Roman Sports and Spectacles by Anne Mahoney

Imagine for a moment that by chance you happened to be at the Roman arena one lunchtime, expecting some light entertainment. What would you see, hear, or experience? Slaves providing their masters with satisfactory performance, proving that even they could be courageous, or perhaps seeing men thrown to beasts, and later, to the whim of the crowd.This sort of imagery is common enough when dealing with the Romans. When the time comes to learn about their culture, their daily business, their daily lives, the arena is unavoidable. It looms large in the popular image, and for that matter, in the Roman consciousness too....

...read the full review of Roman Sports and Spectacles by Anne Mahoney