Blood in the Arena: The Spectacle of Roman Power [Hardcover]

Alison Futrell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1997

." . . 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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"... bring[s] fresh perspectives to the study of the Roman amphitheatre, 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 --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Alison Futrell is Assistant Professor of Roman History at the University of Arizona. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 338 pages
• Publisher: Univ of Texas Pr; 1st edition (December 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0292725043
• ISBN-13: 978-0292725041
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,571,419 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Roman Spectacle, March 25, 2002

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Jeffrey Leach (Omaha, NE USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Blood in the Arena: The Spectacle of Roman Power (Paperback)

This book, by Professor Alison Futrell of the University of Arizona, is a reworking of her doctoral dissertation. The title is somewhat misleading; there is little blood in any of the arenas discussed in this book. What we do get is a very intelligent, comprehensive examination of Roman spectacle and the role that it played in shaping (I should say reflecting) Roman society. Although I don't always agree with Futrell's analyses on the role of spectacles, I'll be lucky to pull off a dissertation as good as this one. Fortunately I won't be doing any dissertation work in ancient history.

Futrell starts her analysis with a short history of the two types of games that predominated amphitheater productions: the munera and the venatio. The munera are gladiatorial contests that actually started out as funeral rituals. Futrell provides evidence that gives support to Etruscan origins for the munera. The venatio are the animal exhibits; both peaceful-gee-watch-the-neat-animals-do-tricks kinds and the ones where the animals were slaughtered. Unfortunately, Futrell doesn't provide much more information on venatio. Most of the book deals with munera, although there is also information on arena types and constructions.

Arenas took several forms. Everyone is familiar with the Colosseum, built by the Flavians around 80 A.D. The first theaters were much less impressive. At first, most games were held in the Forums. Eventually, small wooden amphitheaters were built, both during the Late Republic and Early Empire. Augustus was the first to really devote sufficient energy to the amphitheaters. He used them to consolidate his rule by connecting games with an Imperial cult dedicated to himself and Roma. In the provinces, mixed edifice theaters (consisting of seating and stage) melded together local and Roman customs to provide a loyalty to Rome. The military also had their own amphitheaters, which doubled as training grounds for soldiers. Building amphitheaters could be expensive, depending on the type of theater. Oftentimes, liturgies were used to build them, or the emperor provided funds for construction. In the Republican era, generals celebrating triumphs used war booty to build monuments such as these. An intricate series of contracts and labor were required to construct these buildings. Permission was required from the emperor himself because constructing a building that held so many people could be used for seditious behavior. Of course, as a sign of gratitude, the emperor's name would be engraved on the building.

Futrell often makes interesting connections during the course of her examinations. An explanation of the mixed edifice theaters in the provinces involves a long digression into Irish and Welsh myths. This is done so that the reader will understand why Rome built amphitheaters where they did. The Romans wanted to incorporate local traditions as much as possible, if nothing more than to show Roman dominance over them. In Celtic regions, these were built near bodies of water or other types of boundaries, areas that were central to Celtic religion. Another discussion on the role of human sacrifice in Rome incorporates information on sacrifices in Sumer, China, Central America and Carthage in order to make comparisons with the activities in Rome. Different types of ritual sacrifice are discussed and debated, with Futrell arguing that human sacrifice did take place in Roman life, but usually only in times of great social distress. The sacrifices were carried out in order to bring alignment back to society by appeasing angry gods. Futrell carries this idea of sacrifice into the arena, where gladiators were seen as sacrifices to the idea and history of Rome. Gladiatorial games could be seen as the working out, under controlled conditions, of the founding of Rome and the reassertion of the social order.

Futrell's digressions can be a bit disconcerting, and she does have her melodramatic moments (the arena has cosmic dimensions, etc.). Her claim that the amphitheaters also worked to reinforce social hierarchy is widely accepted, but how was this done, exactly? Amphitheaters seated only so many people, most of whom were the well off. Therefore, it is safe to assume that these buildings reinforced social hierarchy amongst the upper classes. The lower classes would have been least affected. In this I think Futrell has a tendency to overplay the role of the amphitheater and games. I do think that the amphitheater, taken in concert with other social controls, worked its magic on the lower classes, but that idea is absent here (or at least understated). Recommended reading for the lovers of Rome.