., ."bring[s] fresh perspectives to the study of the Roman
amphitheater, situating the Roman arena within a larger
cross-cultural framework of human sacrifice and providing important
insights into the psychological dimensions of these public
spectacles for the Roman viewer." -- Classical World
From the center of Imperial Rome to the farthest reaches of
ancient Britain, Gaul, and Spain, amphitheaters marked the
landscape of the Western Roman Empire. Built to bring Roman
institutions and the spectacle of Roman power to conquered peoples,
many still remain as witnesses to the extent and control of the
empire.
In this book, Alison Futrell explores the arena as a key social
and political institution for binding Rome and its provinces. She
begins with the origins of the gladiatorial contest and shows how
it came to play an important role in restructuring Roman authority
in the later Republic. She then traces the spread of amphitheaters
across the Western Empire as a means of transmitting and
maintaining Roman culture and control in the provinces.
Futrell also examines the larger implications of the arena as a
venue for the ritualized mass slaughter of human beings, showing
how the gladiatorial contest took on both religious and political
overtones. This wide-ranging study, which draws insights from
archaeology and anthropology, as well as Classics, broadens our
understanding of the gladiatorial contest and its place within the
highly politicized cult practice of the Roman Empire.
General
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