Did you know that ancient Romans supported their sports teams just as people do today?
Hello and welcome to World History Encyclopedia! My name is Kelly and today's video is all about
games, gladiators, sports and spectacles in ancient Rome. Don't forget, the easiest way
to support us is by giving this video a thumbs up, subscribing to our channel and
hitting that bell icon for notifications, so you don't miss out on any new uploads.
World History Encyclopedia is a non-profit organisation and you can find us on Patreon - a
brilliant site where you can support our work and receive exclusive benefits in
return. Your support helps us create videos twice a week, so make sure to check it out
via the pop-up in the top corner of the screen or via the Patreon link down below.
The people of ancient Rome loved spectacle and lucky for them, they could often be entertained
by lavish public shows. The emperors of Rome knew of their people's love of spectacle,
so a way that they could garner popularity and prestige during their reign was to put on great
shows in their purpose-built arenas and venues. These venues would host any number of events from
chariot races and gladiator fights to processions, executions and even mock naval battles.
I guess their love of sports and spectacles makes it less surprising that some of the best-preserved
architecture from ancient Rome are the buildings that were constructed for entertainment purposes.
It's pretty clear from the surviving architecture and side references in ancient Roman literature
that Roman sports and spectacles were popular and long-standing in the empire, although today
they can definitely seem more shocking and brutal than simply a source of entertainment.
But remember, for the Roman public these spectacles were a source of escapism
and not necessarily a representation of the social norms or acceptable behaviours in the Roman world.
It wasn't just in Rome where amphitheaters and circuses were constructed,
like the famous Colosseum which had a capacity of more than 50,000, or the Circus
Maximus which could host more than 150,000 spectators, but all across the Roman Empire,
so not only were many events held but they were conducted on a large scale which meant that the
entertainment sector of ancient Rome became a huge source of employment for various trades
from animal trappers and trainers to costume designers, armourers, musicians,
orators and people to rake the sand. At the end of the Roman Republic, the seats in arenas, circuses
and theatres were divided by social class and Augustus, the first emperor of Rome, established
divides in these venues so men and women were separated as were the slaves and the free persons,
the children and the adults and the rich and the poor. He even went so far as to have the
single and the married men seated separately. Unlike nowadays where you have to buy tickets
for sporting and musical entertainment, tickets would have been free for most types of spectacles
since they were put on not necessarily as a source of revenue for the empire,
but for the emperors or even the uber-rich citizens to display their generosity and wealth.
Rome's enormous Circus Maximus was the place to be if you wanted to catch the most prestigious
chariot races that the empire put on, but by the 3rd century CE, you could see these
spectacular events in other major cities like Alexandria, Constantinople and Antioch and as
the empire continued, the chariot races just got even more popular. If you were watching a chariot
race at the Circus Maximus you would expect to see no more than 12 chariots racing and
these chariots would be organised into four racing stables: Blues, Greens, Reds and Whites,
and spectators would follow these factions like we today would passionately follow our sporting
teams. Of course, there aren't passionate sports fans without placing bets on the race,
both small and large, as well as rivalries and hatred of other teams, and this was obvious in
ancient Rome since there are literally curse tablets that were written against charioteers.
There were more than one type of chariot race and some would require more skill than others like the
races where teams would have six or seven horses or horses that were unyoked. The Emperor Nero
even once raced with a 10 horse team but was thrown from his chariot. It wasn't out of the
ordinary for the Circus to be the place where you could glimpse the emperor in the Imperial Period,
and so of course they used this to their advantage to strengthen their political grip
on their people by putting on a brilliant show; there were races where the charioteers would race
in teams but the most anticipated race of all was the Race of the Champions. The racers that were
incredibly successful could become millionaires and one of the most famous charioteers
was a man named Gaius Appuleius Diocles, who in the 2nd century CE won a total of 1,463 races.
Then there were the gladiatorial events which were always popular.
The display of courage, bloody spectacle and the potential for the underdog to rise to victory
were all parts of what made gladiator fights so appealing to the Roman audience.
The earliest gladiator contest has been dated to the 4th century BCE in Paestum, southern Italy
but the first gladiator fight in Rome, that we know of, dates later than that to 246 BCE.
Arenas spread across the empire and if a Roman city magistrate want office
they would have to put on a gladiator show. The popular gladiator events could also be used as
a way to publicly celebrate events like the emperor's birthday or an imperial visit and
were also part of the funerary rights of important citizens, as well as certain religious festivals.
In the 1st century BCE, schools were established to train up professional gladiators
and amphitheatres were made far more permanent by being constructed out of stone.
As they became more and more popular, the grandeur increased and so limits had to be placed on how
much could be spent on a gladiator event and for how many fighting pairs could participate.
Eventually, the gladiator fights became less fatal which meant there was far more drama and
anticipation for the certainty of death in the public executions held in the public arenas.
The gladiators that fought in these events could be slaves, free men, professionals
and even women are known to have been gladiators. Some gladiators became heroes; the spectators had
favourites and some even amassed fan clubs. They were also seen as good investments with men like
Julius Caesar and Cicero owning numerous gladiators whom they rented out to those who
wanted to sponsor a gladiatorial game. Not every Roman was thrilled by the gladiators, however,
such as the Roman writer Plutarch who called the events 'unbecoming' and Emperor Marcus Aurelius
who, although he turned up to a gladiator competition, spent his time there doing paperwork.
But the events were far too popular to stop, despite some people's aversion to the sport.
Under the Christian emperors, the gladiator contests declined until they came to a complete
end in 404 CE. The Roman arenas were also used for events involving exotic animals,
often captured from the far ends of the empire, these animals could be pitted against
other animals in the arena or against humans. The animal handlers or bestiarii would cajole two
animals that were chained together, often one herbivore and one carnivore, into fighting each
other and sometimes it was the first time that the Roman people had seen animals like panthers,
lions, rhinos, hippos and giraffes which would just add to the prestige of the events organizers.
A way in which military victories were celebrated in the Roman Empire was with triumphs,
which usually included a military parade through Rome, which began at the Porta Triumphalis
and it would then follow a route through the city and end at the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus.
They were grand affairs that included showing off captives, flora and fauna from the territory
they conquered, and of course the booty they obtained. Often accompanying these
triumphs and lesser processions, were gladiator, sporting and theatre events.
When Julius Caesar won the Alexandrian War, he held a mock naval battle in a huge purpose-built
basin and Augustus staged a huge mock battle at sea to commemorate his victory over Mark Antony.
Nero went even further and actually flooded a whole amphitheatre to host his naval battle
show. There were choreographed maneuvers but the fighting was real and often prisoners or prisoners
of war would die in these mock battles for the Roman spectator's entertainment.
Executions of prisoners and criminals were also used as entertainment and these people might be
executed by having wild animals set free on them, which is known as damnatio ad bestias,
or may have been forced to fight well-trained gladiators or even other criminals. Of course,
Romans loved spectacle, so some criminals could be executed in more dramatic ways like being burnt at
the stake or crucified, and not just that, but they would often be dressed up as a villainous
character from Roman mythology or killed in a reenactment of a famous mythological death.
Before the execution took place, the person's crime was announced to the audience
who would then become an active part in the person's sentence. The criminal could
even be saved from the execution if the crowd demanded it. Although many people today object
to sports fans taking things too far or to the dangers of some modern sports, we in the present
can't compare in the slightest with the ancient Romans and their love of these events.
In purpose-built theatres, drama, mime, tragedy and comedy especially the ancient Greek plays,
were performed to audiences sometimes to upwards of 100,000 people like at Pompey's
Theatre in Rome. Roman theatre owed much to the conventions established by the ancient Greeks
but Romans introduced more speaking actors and a far more elaborate stage. Theatre was
popular entertainment in Rome and often the wealthy citizens would sponsor productions,
just like how they would sponsor other spectacles. Their most popular
theatre format was the pantomime, which included an actor performing and dancing
to musical accompaniment. These theatre soloists, who would also be women, became absolute theatre
superstars and some would become immortal as later generations of actors would take their names.
Why do you think sports was so popular in ancient Rome? Let us know what you think in
the comments below! If you enjoyed this video, make sure to give it a thumbs up
and subscribe to our channel so you don't miss out on our new videos every Tuesday and Friday.
This video was brought to you by World History Encyclopedia. For more great articles and
interactive content, head to our website via the link below. If you like my sweater,
you can find this design and a bunch more in our shop at worldhistory.store, or you can find a link
for it down below. Thank you so much for watching and we will see you soon with another video!