Paper on Roman Games

[Antiochus III]

For an AP class, I was able to choose a Roman essay topic, and the prompt basically goes as follows: explain Roman sports/entertainment from the republic and empire and tell whether or not they reflect the society, politics, and state of the republic/ empire. I am confident I will be able to put together a good essay (3.5-5 pages), but I will need to cite MANY sources and I hope you guys know of some sources that would be good to use. I watched a documentary on gladiatorial combat that one of you linked to, and I was wondering if there was a way to cite that. I need at least 2 book sources, and I found out that my mom returned many of the books I had regarding ancient Rome, and now I only have Rubicon by holland and a goldsworthy book. any suggestions of what sources to use for this essay/ any advice you might have would be GREATLY appreciated as this class is difficult and thee essays are being graded extremely harshly to prepare us for the AP test. Thank you all so much for your knowledge and I hope you will reply soon because my essay is due next week.

 

Antiochus III

[Nephele]

I watched a documentary on gladiatorial combat that one of you linked to, and I was wondering if there was a way to cite that.

 

Hi, Ant. I'm not sure which documentary you're referring to, but you should be able to cite it for your paper. Do you know which style manual your college prefers? If it's the Chicago Manual of Style, here's a link for citing media and online sources:

 

http://library.williams.edu/citing/styles/chicago1.php#Media

 

As for book recommendations. I'm sure you should get a few here. Since you're pressed for time and probably don't have enough time for your college university to interloan the books you need, you'll want to check WorldCat to find out the availability of books either in your college library or in public libraries within driving distance.

 

For my own book recommendation, I suggest you check out Martial's Spectacles, "written to celebrate the 80 CE opening of the Roman Colosseum." Regarding your theme of Roman entertainment reflecting society, politics, etc., Martial writes of some interesting methods of state execution incorporated into public entertainment for the inaugural games.

 

Good luck! (And looking forward to reading your essay, if you're inclined to post it here sometime.)

 

-- Nephele

[Ludovicus]

This essay seems to contain a general overview of the Roman games. It might lead you to further research. Here goes:

http://www.essaydepot.com/essayme/2277/index.php

 

 

Beginning with Constantine we see a change in attitude toward gladiator combats and staged animal fights on the part of the emperor. I believe his dislike is quoted in

"Colosseum."

http://www.amazon.com/Colosseum-Ada-Gabucc...999&sr=1-14

 

Best of luck with your research and writing.

[Ingsoc]

The Oxford Classical Dictionary cite the following books:

 

J. P. V. D. Balsdon, Life and Leisure in Ancient Rome (1969), 244

[Antiochus III]

Thank you all so much. Our teacher said Writers Inc. bibliography style. It is kind of basic and I don't know if it will tel me how to properly cite a documentary. If the essay I write is good, then I will probably post it. I do have a limitied time, though, but I hope it will be excellent nonetheless.

 

Antiochus III

[Antiochus III]

I will be posting a version of this paper on Tuesday night or Wednesday. Due to some requirements/limitations, it will not be exactly what I want/perfect in my own eyes, but I hope to revise it again for personal reasons using some of your advice, too. Having seen some of the essays written on this topic, I think if I write a good one, it will be a great tool for some people to use. Look for the edit of this post as it will contain the essay (in a preliminary stage).

 

Antiochus III