Comparison and Contrast between Ancient Roman Spectacle and Present American Spectacle

Essay by woro2006College, UndergraduateA-, May 2004

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From the religious festivals and funerals of the noble families to the triumph parades of victorious generals, public spectacle formed an important aspect of the ancient Roman society. Families carried out public festivals, which included many interesting games, to assert their social standings and to win support for offices. Many days ago, among the tens of thousands of spectators, President Bush opened the Daytona 500 NASCAR auto race, and he drew a prized voter profile. By participating in people's favorite sport, Roman families and today's politicians skillfully publicized themselves and reinforced their status as powerful, well-liked people.

Sport was a spectacle which united people of different classes to join together. Hosting a funeral was an effective way for the Roman aristocrats to promote their families. In these funerals, there were gladiatorial contests among the many games offered to the common people. In particular, the gladiatorial contest was not merely a game which involved a person killing another individual, but it was also an exciting sport that everybody enjoyed.

As a result, if the festivals were successful, they could boost the popularity of the family. Moreover, they influenced the family's political future, since individuals were more likely to support the family that offered what they wanted. Likewise, people nowadays loved watching football. Before the Patriots became the champion, nobody knew about the New England Patriots' owner. Robert Kraft gained fame as a distinguished mastermind after his football team, New England Patriots, became the best football team in the nation in 2001. More than a million people came to the parade to celebrate Patriots' victory, and the crowd reacted excitingly as the host announced Kraft's name. The prominent victory of the football team also helped Kraft to acquire close ties to the politicians. The Boston mayor, Thomas Menino, and...