A history of Rome (1917) (14760840001)

Identifier: historyofrome00myer (find matches)
Title: A history of Rome
Year: 1917 (1910s)
Authors: Myers, P. V. N. (Philip Van Ness), 1846-1937
Subjects:
Publisher: Boston, New York (etc.) Ginn and company
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: The Library of Congress



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tual battle.The contestants werearmed with lances, swords,daggers, tridents — withevery manner of weapon.Some were provided withnets and lassos with whichthey entangled their ad-versaries before slayingthem. The life of a woundedgladiator was, in ordinarycases, in the hands of the spectators. If in response to his appeal formercy, which was made by outstretching the forefinger, the specta-tors waved their handkerchiefs or reached out their hands withthumbs extended, that indicated that his prayer had been heard; butif they extended their hands with thumbs turned in, that was thesignal for the victor to give him the death stroke. Sometimes thedying were aroused and forced to resume the fight by being burnedwith a hot iron. The dead bodies were dragged from the arena withhooks, like the carcasses of animals, and the pools of blood soakedup with dry sand. These shows increased to such an extent that they entirely over-shadowed the entertainments of the circus and the theater. Ambitious
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Fig. s: Gladiators. (From anancient mosaic) 186 SOCIAL LIFE (§ 198 officials and commanders arranged such spectacles in order to curry-favor with the masses; magistrates were expected to give them inconnection with the public festivals; the heads of aspiring familiesprovided them in order to acquire social position ; wealthy citizensprepared them as an indispensable feature of a fashionable banquet;the children — catching the spirit of their elders — imitated them intheir plays. The rivalries between ambitious leaders during the later years ofthe Republic tended greatly to increase the number of gladiatorialshows, as liberality in arranging these spectacles was a sure passport