Watching the Gladiators

How were gladiators portrayed in ancient Rome?

It’s almost football season, so we’re about to be treated to nonstop images of burly men in helmets doing physical violence to each other for our entertainment. 

Like many Americans, I have a complicated relationship with the sport. It’s awful for many reasons, but it’s also one of the few remnants of shared American culture, and it’s one of the few things my dad and I have in common. So I’ll watch sometimes, but feel slightly queasy about it. 

I wonder if that’s how some ancient Romans felt about gladiatorial contests.

Ancient Rome and America have a lot in common, of course. They’re both big, powerful empires whose might stretched their ability to believe their founding myths. They’re both fabulously wealthy societies that nevertheless tolerated immense inequality. They’re both societies that achieved the pinnacle of power and wealth but wobbled at th…