Ancient Roman Games, Sports and Spectacles

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

Why do you think sports and spectacles were so popular in ancient Rome?

[@WildMen4444]

The same reason people like them today. They're fun and people want something to take their mind off the day.

[@marianradu7349]

Could you please indicate the reference for Cicero as a lanista? Tnx!

[@greenthunder1000]

its either you spend time baking in the sun, working, or playing with sharp objects all day. spectacles were the best source of entertainment for the plebs and let them experience Rome's supremacy along with the empires and senators.

[@michaelallen8498]

People are competitive by nature. We also love to have our heroes. They lived vicariously through their chosen charioteers, gladiators and/or theatre actors. Today we do the same with our sports heroes and movie stars.

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

Well said and so true. Thanks for watching!

[@TheBlacGhost2093]

Gladiators Were the WWE Superstars of Ancient Rome.

[@chris.asi_romeo]

Love history

[@Davlavi]

Interesting as always.

[@alejandrosakai1744]

These are the many reasons I want a game set in the Roman Empire! 😆

[@starshiptrooper2354]

Sports were diversion for cirzen during hard times.. free show and loaf of bread PS my ancestor Vespian designed the Collisum...

[@marianradu7349]

World History Encyclopedia - could you please indicate the reference for Cicero as a lanista? It escapes me.

[@alessiorenzoni5586]

🇮🇹The Romans very much loved gambling games, such as dice, knucklebones, heads and tails, and morra, as a rule forbidden to adults, which were only allowed in December during the Saturnalia. Thus gambling was prohibited and if caught, the player paid a fine of four times the stake. Instead the "sponsiones" (bets) were allowed during the circus Ludi, on horse races and on gladiators, which increased the pleasure of the show to the stars. A bit like betting today at the racecourse. The Romans were obsessed with betting and gambled on everything, often duped by scam players who wandered around the baths to find chicken to pluck. Martial knows that he warns the cheaters: Quae scit compositos manus improba mittere talos, yes for me misit, nil nisi vota feret. (the dishonest hand that knows how to roll rigged dice, if he throws at me, will disappoint his expectations) Of course the games were rigged and someone always fell for it because games that included betting were forbidden and the vigilantes wandered around the spa to arrest the cheating player and the naive cheated, who paid a fine in turn. To avoid trouble, the players often gathered in the back of the thermopolie (fast food) or in the back of the inn (cauponae), also because, while the offenders were punished with fines, there was no punishment for those who hosted them. In all these games a lot of money was wagered, which at times squandered the player's assets, and this is the reason for the prohibitions. As you can see at the time, they were more civilized and sensible in this respect than today, as they understood very well the disease of the game and tried to protect the players as well as their families. Furthermore, the gambling debts were not recognized and if the debtor player had already paid he could legally request what he had given to the creditor player, which partially held back the players (our law does not provide for the repayment of the amount spontaneously paid by the debtor for the game. )

[@seanmayo206]

Question? Do animals do the same thing? How does one show dominance over another? If animals set dominance to carry the gene code or kill a rival for what? It's seems we as humans haven't been enlightened to know. Who is above who in what in what setting in what realm. I'm trying to understand.

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

There are definitely species of animals that show more competitiveness and fierceness than others. I would imagine that the more dangerous animals are at the top of the hierarchy (lions in Africa, for example).

[@abinaslimbu3057]

Collousem tethys

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

👍

[@anthonyloos]

Panem et circenses

[@px5ix4pz6j]

Who is this girl

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

Which girl? The one presenting?

[@px5ix4pz6j]

@@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia Yes