Epplett, Christopher. Gladiators & Beast Hunts: Arena Sports of Ancient Rome. South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Military, 2016.
Gladiators & Beast Hunts is one of my many impulse buys while searching through the Half-Price Books store. In it Christopher Epplett, an ancient history teacher who specializes in Ancient Rome’s sporting events, looks at the origins, purpose, and demise of gladiatorial combat and the venationes, the beast hunts. He decides to not cover the chariot races, more interested in the violent sports and why the Romans were so enamored by them. He also has a couple chapters focusing on how the games were supplied and held and how certain gladiators (and even some animals) achieved celebrity status. Gladiators & Beast Hunts is a fairly short book, more along the lines of an extended master’s thesis, and should make for a brisk yet highly informative read.
Epplett traces the origins of the gladiatorial games to Etruscan and early Roman funerary customs. When a wealthy man or woman died, the other rich spectators were treated to a gladiatorial duel. The Venatio (beast hunt) also originated as the sport of the elite. The animals in the games were slaughtered rather than captured. Over time these violent spectacles were introduced to the common Roman masses. By the later republic they became an essential part of Roman life.
Aside
from satisfying the people’ craving for exciting, action packed fights and
hunts, the spectacles served a major political purpose. Politicians in the Republican
era could expect to boost their popularity by throwing vast amounts of their
money at staging the games (munera).
They imported thousands of animals for the venationes
and made use of debtors and war captives to fill out rosters of gladiators. By
the time of the empire, the emperors banned the ability of noblemen to stage muneras. This prevented any ambitious
senator, general, or other major figure from challenging the emperor’s
popularity and by extension power. The emperor was thus responsible for
ensuring that the people got a regular dose of grand spectacles. The Roman army
became an extension of the spectacles, capturing beasts from Rome’s far flung
imperial territories for the venationes.
The rare emperor who did not care much for the games, such as acclaimed philosopher
ruler Marcus Aurelius, could draw criticisms from the masses thanks to their
disinterest (though they still staged the games out of practicality). Local
rulers and noblemen in other parts of the empire were able to stage their own
games to solidify their smaller spheres of control. The games took up large
quantities of Roman wealth to stage and required a highly exploitative imperial
system to run.
The
games also celebrated Roman power and virtues. The beast hunters symbolized
Rome (or mankind’s) authority over nature. Gladiators exhibited courage as well
as acceptance of death should it come. Carthaginian prisoners of war were
executed in the arena in an attempt to assuage Roman fears after the disastrous
defeat at Cannae. Criminals were executed in various gruesome ways by beasts to
symbolize Roman justice (the few paragraphs on the execution of female
criminals should be particularly squicky). Overall, the munera was a way of affirming Romans’ grand self-image, of showing
that they were masters of the world.
Epplett
challenges the idea that Christianity, with its concerns about violence, ended
the spectacles. First of all Christians only criticized the gladiatorial games
and sensational executions, as this involved the slaughter of human beings for
fun. They had not yet grown the same concern for the animals and there is no
record of any expressing distaste for the venationes.
Even then the games only slowly died out and not out of moral concerns. Rome
simply ran out of the money to continually stage the spectacles as it was
rocked by a series of empire-ending crises. The cost of favorite exotic animals
from Africa and Asia skyrocketed. Parts of the former Roman Empire, with easier
access to animals, continued to stage spectacles into the early middle ages.
Gladiators & Beast Hunts is an informative and easy read and is good for anybody seeking to flesh out their knowledge on Ancient Rome. It should also hold lessons as to why audiences, even today, are attracted to violent spectacles, though today they are more fictionalized through film and television.
Rating: Recommend
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