How To Train Your Empire

As Dawn appeared, fresh and rosy-fingered, I honed in on my finalised area and question for my Special Study.

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?

Working Bibliography and Log #2

~CURRENT WORK TO DATE~

Bibliography:

Website

Social Structure in Rome. http://ancientrome.wikispaces.com/Social+Structure+in+Rome. (Accessed 27 April 2014).

Social Class and Public Display. http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/socialclass.html. (Accessed 27 April 2014). 

Cartwright, M., Ancient History Encyclopedia: Gladiator. http://www.ancient.eu.com/gladiator/. (Accessed 09 May 2014).

History on the Net.com, The Romans Gladiators. http://www.historyonthenet.com/Romans/gladiators.htm. (Accessed 10 May 2014).

Shmoop, The Hunger Game Allusions and Cultural References. http://www.shmoop.com/hunger-games/allusions.html. (Accessed 10 May 2014).

Encyclopaedia Britannica Blog, Bread and Circuses: The Hunger Games and Ancient Rome. http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2012/03/bread-circuses-the-hunger-games-ancient-rome/. (Accessed 10 May 2014).

The Amphitheater at Pompeii. http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/gladiators/pompeii.html. (Accessed 11 May 2014)

Film

Gladiator. (DVD) DreamWorks SKG, California. 2000.

Video

Popperslist. Colosseum – A Gladiator’s Story, YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0fRqc_pChY. (Accessed 10 May 2014).

Mghinto, The Fall of the Roman Republic, YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjpzDiqb3xo. (Accessed 10 May 2014).

Text

Adkins, L and R., Introduction to The Romans. Sandstone Books, Leichardt. 1996.

Perowne, S., Death of the Roman Republic. Hodder and Stoughton, London. 1969.

Koutsoukis, A.J., History of the Ancient World Ancient Rome. Logman Cheshire, Melbourne. 1989.

Deary, T., Horrible Histories: The Ruthless Romans. Scholastic Children’s Books, London. 2003. 

Work Log:

Wed, 23 April:
Brainstormed ideas and updated blog.

Sunday, 27 April:
Researched the Ancient Roman social class system and updated my bibliography.

Tuesday, 29 April:
Watched Gladiator and observed possible ideas and questions and updated my blog and bibliography.  

Thursday, 01 May:
Went to the school library and borrowed, History of the Ancient World Ancient Rome, Death of the Roman Republic, Introduction to The Romans, and Horrible Histories: The Ruthless Romans. I shall look through them further on the weekend.

Wednesday, 07 May:
Read through and took notes on Introduction to The Romans (especially the chapters on the rise of the republic and gladiator fights).

Friday, 09 May:
Continued to take notes on Introduction to The Romans and investigated further on the emergence of gladiator fights (using the internet). 

Saturday, 10 May:

Researched allusions form The Hunger Games to Ancient Rome, watched documentaries on gladiators and the fall of the Roman Republic, updated my bibliography and blog. 
Sunday, 11 May:

Further researched the world of the gladiator and the timeline of gladiator battles. Updated my bibliography and blog.  

Panem et Circenses

As Dawn appeared, fresh and rosy-fingered, I traversed the wondrous world of the interwebs in an attempt to find information regarding the fall of the Roman Republic, gladiators, and allusions between The Hunger Games and Ancient Rome.

Emerging successfully, here are some cultural similarities I found between The Hunger Games and Ancient Rome, some interesting and useful links regarding the Empire and Republic, and a few more possible questions. 

ALLUSIONS TO THE HUNGER GAMES

1. "Panem" (the world of The Hunger Games) is derived from the Latin phrase, "Panem et circenses," which translates to, "Bread and circuses." This was a political technique used by the Roman Empire to appease its populace with food and entertainment, preventing too much free thought. 

2. Panem is a direct reference to Ancient Rome, commanding power over provinces and controlling hundreds of thousands of people.

3. Many names in The Hunger Games are adopted from Ancient Rome, such as: Plutarch, Cato, Flavia, Octavia, and even Caesare. 

4. The oppression portrayed by the Capitol in The Hunger Games is reminiscent of the oppression shown by the Roman Empire over the smaller provinces of Rome and their general populace.

5. The Arena in The Hunger Games reflects immensely on the Roman Colosseum, adopting the ideology that a revolution will not occur if the entire population are fed and satisfied with raw entertainment.

Those are just some of the connections found between The Hunger and Ancient Rome. 

POSSIBLE QUESTIONS

I have further racked my brain regarding questions for this Special Study and have come up with these (hopefully) more refined ideas:

1. To what extent does Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games reflect on the culture and ideology of Ancient Rome. 

2. To what extent did gladiator battles dictate and influence the culture of Ancient Rome and her populace?

3. What was the purpose of gladiator battles in the Roman Empire and why did Romans indulge in this form of entertainment more than poetry and theatre?

Also, here are some interesting links:

http://www.ancient.eu.com/gladiator/

http://www.shmoop.com/hunger-games/allusions.html

http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2012/03/bread-circuses-the-hunger-games-ancient-rome/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjpzDiqb3xo

Working Bibliography and Log #1

~CURRENT WORK TO DATE~

Bibliography:

Website

Social Structure in Rome. http://ancientrome.wikispaces.com/Social+Structure+in+Rome. (Accessed 27 April 2014).

Social Class and Public Display. http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/socialclass.html. (Accessed 27 April 2014). 

Film

Gladiator. (DVD) DreamWorks SKG, California. 2000.

Text

Adkins, L and R., Introduction to The Romans. Sandstone Books, Leichardt. 1996.

Perowne, S., Death of the Roman Republic. Hodder and Stoughton, London. 1969.

Koutsoukis, A.J., History of the Ancient World Ancient Rome. Logman Cheshire, Melbourne. 1989.

Deary, T., Horrible Histories: The Ruthless Romans. Scholastic Children’s Books, London. 2003. 

Work Log:

Wed, 23 April:
Brainstormed ideas and updated blog.

Sunday, 27 April:
Researched the Ancient Roman social class system and updated my bibliography.

Tuesday, 29 April:
Watched Gladiator and observed possible ideas and questions and updated my blog and bibliography.  

Thursday, 01 May:

Went to the school library and borrowed, History of the Ancient World Ancient Rome, Death of the Roman Republic, Introduction to The Romans, and Horrible Histories: The Ruthless Romans. I shall look through them further on the weekend. 

ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?

After Dawn had disappeared, fresh and rosy-fingered, I decided to curl up on my couch, pizza in hand, and watch the epic cinematic spectacular that is Gladiator... again.

Upon re-watching this marvel I was able to come up with a few possible questions in reference to the world of the gladiator:

1. How historically accurate is Ridley Scott's Gladiator in reference to the events of Ancient Rome?
2. Why did the Roman populace indulge in the bloody sport of gladiator battles, rather than enjoy the peace of poetry and plays? (why was it so popular?)
3. How did the ranking system work in reference to gladiators and gladiator battles?
4. When, how and why did gladiator fights begin, and what purpose did they serve in the culture of Rome?

I am still formulating different questions and ideas for my special study, however, these questions display my thinking pattern at the moment.

"The beating heart of Rome is not the marble of the senate, it's the sand of the coliseum." - Gracchus

A Special Kind of Study

And so, in the depths of the term one holidays, and as Dawn appeared, many-a-time, fresh and rosy-fingered, I have begun work on my Special Study.

Still unsure on what exactly I wish to study, I am currently in the process of brainstorming ideas and possible questions for this assignment.

Having a keen interest in Ancient Rome, I thought the world of the gladiator might be a good basis, I mean, who wouldn't want to research people fighting lions in an arena? I figure I may be able to study the 2000 film Gladiator and analyse its historic accuracy to Ancient Rome. I could also do a study into the ranking system of the gladiators, and the hierarchical system of Classical Rome. Another idea I have is to do a comparison on the Ancient Roman world and the world of the popular novel (and now film) series The Hunger Games, and break apart the similarities, differences and ideology there.Wars and leadership also interest me, so a look into the leaders of the Greco-Roman classical world and how they compare and differ from our leaders of today could prove very interesting. There are a lot of ideas to study for this assessment but I am leaning more towards the world of Ancient Rome and the gladiator.

Too bad this thing doesn't stretch out the renaissance... I could've done Assassin's Creed II...

Beginning my Blogger Odyssey

As Dawn appeared, fresh and rosy-fingered, I started up my Classics Blog.