Throughout the period of the Olympic games, many events were added as the competition expanded, incorporating not only new events, but combination events to challenge participants and entertain spectators. As the new found events flourished in the entertainment of the people, prizes awarded to successors of the events received largely desired and sought out winnings. Depictions of these games emerged in painting across pottery from Ancient Greece, as the games evolved. The “Panathenaic amphora”, dating back to ca. 530 BC, is a pottery piece awarded to a worthy victor, which depicted different events in illustrations along the sides.…
Perhaps the most influential contribution by ancient Greek to the western civilization is sports. The origin of the Olympics derived from the competition of multiple isolated/ independent states in Greece that had the passion for competitions through series of sports events. And perhaps this passion led to the creation of a long lasting tradition of tournaments that is now known as the “Olympic games” that is now currently held internationally worldwide (Document 6).…
Ancient Rome was one of the more well known empires in history. Even though there were some disputes within Rome as it was growing, they still were able to expand and build an even larger empire and even reach, what historians call the ¨Pax Romana¨, which was their time of peace among the people. In about 750 BCE there were no signs of infighting and everything was going smoothly. However, under the surface of what was going on, these old disputes were almost all about their government. Rome went from being a republic to an empire, then eventually a dictatorship, which meant that they were a very undecided and organized culture.…
Virtues like these placed traditionalism at the forefront of the Roman system and gave the viewers incentive to act like this in their lives. The men immortalized in the busts came to revel in that success through staunch adherence to those principles. If the spectators aspired to be just like them, they too could go down in the annals of…
The gladiator was an armed fighter, who fought in the arenas to entertain audiences thought-out the Roman Empire from 264AD-404CE. “The term gladiator derives from the Latin gladiatores in reference to their principal weapon the gladius or short sword.” The majority of the gladiators were slaves fighting against other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. The origins of gladiators and the gladiator games are often disputed, but gladiators were believed to have started from the Etruscan civilization for religious purposes. For the Roman Empire, the “gladiator games were an opportunity for Emperors and rich aristocrats to display their wealth to the populace, to commemorate military victories, mark visits from important officials,…
It was proof that even though some people did not agree with the harsh deaths as a form of entertainment, that Rome’s culture was so deeply rooted in violence and death that their voices did little to change Rome. Gladiatorial shows were also the bread and circus that held Rome together for centuries. “Public participation, attracted by the splendor of the show and by distributions of meat...” The city gave the Romans entertainment and free food. It was how Rome kept the 50-60 million people under control.…
Imagine, you are safe in a controlled city, you are healthy and enjoying a nice bath, or eating a feast in the dining hall. This is what it was like for most Romans from about 50 BCE until the year of 200 CE. At this time, Rome was the superpower of the Mediterranean World and Rome’s territory, wealth and popularity were well known (Background Essay). Although Rome was prospering, it was slowly starting to fall apart due to poor leadership, a weak military and invasion of outsiders. Poor leadership was a big contributing factor to the fall of the Roman Empire.…
The first recorded instance of a competitive “match” between two or more people dates back to approximately 4000 B.C. (McKelvie, 2004). Prior to this, athletic endeavours were limited to those performed by hunter-gatherers, such as hunting and fishing. As a result, much of the first competitive sports reflected skills that would have been needed to be a successful hunter-gatherer. Given that it took place at a time where these skills would have been critical for survival, it is logical that they would be reflected as pleasurable…
Without the games, the emperor would fear that he would be overthrown. Over time, the games became much more then just to make people happy. It became a yearly event that was trying to out do the last. By this time, the gladiator games were huge events in Roman society. Eventually, Roman citizens would have to pay for themselves if they wanted to watch the wildly popular event.…
Gladiators embodied traits prized by the Romans; bravery, quest for glory contempt for death. For winning a single fight, gladiators could be paid as much as a Roman soldier earned annually. With additional wins, gladiators could purchase better accommodations within the school. Novice gladiators often made their first appearance in the smaller arenas around Rome. Before the fights, offerings were made to Nemesis, the Roman goddess of chance, fortune, and revenge.…
Although the gladiators are all different they all take the sacramentum gladiatorium which states “uri, vinciri, verberari, ferroque necari.” All gladiators attend to a special school, located near the Coliseum, where they are trained hard for lengthy amounts of time. These gladiators are usually slaves, criminals, or prisoners of war, sometimes they are fighting for their freedom or serving a death sentence. Occasionally people, including women (isn’t that so cool, maybe we should try it), actually volunteer to be gladiators because of the benefits, including food, money, and fame. Every once in awhile they have animals such as bears, rhinos, tigers, elephants, and giraffes…
The perplexing nature of members of higher status within Roman society taking part in public spectacles did not just end at the elite, however. In fact, a few Roman emperor’s themselves took part in such festivities. Those that were of the most criticized included Nero and Commodus. Nero was not only a fan of the arena, but he became infamous for his performances as a gladiator, “pushing the public persona required for an emperor to an extreme that conservative Roman values… found disgraceful” (Futrell 37).…
During the fall of the Roman Empire, the government would hold events in the famous colosseum where they would throw in peasants, men, families, and children, strip them naked, and have them fight lions or fight each other to the death. The audience would be given bread and wine to enjoy during the entertainment. For many years, this was how the Roman Empire would distract its inhabitants from the crumbling empire around them. Presently when we describe forcing humans to fight each other to the death, we think of post-apocalyptic universes, where humanity barely exists.…
One question that has intrigued academics for centuries is, “how could a society as advanced as the Romans be wooed by a spectacle as violent and gory as the gladiatorial games?” There are many answers to this question, one of them being that the games and spectacles were the main form…
Love, respect, honor, courage and bravery are some of the values highlighted among the characters. From the visual portrayal of the past to the themes presented in the different sections of the film, a better perspective of the past is gained. Although the movie Gladiator should not be taken as an accurate chronological record in the Roman times, it has served a great purpose into making the past live through the present. The film revolves around universal values.…