"I happened to call in at a midday show in the ampitheartre, expecting some sport, fun and relaxation. It was just the opposite. By comparison the fights that had already taken place were merciful. Now they really get down to business - it's sheer murder. In the morning men are thrown to the lions or bears - at noon they are thrown to the spectators." - Seneca.
Religion is the quest for the values of an ideal life and the recognition on the part of a man of a controlling superhuman power entitled to obedience, reverence, and worship.
It is a construct of the human mind, but why does religion exist? Why are we here? These are common questions that we ask ourselves and have throughout history and still do to this day. The ancient Romans asked themselves these questions and many more, and through religion the Romans associated a need with the gods.
Bust of Gaius Julius Caesar in the National Archae...![[Piazza Navona, Rome, Italy] (LOC)](/uploads/5/50515/piazza-navona-rome-italy-loc.jpg)
[Piazza Navona, Rome, Italy] (LOC)
RomeThe Romans knew they were heading towards some sort of goal, and tried to come up with good deeds to reach that goal.
And so we have, in 264 BC, the first date of a gladiatorial contest mentioned by the historian Livy. This event took place at the funeral of Decimus Junius Pera, the father of Decimus Junius Brutus, where three pairs of slaves took part in the gladiatorial contest to the death, which they called a munera, that is "ÃÂa duty'. Why? To appease the gods? To aid them in the afterlife? Certainly we can see by this event that the Romans were trying to answer the questions that have been asked throughout history with the "souls of the dead being propitiated by human blood." The next recorded reference to a gladiatorial contest is in 222 BC, with 20 pairs of Gladiators fighting at a...