Arena

The Story of the Colosseum

Nonfiction, History, Italy
Cover of the book Arena by John Pearson, Bloomsbury Publishing
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: John Pearson ISBN: 9781448207756
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Publication: December 1, 2011
Imprint: Bloomsbury Reader Language: English
Author: John Pearson
ISBN: 9781448207756
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication: December 1, 2011
Imprint: Bloomsbury Reader
Language: English

First published in 1973, Arena discusses the Year AD 80, when the Colosseum opened with quite the longest and most nauseating organized mass orgy in history. It was a mammoth celebration on the grandest scale, a fitting inauguration for an arena built to epitomize all the majesty and power of the Roman Empire, a building which also held the seeds of that Empire's decay and destruction.

As well as his vivid account of the erection of the Colosseum, Mr Pearson discusses the origins of death spectacles and their evolution into highly organized games intended to enhance imperial prestige and provide the populace with an effective substitute for politics and war. 'Butchered to make a Roman holiday', the victims of this lust for slaughter were slaves and criminals, the human surplus of their day, coached for an almost certain death. One chapter highlights the perverted death-wish of many early would-be martyrs and decisively establishes that there is no evidence for the death of a single Christian martyr in the Colosseum.

The book concludes with a brief survey of the building's subsequent history; looted and despoiled yet still the embodiment of Rome's spirit and greatness, it became a sublime romantic ruin, now exposed by slum-clearance as a gigantic traffic island. Mr Pearson is acutely aware of the violence that was endemic in Roman society, and in his shrewd analysis he draws disturbing parallels with the twentieth-century situation.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

First published in 1973, Arena discusses the Year AD 80, when the Colosseum opened with quite the longest and most nauseating organized mass orgy in history. It was a mammoth celebration on the grandest scale, a fitting inauguration for an arena built to epitomize all the majesty and power of the Roman Empire, a building which also held the seeds of that Empire's decay and destruction.

As well as his vivid account of the erection of the Colosseum, Mr Pearson discusses the origins of death spectacles and their evolution into highly organized games intended to enhance imperial prestige and provide the populace with an effective substitute for politics and war. 'Butchered to make a Roman holiday', the victims of this lust for slaughter were slaves and criminals, the human surplus of their day, coached for an almost certain death. One chapter highlights the perverted death-wish of many early would-be martyrs and decisively establishes that there is no evidence for the death of a single Christian martyr in the Colosseum.

The book concludes with a brief survey of the building's subsequent history; looted and despoiled yet still the embodiment of Rome's spirit and greatness, it became a sublime romantic ruin, now exposed by slum-clearance as a gigantic traffic island. Mr Pearson is acutely aware of the violence that was endemic in Roman society, and in his shrewd analysis he draws disturbing parallels with the twentieth-century situation.

More books from Bloomsbury Publishing

Cover of the book Stormy Weather by John Pearson
Cover of the book Ghost Stories to Tell in the Dark by John Pearson
Cover of the book The Man Who Broke Out of the Bank and Went for a Walk across France by John Pearson
Cover of the book Shakespeare's Theatres and the Effects of Performance by John Pearson
Cover of the book F-51 Mustang Units of the Korean War by John Pearson
Cover of the book Žižek and his Contemporaries by John Pearson
Cover of the book Reflective Teaching in Schools by John Pearson
Cover of the book The Fifth Gospel (New Edition) by John Pearson
Cover of the book A Cultural History of Dress and Fashion in the Age of Enlightenment by John Pearson
Cover of the book Aesthetic and Artistic Autonomy by John Pearson
Cover of the book Broad Gauge Railways by John Pearson
Cover of the book Culinary Nationalism in Asia by John Pearson
Cover of the book Special Forces Camps in Vietnam 1961–70 by John Pearson
Cover of the book The Social Atom by John Pearson
Cover of the book All The Days of My Life by John Pearson
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy