How to Stage a Bloodbath: Gladiators at the Roman Arena
By Garrett Fagan
Paper given at Penn Museum on April 12, 2014
In this lecture, Dr. Garrett Fagan, Professor of Ancient History, Penn State University, explores the theatrical aspects of Roman arena games—the stage sets, equipment of the fighters, and so forth—that created an artificial landscape in which the violence of the spectacle was staged. He also considers what these features tell us about Roman attitudes toward the violence of the games, and how spectators reacted to them psychologically.
How to Stage a Bloodbath: Gladiators at the Roman Arena
By Garrett Fagan
Paper given at Penn Museum on April 12, 2014
In this lecture, Dr. Garrett Fagan, Professor of Ancient History, Penn State University, explores the theatrical aspects of Roman arena games—the stage sets, equipment of the fighters, and so forth—that created an artificial landscape in which the violence of the spectacle was staged. He also considers what these features tell us about Roman attitudes toward the violence of the games, and how spectators reacted to them psychologically.
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