Sport in the Ancient World

When we look at sports in the the US today we don’t think about them as life or death moments. We don’t think about public torture or nudity as a something common; this was a different story during the Greek and Roman eras. 

Athletics were very popular in Greece and still are today. The first contest ever held in Greece was a brief race (a sprint) between two men. Following that, the first Olympic Games were held in 776 BC (olympic.org). During the Games, all contestants competed in the nude. Events at the Olympic Games included wrestling, boxing, sprinting and the Pentathlon (many different sports in one continuous event). During the 100 meter sprint, any competitor who started early (false start) was taken aside and whipped in front of everybody attending the event. This was extremely embarrassing to the competitor because the act of whipping was only used on slaves.  The winner of these events would be rewarded with a life of wealth and luxury, whereas, the losers were given nothing. The Olympic Games were extremely popular back then and still are. Only one woman was allowed to attend the games and if any others we caught in the stadium, they were captured and thrown off a cliff. The rules for the Games are much different today but the overall theme and sense of competition still remains. 

Sports in Rome took a different approach; focusing less on competition and more on survival. Roman sports drew crowds of 50,000 people in the arena they call the Colosseum (BBC History). The most popular Roman sport known to man was Gladiator fighting. These gladiators were fed high energy food and trained to kill, but more importantly, survive. They received training similar to a roman soldier and fought with a gladius (sword).

These gladiators were dressed in armor, armor unlike a roman solider would wear. The armor gladiators wore had detail and resembled something unlike any other. A gladiators most dangerous fight was his first (where he had a 1 and 6 chance of dying). These gladiators were not free men, but if they won their battle, they were rewarded with immunity.