The Lure of the Arena
Social Psychology and the Crowd at the Roman Games

Were the Romans who watched brutal gladiatorial games all that different from us? This book argues they were not.

Garrett G. Fagan (Author)

9780521185967, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 17 February 2011

376 pages, 10 b/w illus.
22.6 x 15.2 x 2 cm, 0.52 kg

'For industry, meticulous documentation of primary and secondary sources, cosmic view, and a good dose of common sense throughout, this is now unquestionably the best book on this repulsive but unavoidable subject. To adapt a famous though possibly apocryphal gladiatorial chant, Ave, Fagan, Imperator! Lecturi Te Salutant!' The Spokesman

Why did the Romans turn out in their tens of thousands to watch brutal gladiatorial games? Previous studies have tried to explain the attraction of the arena by theorizing about its cultural function in Roman society. The games have been seen as celebrations of the violence of empire or of Rome's martial heritage, or as manifestations of the emperor's power. The desire to watch has therefore been limited to the Roman context and rendered alien to modern sensibilities. Yet the historical record reveals that people living in quite different times and circumstances (including our own) have regularly come out in large numbers to watch public rituals of violence such as executions, floggings, animal-baiting, cudgeling, pugilism and so on. Appreciating the social-psychological dynamics at work in attracting people to watch such events not only deepens our understanding of the spectator at the Roman games but also suggests something important about ourselves.

Preface
Introduction
1. Seeking explanations
2. A catalogue of cruelty
3. Groups, crowds, and seats
4. Crowd dynamics at arena spectacles
5. Arenas of prejudice
6. Gladiators and sports spectatorship
7. The attractions of violent spectacle
Conclusion
Appendix
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Psychology [JM], Sociology & anthropology [JH], Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA]