ... middle of paper ... ... the games could be effective by proving the armies absolute power and to divert political opinions. Quote (p 169)'
In contrast to the publicity spin of today’s tabloids, ‘losers attract notoriety,’ (Fear, 2008, p, 6) Roman society was no different with one’s reputation of paramount importance and continually defended. Antony and Cleopatra’s union was ammunition for Octavian and propaganda used against the couple in their pursuing battle of Actium. (Fear, 2008, p.7.)
Human nature during this time was rather inhuman. The gladiators were slaves, rebels, criminals, and Christians. They had to fight against each other. The fighters used anyway possible to win a fight. They had to because if they fought and made the crowd happy and get the emperor’s thumbs up; they can be released and live their life again. If the gladiator did not make crowd h...
"Gladiator", comes from the latin word "gladius", for sword. They were primarily made up of slaves, criminals, prisoners of war or even volunteer free men. The crimes that could lead one to the arena included treason, robbery, and murder, among others. Some free men became gladiators of their own free will in hopes of gaining notoriety and patronage amongst the wealthy citizens. By the end of 50 BC almost half of the gladiators fighting in the Colosseum were free men.
Gladiatorial events were a token of the Roman civilization. A brutal form of sacrifice adapted from the earlier civilization of Etruscans, who believed when a person dies, his spirit relies on a blood sacrifice to survive in the afterlife. The first event to take place in Rome was in 264 BC, when Decimus Brutus held a sacrifice to honor his dead father (Roman Gladiator). Soon after these events became an undeniable part of the Romans lives, used for political power and general entertainment.
Garland, Lynda, and Matthew Dillon. Ancient Rome: From the Early Republic to the Assassination of Julius Caesar. Milton Park, Abingdon: Routledge, 2005. Print.
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...
Roman citizens would participate in the games for fame and fortune. These slaves were a far cry
Entertainment was not like we know today. It was fights between gladiators who fought in a huge stadium like place called the colossium. They fought with animals from Africa ranging from lions through tigers and hippos. Julius Caesar had given the poor people and the unemployed people to go to the games and forget about the economy. The Romans liked it so much that they put their favorite gladiator’s picture on baby bottles. The people in the colosseum sometimes told the gladiator to kill its enemy by making thumbs up. They would yell for the gladiator to kill. In modern times, we also have violence in entertainment. Things like boxing and wrestling have lots of fighting and killing sometimes. That is one way the modern society is like the ancient Romans. But we really don’t yell for the perso...
pages 18,19,22,24,25,29,78,79,80,125. SECONDARY SOURCES John Malam, Indiana Jones Explores Ancient Rome, Evans Brothers Ltd, 1994. page 25 P Levy, People who Made History In Ancient Rome, White Tomson Publishing Ltd, 2000. pages 27-30 Larousse Encyclopedia of Ancient and Medieval History, Gillan Auge, 1963, Paul Hamlyn London 205-206 The History of the Ancient and Medieval World-The Roman Empire Volume Six.
The Circus Maximus was a large place in Greece. The Circus Maximus was a horse chariot race running around a track. Almost like our NASCAR races today, these races where the biggest attraction in the day of the Greece. The citizens were greatly involved in the racing of the Circus Maximus.("Circus Maximus princeton.edu") Because so many people were involved with these races, they had to find a way to seat all of these people. ("Circus Maximus aviewoncities.com”) This was the first time they invented stadiums. There were also other events held in the Circus Maximus. These events were held for a long time and were eventually ended around 549 BC. The Circus Maximus reflected the values of ancient Rome for entertainment and competition in ancient Roman culture.
Veyne, Paul. "Pleasure and Excesses in the Roman Empire." The Roman Empire Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1997. 101-116.
see such a custom as cruel, it was in fact made less so than it
" Life of a Gladiator. N.p., n.d. Web. The Web. The Web. 06 Mar. 2014. The 'Standard' of the 'Standard The "Roman Gladiator" - "The Roman Gladiator" The Roman Gladiator.
“The Romans are often characterized as loving violent and cruel entertainment in the amphitheatre. It has been suggested that the games served the dual purpose of providing entertainment for the people and maintaining the political status quo.”