The Lure of the Arena: Social Psychology and the Crowd at the Roman Games

by Garrett G. Fagan

• ISBN13: 9780521196161
• ISBN10: 0521196167
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-03-28
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Why did the Romans turn out in their tens of thousands to watch brutal gladiatorial games? Previous studies have tried to explain the attraction of the arena by theorizing about its cultural function in Roman society. The games have been seen as celebrations of the violence of empire or of Rome's martial heritage, or as manifestations of the emperor's power. The desire to watch has therefore been limited to the Roman context and rendered alien to modern sensibilities. Yet the historical record reveals that people living in quite different times and circumstances (including our own) have regularly come out in large numbers to watch public rituals of violence such as executions, floggings, animal-baiting, cudgeling, pugilism and so on. Appreciating the social-psychological dynamics at work in attracting people to watch such events not only deepens our understanding of the spectator at the Roman games but also suggests something important about ourselves.

Author Biography

Garrett G. Fagan is Associate Professor of Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies and History at Pennsylvania State University where he teaches courses in Roman and Greek history, Latin, and ancient warfare. He is the author, co-author, or editor of four books including Bathing in Public in the Roman World (1999), Archaeological Fantasies (2006), and New Perspectives on Ancient Warfare (2010), as well as numerous scholarly articles.

Table of Contents

List of figures	p. ix
Preface	p. x
Introduction: Alypius in the stands	p. 1
The strengths and limitations of social psychology	p. 8
Seeking explanations	p. 13
The story so far	p. 17
Some contextual factors	p. 22
The applicability of social psychology	p. 39
A catalog of cruelty	p. 49
Punishment	p. 49
Medieval public executions and the ôgood deathö	p. 70
Combat sports and bloodsports	p. 74
Groups, crowds, and seats	p. 80
Group processes and the crowd	p. 81
The Pompeii riot	p. 93
Amphitheaters and spectator demographics	p. 96
Crowd dynamics at arena spectacles	p. 121
Spectator expectations, behaviors, and vocalizations	p. 123
Social identity content	p. 140
Theater and amphitheater	p. 147
Arenas of prejudice	p. 155
The phenomenon of prejudice	p. 159
The Roman macrocontext	p. 166
The arena and prejudice	p. 174
Gladiators and sports spectatorship	p. 189
Sports and spectators	p. 196
Excitement: the emotional factor	p. 202
Gladiatorial shows as sports spectaculars	p. 209
Arena sport	p. 227
The attractions of violent spectacle	p. 230
The attraction(s) of violent spectacle	p. 232
Affective dispositions	p. 241
Affective dispositions at the arena	p. 245
Conclusion: the lure of the arena	p. 274
Appendix: select literary and epigraphic testimonia for arena crowd behavior and related issues	p. 287
Bibliography	p. 325
Index	p. 358
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