330 words, 2 minutes read time
I found different social hierarchies that were present throughout the colosseum. While walking throughout the museum that was in the colosseum I saw a diagram for the type of people that were in the stands. Closest to the arena was the higher class like the senators, then following up it was the knights and progressively lower classes. All the way in the top (kind of like the nosebleeds) where you can’t see anything would be “a gallery for the common poor, slaves, and whatever women dared to join them” (Claridge, pg. 315). In addition, the emperor would also be attendance for the games. The emperor (and the vestals) would be together in a box in the short axis closest to the arena. This was a good power move as the emperor was able to see his popularity chart in real time by seeing how his community reacts to his presence. In addition, being in attendance of these games also can put him in a favorable light since he is joining in with majority of his community.
Also, when the professor said that the fights were actually more for religious practice and observance this put things into perspective because the people who were fighting are actually used as sacrifice. Because of this attachment to the Roman religion, many people of other religions refused to attend these events. It was especially gruesome to hear how the Romans liked to reenact mythological scenes with the slaves (or sacrifices). For example, a person’s role can be Icarus and they would be set up with wings and put them on top of a tower and push them off. In addition, from my own background knowledge of the gladiator fights they would starve the animals so they were more vicious when they are sent up from the trap doors. That’s not the only case of animal cruelty since they also brought very exotic animals, depending on how much money the person hosting the game would have.
Rome via Brooklyn 
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