I'm reading a book written by a classical history professor from the University of Amsterdam, called originally "Gladiatoren. Volksvermaak in het Colosseum". I expected the book to include gruesome sections, but nothing really prepared me for the truly shocking content which I found before I even made it to the blood and gore. The first half of the book deals with the history and cultural context of gladiator fights in Rome, from 300's BCE to 404 CE, and here I was so viscerally disgusted at times that I had to put the book down. The writer (professor Fik Meijer) describes a society that is barbarically hierarchical and sickeningly obsessed with sadistic machismo. Of course being a classical historian, he doesn't put it quite that bluntly, but I do. The Roman society is stratified to the hilt and human value is directly derived from a person's societal status. Not only that, everyone seems to take a gleeful pleasure in the torture and oppression of those below them. Gladiators started out as being the lowest of the low, prisoners of war, slaves or others with no rights in the society. They were despised, and their profession considered a shameful one, yet people crowded into the theatres to watch them perform. Gladiators were even expected to accept their lot with dignity and humility, while the cream of society was continuously terrified they might revolt. Over time gladiators became so popular that free men started to join their ranks, even senators and emperors entering the arena at times, but this did little to improve the lot of ordinary fighters.
The cheapness of human life in ancient Rome is well illustrated by the origin of gladiator fights. They started out as deadly duels of slaves or prisoners of war in the funerals of important citizens, likely influenced by a Greek practice of sacrificing slaves at funerals. I will not say anything of ancient Greece here however, since the book solely deals with Rome, beyond the fact that I have little faith that they would turn out to have been much better.
These people risked and sacrificed their lives in fantastically popular blood spectacles and received only pittance for it. The huge expense that went to hiring gladiators lined the pockets of school owners and fighter brokers, who lived luxurious lives. Not many gladiators managed to buy freedom for themselves and even fewer scraped enough money together for a secure pension. Though truth be said, according to the book an old age livelihood was out of reach of most unprivileged Romans anyway. They were expected to exemplify Roman virtues, which in my eyes amount to little more than brutish, bloodthirsty enforcement of anxious masculinity, wrapped in viciously stratified patriarchy and devoid of all sophistication. And I'm not a person who often talks about sophistication, or indeed the lack thereof.
If any society has earned to be described as one of savages, ancient Rome certainly has. I will keep on reading the book and am about to start the second half which deals with the actual goings on at the most famous of all amphi theatres, the Colosseum. Paradoxically I don't expect to be as shocked by that section, than I was by what I've read already. Although I haven't yet read about animals on the arena. I might put in a bit of an update when I've finished the book, but then again I might not. If counter to expectations my outrage metre is triggered yet again, I likely will.
This is one of those books one does not read gladly, but is glad to have read. It certainly has broadened my vision of classical Rome in a way no more general history book yet has, though it's possible I simply wasn't equipped to take in the full implications of what I read before. If I met someone from that time and place, I would certainly not want to associate with them without much suspicion, nor will I ever look the same way at any of the fantastic achievements they've left behind, be it sculpture, architecture, engineering or any other walk of life.
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Full Reference:
Meijer, Fik. 2008. Gladiaattorit. Taistelijat kuoleman areenoilla. Helsinki: Otava.
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