Similarities Between Ancient Rome And Today's America

“Entertainment. Can you find parallels between Ancient Rome and today’s America in terms of what they like to do for entertainment?”

The human mind is an amazing supercomputer that is capable of wondrous things. Even the greatest of men have not come close to fathoming the true abilities of the brain. The information that is known, however, is mind boggling to say the least. An example of such potential is the fact that the brain can process information as fast as 268 miles per hour; it’s incredible! Despite this however, there unfortunately is a common disease that has been plaguing mankind’s mind since the dawn of time: boredom. All too often, people find that they lack interest in the events of their everyday lives, and as a result, they search elsewhere for some form of
amusement and entertainment. I think many of these activities from Ancient Rome mirror those found in America today.
One of the most prominent forms of entertainment in Ancient Rome were the famed chariot races and gladiator fights. These violent activities all involved “death and destruction” (Trueman). Although gruesome, the public flocked to see the spectacles, and they often did so for free. Emperors often allowed for the people of Rome, those who were mostly poor and unemployed, to view the showings of races and fights free of charge because they believed that it would keep the people content and far away from the idea of threatening the government. Unfortunately, no free entertainment of this sort exists in today’s America, however, I believe some of the sports that are present are parallel to those that existed in Ancient Rome. Races of any sort (horse, dog, rat, and even car), for example, can be compared to those that existed in the famous Colosseum. Both of the two sporting events involve the competition of the speeds of various vehicles or animals. Additionally, people in both time periods also bet and gambled on who they thought the winner of these races might be. Contrary to popular belief, however, the Romans did not find fun in sports alone.
Another popular form of entertainment was found in the theatre. Many of the techniques born in this era are often still used to this day in several modern-day productions and for many of the same reasons. I should know – I’m in theatre and aspire to be an actress. For example, an adopted technique in theatre is known as farce, or “exaggerated and absurd situations” (Bishop). This was used in order to obtain laughs from the audience, seeing as comedy was the most popular art form of this time. These sort of silly circumstances are just about all that makes up so-called comedy now a days, in my opinion. Take a look at the newly released movie, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, for instance; the entire movie is a farce. There is a scene towards the end of the film in which the man character Ron Burgundy arrives in Central Park accompanied by his news crew and the team is confronted by several other news crews. A fight ensues between all of the characters and involves a “were-hyena”, a “gun from the future”, swords, bats, hockey sticks, the ghost of Stonewall Jackson, a “Sex Panther grenade”, and a Minotaur. This seems silly to me, but I think that is the point. Another technique of this time was the pantomime, or acting without words. This sort of style is not as prominent in today’s era, to my knowledge, however, there are still notable uses of it such as in short sketches like those used in Saturday Night Live. The actors and actresses on this popular satirical show do use words, however, they do not always have the props needed for certain skits and therefore must resort to pantomiming whatever the object is that they intended to use. When Ancient Rome used pantomiming, however, the acting soon degraded “to elaborate and often obscene spectacles” (Bishop). Sex and violence were often glorified in productions, which is, of course, completely unlike the things portrayed in American entertainment…more or less.
Music was also highly treasured in Ancient Rome.
“Like the Greeks, the Romans believed that music could have great emotional effect on the listener” (Bishop). This thought might not be openly shared or appreciated by Americans, but as a trumpet player and one who is still actively involved in music, I believe it still rings true. Not everyone pays to see large orchestras playing classical music (even though they should), however, concerts for famed musicians sell out in minutes. A point could be argued that most people (particularly teenage girls) only buy tickets to fawn after the heartthrob performer, however, something has to be said about the enjoyment of the music, as well. Obviously, the public likes the sound at least a little, otherwise it would be a very empty concert. Additionally, movies and plays of today are accompanied by musical orchestras in order to highlight certain scenes and manipulate the moods of the target audience. Similarly, this strategy was used in Ancient Rome when orators had musicians behind them timed to play at particular moments in a speech in order to “strike the desired tone” (Bishop). Music is a universal art form that speaks clearly to all who
listen.
Just as boredom never leaves us throughout the ages, neither does entertainment. Although it may have been tweaked ever so slightly over the passing years to accommodate new audience member, the essence of the subject is still preserved.

References thinkerquest team, . N.p.. Web. 23 Feb 2014. .
Trueman, Chris. N.p.. Web. 23 Feb 2014. .
Bishop, Philip. Adventures in the Human Spirit. 6th. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2011. Print.