Greek and Roman Humanities: Roman Games

p Greek and Roman Humanities : Roman Games Greek and Roman Humanities : Roman Games 1 ) Explain the purpose and importance of the games in Roman society use examples from the website to illustrate your points The games in Roman society evolved from religious observances and religious rites , the purposes of which over time became lost to the Romans themselves . By the time the religious rites had evolved into theatrical performances and the circus , the importance of the games to Roman society had become very much like the importance of sports and entertainment in modern

American society . The Romans enjoyed the spectacle of the games , gambled on them , developed complicated rules and had entire economic networks built into the games . Although "at first the games of the early Roman republic had religious significance (Games ) the later games were " purely for entertainment (Games

The influence of the games ran from the highest to the lowest levels of Roman society . Attendance at the games was considered a right of a Roman citizen and each of the games , such as chariot racing or gladiators had loyal fans and expert "critics " -- when it came to something like chariot racing "The public adored the top drivers . They were quite literally comparable to modern day sports stars (Games

2 ) Considering the brutal nature of what took place in the Colosseum what impact do you think the games had on the morality of the average Roman Although the games were very violent and often brutal , they were far more popular for the Romans than the more refined entertainment of the theater . The story told by the playwright Terence shows just how popular the brutal entertainments were in Roman society when "a festival held in honour of the deceased Lucius Aemilius Paulus in 160 BC . Terence 's comedy The mother in law was being staged and all was going well , when suddenly someone in the audience was heard saying that the the gladiatorial fights were about to begin . Within minutes his audience had disappeared (Games

I think it is likely that the games ' influence on Roman society was to make it more difficult for sophisticated entertainment to get mass attention much as it is in modern society . More people watch pro wrestling and NASCAR than go to the ballet or buy books of poetry . The overall Roman culture was probably a bit de-sensitized to violence like our own culture

3 ) Many people believe that modern America is a mirror image of ancient Rome during the imperial era . How does our entertainment -- choose any type you wish -- compare to the types offered in ancient Rome ? What parallels are there ? What differences exist ? use examples from the website and your personal experience to illustrate your points . Much of American entertainment relies on violence as much as the Roman games . There are many violent movies , violent video games , and violent television shows . The big difference is that American culture uses purely theatrical and make-believe violence whereas Roman society actually...