After the suggestion that I should focus more on the political and social functions the gladiator games served to the Roman Empire, I did some further research into the games on a more political scale.
From there I discovered the many uses the Emperors and Republicans of Ancient Rome had for these games. Therefore, as my research would suggest, the games were used as:
- a distraction from the current social, political and economical issues of the time
- an opportunity for Emperors and rich aristocrats to display their wealth
- a way of commemorating and celebrating military victories, birthdays, deaths, important officials, and other special events
- a means of obtaining votes/popularity from the populace
- a means of settling the general populace through bloody and gory entertainment
This information, plus guidance from my mentor, Mr Stewart, has left me with the possible question:
1. To what extent did the gladiatorial displays of the Roman Empire perform important social and political functions rather than just being entertainment?
This looks like a good working question. You have your time parameters in there, just be aware that you may need to cut down to a specific Emperor or time if becomes too big. I'd drop 'important' out of the question, as that requires further definition. Make sure that you find primary source material commenting on the games to support your hypothesis.
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