Text B The gladiators of Rome：blood sport in the a...
The ancient Romans were well known for many things—their engineering marvels，their road networks，and the establishment of Roman law throughout the empire.They were，however，also renowned for their war-like nature.After all，this allowed the Romans to build an empire in the first place.This appetite for violence not only manifested itself in Rome's imperialist policy，but also in its mostwell-known sport—the gladiatorial combats.
1-4 G ladiatorial Combats
It has been suggested that the concept of gladiatorial games has its roots in the Etruscans1，the predecessors of the Romans.In Etruscan society，gladiatorial games were supposed to be part of the funerary rituals honoring the dead.Thus，gladiatorial combats originally possessed a sacred significance.Over the centuries，however，these funerary games came to be a form of entertainment，and the earliest Roman gladiatorial combat is said to have taken place in 264 BC.
The gladiators were often prisoners of war，slaves，or criminals with a death sentence.Despite the hard and precarious life，gladiatorswere the superstars of their day.The benefits to be found in fighting in the arena—fame，glory and fortune，were strong enough to entice some people to become gladiators voluntarily.However，the evidence of such citizen gladiators is extremely slim.It is also recorded that some Roman emperors even participated in gladiatorial games themselves，themost famous of whom was probably the emperor Commodus2.The participation of emperors in these games，however，was scorned by some，as gladiators belonged to the lowest of social classes.
Studies analyzing the teeth of supposed gladiators which have been found in Driffield Terrace3，York，UK have also suggested that gladiators generally came from harsh backgrounds.The research showsmost of themen were extremelymalnourished as children and likely came from disadvantaged homes.Their remains show the poormen were well fed and adapted to battle later in life—possibly so they would be stronger andmore impressive looking combatants in the gladiatorial games.
Lightly armed and armored fighterswould tire less rapidly than their heavily armed opponents；most boutswould have lasted 10 to 15 minutes，or 20 minutes at most.In late Republican munera4，between 10 and 13 matches could have been fought on one day；this assumes one match at a time in the course of an afternoon.
Spectators preferred to watch highly skilled，well matched paired gladiators with complementary fighting styles；these were the costliest to train and to hire.A general combat of several，lowerskilled gladiatorswas far less costly，but also less popular.Even among the paired gladiators，match winnersmighthave to fighta new，well-rested opponent，either a tertiarius（“third choice gladiator”）by prearrangement；or a“substitute”gladiator who fought at the whim of the editor as an unadvertised，unexpected“extra”.
1-5 A W ell Trained G ladiator
Combats between experienced，well trained gladiators demonstrated a considerable degree of stagecraft.Among the cognoscenti，bravado and skill in combat were esteemed over mere hacking and bloodshed；some gladiators made their careers and reputation from bloodless victories.
A match was won by the gladiator who overcame his opponent，or killed him outright.Victors received the palm branch and an award from the editor.An outstanding fightermight receive a laurel crown and money from an appreciative crowd，symbolized by the gift of a wooden training sword.A gladiator could acknowledge defeat by raising a finger，in appeal to the referee to stop the combatand refer to the editor，whose decision would usually rest on the crowd's response.
Despite the low social status of gladiators，they had the potential to gain the patronage of the upper classes，even that of the emperor himself.According to Suetonius，the em peror Nero5 awarded a gladiator，Spiculus，with houses and estatesworthy of generals returning triumphantly from awar.Regardless of the authenticity of his claim，Suetonius intended to highlight the extravagant nature of the emperor by demonstrating that Nerowaswilling to shower a presumably lower classed individualwith such expensive gifts.
By the 4th century AD，the popularity of gladiatorial games was in a decline，as the Roman Empire adopted Christianity as its official religion.It was，however，only in 404 AD that gladiatorial games were altogether banned by the em peror Honorius6 due to themartyrdom of St.Telemachus.According to the historian The odoret，Telemachus was a monk who came to Rome from Asia Minor.During one of the gladiatorial games in the city，Telemachus leapt into the arena to stop two gladiators from fighting.The spectators，who were obviously unhappy with Telemachus'action，proceeded to stone the monk to death.However，one form of gladiatorial games，the venationes（wild animal hunts），continued for another century.
1-6 The Arena Telemachus Leapt Into
Apart from gladiator fighting，ancient Romans played a variety of sportswhich included both indoor and outdoor sports.Rome also took various sports from Ancient Greece and changed their ritualistic nature into a display of physical strength and endurance.Thewealthy Romans had large playing fields and structures known as gymnasia and palaestrae7 in their villas.The sportswere often played at these places since itwas considered a status symbol for the rich.Eventually the patronage of the empire for sports came about in the era of Emperor Nero when the first public gymnasium was built，followed by giant amphitheaters.With the passage of time，violent sports and large amphitheaters became one of the symbols of Roman power.
One of themost popular among the ancient Roman sports was chariot racing8.Chariot racing existed in Greecewhich was probably the inspiration for Roman chariot racing.Itwas one of themain events of ancient Olympics and other Pan-Hellenic Games.In ancient Rome，chariot racing took place between different teams and each team was financially backed by different groups.The intense interest of Romans in this game often resulted in clashes between the supporters of different teams and even caused political conflicts.Due to these problems，later Roman and Byzantine emperors appointed officials to ensure the peaceful nature of the game.
1-7 Chariot Racing
Boxing in ancient Rome，known as Pugilatus9，was also one of themost popular sports.However，the rules were different from the modern day boxing since the players in this sport could strike any part of the body including the back and genitals.Like various other Roman sports，this was a wild display of physical strength and endurance.
Not all sports in ancient Rome were bloody and violent and there were various quite peaceful sports that weremainly enjoyed by the children.One of the sportsmost popular with the children was hoop rolling that has remained more or less the same through the ages.This sport，like many other things，was taken by the Romans from the Greeks and the hoop was often referred to as“Greek Hoop”，although the dominant Latin term for the hoop was trochus.The stick，on the other hand，was known as clavis or radius and was usually made of metal with a wooden handle.According to the Greek historian Strabo，the most popular venue in Rome for this game was Campus Martius.Other than that，Sarmatian boys also rolled hoops on the frozen Danube River10.
1-8 Ludus latrunculorum 1
Other than the outdoor sports，various indoor sports and gameswere also popular.One such game was Roman Chess which was known as Ludus latrunculorum11.Itwas notexactly similar to modern day chess but resembled it to some extent and was considered a game of military tactics.Considering that the evidence is little，not much is known about the exact rules of this game.
Ancient Roman society put a lot of emphasis on physical fitness and agility.The sports in ancient Rome were designed for considerable physical exertion，although there were various indoor sports as well.Among the most popular outdoor sports we can include the bloody fights of the gladiators，chariot racing which often ended in clashes between the supporters of opposite teams，and others.Before Emperor Nero，these sports were mainly played in the villas of rich people and itwas Nerowho constructed the grand amphitheaters and brought these games under the official patronage.With the passage of time，these sports became one of the symbols of Roman power.
Notes：
1 Etruscans
The Etruscan civilization is the modern name given to a civilization of ancient Italy in the area corresponding roughly to Tuscany，western Umbria，northern and central Lazio，with offshoots also to the north in the Po Valley，in the current Emilia-Romagna，south-eastern Lombardy and southern Veneto，and to the south，in some areas of Campania.
2 Emperor Commodus
Commodus，Roman emperor from 177 to 192（sole emperor after 180）.His brutalmisrule precipitated civil strife that ended 84 years of stability and prosperity within the empire.He was also known for imagining that he was the god Hercules.
3 Driffield Terrace
Driffield Terrace is an impressive address situated above The Mount which leads out of the city center past the racecourse.Convenient for both the city center and station（0.7 miles），the historic city walls are just half amile distant.
4 munera
In ancient Rome，munera（Latin plural）were the provision of public works and entertainments provided for the benefit of the Roman people by individuals of high status and wealth.The word munera singular munus（cf.English“munificence”）means“duty，obligation”，expressing the individual's responsibility to provide a service or contribution to his community.
5 Emperor Nero
Nero（15 December 37—9 June 68 AD）was the last Roman emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty.He was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius and became Claudius'heir and successor.Like Claudius，Nero became emperor with the consent of the Praetorian Guard.
6 Emperor Honorius
Honorius，in full Flavius Honorius，（born September 9，384—died August15，423），Roman emperor in theWest from 393 to 423，a period whenmuch of theWestern Empire was overrun by invading tribes and Rome was captured and plundered by the Visigoths.
7 palaestrae
As Vitruvius describes，the palaestra was square or rectangular in shape with colonnades along all four sides creating porticoes.The portico on the northern side of the palaestrawas of double depth to protect against the weather.Big halls were built along the single depth sides of the palaestra with seats for those enjoying intellectual pursuits，and the double depth side was divided into an area for youth activities，a punching bag area，a room for applying powders，a room for cold bathing，and an oil storeroom.
1-9 Palaestrae
8 Chariot racing
Chariot racing was one of the most popular Iranian，ancient Greek，Roman，and Byzantine sports.Chariot racing was dangerous to both drivers and horses as they often suffered serious injury and even death，but these dangers added to the excitement and interest for spectators.Chariot races could be watched by women，who were banned from watchingmany other sports.In the Roman form of chariot racing，teams represented different groups of financial backers and sometimes competed for the services of particularly skilled drivers.
9 Pugilatus
Boxing in the Ancient World The art of boxing，whereby two men enter a contest to see who can withstand the most punches from the other，dates back at leastas far as the earliest civilizations and is probably one of the oldest sports of its kind in the history of fighting.The rules of this ancient discipline were simple：with only use of the hands fighters could strike any part of the body—back and genitals included.There were no weight categories or time limits.The winner either knocked outhis rival or forced him to give up.
1-10 Pugilatus
10 Danube River
The Danube is Europe's second longest river，after the Volga.It is located in Central and Eastern Europe.The Danube was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire，and today flows through 10 countries，more than any other river in the world.Originating in Germany，the Danube flows southeast for 2，850 km，passing through or bordering Austria，Slovakia，Hungary，Croatia，Serbia，Romania，Bulgaria，Moldova and Ukraine before draining into the Black Sea.Its drainage basin extends into ninemore countries.
1-11 Danube River
11 Ludus latrunculorum
Ludus latrunculorum，latrunculi，or simply latrones was a two-player strategy board game played throughout the Roman Empire.It is said to resemble chess or draughts，but is generally accepted to be a game of military tactics.Because of the scarcity of sources，reconstruction of the game's rules and basic structure is difficult，and therefore there aremultiple interpretations of the available evidence.
1-12 Ludus latrunculorum 2
Practice for the unit
A.Blank filling
1.Socrates believed that____________and__________________were the most important factors in man's development.
2.Sparta and its Spartan warriors are famous for their bravery，_____________and advanced battle____________.
3.The ancient Olympics games lasted for_____________days—three days of major competition，and a day each for an__________________ceremony._____________________________________events were held the first day.________________were on the second day and the___________________________________________were held on the fourth day.
4.Money for the construction of buildings and temples was supplied by___________________________________________________________________.
5.Many of the_______________________________________________________________________________________________ were present in the ancient Greek games.
6.________________________notonlymanifested itself in Rome's imperialist policy，but also in its most well-known sport-_________________________________________________.
7._________________________，_________________________，_________________________were strong enough to entice some people to become gladiators voluntarily.
8.A match was won by the gladiator who____________________________________.
9._______________________________________________________________ became one of the symbols of Roman power.
10.Rome also took various sports from Ancient Greece and changed their________________into a_______________________________________________________________ .
B.Short-answer questions
1.Conclude the beloved events of Ancient Greeks.
2.Who are gladiators and what could gladiators earn？
3.Summarize the declining and banning of gladiator sport.
C.Critical thinking
1.Make a comparison between the sport in ancient Greece and Rome，from forms，values and philosophy.
2.From the characteristics of gladiators，what points in common between gladiators and professional athletes today can you summarize？