Roman Sports and Spectacles - Focus Publishing

Introduction
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Every culture has its own forms of entertainment. In Rome the favorite
entertainments were the great public games, called ludi, 1 and the similar
spectacles originally put on for funerals of important people, called munera. 2
These performances might include plays, combat sports, or chariot races. The
types of entertainment the Romans favored and the way they organized and
funded their spectacles can tell us a great deal about Roman life.
This book sets out some of the most important textual sources for Roman
sports and spectacles, so that readers may explore for themselves how the
Romans entertained each other and what they thought of their spectacles.
I have assumed no knowledge of Roman history or the Latin language.
Key terms not only from sports but from Roman politics and culture are
explained in a glossary and defined briefly in footnotes when they first
appear; the most important have been left in Latin and appear in italics. In
this introduction, I provide an overview of the subject and some historical
background to help with the details of the selections.
Why do we study ancient sports? Sports and spectacles are the main
components of the popular culture of a society that ruled most of the
known world for hundreds of years: the Romans. Studying Roman sports
and, especially, Romans’ ideas about their sports gives us insight into how
their society worked. Moreover, many of the issues that mattered to the
Romans are still important to us today:
· Does watching violent entertainment harm or corrupt the spectator?
· Are athletes good role models? Does participation in sports build
character?
· Is watching sports a good use of time for an educated or upperclass
person? Or are sports and spectacles only for the lower
classes?
· Should public funds be used to build sports arenas and theaters,
or to pay for competitions?
· Who holds the record? Who won the most prize money? Who’s
the best?
1 Ludi (sg. ludus) are public spectacles, including games and theater performances. See the
glossary for more information.
2 A munus (pl. munera) is a duty or office; the word comes to mean a gladiator show.
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