In the 8th century BC, Rome appeared on the historical stage as a small city-state. In the 5th-4th century BC, Rome was attacked by neighboring tribes almost every year. With a small population, Rome can only choose passive defense. After nearly 100 years of dormancy, Rome's military strength gradually became stronger, and it began to take the initiative to fight for land hegemony with its neighbors. From then on, a war of foreign expansion that lasted for hundreds of years began.
In this process, the Roman spear first pierced the Italian defense, and then got their hands on the Mediterranean. In the middle of the 2nd century BC, the rich Mediterranean was completely turned into Rome? Neihu? At this time, Rome's sphere of influence extended eastward to the two river basins, to Britain in the west, to the Danube in the north, and to North Africa in the south, spanning Asia, Europe and Africa, and officially became a militaristic military empire.
Expansion means not only occupying land, but also harvesting population and wealth.
In 256 BC, the Romans captured more than 20,000 slaves in Africa. In BC 177, Rome captured Sardinia and killed more than 80,000 prisoners. At first, Rome often carried out large-scale bloody massacres of prisoners of war. Later, they took prisoners of war to China and made them slaves of slave owners and nobles. Among them, strong people are trained to be gladiators and perform various gladiator performances. In addition, it is recorded that through two Punic wars, Rome obtained more than 13000 silver coins. In 20 1 year BC, Rome defeated Carthage, so the state treasury got133,000 Jin of silver.
A large number of slaves and money provided the necessary conditions for the widespread popularity of pancratium, and slave owners and nobles took this opportunity to show off their wealth and please the people. Not only that, they can also gain political costs and expand their influence.
In fact, not only slave owners and aristocrats have a special liking for gladiatorial performances, but ordinary Romans are also crazy about gladiatorial performances. In OneRepublic, Rome, influenced by Greek sports, the aristocratic class of slave owners mainly studied running, swimming, wrestling and other recreational activities, while those bankrupt civilians and middle class did not have the opportunity to receive these education, and went to the arena to watch gladiators, which became their best choice. With the demand for beauty and morality of the Romans at the bottom of society gradually decreasing, the gladiatorial performance in the arena has become more and more cruel, and people only pursue blood and excitement.
Foreign expansion brought slaves and wealth, which provided the necessity for fighting? Raw materials? The extreme enthusiasm of the slave owners, nobles and people gave the gladiator a lasting impetus. In such a big environment, fighting has become the most popular entertainment in Rome.
Why did Roman gladiators disappear?
As early as the Roman Empire, gladiatorial performance was a national public entertainment activity. At that time, the Romans were crazy about it. From the supreme emperor to the penniless poor, everyone was attracted by the bloody fighting performance, as historian Kovalev said. In the later period of the empire, the sword fighters, who were loved by people, were very popular. Their portraits were painted on walls and utensils, and women were fascinated by them. ?
However, in 325 AD, Constantine the Great ordered the abolition of gladiator performances. In 399, Honoriu the Great closed the Gladiator School. In 404, the gladiator performance was officially abolished, and Roman gladiators bid farewell to the historical stage. Then, why did this magnificent battle leave quietly in the fifth century?
First, the Roman crisis in the third century was the main reason for the end of the gladiatorial performance. The economic base determines the superstructure, and the economic crisis in Rome broke out in the middle of the third century. The fundamental reason is that the backward slavery relations of production hinder the development of productive forces and are accompanied by military retrogression.
At the beginning of the 2nd century A.D., the era of large-scale external expansion of the Roman Empire ended, and Rome began to turn into a defensive state. No more large-scale aggression means that the sources of prisoners of war and slaves are exhausted. If the demand for slaves exceeds the supply, the slave economy will retrogress in an all-round way, and the contradiction between the slave class and the slave owner class will intensify. Finally, under the double crisis of economy and politics, expensive gladiatorial performances will inevitably die out.
Second, the spread of Christianity accelerated the end of gladiators. After more than two centuries of missionary activities, the influence of Christianity has spread throughout the Roman Empire, from aristocrats (Constantine the Great was the baptized Roman emperor) to civilians, with many Christians. These faithful believers concentrated in the city, formed a powerful force, clearly and strongly opposed the bloody battle, aroused great concern of the Roman rulers, and accelerated the end of the battle performance.
How to evaluate the Roman gladiatorial performance?
First of all, fighting has a great negative effect.
On the one hand, Roman fighting, as a product of slavery, is a great disrespect for human nature. For a long time, Roman slaves who fought were not regarded as ordinary people? People? Look, they are just people who please everyone. According to the records, the gladiator should say to the emperor in the audience after entering the arena. People who are ready to die salute you? Then, in the music of horn and flute, I made everyone laugh with my own death. When the gladiators fell in a pool of blood, the audience left. People only remember the pictures of fighting, but no one knows their names.
On the other hand, objectively speaking, gladiatorial combat is also an important reason for accelerating the demise of Rome. Large-scale gladiator performances squandered a lot of social wealth. Roman rulers used the plundered wealth to build arenas, train gladiators and provide free meals for the audience. Wealth capital, which should be used to develop the economy, is widely used for entertainment, and it is an inevitable trend for society to decline. In addition, the performance of gladiators encouraged the luxury of Roman society. It is not surprising that the rich are proud of luxury, but the problem is that even ordinary people have acquired this habit. The ancient Roman writer Valo wrote an article about agriculture in 1920. All the chiefs put down their sickles and hoes and hid in the city. We wave in circuses and theaters instead of taking care of grains and vineyards? The social atmosphere at that time was evident.
However, as a cultural activity that has existed for centuries, gladiator performance naturally has its positive influence.
First, the early gladiator performance maintained the stability of Roman society. Hopkins, a professor of ancient history at Cambridge University in England, once said that although the Colosseum in ancient Rome killed people, slaughtered animals and executed criminals, I think it is still a symbol of Roman power and rule, a symbol of Roman civilization, and it represents the awesome power of Rome? . At that time,? Bread and competition? It is not only the appeal slogan of the Roman people, but also the ruling strategy of the Roman nobility. Various recreational activities under Roman rule, including the vigorous promotion of gladiatorial performances, diverted people's attention from the struggle and increased their sense of identity and awe of the empire. It can be said that the vigorous implementation of gladiatorial performance, as a ruling means, objectively accelerated the process of Romanization and undoubtedly maintained the stability of Roman society at that time.
Secondly, the performance of gladiators objectively promoted the development of Roman architectural technology, and the prevalence of gladiators promoted the construction of a large number of arenas. Curved buildings with symbolic features such as arches began to appear. In order to meet the needs of buildings for curves, the Romans invented improved ones? Concrete? Leaving behind the remains of civilization such as the Colosseum in ancient Rome.
The rise and fall of any kind of cultural activities are closely related to the economic and political background at that time. Roman gladiators relied on foreign aggression and expansion, and eventually died out with the economic and political crisis. The whole history of human progress is also a history from barbarism to civilization. Therefore, under the influence of Christianity, the bloody and cruel battle withdrew from the historical stage, which is also the inevitable result of the development of human society. Learning from the past, pursuing freedom and equality and not indulging in entertainment may be the most important revelation left by this Roman gladiator who has been floating for centuries.