Thursday, September 19, 2013



As the Romans made progress in allowing more rights to women, they regressed in their obsession over blood game. We see much improvement in the rights of women between the Greeks and the Romans. The Romans allowed women to attend banquets, which we saw depicted in Roman art. However, the Roman’s form of entertainment didn’t mainly come from theatre and art, as did the Greeks. The Romans also sought entertainment through watching animals and men fight till death. I can’t imagine an entire society cheering on two men as they kill for fame. This whole idea of gladiators is repulsive to me…… I can’t even watch my blood being drawn without blacking out and feeling nauseous, much less could I ever watch an entire episode of Greys Anatomy without occasionally turning my head. I know that if I lived during the Romans, I’d be the one throwing up out the side of my seat. 
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3 comments:

Kincy GIbson said...

The gladiator fights are actually quite interesting. They would have three shows throughout the day. One in the morning, afternoon, and late evening. These shows starred criminals being slaughtered, imported and exotic animals, and gladiators fighting till the death. When the gladiators would fight they could use different weapons or none at all. The emperor, or referee, would stop the winner right before killing the weaker gladiator. Then the crowd and the emperor would hold up a thumbs up or down, which would determine if the loser died or lived. The loser would have had to put on a pretty good show or impressed the crowd if he got to live.

September 21, 2013 at 1:43 PM
Brooke M. Hathaway said...

I totally agree with the blood thing. The day I threw up in 5th grade after seeing blood still haunts me.. Anyway, I think as a society we are just as obsessed with strength and violence as the Romans were. We may not be as, for lack of a better word, barbaric in the sense that we have laws and whatnot. However, we still glorify the same idea of human superiority, strength, and violence as they did. Just listen to any rap song, watch a WWE match, or even watch a "Saw" film. We may have modernized, but I think traces of "blood game" can till be found in our society.

September 21, 2013 at 6:09 PM
Amy Clement said...

The other day during an advisory lunch the topic of Romans' obsession with bloodshed came up, which I guess is kinda weird thinking back on it. During Roman theatre productions, slaves and prisoners of war would have roles just like other actors. At the end, however, when their character was killed, it's not pretend; they actually kill the slaves. So every performance featured a different slave in the role since he would always be killed at the end. I think the Romans did this because they not only had an obsession with blood but more importantly with death itself.

September 21, 2013 at 6:54 PM

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