Download or read book The Circus Maximus and the Colosseum written by Charles River Charles River Editors and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-02-05 with total page 98 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures *Includes ancient accounts *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading The ambitious and fearless emperors that built the legendary Roman Empire from scratch, the broad-shouldered and bronzed gladiators with their iconic plume helmets and glinting swords, and elaborate parties attended by toga-wearing Romans fueled by alcohol, violence, orgies, and other godless acts all paint a picture of Roman life. At the Circus Maximus, the guttural cheers of the spectators reverberated across the enormous open space, but their cries could hardly be heard over the rumble of the ground. On the ellipse-shaped track, 5 charioteers would skew their bodies and steer their magnificent vehicles around the curves. Gusts of sand and dirt flew up from the whizzing wheels and encircled the pounding hooves of the stunning stallions. Distracted personnel and guards dragging their feet were considered fair game. As one chariot careened to the side, preparing to collide with another chariot, a row of guards might have to try to duck out of the way in the nick of time. Some would be trampled by hooves. Chariot races were dangerous for participants too. A charioteer could become disoriented and fail to position himself as his horses moved instinctively, sending his body catapulting forward out of the chariot. Needless to say, chariot racing in Rome was a nail-biting spectacle. 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. Nearly 2,000 years later, the Colosseum still amazes millions of people who come to visit it, and when asked to visualize a monument that represents the Roman Empire, many conjure up an image of the large amphitheater. As Keith Hopkins and Mary Beard put it, the Colosseum is "the most famous, and instantly recognizable, monument to have survived from the classical world." At the same time, the Colosseum also represents the Roman games and spectacles, particularly the gladiatorial combats that so many people today find both abhorrent yet fascinating. Given its massive size and the architectural ingenuity involved, the Colosseum played host to all sorts of games, including massive hunts of exotic animals and even sea battles.
Download or read book Roman Circuses written by John H. Humphrey and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 1986-01-01 with total page 722 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Colosseum written by Keith Hopkins and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2012-06-01 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Byron and Hitler were equally entranced by Rome’s most famous monument, the Colosseum. Mid-Victorians admired the hundreds of varieties of flowers in its crannies and occasionally shuddered at its reputation for contagion, danger, and sexual temptation. Today it is the highlight of a tour of Italy for more than three million visitors a year, a concert arena for the likes of Paul McCartney, and a national symbol of opposition to the death penalty. Its ancient history is chock full of romantic but erroneous myths. There is no evidence that any gladiator ever said “Hail Caesar, those about to die...” and we know of not one single Christian martyr who met his finish here. Yet the reality is much stranger than the legend as the authors, two prominent classical historians, explain in this absorbing account. We learn the details of how the arena was built and at what cost; we are introduced to the emperors who sometimes fought in gladiatorial games staged at the Colosseum; and we take measure of the audience who reveled in, or opposed, these games. The authors also trace the strange afterlife of the monument—as fortress, shrine of martyrs, church, and glue factory. Why are we so fascinated with this arena of death?
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 Amphitheatre written by Katherine E. Welch and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2007-09-10 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first book to analyze the evolution of the Roman amphitheatre as an architectural form. Katherine Welch addresses the critical period in the history of this building type: its origins and dissemination under the Republic, from the third to first centuries BC; its monumentalization as an architectural form under Augustus; and its canonization as a building type with the Colosseum (AD 80). The study then shifts focus to the reception of the amphitheatre in the Greek East, a part of the Empire deeply fractured about the new realities of Roman rule.
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 The Colosseum written by Nigel Rodgers and published by Haynes Publishing UK. This book was released on 2018-06-05 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Colosseum is an examination of the innovative design and inspired construction of ancient Rome’s most astonishing building. It looks closely at the anonymous architects and laborers involved in the 10-year project, and how once completed its management delighted the Roman crowds with 400 years of the world’s most savage and brutal entertainment spectaculars.
Download or read book Ancient Rome written by Peter Connolly and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2001 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is one of two new titles from the acclaimed master of recreating the ancient world. Peter Connolly's superb illustrations bring to life the world of ancient Rome, giving children aged 8+ a real sense of what it was like to live there. We visit the baths and the laundry, watch chariotraces at the Circus Maximus and gladiator fights at the Colosseum, and discover a wealth of fascinating details of everyday life. Perfect to support homework. Peter Connolly is a best-selling author and illustrator of the ancient world. His previous books with Oxford include Pompeii, The Roman Fort, The Legionary, The Cavalryman, The Ancient Greece of Odysseus, The Holy Land and The Ancient City. These have sold over 250,000 copies in English, and havebeen translated into many other languages. Peter Connolly is an Honorary Research Fellow of the Institute of Archaeology, London.
Download or read book The Roman Games written by Alison Futrell and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2009-02-09 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This sourcebook presents a wealth of material relating to everyaspect of Roman spectacles, especially gladiatorial combat andchariot racing. Draws on the words of eye-witnesses and participants, as wellas depictions of the games in mosaics and other works of art. Offers snapshots of “a day at the games” and“the life of a gladiator”. Includes numerous illustrations. Covers chariot-races, water pageants, naval battles and wildanimal fights, as well as gladiatorial combat. Combines political, social, religious and archaeologicalperspectives. Facilitates an in-depth understanding of this important featureof ancient life.
Download or read book The Charioteer of Delphi written by Caroline Lawrence and published by Orion Children's Books. This book was released on 2010-12-09 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: September AD 80. Flavia and her friends go to Rome to celebrate the Festival of Jupiter at Senator Cornix's town house. When a famous racehorse goes missing, Nubia sets out to recover it. The four friends find themselves caught up in a plot against one of the rival factions, the Greens. Who is trying to sabotage the charioteers? Could it be an inside job, or someone with a grudge from long ago? And how many men and horses will die before the killer is caught?
Download or read book Mark of the Thief Free Preview Edition written by Jennifer A. Nielsen and published by Scholastic Inc.. This book was released on 2014-10-03 with total page 12 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A sneak peek at an electrifying tale of greed and power, magic and destiny, and one boy's courage at the heart of it all, from Jennifer A. Nielsen, the New York Times bestselling author of the Ascendance Trilogy. When Nic, a slave in the mines outside of Rome, is forced to enter a sealed cavern containing the lost treasures of Julius Caesar, he finds much more than gold and gemstones: He discovers an ancient bulla, an amulet that belonged to the great Caesar and is filled with a magic once reserved for the Gods -- magic some Romans would kill for. Now, with the deadly power of the bulla pulsing through his veins, Nic is determined to become free. But instead, he finds himself at the center of a ruthless conspiracy to overthrow the emperor and spark the Praetor War, a battle to destroy Rome from within. Traitors and spies lurk at every turn, each more desperate than the next to use Nic's newfound powers for their own dark purposes. In a quest to stop the rebellion, save Rome, and secure his own freedom, Nic must harness the magic within himself and defeat the empire's most powerful and savage leaders.
Download or read book The Lure of the Arena written by Garrett G. Fagan and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2011-02-17 with total page 375 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Were the Romans who watched brutal gladiatorial games all that different from us? This book argues they were not.
Download or read book Rome Alive A Source Guide to the Ancient City Volume II written by Peter J. Aicher and published by Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers. This book was released on 2004 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Whether you're an armchair tourist, are visiting Rome for the first time, or are a veteran of the city's charms, travelers of all ages and stages will benefit from this fascinating guidebook to Rome's ancient city. Aicher's commentary orients the visitor to each site's ancient significance. Photographs, maps, and floorplans abound, all making this a one-of-a-kind guide. A separate volume of sources in Greek and Latin is available for scholars who want access to the original texts.
Download or read book Rome and Environs written by Filippo Coarelli and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2014-05-10 with total page 624 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This guide brings the work of one of the best known scholars of Roman archeology and art to an English-language audience. Conveniently organized by walking tours and illustrated throughout with clear maps, drawings, and plans, it covers all of the city's ancient sites (including the Capitoline, the Forum, the Palatine Hill, the Valley of the Colosseum, the Esquiline, the Caelian, the Quirinal, and the Campus Martius), and, unlike most other guides, now includes the major monuments in a large area outside Rome proper but within easy reach, such as Ostia Antica, Palestrina, Tivoli, and the many areas of interest along the ancient Roman roads. An essential resource for tourists interested in a deeper understanding of Rome's classical remains, it is also the ideal book for students and scholars approaching the ancient history of one of the world's most fascinating cities.--From publisher description.
Download or read book The Making of Medieval Rome written by Hendrik Dey and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2021-10-14 with total page 956 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Integrating the written sources with Rome's surviving remains and, most importantly, with the results of the past half-century's worth of medieval archaeology in the city, The Making of Medieval Rome is the first in-depth profile of Rome's transformation over a millennium to appear in any language in over forty years. Though the main focus rests on Rome's urban trajectory in topographical, architectural, and archaeological terms, Hendrik folds aspects of ecclesiastical, political, social, military, economic, and intellectual history into the narrative in order to illustrate how and why the cityscape evolved as it did during the thousand years between the end of the Roman Empire and the start of the Renaissance. A wide-ranging synthesis of decades' worth of specialized research and remarkable archaeological discoveries, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in how and why the ancient imperial capital transformed into the spiritual heart of Western Christendom.
Download or read book Performance Memory and Processions in Ancient Rome written by Jacob A. Latham and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2016-08-16 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The pompa circensis, the procession which preceded the chariot races in the arena, was both a prominent political pageant and a hallowed religious ritual. Traversing a landscape of memory, the procession wove together spaces and institutions, monuments and performers, gods and humans into an image of the city, whose contours shifted as Rome changed. In the late Republic, the parade produced an image of Rome as the senate and the people with their gods - a deeply traditional symbol of the city which was transformed during the empire when an imperial image was built on top of the republican one. In late antiquity, the procession fashioned a multiplicity of Romes: imperial, traditional, and Christian. In this book, Jacob A. Latham explores the webs of symbolic meanings in the play between performance and itinerary, tracing the transformations of the circus procession from the late Republic to late antiquity.
Download or read book Chariot Racing in the Roman Empire written by Fik Meijer and published by Johns Hopkins University Press. This book was released on 2010-10-01 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the length of the track and the need to ride small horses, to the risks, techniques, and training methods involved in racing, Meijer recreates ancient Rome’s favorite pastime in impressive detail.
