Sports Through the Ages
Connection to Current Times
Do you like watching
sports on television? What
about going to baseball or
football games and
cheering on your favorite
team? The ancient Romans
loved sports, too. Roman
architects built huge,
magnificent arenas in
which Roman citizens
watched and played sports.
While they loved chariot
races, the Romans also
took pleasure in other
The arena and seats of the Roman Colosseum held
sports that had a much
50,000 people.
darker tone. Around the
beginning of the first
century CE, the leaders of Rome created mass spectacles of sport, or dramatic
public displays in which thousands of people and thousands of animals lost their
lives. It was all for the “entertainment” of the Roman people. How and why did
this happen? Do these mass spectacles, in any way, resemble today’s sports and
entertainment?
Sports in the Ancient World
People, as athletes and as spectators, have enjoyed sports for thousands of years.
In ancient Greece, sports were an important part of religious practice. Every New
Year, the Greeks put on athletic festivals that celebrated the end of the old year
and the beginning of the new one. For the Greeks, the games were a showcase of
athletic skill and competition. The athletes were free citizens of the Greek citystates. Some of them were even aristocrats.
The ancient Romans had a very different view of sports. For Rome, the games
were about entertaining the empire’s huge numbers of citizens. The most popular
sports were chariot racing and gladiator fighting. Over the years, the Romans
built huge stadiums and arenas to hold the thousands of spectators who flocked
to the sporting events. Spectator sports were so important to the Romans that
they built arenas in regions they conquered. Romans thought that sharing sports
entertainment united the people they conquered. These public arenas also served
as tools for political power. The spectator sports entertained the people so they
would not think about rebellion. The results of the brutal sports also showed the
people what would happen to them should they decide to rebel.
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Connection to Current Times
Races Then and Now
Chariot races were by far the most popular spectator sport for the Romans.
People of all classes and incomes enjoyed watching the races. Chariot races were
first held in large, grassy fields. The chariots raced in a large oval. As the races
grew in popularity, Roman leaders built bigger, more permanent arenas.
One of the biggest was the Circus Maximus in Rome. It could hold 170,000
people. The arenas were so huge that 12 chariot teams, with four horses each,
could race at one time.
Chariot racing reached its peak in popularity in about 300 BCE. At that time,
Romans enjoyed 24 races per day, 66 days per year. Similar to modern-day horse
races, Romans loved to bet on the winners of the races. Ancient Romans bet on
horses, chariot drivers, and teams of charioteers. The races became an important
industry in Rome. Businesses, called factions, owned the different teams. They
paid for the horses, charioteers, and stables, similar to the way that individuals
and groups today own racehorses and pay for the trainers, stables, and jockeys.
Chariot racing shares some other similarities with sports of today. Many of the
actual elements of chariot racing are like modern-day horse and car racing. All
involve a person with a means of transportation, as well as winners and losers.
Today, thousands of fans
gather at famous racetracks
around the world to bet on
horses and enjoy the races.
The Kentucky Derby, for
example, is a top story on
the news each year. Millions
watch the horse race on
television, cheering on their
favorite horse and jockey.
Every year, fans also follow
the Indianapolis 500 and
NASCAR races. Car racing
is truly an entertainment
Still standing today, the Circus Maximus in Rome
sport, created by owners for
was the site of many chariot races.
the enjoyment of mass
audiences.
Ancient and Modern-Day Gladiators
A more violent form of sports entertainment in ancient Rome was the battle of
the gladiators. The participants in these Roman games were very different from
their Greek counterparts. Instead of being citizens, the Roman gladiators were
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Connection to Current Times
mostly enslaved people, prisoners, or criminals. Roman games emphasized
violence, not skill. The people of Rome came to watch competitors fight to the
death, against one another and against animals.
Gladiator combat took place in huge arenas called amphitheaters. One of the
biggest and most legendary was the Colosseum. Its ruins still stand in Rome. The
Colosseum was a huge, elaborate setting for the bloody spectacles that the
Romans enjoyed. It seated 50,000 people. The rows of seats were arranged
according to class, with the wealthy and upper classes getting the best seats,
followed by the middle-class audience. The seats of the poor, lower-class people
were at the very top of the stadium, what we might call the “nosebleed” section
today. Just as today, money and connections could score front-row seats, while
those with less had to settle for being far away from the action.
Gladiators took part in contests that included anywhere from 100 to more than
5,000 combatants. Once in the arena, the gladiators usually fought to the death.
If one of the gladiators was injured but not dead, his fate was sometimes decided
by the emperor. The emperor would give a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” to
indicate the gladiator’s fate.
The Colosseum and other arenas also hosted wild animal fights, and even staged
“hunts.” Wild lions, elephants, and other creatures fought one another to the
death. Sometimes, the wild animals were let out of their cages to attack unarmed
slaves or criminals who were tied up. Sometimes gladiators hunted the animals.
Often, the wild animals were starved to make them even more vicious.
Today’s mixed martial arts events have a few similarities to the mass spectacles of
ancient Rome. Both were conducted for the entertainment of the people. The
modern sport used to boast that it had no rules, somewhat similar to the fights in
the Colosseum. Athletes participating today’s events use a variety of martial arts
moves. Because the rules are not strict, fans of the sport often watch opponents
engage in brutal and bloody fights. Although the goal is not death, as in ancient
gladiator fights, the sport has led to serious injury and death. Mixed martial arts
are banned in some states. Some mixed martial arts fights take place in a cage,
hinting that there is no escape for the participants, just as most ancient Roman
fighters had no choice or means of escape. Today, millions of people pay to watch
mixed martial arts fights in person or on pay per view television.
Are We More Like the Ancient Romans Than We Think?
It may be hard for people today to understand why the ancient Romans found
mortal combat entertaining. However, the comparisons between certain ancient
Roman sports and those of the modern era are clear. Some high school and
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Connection to Current Times
college football teams are even called the Gladiators. Certainly, there were, and
still are, many sports with little or no physical contact. The ancient Greeks
competed in many track and field events that we still compete in today as
Olympic sports. Given the wide array of sports, it is worth pondering why
societies still enjoy sports that involve physical harm.
After reading the passage, answer the following questions:
1. What sport was watched in the Circus Maximus?
A. wrestling
B. chariot racing
C. running
D. fighting
2. How is information in this passage organized?
A. cause and effect
B. steps in a process
C. compare and contrast
D. order of importance
3. What were the backgrounds of most gladiators?
A. They were military recruits.
B. They were free men.
C. They were members of the upper classes.
D. They were enslaved people, criminals, and prisoners.
4. Compare ancient Roman sports to modern-day sports. How have they
changed? How have they remained the same? Use details from the
passage and your own prior knowledge to support your answer. .
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