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Roman Sports and Spectacles

Roman Sports and Spectacles

A Sourcebook

Anne Mahoney

Tufts University

2001 • 1-58510-009-9 • paper • 134 pages • 6 x 9 • $16.95

English translations of key documents and other source materials relevant to sports in Rome. The types of entertainment the Romans favored and the way they organized and funded their spectacles can tell us a great deal about Roman life. This book sets out some of the most important textual sources for Roman sports and spectacles, so that readers may explore for themselves how the Romans entertained each other and what they thought of their spectacles.

|  About the Author  |  Contents  |  Introduction |

 Author                                                    

Anne Mahoney teaches at Tufts University. Her Ph.D. is from Boston University. She oversaw the revision of Allen and Greenough and updated the metrical material in that key reference work. 

 From the Introduction                             

Every culture has its own forms of entertainment.  In Rome the favorite entertainments were the great public games...., and the similar spectacles originally put on for funerals of important people.....  These performances might include plays, combat sports, or chariot races.  The types of entertainment the Romans favored and the way they organized and funded their spectacles can tell us a great deal about Roman life.
     This book sets out some of the most important textual sources for Roman sports and spectacles, so that readers may explore for themselves how the Romans entertained each other and what they thought of their spectacles.  I have assumed no knowledge of Roman history or the Latin language.  Key terms not only from sports but from Roman politics and culture are explained in a glossary and defined briefly in footnotes when they first appear;  the most important have been left in Latin and appear in italics.  In this introduction, I provide an overview of the subject and some historical background to help with the details of the selections.