Description

Book Synopsis

This illustrated study lifts the veil on the gladiators of ancient Rome, who provided a bloody spectacle for the people of the Eternal City and its vast empire.

By the start of the Principate in 27 BC, the gladiator games were a long-standing part of the social and political life of Rome and its sprawling empire. In the wake of reforms enacted by Augustus, the games continued to be at the heart of Roman culture and politics during the 1st and 2nd centuries AD.

While prominent citizens harnessed the opportunities offered by the gladiator games to enhance their own reputations and reward their clients, the emperors soon assumed a near-monopoly on the provision of games; several even entered the arena themselves, most notoriously Commodus. In the quest for novelty, prisoners, criminals and women came to participate in this grisly sport'. Only after the adoption of Christianity as the state religion in AD 380 did armed combat between gladiators enter a decline, an

Gladiators 1st5th centuries AD

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    A Paperback by Francois Gilbert

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      Book details

      Publisher Bloomsbury
      Imprint Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
      Published 1/21/2024 12:11:00 AM
      ISBN-13 9781472862761
      978-1472862761
      ISBN-10 1472862767
      Also in:
      History Ancient history

      Description

      Book Synopsis

      This illustrated study lifts the veil on the gladiators of ancient Rome, who provided a bloody spectacle for the people of the Eternal City and its vast empire.

      By the start of the Principate in 27 BC, the gladiator games were a long-standing part of the social and political life of Rome and its sprawling empire. In the wake of reforms enacted by Augustus, the games continued to be at the heart of Roman culture and politics during the 1st and 2nd centuries AD.

      While prominent citizens harnessed the opportunities offered by the gladiator games to enhance their own reputations and reward their clients, the emperors soon assumed a near-monopoly on the provision of games; several even entered the arena themselves, most notoriously Commodus. In the quest for novelty, prisoners, criminals and women came to participate in this grisly sport'. Only after the adoption of Christianity as the state religion in AD 380 did armed combat between gladiators enter a decline, an

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