Download or read book Gladiators and Caesars written by Eckart Köhne and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2000-01-01 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Describes the events and games held in the amphitheaters, cicuses, and theaters in ancient Rome.
Download or read book The Roman Gladiators written by Charles River and published by . This book was released on 2013-11 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures of art depicting important people, places, and events. *Describes the different classes of Roman gladiators and the armor and weaponry they used. *Describes gladiatorial combat and the myths and misconceptions about the fight. *Includes footnotes and a bibliography for further reading. “He vows to endure to be burned, to be bound, to be beaten, and to be killed by the sword." - The gladiator's oath, according to Petronius in the Satyricon. Gladiators are somewhat synonymous with ancient Rome, and even thousands of years after they performed on the sands, when people are asked about Roman culture, many think about and refer to the bloody spectacles of men fighting to the death in the arena. Gladiatorial combat is often regarded as barbaric, and most find it very difficult to comprehend how people could have enjoyed watching something so violent, but nevertheless, the spectacle still intrigues and fascinates people today, whether in movies like Gladiator or television shows about Spartacus. Gladiatorial combat traces its origins back to the early Republican period from the 5th-3rd century B.C., but it's still unclear where these combats first appeared. Credit has been given to both the Etruscans in northern Italy and the Campanians in southern Italy, though the first recorded gladiatorial combat occurred in the 3rd century B.C. at the funeral of D. Junius Brutus Pera. His sons organized a combat between three different pairs of gladiators who fought at their father's grave, but exactly what these first gladiatorial combats were supposed to represent remains unclear. Some believe that the spilling of human blood was a way of offering a sacrifice to the dead, while others suggest that the contests themselves were a funeral offering in honor of the dead. Gladiatorial combat began in the Republican period and was associated with death and burial, but due to its popularity it became an organized form of entertainment in the Imperial Age, and even as the gladiators were considered low class, they were also admired, leading to some Roman men and women volunteering to become gladiators. Whatever the original role of gladiatorial combats, they thrilled Roman audiences for many centuries. Each match usually pitted one type of gladiator against a different type of gladiator, with each having their own kind of armor, weaponry and fighting style. For example, the retiarius was a gladiator that used a net, dagger and trident as his offensive weapons, while only wearing a protective guard over his left arm for protection. The retiarius would typically fight against the secutor, a gladiator armed with a sword, large shield, helmet and protective covering on his right arm and left leg. Therefore, a retiarius sacrificed armor for quickness in battle, while the secutor did the opposite. Although people often think of gladiators fighting to the death, the outcome of gladiatorial combats was not always fatal for one of the participants. If a gladiator fought well, the sponsor of the show could spare him, particularly if the crowd desired it. The fact that the outcome of matches was never the same and the crowd could help determine the result of the match certainly added to the Roman public's pleasure, making it a lot less surprising that such an abhorrent spectacle still fascinated the modern world. The Roman Gladiators: The History and Legacy of Ancient Rome's Most Famous Warriors examines the history of the gladiators and the games they participated in, explaining what life and death was like for the men who fought in Rome's most famous form of entertainment. Along with pictures depicting important people, places, and events, you will learn about gladiators like you never have before.
Download or read book Gladiators written by Roger Dunkle and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-12-14 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The games comprised gladiatorial fights, staged animal hunts (venationes) and the executions of convicted criminals and prisoners of war. Besides entertaining the crowd, the games delivered a powerful message of Roman power: as a reminder of the wars in which Rome had acquired its empire, the distant regions of its far-flung empire (from where they had obtained wild beasts for the venatio), and the inevitability of Roman justice for criminals and those foreigners who had dared to challenge the empire's authority. Though we might see these games as bloodthirsty, cruel and reprehensible condemning any alien culture out of hand for a sport that offends our sensibilities smacks of cultural chauvinism. Instead one should judge an ancient sport by the standards of its contemporary cultural context. This book offers a fascinating, and fair historical appraisal of gladiatorial combat, which will bring the games alive to the reader and help them see them through the eyes of the ancient Romans. It will answer questions about gladiatorial combat such as: What were its origins? Why did it disappear? Who were gladiators? How did they become gladiators? What was there training like? How did the Romans view gladiators? How were gladiator shows produced and advertised? What were the different styles of gladiatorial fighting? Did gladiator matches have referees? Did every match end in the death of at least one gladiator? Were gladiator games mere entertainment or did they play a larger role in Roman society? What was their political significance?
Download or read book Gladiator written by Konstantin Nossov and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2011-10-04 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the author of Ancient and Medieval Siege Weapons comes an eye-opening new look at one of the most popular spectacles of ancient Rome. This detailed, fascinating guide covers every aspect of the gladiator phenomenon from the types of equipment the different classes of gladiator used to the high place in society these sportsmen came to occupy.
Download or read book Gladiators written by Roger Dunkle and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-09-13 with total page 403 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The games comprised gladiatorial fights, staged animal hunts (venationes) and the executions of convicted criminals and prisoners of war. Besides entertaining the crowd, the games delivered a powerful message of Roman power: as a reminder of the wars in which Rome had acquired its empire, the distant regions of its far-flung empire (from where they had obtained wild beasts for the venatio), and the inevitability of Roman justice for criminals and those foreigners who had dared to challenge the empire's authority. Though we might see these games as bloodthirsty, cruel and reprehensible condemning any alien culture out of hand for a sport that offends our sensibilities smacks of cultural chauvinism. Instead one should judge an ancient sport by the standards of its contemporary cultural context. This book offers a fascinating, and fair historical appraisal of gladiatorial combat, which will bring the games alive to the reader and help them see them through the eyes of the ancient Romans. It will answer questions about gladiatorial combat such as: What were its origins? Why did it disappear? Who were gladiators? How did they become gladiators? What was there training like? How did the Romans view gladiators? How were gladiator shows produced and advertised? What were the different styles of gladiatorial fighting? Did gladiator matches have referees? Did every match end in the death of at least one gladiator? Were gladiator games mere entertainment or did they play a larger role in Roman society? What was their political significance?
Download or read book The Gladiators written by Fik Meijer and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2007-03-06 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An analysis of the lives of ancient Rome's gladiators explores how they were both despised and hero-worshiped, chronicling how tens of thousands of gladiators perished publicly over the course of six hundred years.
Download or read book Naked Statues Fat Gladiators and War Elephants written by Garrett Ryan and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2021-09-01 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why didn't the ancient Greeks or Romans wear pants? How did they shave? How likely were they to drink fine wine, use birth control, or survive surgery? In a series of short and humorous essays, Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators, and War Elephants explores some of the questions about the Greeks and Romans that ancient historian Garrett Ryan has answered in the classroom and online. Unlike most books on the classical world, the focus is not on famous figures or events, but on the fascinating details of daily life. Learn the answers to: How tall were the ancient Greeks and Romans? How long did they live? What kind of pets did they have? How dangerous were their cities? Did they believe their myths? Did they believe in ghosts, monsters, and/or aliens? Did they jog or lift weights? How did they capture animals for the Colosseum? Were there secret police, spies, or assassins? What happened to the city of Rome after the Empire collapsed? Can any families trace their ancestry back to the Greeks or Romans?
Download or read book Emperors and Gladiators written by Thomas Wiedemann and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2002-03-11 with total page 231 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Of all aspects of Roman culture, the gladiatorial contests for which the Romans built their amphitheatres are at once the most fascinating and the most difficult for us to come to terms with. They have been seen variously as sacrifices to the gods or, at funerals, to the souls of the deceased; as a mechanism for introducing young Romans to the horrors of fighting; and as a direct substitute for warfare after the imposition of peace. In this original and authoritative study, Thomas Wiedemann argues that gladiators were part of the mythical struggle of order and civilisation against the forces of nature, barbarism and law breaking, representing the possibility of a return to new life from the point of death; that Christian Romans rejected gladiatorial games not on humanitarian grounds, but because they were a rival representation of a possible resurrection.
Download or read book The Roman Gladiators and the Colosseum written by Charles River Editors and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2013-11 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures. *Includes ancient accounts of gladiatorial games and other spectacles. *Explains how the Colosseum was designed and built, as well as how seating was arranged. *Describes the different classes of Roman gladiators and the armor and weaponry they used. *Includes footnotes and a bibliography for further reading. “He vows to endure to be burned, to be bound, to be beaten, and to be killed by the sword." - The gladiator's oath, according to Petronius in the Satyricon. When the Colosseum was built in the late 1st century A.D., the Romans, a people known for their architectural acumen, managed to amaze themselves. Martial, a Roman poet writing during the inauguration of the Colosseum, clearly believed the Colosseum was so grand a monument that it was even greater than the other Wonders of the Ancient World, which had been written about and visited endlessly by the Romans and Greeks in antiquity. Indeed, although the Wonders were wondrous to behold, the Colosseum was a spectacular achievement in architecture, something new and innovative, and therefore an amazing “Wonder” in its own way. The Colosseum was designed to be both a symbol and show of strength by the famous Flavian emperors, most notably Vespasian and his sons Titus and Domitian. Vespasian had started the construction of the Colosseum shortly after becoming emperor in 69 A.D., but he died before he could present any spectacles in his giant amphitheatre. That honor went to his son Titus, who celebrated the inaugural opening in 80 A.D. with 100 days of games, despite the fact that the Colosseum was not completely finished. When his brother Domitian came to power in 81 A.D., he finished the amphitheatre, but not without making some changes to the overall design. By the time it was truly finished, the Colosseum stood about 150 feet tall, with the oval in the center stretching nearly two football fields long and over 500 feet across. The Colosseum is a large stadium even by today's standards, and its great size conveys the power of the empire as it dominates the landscape and towers over nearby buildings. Of course, the main events in the Colosseum were gladiator fights. Gladiators are somewhat synonymous with ancient Rome, and even thousands of years after they performed on the sands, when people are asked about Roman culture, many think about and refer to the bloody spectacles of men fighting to the death in the arena. Gladiatorial combat is often regarded as barbaric, and most find it very difficult to comprehend how people could have enjoyed watching something so violent, but nevertheless, the spectacle still intrigues and fascinates people today, whether in movies like Gladiator or television shows about Spartacus. Each match usually pitted one type of gladiator against a different type of gladiator, with each having their own kind of armor, weaponry and fighting style. For example, the retiarius was a gladiator that used a net, dagger and trident as his offensive weapons, while only wearing a protective guard over his left arm for protection. The retiarius would typically fight against the secutor, a gladiator armed with a sword, large shield, helmet and protective covering on his right arm and left leg. Therefore, a retiarius sacrificed armor for quickness in battle, while the secutor did the opposite. Although people often think of gladiators fighting to the death, the outcome of gladiatorial combats was not always fatal for one of the participants. If a gladiator fought well, the sponsor of the show could spare him, particularly if the crowd desired it. The fact that the outcome of matches was never the same and the crowd could help determine the result of the match certainly added to the Roman public's pleasure, making it a lot less surprising that such an abhorrent spectacle still fascinated the modern world.
Download or read book Gladiators written by M.C. Bishop and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2017-09-19 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A concise history of ancient Roman gladiators—how they lived, fought, and died in the Colosseum—by the archeologist, author, and Roman military expert. Heroic despite their lowly status, the gladiators of ancient Rome fought vicious duels in large arenas filled with baying crowds. Few lasted more than a dozen fights, yet they were a valuable asset to their owners. Gladiators reveals the fascinating history of these men, how they fought, and how their weapons and techniques developed—debunking myths along the way. Historian M. C. Bishop examines the different forms of gladiator combat, including simulated naval battles held on large artificial lakes. He also discusses how gladiators were carefully paired against each other to balance their strengths and weaknesses. Although their lives were brutal and short, gladiators were the celebrities of their day, admired for their bravery. This short history reveals what we know about the gladiators and how we know it: ancient remains, contemporary literature, graffiti, modern attempts to reconstruct ancient fighting techniques, and the astonishing discovery at Pompeii where a complete gladiator barracks was found alongside multiple skeletons, telling their story.
Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Roman Studies written by Alessandro Barchiesi and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2020-01-02 with total page 976 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Oxford Handbook of Roman Studies is an indispensable guide to the latest scholarship in this area. Over fifty distinguished scholars elucidate the contribution of material as well as literary culture to our understanding of the Roman world. The emphasis is particularly upon the new and exciting links between the various sub-disciplines that make up Roman Studies--for example, between literature and epigraphy, art and philosophy, papyrology and economic history. The Handbook, in fact, aims to establish a field and scholarly practice as much as to describe the current state of play. Connections with disciplines outside classics are also explored, including anthropology, psychoanalysis, gender and reception studies, and the use of new media.
Download or read book How to Live Like a Roman Gladiator written by Anita Ganeri and published by Hungry Tomato ®. This book was released on 2015-08-01 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Meet Felix, captured in Gaul in 180 CE and taken to Rome to train as a gladiator. He'll show you what it takes to survive these harsh, epic times as he introduces you to: ● gladiator school ● the Coliseum—the largest-ever amphitheater ● battles against lions ● hand-to-hand combat in the arena Do you have the skills and guts to be a Roman gladiator?
Download or read book The Gladiators from Capua written by Caroline Lawrence and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2005-10 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Suspecting their friend Jonathan is alive, Flavia, Nubia, and Lupus go to Rome for the Colosseum Games, facing wild beasts, criminals, conspirators, and gladiators, and where Nubia is called upon to make a terrible choice.
Download or read book Gladiators at Pompeii written by Luciana Jacobelli and published by L'ERMA di BRETSCHNEIDER. This book was released on 2003 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ruins of Pompeii reveal more graphically than anywhere else in the Roman world the vital role that gladiators and gladiatorial combat played in society. The Vesuvian eruption not only sealed the oldest amphitheatre to survive from antiquity, but also grafitti, elaborate weaponry, stone monuments and paintings which all testify to the popularity of gladiators, several of which are known to us by name. In addition, the discovery of a training barracks allows us to locate physically the place of gladiators in the city. This book, now available in English translation, presents the evidence from Pompeii in full colour photographs, accompanied by reconstruction drawings and an informative text that takes us through the streets of Pompeii as the gladiators would have known it.
Download or read book The Age of Gladiators written by Rupert Matthews and published by Arcturus Publishing. This book was released on 2019-11-07 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This was Rome, a city of bloodshed and laughter, of food and starvation. But why was so much wealth, time and trouble lavished on free entertainments? The Age of the Gladiators explores many savage spectacles of Ancient Rome, many of which have become proverbial for their cruelty, bloodlust and glory. From Gladiator fights in grand amphitheaters to chariot racing at the Circus Maximus, Romans had their pick of extreme spectator sports. Rupert Matthews explores the development of these customs, from religious rites into opportunities to bolster political esteem. Were Romans truly free citizens, governed by a fair democracy? And if not, what part did these free entertainments play in the political chess game? This fascinating book reveals all.
Download or read book The Roman Games written by Captivating History and published by Captivating History. This book was released on 2021-06-05 with total page 106 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If you want to discover the history of the Roman Games, then keep reading... What were the Roman games? What was it like for gladiators in the arenas of ancient Rome? How thrilling was it to see chariot races on the Roman race track? Were the condemned really thrown to lions at the Circus Maximus? These are a few of the questions that will be explored in this book. The Romans were known for their extensive civilization, but at the heart of Roman power was a penchant for the Roman games. Immense money and resources were spent constructing circuses, stadiums, and amphitheaters, all in an effort to create incredible spectacles for the Roman masses. It was said that as long as Roman citizens had "bread and circuses," they would remain content. The Roman people became so absorbed in the Roman games, in fact, that many other vital aspects of Roman society began to deteriorate. This book explores the nature of the Roman games and their relationship with Roman religion, as well as political and military power. Interestingly enough, it has been said that the games stemmed from religious and funeral rites that used spectacles to appease both the Roman gods and the spirits of the dead. The Roman games were held many centuries ago, yet they still captivate us today. Here in this book, we will explore them in full. You will learn: The origin of the Roman games How the Roman games were connected to Roman religion and politics The nature of gladiatorial combat Chariot races and those who dared to enter these dangerous contests Beast hunts in the ring Roman theater in the arena And more! Scroll up and click the "add to cart" button to learn more about the Roman Games.
Download or read book How to Survive in Ancient Rome written by L J Trafford and published by Pen and Sword History. This book was released on 2020-12-14 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What you’d need to know if you time-traveled to Ancient Rome—from local customs to clothing to religion to housing to food. Imagine you were transported back in time to Ancient Rome and you had to start a new life there. How would you fit in? Where would you live? What would you eat? Where would you go to have your hair done? Who would you go to if you got ill, or if you were mugged in the street? All these questions, and many more, are answered in this new how-to guide for time travelers. This lively and engaging twist on ancient history reveals how to deal with the many problems and new experiences you would face—and thrive in this strange new environment.
