The Argument Of Blood Lust In Ancient Rome

The gladiatorial games were an important part of the lives of those in Pompeii. But those in Herculaneum were most likely unable to enjoy the games as home as they did not have a place to hold them. Gladiators were POW’s, freedmen, criminals, slaves and some men who had fallen on hard times who would volunteer.

We always regard “GAMES” as “pastimes”, but in reality the functions of games are more than that.

The Ancient Olympic Games has made an impact both on the past and present time. The event became well known to the public ever since its first event around 776 BC. The Greek games determined and selected certain civilians who had exceptional endurance and athleticism within the games. The event was an opportunity for the Greek civilization to enhance their athleticism and sportsmanship without any risk of death or injury. Events like running, jumping, discus throw and many others gave glory and wreath-like crowns to those worthy contestants who proved to have outstanding physical training. The purpose of the Ancient Olympics was secular in order to honor the Greek god Zeus. However in Rome, the Romans also followed with their own event to honor the Roman chief god, Jupiter Optimus Maximus. The Roman Games, called ludi, was quite different from the Greek Olympic system. Ludi had three programs of spectacles for Roman civilians: ludi circenses, venationes, and ludi scaenici. Ludi circenses were games being played within a circus, most primarily chariot racing and gladiator fights (munera) were the main events under the circus program. Venationes were games with an additional appearance from animals. Animals played part in the Roman Games to be hunted as a complement to the gladiator games. Ludi scaenici were not technically actual games compared to chariot racing and animal hunts, but a leisure activity of watching theater. The purpose of Ludi was to not only honor Jupiter,

Entertainment was essential to daily life in Ancient Rome.  According to Juvenal1, it seemed that all Romans were interested in was "bread and circuses,"  and with theatres, amphitheatres, gambling, drama and public baths galore, the Romans never seemed to get bored.

In Ancient Rome, city life was chaotic and cluttered. Even through all this hustle and bustle, they still had leisure time to do things for fun. Live entertainment played a major role in their city lives; this was mostly because it was free (Williams). A popular pastime was watching Gladiator fights at the Coliseum. Gladiator fights were where two men would compete in matches against one another (Williams). Man pitted against man was common entertainment, but the gladiators would also battle against lions and tigers (Williams). Today’s society still enjoys adrenaline packed entertainment, but Coliseums have become movie theatres, and Gladiator fights have become action movies (Williams). Even tic-tac-toe, a common pastime game, has roots in the Roman Empire. Romans enjoyed watching

The art I selected from the Roman Empire is the architectural structure of the Colosseum, or amphitheater. This structure reveals the importance that the Romans’ placed on entertainment, in so much that Benton and DiYanni indicate “it was official policy that the state should provide entertainment for the public” (Benton, DiYanni, p. 108). The relationship between the art and the culture is distinguished and represented by the size of the structure; it being able to accommodate such large crowds of people indicates that the Romans placed much importance in attending the entertainment provided. The Colosseum influenced the culture by providing ample space for everyone to enjoy entertainment. The culture influenced the art by supporting through attendance to the different entertainment during that time.

The gladiators were important to Roman society as they provided entertainment, and were used to honor the deceased. The emperors also used these games to appeal the people of the Roman Empire and to take care of other business. These games impacted modern sports in western civilizations by, having violence as a key component to their success, in many sports there are crowded stadiums filled with noisy people. Though the Romans did not realize it, they were setting the stage for sports to come. The gladiators were very important to Roman society.

In ancient rome, games or ludi were a part of Roman culture and society where the roman people would attend events such as Chariot races and Gladiator fights in their freetime. Ludi were public games held for the benefit and entertainment of the Roman People. The arena/colosseum hosted the Gladiator fights where slaves fought against each other to the death using weapons until a winner was declared by the Emperor or the people. Many different types of Gladiators fought against each other.

Also, when we enter most sporting events, we don't expect to see deaths or injuries between each player, but some sporting events due involve some level of violence. Most of the sporting events today aren't nearly as violent and gory as they were in the Roman societies. It's that way because the audience are more interested in seeing the athletics of the players and they truly respect and enjoy the sport itself. In other words, our culture is satisfied with the "pure athletic competition" just like the Greeks were. Our culture is very similar to the Greeks, but it is extremely different from the Romans.

It clearly shows the harsh ways of Romans, but they were based on the funeral procedures of Etruscans. The Gladditorian Games lasted for five days and often the city of 1 million people shut down for the events. It was divided into three parts. A cruel fighting portion reenacted Roman wars and took place on sand that became so saturated with blood that slaves were brought in to shovel it out. Then the coliseum was filled with water where the battles of the sea where reenacted on flat bottom boats.

The Romans liked watching other people die; their gladiator games were there live entertainment. It is believed that the first gladiators were slaves who were made to fight to the death at the funeral of a famous aristocrat, Junius Brutus Pera, in 264 BC. The fight between the two was arranged in his honor. Gradually the gladiator games became separated from funeral ceremonies and were staged by the wealthy as a means of displaying their power and influence among the people in the local community. The wealthy and elite classes could promote themselves by sponsoring the games, and paying to put the show on. The term Gladiator comes from the term gladius after the Roman sword. The gladiators were mostly prosecuted criminals, imprisoned soldiers and slaves. These people would be forced to fight other prisoners, sometimes until their death in the case that it was decided for him to die, usually by the spectators. Rarely gladiators would be free, men would sometimes volunteer to be a gladiator and take on the status of a slave to reap the benefits of fame that came along with the title, the fans and money .But the most likely reason why people volunteered was the down-payment that a volunteer received upon taking the gladiator oath. When this oath was taken it meant that the owner the now gladiator had total control over the gladiator 's life, making him lowered the status of a slave. Gladiators were known for

The Roman public life exemplified an agonistic society. The word “agon” is Greek for an athletic contest or a contest between equals of any sort. Rome was known for their public games and athletic contests. While most of the Roman public loved the games, they loved the prize fights even more. Will Durant writes, “The Roman public, accustomed to sanguinary gladiatorial exhibitions, only mildly favored athletics, but relished the prize fights in which massive Greeks fought almost

The origin of Rome’s gladiatorial games is unknown. However, there are some clues as to what group of people may have started this ancient form of entertainment. According to Athenaeus (a Greek writer), the Etruscans were to credit as beginning the games. In spite of what Athenaeus documented, art from the Etruscans does not show any combat scenes. Although it is believed that the Roman gladiator games started out being hand-to-hand combat between two people, most likely slaves. The earliest games were held to honor the dead in a funerary way. This continued to be the reasoning behind the games for approximately fifty years. The games then started to expand and became seemingly complex. In addition to hand-to-hand combat; vicious animals

Adopted from the earlier Etruscans, perhaps by way of Campania, gladiatorial games (munera) originated in the rites of sacrifice due the spirits of the dead and the need to propitiate them with offerings of blood. They were introduced to Rome in 264 BC, when the sons of Junius Brutus honored their father by matching three pairs of gladiators. Traditionally, munera were the obligatory funerary offerings owed aristocratic men at their death, although the games did not have to be presented then. Elected aedile in 65 BC, Julius Caesar commemorated his father, who had died twenty years before, with a display of 320 pairs of gladiators in silvered armor (Pliny, XXXIII.53: Plutarch, V.9). Still mindful of Spartacus' rebellion, a nervous Senate limited

Tertullian stated that he could not care less if Pagans went to the games to sin, but as more and more Romans became Christian, and still attended the games, Tertullian was outraged at their hypocrisy of belief. The killing and the spectacle of the games caused a passionate bloodlust that he felt no true Christian should ever enjoy, let alone enjoy it in the company of sinful pagans. He is also quick to outline the sinfulness of not only gambling, but gambling over the lives of the slaves and gladiators in the ring.