Spectacle Entertainments of Early Imperial Rome

Spectacle Entertainments of Early Imperial Rome

Author: Richard C. Beacham

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 1999-01-01

Total Pages: 332

ISBN-13: 9780300073829

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The spectacles of Imperial Rome, the religious festivals, public games, circus, animal hunts, processions and dramas, were used by emperors and politicians to convey ideologies and political policies and to test public opinion. Just as Octavian sought to gain and sway public opinion after the assassination of Caesar, so Nero held many banquets and dramatic events to ensure and maintain his popularity. Richard Beacham draws on the early Imperial accounts of Dio, Tacitus and Suetonius, as well as archaeological evidence, to trace the changes in these entertainments throughout the period; he discusses the information they contain for a better understanding of a range of policies and activities in Early Imperial ROme.


Spectacles of Death in Ancient Rome

Spectacles of Death in Ancient Rome

Author: Donald G. Kyle

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2012-11-12

Total Pages: 301

ISBN-13: 1134862725

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The elaborate and inventive slaughter of humans and animals in the arena fed an insatiable desire for violent spectacle among the Roman people. Donald G. Kyle combines the words of ancient authors with current scholarly research and cross-cultural perspectives, as he explores * the origins and historical development of the games * who the victims were and why they were chosen * how the Romans disposed of the thousands of resulting corpses * the complex religious and ritual aspects of institutionalised violence * the particularly savage treatment given to defiant Christians. This lively and original work provides compelling, sometimes controversial, perspectives on the bloody entertainments of ancient Rome, which continue to fascinate us to this day.


A Companion to Sport and Spectacle in Greek and Roman Antiquity

A Companion to Sport and Spectacle in Greek and Roman Antiquity

Author: Paul Christesen

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2014-01-07

Total Pages: 692

ISBN-13: 1444339524

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A Companion to Sport and Spectacle in Greek and Roman Antiquity presents a series of essays that apply a socio-historical perspective to myriad aspects of ancient sport and spectacle. Covers the Bronze Age to the Byzantine Empire Includes contributions from a range of international scholars with various Classical antiquity specialties Goes beyond the usual concentrations on Olympia and Rome to examine sport in cities and territories throughout the Mediterranean basin Features a variety of illustrations, maps, end-of-chapter references, internal cross-referencing, and a detailed index to increase accessibility and assist researchers


The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Republic

The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Republic

Author: Harriet I. Flower

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2014-06-23

Total Pages: 519

ISBN-13: 1107032245

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This second edition examines all aspects of Roman history, and contains a new introduction, three new chapters and updated bibliographies.


Gladiators and Caesars

Gladiators and Caesars

Author: Eckart Köhne

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2000-01-01

Total Pages: 170

ISBN-13: 9780520227989

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Describes the events and games held in the amphitheaters, cicuses, and theaters in ancient Rome.


Spectacle in the Roman World

Spectacle in the Roman World

Author: Hazel Dodge

Publisher: Bristol Classical Press

Published: 2011-01-27

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781853996962

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Gladiatorial combat, animal displays, naumachiae (staged naval battles) and spectacular executions were all an important part of Roman culture. The provision of a wide range of purpose-built buildings (from theatres to amphitheatres to circuses) as venues across the empire is testimony to the popularity and significance of these displays. This book offers an introduction to the main forms of spectacle in the Roman world (human and animal combat, chariot racing, aquatic displays), their nature, context and social importance. It will explore the vast array of sources, from literary to archaeological material, that informs the subject. It will examine the spectacles with special emphasis on their physical setting, and will also consider the variation in the provision of venues and their context across the Empire. A final section will review the modern reception of Roman spectacles, especially those involving gladiators.


Public Spectacles in Roman and Late Antique Palestine

Public Spectacles in Roman and Late Antique Palestine

Author: Zeev Weiss

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2014-03-24

Total Pages: 378

ISBN-13: 0674048318

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Wishing to ingratiate himself with Rome, Herod the Great built theaters, amphitheaters, and hippodromes to bring pagan entertainments of all sorts to Palestine. Zeev Weiss explores how the indigenous Jewish and Christian populations responded, as both spectators and performers, to these cultural imports, which left a lasting imprint on the region.


(Re)using Ruins: Public Building in the Cities of the Late Antique West, A.D. 300-600

(Re)using Ruins: Public Building in the Cities of the Late Antique West, A.D. 300-600

Author: Douglas R. Underwood

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2019-04-09

Total Pages: 285

ISBN-13: 9004390537

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In (Re)using Ruins, Douglas Underwood presents a new account of the use and reuse of Roman urban public monuments in a crucial period of transition, A.D. 300-600. Commonly seen as a period of uniform decline for public building, especially in the western half of the Mediterranean, (Re)using Ruins shows a vibrant, yet variable, history for these structures. Douglas Underwood establishes a broad catalogue of archaeological evidence (supplemented with epigraphic and literary testimony) for the construction, maintenance, abandonment and reuses of baths, aqueducts, theatres, amphitheatres and circuses in Italy, southern Gaul, Spain, and North Africa, demonstrating that the driving force behind the changes to public buildings was largely a combined shift in urban ideologies and euergetistic practices in Late Antique cities.


Cassius Dio and the Late Roman Republic

Cassius Dio and the Late Roman Republic

Author:

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2019-08-26

Total Pages: 315

ISBN-13: 9004405151

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Cassius Dio’s Roman History is an essential, yet still undervalued, source for modern historians of the late Roman Republic. The papers in this volume show how his account can be used to gain new perspectives on such topics as the memory of the conspirator Catiline, debates over leadership in Rome, and the nature of alliance formation in civil war. Contributors also establish Dio as fully in command of his narrative, shaping it to suit his own interests as a senator, a political theorist, and, above all, a historian. Sophisticated use of chronology, manipulation of annalistic form, and engagement with Thucydides are just some of the ways Dio engages with the rich tradition of Greco-Roman historiography to advance his own interpretations.