CLAS 150: Week Thirteen

Key Terms, Dates, Individuals

Circus Maximus        lanista        venationes        Colosseum (Flavian amphitheatre)

retiarius        secutor        murmillo        Kalends        Nones        Ides        Pompeii (AD 79)

Nerva        Trajan        Hadrian        Antoninus Pius        Marcus Aurelius        Commodus

Pantheon        Trajan's column        Second Sophistic

Issues, Questions to Consider

• When were the first gladiatorial games held in Rome?
• Discuss the origins of the gladiatorial games.   Why were they held?   What made for good games?
• Who became gladiators?   Why?
• Discuss the prelude to, and basic organization of, a gladiatorial show in Rome.
• What are venationes?    Why were they important?   What are some of their political and social implications?
• In terms of entertainment, what was valued by the crowd in gladiatorial contests?
• How were the outcomes of gladiatorial contests decided?
• What are some of the political dimensions of the arena?   Why were gladiatorial contests important for the emperor?  Why were they important for the crowd?
• How did the Colosseum reflect, and reinforce, the social and political order of Rome?
• Discuss some of the ways Romans organized time.
• Discuss the basic structure of the typical Roman bath complex.
• Why were the baths important?  What social role did they play?
• Make sure you are able to place the emperors of the second century in their correct chronological order.
• Make sure you are able to make a few observations on each of the emperors of the second century.  What was each notable for?   What did they accomplish?
• How did the emperors of the second century compare with those of the first century?
• What sorts of problems did the Roman empire begin to encounter in the second century?