The Importance of Chariot Racing for the Romans Essays

They had many things that we as Americans utilize in our current culture. Many of the main Roman influences include government, art, entertainment, and construction.

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.

At the beginning of the races, it is suspected that chariots were owned privately and the charioteers hired by the owners. Over time factions, a system of professional chariot racing organizations emerged. The timing of the initial use of factions is expected to have been sometime shortly after the Second Punic War. The factions seem to have emerged over time out of need rather than by a specific mandate. The amount of chariot races and popularity of the sport a public need for organization became apparent. The efficiency offered by factions was a popular solution to the inadequacy of the previous system.

Roman charioteers and Roman gladiators were at the pinnacle of the entertainment industry during ancient Roman times. They both had large followings, were keys to political power, and were the reasons for architectural masterpieces. Charioteers and gladiators, however, were quite different in many ways. They had differences in backgrounds, in risks of their profession, in their professional careers, and in the various things they can stand for and represent.

The Roman Empire was one of the largest and most influential empires in all of history. By 476 AD, it had completely fallen apart, why? The Roman Empire began in 27 BC with the first emperor, Augustus, overseeing it. At the empires greatest extent, it held control of nearly all Europe including areas such as modern day France, Britain, Mesopotamia and North Africa. Its existence inspired a future of empires that would aspire to be just like the Roman Empire. The empire was the economic and religious center of Europe and helped the religion of Christianity grow massively. However, by the year 476 AD, Germanic tribes now controlled Rome. The once dominant empire had been losing its authority due to a number of internal and external pressures.

Gladiators, chariot races, plays; this civilization had it all. They possessed different moral values, and were extremely discriminative. They created the first democracy, and it hasn’t changed. Their downfall was governmental corruption. If you haven’t already caught on, these were to one and only Romans.

The first games were for a man named Junius Brutus in 264 BCE in Rome, Italy. Emperor Augustus saw how popular the games were getting, and he had the Colosseum built. Most of the gladiators were prisoners and sent to the arena as punishment, but in the later years, many people willingly became gladiators because of all the fame they got, and the prize if they survived, which was usually gold. Also,in the early years, when the Roman Empire would take over an area, they would take the people of that country and see if they were worthy enough to become gladiators. If the person was too weak, he would be slaughtered, but if they were worthy, they would be sent to gladiator school. The Romans would put the men into categories based on the armies the men were in. For example, the Samnite gladiator consisted of the men from Samnium. The At first, the games were for funerals, but they grew much bigger due to all the attention it got and became a much more popular game, which would be called the gladiator games. The first games were for a man named Junius Brutus in 264 BCE in Rome, Italy. Emperor Augustus saw how popular the games were getting, and he had the Colosseum built. Most of the gladiators were prisoners and sent to the arena as punishment, but in the later years, many people willingly became

Historians have studied the rise and fall of the Roman Empire for years. They developed theories and wrote books detailing and illustrating the rise and fall of Rome. The classroom power point slides list five factors. These are: population decline, invasion, slave labor, financial crisis, and political incompetence. "The Roman Empire consisted of a complex set of relationships between governmental, administration, institutions, and groups".

ROMAN GLADIATORS By Jackson A. Sutton THESIS By looking at how much work the ancient Romans put into training and setting up gladiator fights, you can see that the people of this ancient city wanted an entertaining battle. Guiding Question What are some reasons an ancient Roman gladiator might choose to enter a fight? Ancient Roman Gladiators

The Roman gladiator games were contests between a man and an animals before spectators and it was literally a fight for one's life, but not always. The Gladiator games are one of the most common and most popular information most people know about Ancient Rome. Romans let the animals starve to make them angry so they would fight better against the humans. The Roman Gladiators were usually men, although women fought too, it wasn't as common. They were often slaves, criminals, or prisoners of war.

History shows competition in the form of war, games, and political ventures existed even in ancient times. The Roman Gladiators were a unique example of this competition during the Roman Empire. Through studying the gladiators one can see how the competition influenced politics, games, human lives and the culture. The term Gladiator comes from the term gladius after the Roman sword. They were mostly condemned criminals, prisoners of war and slaves.

The Roman Empire has some of the same qualities that the spectators, athletes, businessmen, and military soldiers of today show to support the evolution of sport and athletics itself.

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.

"Gladiators, Chariots, and the Roman Games [ushistory.org]." ushistory.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2013. <http://www.ushistory.org/civ/6e.asp>.

So things such as running, jumping, swimming, wrestling and boxing were all part of the Roman education system and were used for military preparation as well. There were also sporting events that the Roman Empire put on in honor of the gods they worshipped similar to that of the Greeks (Siedentop 24-25).