Last night I attended an interesting lecture on the Roman Colosseum and its glory days of the gladiators. The Colosseum became the biggest arena for gladiator shows, which existed long before the Colosseum was built. One will get an idea from the Russell Crowe's show "Gladiator". Apparently, the Romans and gladiators had power, violence and cruelty, spectacle, excess, sex, depravity and madness. Thus, being a gladiator in those days was a form of glory, they were the highest ranking of slaves and prisoners as they were trained to fight. Even though the general public viewed them as low-class, the ranks of prostitutes and actors, but women (even married and high-ranking ones) were willing to run away with them. That was the appeal of a gladiator.
How did the gladiatorial combat came about? It originally started off with gladiatorial schools to train gladiators to put up shows for private functions at funerals of the rich. Before that were human sacrifices, so in a way, the Romans viewed gladiatorial shows as a humane improvement. The combat later developed to be part of civic and religious festivals, and then the Roman citizens began to demand the games as a right, so the Emperor Augustus (Julius Caesar's successor) made the games a public spectacle.
However, to keep crowds coming, since the Colosseum had to seat fifty thousand spectators within fifteen minutes (no idea how the statistic came about), the various Roman Emperors started to "modify" the games and made them more cruel. The number of gladiators started increasing, only to kill off each other in the arena, there were mock sea battles where the arena was flooded, women prisoners were used, audience started participating in the games, pitting women against cripples, cripples against cripples, using dwarves, women against dwarves, enacting mythological stories, having bulls copulating with women, and even the Emperors themselves participated in the games! All in a bid to make the games interesting, but that left a rather bad taste in my mouth.
Yet the games were important to the Romans as it was a show of the great power of the Roman empire. And to them, nothing gave them greater pleasure than to see criminals being punished publicly, through various means like fighting with animals or with each other. A typical day in the arena could start off with wild beast shows, where the prisoners would fight against all the lions and tigers and leopards, even elephants and bears. Lunchtime would feature executions and crucifixions of slaves. There were times when Christian prisoners were crucified and burnt just to get enough light from the fire. The afternoon would feature gladiatorial combat. How popular an Emperor was was determined by the types of games he put up.
The Colosseum itself became very important to the Romans, as it was a symbol of unity, and enabled the Emperor to connect with his people. It was a proof of Rome triumphing over civilisation. It was an architectural masterpiece that demonstrated power. As the saying goes, "When the Colosseum falls, so falls Rome and all the world". Perhaps that was why the Roman empire came to an end, because the Colosseum fell?
Yet in the end, the games had to be abandoned. Partly because Rome suffered a food shortage for a period of time, so prisoners and gladiators were released so that they would not need to be fed. Then Rome became Christian, and the Emperor of that time banned the games after a Christian monk (priest?) who protested against the gladiatorial combats jumped between two gladiators and was killed. The games also became too lavish and expensive, and during the last days until the final fall of the Empire, they were not that popular anymore.
In modern times, people may view the games as too barbaric and cruel, but then come to think of it, are we any better? The prisoners and gladiators knew their fate, and they participated in the games knowing they would die, and looked death in the eye. Whereas in modern society, others bombed places from afar and killed innocent people without wanting to face the consequences. There are also still public executions in many countries, violent and blood sports, sex shows and slavery (in many forms). So come to think of it, are we really that much more moral than the Romans were?
How did the gladiatorial combat came about? It originally started off with gladiatorial schools to train gladiators to put up shows for private functions at funerals of the rich. Before that were human sacrifices, so in a way, the Romans viewed gladiatorial shows as a humane improvement. The combat later developed to be part of civic and religious festivals, and then the Roman citizens began to demand the games as a right, so the Emperor Augustus (Julius Caesar's successor) made the games a public spectacle.
However, to keep crowds coming, since the Colosseum had to seat fifty thousand spectators within fifteen minutes (no idea how the statistic came about), the various Roman Emperors started to "modify" the games and made them more cruel. The number of gladiators started increasing, only to kill off each other in the arena, there were mock sea battles where the arena was flooded, women prisoners were used, audience started participating in the games, pitting women against cripples, cripples against cripples, using dwarves, women against dwarves, enacting mythological stories, having bulls copulating with women, and even the Emperors themselves participated in the games! All in a bid to make the games interesting, but that left a rather bad taste in my mouth.
Yet the games were important to the Romans as it was a show of the great power of the Roman empire. And to them, nothing gave them greater pleasure than to see criminals being punished publicly, through various means like fighting with animals or with each other. A typical day in the arena could start off with wild beast shows, where the prisoners would fight against all the lions and tigers and leopards, even elephants and bears. Lunchtime would feature executions and crucifixions of slaves. There were times when Christian prisoners were crucified and burnt just to get enough light from the fire. The afternoon would feature gladiatorial combat. How popular an Emperor was was determined by the types of games he put up.
The Colosseum itself became very important to the Romans, as it was a symbol of unity, and enabled the Emperor to connect with his people. It was a proof of Rome triumphing over civilisation. It was an architectural masterpiece that demonstrated power. As the saying goes, "When the Colosseum falls, so falls Rome and all the world". Perhaps that was why the Roman empire came to an end, because the Colosseum fell?
Yet in the end, the games had to be abandoned. Partly because Rome suffered a food shortage for a period of time, so prisoners and gladiators were released so that they would not need to be fed. Then Rome became Christian, and the Emperor of that time banned the games after a Christian monk (priest?) who protested against the gladiatorial combats jumped between two gladiators and was killed. The games also became too lavish and expensive, and during the last days until the final fall of the Empire, they were not that popular anymore.
In modern times, people may view the games as too barbaric and cruel, but then come to think of it, are we any better? The prisoners and gladiators knew their fate, and they participated in the games knowing they would die, and looked death in the eye. Whereas in modern society, others bombed places from afar and killed innocent people without wanting to face the consequences. There are also still public executions in many countries, violent and blood sports, sex shows and slavery (in many forms). So come to think of it, are we really that much more moral than the Romans were?
1 comments:
We are marginally better.
But yes, we substitute "virtual" blood and sex for the real of the past. Which, in my opinion is not a good idea.
Particularily because we heighten and exaggerate things in movies to the point that most people consider it to be normal when in reality it is not. A good example might be people being shot. In a movie, they are always "blown away". In reality, they just fall down, since there is not enough kinetic energy in the bullet to "blow them away".
Consider a "modern" society (first world, civilized, if you will) and constrast it with say Afghanistan or Iraq.
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