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... reason why is because the government was more balanced and there was less of a need to gain the Peoples favor. There were a few sought-after positions like Consul, Tribune, and Aedile that would cause the potential candidates to do everything from bribing to buttering up the Romans with expensive banquets and elaborate festivals to garner votes. But when the Republic vanished, those persons who wanted to be the supreme rulers of Rome needed to show the people why they deserved to be Imperator. Most emperors had programs for Rome and Her citizens. They would build forums, entertainment complexes, baths houses, places to shop, places to practice law, and, perhaps one of the most important, places to show combats.
When and where these theaters existed, public officials knew the next step; put on a show. Romans as a whole liked gladiatorial games; emperors, as well as other public officials, liked sponsoring them. These games would show the power, wealth, majesty, and most of all, the true Roman side of a person. The everyday Citizen of Imperial Rome enjoyed getting lavished by public officials. He enjoyed the banquets and festivals put on by those running for high offices. Most of all, he enjoyed the free shows that would be given to them by these officials.
Julius Caesar knew this, which is why he gave Rome a spectacle in 45 B. C. The emperors who would follow also knew this and it was visible through their political action that they used this Roman fixation to their advantage. Caesar Augustus, the first emperor of Rome, ruled from 27 B. C. to A.
D. 14. During his principate Augustus gave Rome prosperity, wealth, and a peace not known during the previous one hundred years. The important issue that determined Augustus ideals behind his reign was the amount of warfare the Romans had induced the last one hundred years. Civil war had been going on since the time of the Gracchi, and finally ended with Augustus victory at Actium in September of 31 B.
C. With the defeat of Mark Antony, Augustus could finally end the civil strife that was tearing apart Roman citizens. For bringing a stable balance of peace to Rome, the citizens were grateful to their new Caesar. He knew that in order to survive and keep his new form of government working he would need to show why his way was better. He gave the People what they wanted and needed, which included entertainment in the form of gladiatorial games.
In his autobiography, Res Gestae Divi August, or The Achievements of the Divine Augustus, he tells us he gave three gladiatorial games in [his] own name and five in that of [his] sons or grandsons; at these games some 10, 000 men took part in combat. [He] gave beast-hunts of African beasts in [his] own name or in that of [his] sons and grandsons in the circus or forum or amphitheatre on twenty-six occasions, on which about 3, 500 beasts were destroyed (Res Gestae, 30 - 31). Augustus clearly points out the gladiatorial spectacles he gave the people of Rome, though he does not explain why. He put on these shows for many reasons; the most important being that it would greatly increase his popularity amongst Romans of all kinds. These games showed his power, influence, and wealth. But he was not showing off, rather he was making a statement about himself as a person. By dedicating some of his games to other people, he was telling Rome that he was not selfish, nor kingly in that aspect.
Most importantly, he gave the games all for and to the people of Rome. Other successful rulers would follow the steps of Augustus and win over the Romans. The emperor Tiberius, whose reign is marked by unpleasantness towards him, did not follow the example set by his predecessor; therefore, he did not win over the majority of Romes citizens. According to Beacham, Tiberius had a dislike of crowds.
He also forbade the single combat of knights that had performed at his sons games. Beacham goes on to claim that Tiberius apparent disdain for popular pastimes, coupled with an aloof personality, was a serious public relations error that caused suspicion and resentment which did little to lend Tiberius confidence in the administration (Beacham, 157). The inability to sponsor a game or attend games caused the public to view Tiberius in a different manner. He did a poor job of following up Augustus actions and manners. By showing aloofness towards Romes passions, he distanced himself from Her people. What Tiberius faltered in many future emperors sought to exceed in.
The emperors that followed Tiberius were more passionate about the games and about Roman entertainment values itself. The emperor Nero even participated in many musical competitions to show his general ties with Romans (212 - 214). After Nero committed suicide in A. D. 68 and after the very short reigns of four emperor rulers, Titus Flavius Vespasian us became Imperator of Rome. Vespasian started perhaps one of the biggest projects created during his time on top of the former Golden House of Nero: the Colosseum. Although Vespasian was not alive when it was completed, his successor Titus was able to complete and show the first combat in it in A.
D. 80. This worlds most famous amphitheater is given a good first-person description by Finley Hooper. Today, the floor is missing and so exposed to view are the animal dens and narrow corridors, like cattle runs, through which condemned prisoners and hopeful gladiators passed on their way to die in the sunlight amid the savagery of a public entertainment (Hooper, 404). The Colosseum would provide ample entertainment to the persons of Rome for centuries. The reign of Constantine I (R. 307 - 337) brought about the end of the games for almost a century. His reign brought extreme changes to Rome and its people.
His institution of Christianity into the daily action and lives of Romans brought an end to the treacherous games because they often involved slaves, prisoners, and Christians (Futrell, 143 - 144). It took almost a hundred years before the games would be allowed back in Rome. Gladiatorial games had many purposes in society. They started out as performances honoring the deceased; a display of wealth and prowess in life. After the death of the Republic the purpose started to become more for entertainment to Roman people and as propaganda for Roman Elite. Since bribery was illegal, although it still happened, sponsoring a game would entice the Roman people and gain that person digital.
The place where games happened was considered to be sacred; thus, having games in the honor of people, both alive and deceased, would show their divinity (Beacham 83). Magnificent amphitheaters were built to house these great games. Julius Caesar set the example for future emperors and aristocrats to follow. With his games in 45 B.
C. , he showed that by putting on these tremendous displays of battle and carnage, the Roman people would applaud him. The successes made in Rome thanks in part to gladiatorial combats are immeasurable. The games themselves united Romans on a common ground where anyone and everyone could go and enjoy a fun-filled day of carnage and bloodshed at their local amphitheater. Bibliography: August, Roland (1972). Cruelty and Civilization: The Roman Games. London: Routledge.
Augustus, Imperator Caesar. Brunt, P. A. & Moore, J. M. (Edited by). Res Gestae Divi August. New York: Oxford University Press (1967).
Beacham, Richard C. (1999). Spectacle Entertainments of Early Imperial Rome. New Haven: Yale University Press. Futrell, Alison (1997). Blood in the Arena: The Spectacle of Roman Power.
Austin: University of Texas Press. Hooper, Finley (1979). Roman Realities. Detroit: Wayne State University. Hopkins, Keith (1983). Death and Renewal.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Mac Mullen, Ramsay (1990). Changes in the Roman Empire. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. Wiedemann, Thomas (1992).
Emperors & Gladiators. London: Routledge. Refer
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