Gladiators. Significance of Gladiatorial Combat Research Paper

Gladiators. Significance of Gladiatorial Combat - Research Paper Example The first century BC historian, Nicolaus of Damascus, claims that the Romans borrowed the custom of gladiatorial combat from the Etruscans, and Suetonius preserves a tradition which held that the Etruscan king, Tarquinius Priscus, was first to introduce the spectacle to Rome (Futrell, 1997). G Ville in ‘La gladiature’ has argued that gladiation was of Osco-Samnite origin and then was adopted by the Etruscans at the end of the fourth century or early third BC from whom the Romans imported the custom (cited in Futrell 1997). Futrell, however, has criticized Ville's thesis and tentatively renewed the argument in favor of an Etruscan origin, while other have suggested that the Greeks in Campania may have influenced the development of Italian funerary games, including armed combat. But it is unlikely that gladiation came to Rome from a single source (cited in Futrell 1997). Furthermore, once adopted in Rome, the institution underwent significant changes and evolution. Whateve r its origin or origins, roman gladiatorial combat was not a desperate and chaotic spectacle of killing and dying. Body For the last two hundred years of the republic, gladiatorial combats were presented in association with the funerals of great men. Tertullian states that these funerary gladiatorial combats evolved from actual human sacrifices at the tomb.... Indeed, that Tertullian perceived gladiatorial combats as a threat indicates their religious significance. But the origins and nature of g1adiation were debatable even in antiquity, and there is little reason to suppose that we can uncover them today. We have already seen that conflicting opinions placed the source of g1adiation in either Campania or Etruria; likewise in antiquity there seems to have existed a debate over whether or not gladiatorial combat was a form of human sacrifice. For example, a passage in the Historia Augusta provides the two sides of this debate: there were some who believed that gladiatorial combats given before a military campaign were a form of human sacrifice meant to appease Nemesis and ensure victory in the impending war, while others believed that the sight of combat, wounds, and death were primarily intended to desensitize the soldiers and prepare them for battle (Versnel, 1996; Futrell, 1997). Some scholars have renewed the argument for gladiatorial combats as a form of human sacrifice (Versnel, 1996; Futrell, 1997). The truth, however, probably lies somewhere in the middle. On the one hand, it is difficult to deny the religiosity of gladiatorial combats; during the republic, they were fought in connection with the funerals of great men, while during the empire they came to be associated with the imperial cult. In this connection, we may also consider the ritual significance of a gladiator's blood (Futrell, 1997). On the other hand, the bloody and often fatal nature of gladiatorial combat readily lent itself to interpretation-or reinterpretation-as human sacrifice, especially by those who would attack the institution, and this ought to rouse our suspicions. Rives has shown

A Small Apartment Full of Life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

A Small Apartment Full of Life - Essay Example We lived in this small apartment for three years, and it was considered the gloomiest time of my life. Although this place was physically uncomfortable to live in, it helped me understand a meaningful value of life. While we were living in a small apartment, I realized that physical possessions make our life convenient and comfortable, but sometimes they hinder us from future planning. Before we could move to the small apartment, we lived in a decent-sized three-bedroom house with a beautiful garden that had trees and flowers. We could invite people to our home to brag. We had a spacious bathroom that was big enough to accommodate a bathtub and a laundry machine. While we lived in the big house, I could not undertake house chores, but sometimes when I had confrontations with my father, he would ask me to seek out unwanted plants in the garden as a punishment. Besides living in a big house, I wore quality clothes and shoes which I asked my parents to buy for me. I lived as if these expensive materials are all about life, and they presented me as a valuable person. I had never taken a chance to thank my parents for what they had done for me. Instead, I took it all for granted. I felt confident and proud of having material objects, but the confidence and the material wealth all seemed to deteriorate when the material possessions ended. The shift from a big house to a small apartment was caused by the failure of my father’s business. After working for 15 years for a small appliance company, my father decided to start his own business. He opted to start the factory using inheritance money from his mother to produce organic fruit juice. I remember one day he brought some pear juice in a pouch and asked us to taste it. The juice contained 100% organic fruit juice that was healthy for human consumption. However, the taste of the juice was not that attractive to many of its consumers. Being a father of three children, my father had a noble idea of providing healthy organic fruit juice, which unfortunately was not successful.