05-22-2006, 06:18 PM
It seems to be common knowledge that Romans liked to watch people die in the arena. I've heard this practice goes back to the Etruscans.
Ok, I've read a whole bunch of ancient sources, Livy, Polybius, Appian etc. regarding Roman republican times and, while there's much talk about 'the games', I have not yet seen a single indication that these games were pre-determined to involve deadly combat. It is remarkable to me that I have seen nothing after all that reading and looking for it. I suppose that it may have seemed so normal to the ancients as to be deemed not worthy of recording. We have old pictures of guys fighting and falling down, but are those swords made of wood by chance?
When do we first see *proof* in the sources that men went into the arena with the purpose of killing other men or to die trying? I haven't read much about the empire just yet. I'm getting the impression that death in the arena is an imperial thing.
Ok, I've read a whole bunch of ancient sources, Livy, Polybius, Appian etc. regarding Roman republican times and, while there's much talk about 'the games', I have not yet seen a single indication that these games were pre-determined to involve deadly combat. It is remarkable to me that I have seen nothing after all that reading and looking for it. I suppose that it may have seemed so normal to the ancients as to be deemed not worthy of recording. We have old pictures of guys fighting and falling down, but are those swords made of wood by chance?
When do we first see *proof* in the sources that men went into the arena with the purpose of killing other men or to die trying? I haven't read much about the empire just yet. I'm getting the impression that death in the arena is an imperial thing.
Rich Marinaccio