Forms Of Violent Entertainment In Ancient Rome

In What Ways is Modern Entertainment Similar to Forms of Violent Entertainment in Ancient Rome? Violent forms of entertainment have been around for several millennia. Nearly all ancient civilizations held events revolving around violence. In present times, we still get excited over violent sports, movies, television shows, along with videogames and much more, violence seems to envelope modern media just as much as, if not more than non-violent topics. So in what ways is modern entertainment similar to forms of violent entertainment in Ancient Rome? A gladiator was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned
criminals. To volunteer as a gladiator put your legal and social standings at risk as well as your life. Gladiators offered spectators an example of Rome 's martial ethics and, in fighting or dying respectfully, they could inspire admiration and popular acclaim. Several different types of shows all took place in the arena of an Amphitheater. The word arena comes from the Latin for "sand," which was placed on the Amphitheater floor to soak up spilled blood. Originally, there were gladiatorial schools, but these came under state control in the 1st century BCE to avoid those becoming private armies. The majority of gladiators were condemned criminals (damnati), slaves, prisoners of war, or volunteers who signed up to do shows for a fee. There were four main types of gladiator: Murmillo: Fought with a helmet adorned by a fish crest, an oblong shield, and a sword. He usually fought a retiaritus. Retiaritus: A lightly armed gladiator with a net, brandishing either a trident or a dagger, Samnite: Utilized a sword, visor and helmet, and an oblong shield, Thracian: Combated with a curved scimitar and round shield. Gladiators directly influenced a few modern forms of entertainment, such as Pride fighting championship and UFC. The Ultimate Fighting Championship resembles gladiatorial combats in several ways. Fighters of all sizes and builds are sorted into weight-classes. Though they do not fight in an arena or amphitheatre, they are confined. The UFC stages bouts in an eight-sided enclosure officially known as "The Octagon". Unlike gladiatorial combats there are rules and required equipment. A fighter must be in the same weight-class as their opponent, but fighters can gain or lose weight to challenge others. From lack of historical document stating otherwise, a gladiatorial matchup could have been between a one hundred pound man and a two hundred and fifty pound behemoth. Both fighters in the UFC must be fitted in regulation length shorts that range in size, and a pair of mixed martial arts gloves. Whereas gladiators could be pitted against one another with one gladiator armed with any sort of weapon or armor while the other is completely unarmed and unprotected. Another modern sport like gladiator fighting is Pride Fighting Championships, similar to UFC with significantly less rules. As opposed to the arenas they fight in a square five roped ring. Pride allows kicking and kneeing the head of a downed opponent, a fighter to stomp the head of a downed opponent, which are considered a foul in the Unified Rules. Just like the ancient peoples, modern humans like to see violence and action, they keep us entertained.
Gladiator fights were widely celebrated and if you were the winner you gained public acclaim and popularity, much like the victors of a UFC or Pride FC match, the only difference is, the loser of UFC and Pride FC get to keep their lives. Gladiatorial combats ended with victors showered in praise, and the loser dead or mortally wounded bad enough they’d be dead within days. Victory or death took a literal meaning in those events. Today to get their fix on gore, action and suspense, all people have to do is take a trip to the movies. With modern technologies and effects, no one has to die. Movies immerse us in a story, or a plot, that could provide the type of suspense those spectators felt, without the real deaths and injuries. Movies give people what they have wanted for millennia…Violence in the way gladiators gave ancient Romans what they wanted. One may argue that the types of entertainment have gotten less violent to the point of there being significantly less deaths. People brutally beat the life out of each other for fame, popularity, money, or a silly title. It is clear that we still live in very violent society. We Canadians as a nation are pretty peaceful, but look at the United States, every time there is a conflict in another country. I really like violent movies, videogames and the UFC. If I was around during the time of the gladiator, I would more than likely have attended at a few battles. Would I have enjoyed it? Most likely I would have, it was very popular back
then. People have been violent for thousands of years; here we are today, violent as ever, except we need to contain our violence due to Morals and Laws. Apparently you can’t challenge someone to a sword fight to the death because it’s “Against the law”. There are similarities between modern and ancient forms of violent entertainment that are present in our daily lives.

Work Cited http://library.thinkquest.org/26602/entertainment.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladiator#The_Gladiators http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimate_Fighting_Championship I know this isn’t cited correctly but it is the best I can do, my current version of Microsoft word doesn’t have the reference tab at the top and won’t let me insert citations.