Could You Stomach the Horrors of 'Halftime' in Ancient Rome?
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wanton blood-thirstiness and a taste for agonizing and horrific deaths for sport.
God have mercy!
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Quid est Veritas?
In Memoriam to CS Lewis
People give the Romans a bad rap. Most gladiator bouts did not end in death, probably only about a tenth or less, as gladiators were expensive to train and owners did not want just one fight out of them. Also people love the drama of a rematch.
The beast fights and the execution of criminals was also standard practice at the time and would continue to be a beloved form of entertainment for millenia after Rome. Public executions by beheading or hanging or being pulled apart by horses were spectator sports right up to Victorian times.
Crowds gathered to see people being guillotined and we see frequent uses of the Gibbet into the 17th century.
Even today, people love a gory film if you could judge by saw etc.
The Roman spectacles were efficient as most things the Romans did were, and this meant theatrics in killing, but our own ancestors until recently still enjoyed a good execution. We are appalled by it today due to Victorian squemishness, but 200 years ago no one would think the Roman games particularly awful especially if they were on their way to the execution place for a family picnic.
The beast fights and the execution of criminals was also standard practice at the time and would continue to be a beloved form of entertainment for millenia after Rome. Public executions by beheading or hanging or being pulled apart by horses were spectator sports right up to Victorian times.
Crowds gathered to see people being guillotined and we see frequent uses of the Gibbet into the 17th century.
Even today, people love a gory film if you could judge by saw etc.
The Roman spectacles were efficient as most things the Romans did were, and this meant theatrics in killing, but our own ancestors until recently still enjoyed a good execution. We are appalled by it today due to Victorian squemishness, but 200 years ago no one would think the Roman games particularly awful especially if they were on their way to the execution place for a family picnic.
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- Jan 25, 2009
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