Katie O’Malley 

Blog #2: Gladiators, Football and Culture

 

            Gladiatorial Games can be perceived as a sport to some people. In my opinion it comes down to violence involved. Yes, in today’s world sports can be aggressive but it does not involve violence like killing. Many athletes can bleed from falling down, getting pushed over, breaking a bone, but that’s not the same as killing to me. In the article Roman Gladiators Modern Spoting Hero’s it says “They were equipped with a tall rectangular shield, a helmet similar to that of the murmillo, greaves and a gladius. To protect the wearer from the deadly net and trident of the retiarius, the secutor’s helmet covered the whole face with two small holes for the eyes and was rounded” they were dressed and prepared for a violent game, but in today’s sports we now have rules and dress for safety. American Football and gladiatorial games match up as they both have the intent to go after the other team. The point of football is to go after the ball not necessarily the opponent but in gladiatorial games the opponents mainly go after each other not an object. They both are played in a big stadium or coliseums, which is a large space made for games or sports like these.