Gladiators Archive
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Why did ancient athletes compete in sports?
Posted on February 13, 2013 | No CommentsStanford scholar Susan Stephens says that modern sports may be misguided in attempting to emulate ancient Greek and Roman athletic ideals. -
A Literary Criticism of the Classical Themes and Allusions Found in The Hunger Games
Posted on December 29, 2012 | No CommentsThe Hunger Games is a richly interwoven tapestry of numerous intriguing parallels to historical events and literary staples. Although set in a futuristic society, the chief inspirations for its narrative structure and themes are drawn from the ancient Mediterranean world. Classical themes and allusions permeate the first novel, and the connections to the classical are mythological, historical, linguistic, and stylistic in nature. -
Spartacus Mythistoricus: Winning Spartacus into the Mythical
Posted on December 11, 2012 | No CommentsThe Spartacus represented in these media is not the same Spartacus that the ancient sources wrote about. The representation of Spartacus' history has changed dramatically over the course of time and has, in fact, -
Young Achilles in the Roman World
Posted on October 11, 2012 | No CommentsAchilles is the only epic hero whose life can be followed quite literally from the cradle to the grave -
Pliny, Nero, and the ‘Emerald’
Posted on September 28, 2012 | No CommentsOne notes here that Pliny does not actually explain why Nero should have preferred to watch the games in this way. The temptation is to assume that he must have been suffering from some sort of eye-condition, whether temporary or permanent, which he thought that he could relieve in this way, not least because the colour green was believed to be soothing to the eyes. -
Violence in Sports: A Comparison of Gladiatorial Games in Ancient Rome to the Sports of America
Posted on September 24, 2012 | No CommentsAristocrats' funerals celebrated their victories and enhanced their reputations. Emperors presented the games to show the public how much power they had. Among the gladiators were thousands of prisoners of war. -
Posted on September 12, 2012 | No CommentsThis in itself is not surprising, but Grossschmidt -
The production of shows in the cities of the Roman Empire: A study of the Latin epigraphic evidence
Posted on August 30, 2012 | No CommentsThere are several hundreds of Latin inscriptions which record the production of games (in the sense of "Shows" or "Spectacles") outside Rome by local magistrates, priests and private benefactors. This material is the subject of this dissertation -
Animal spectacula of the Roman Empire
Posted on January 25, 2012 | No CommentsAlthough gladiatorial spectacles in ancient Rome have been the subject of a great deal of recent scholarly literature, comparatively little attention has been paid to the contemporary animal spectacles... -
A Matter of Life and Death: Gladiatorial Games, Sacrificial Ritual and Literary Allusion
Posted on October 23, 2011 | No CommentsRoman gladiatorial games had significance far beyond that of mere spectacle and were more than savage and brutal entertainment for depraved emperors and bloodthirsty crowds
