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Blood in the Arena: The Spectacle of Roman Power Paperback – November 1, 2000

by Alison Futrell (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 16 ratings
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From the center of Imperial Rome to the farthest reaches of ancient Britain, Gaul, and Spain, amphitheaters marked the landscape of the Western Roman Empire. Built to bring Roman institutions and the spectacle of Roman power to conquered peoples, many still remain as witnesses to the extent and control of the empire.

In this book, Alison Futrell explores the arena as a key social and political institution for binding Rome and its provinces. She begins with the origins of the gladiatorial contest and shows how it came to play an important role in restructuring Roman authority in the later Republic. She then traces the spread of amphitheaters across the Western Empire as a means of transmitting and maintaining Roman culture and control in the provinces.

Futrell also examines the larger implications of the arena as a venue for the ritualized mass slaughter of human beings, showing how the gladiatorial contest took on both religious and political overtones. This wide-ranging study, which draws insights from archaeology and anthropology, as well as Classics, broadens our understanding of the gladiatorial contest and its place within the highly politicized cult practice of the Roman Empire.

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  1. Print length
    352 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    University of Texas Press
  4. Publication date
    November 1, 2000
  5. Dimensions
    9.07 x 6.09 x 0.92 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    029272523X
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0292725232
  8. Lexile measure
    1650L
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

. . . bring[s] fresh perspectives to the study of the Roman amphitheater, situating the Roman arena within a larger cross-cultural framework of human sacrifice and providing important insights into the psychological dimensions of these public spectacles for the Roman viewer. ― Classical World

About the Author

Alison Futrell is an associate professor of history at the University of Arizona.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of Texas Press; New edition (November 1, 2000)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 029272523X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0292725232
  • Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 1650L
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.23 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.07 x 6.09 x 0.92 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 16 ratings

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Alison Futrell

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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
16 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Miranda Williams
5.0 out of 5 stars Post-Modernist History, Accurate and Addictive
Reviewed in the United States on November 10, 2012
Verified Purchase
As an old student of Alison Futrell I am 100% bias. I always read my favorite professors books, but 'Blood in the Arena' is the only book that has enslaved me. With every reading this book takes on deeper meaning-- maybe I have "out of college nostalgia" or I'm obsessed with blood sports. Her sources are cited clearly and her arguments are so solid that it is able to simultaneously fill the fetish for philosophy while providing the satisfactory sources (not found in a popular HX book). Futrell's well rounded take on Roman HX uses interdisciplinary studies and includes the exploration of human sacrifice in other cultures(including Aztec and Inca). Futrell will satisfy the hardcore history junkie and provide the average person a sense of deeper self-understanding.
6 people found this helpful
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Warren Danskin
5.0 out of 5 stars Scholarly approach that both clarifies details about the Roman enjoyment of the bloody spectacles and suggests deeper reasons fo
Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2015
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Scholarly approach that both clarifies details about the Roman enjoyment of the bloody spectacles and suggests deeper reasons for the national support for it.
3 people found this helpful
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J. Green
3.0 out of 5 stars The book was great for history of the arena
Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2016
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I guess I was expecting something different. The book was great for history of the arena, I was hoping for more detail about the contest
3 people found this helpful
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Alan
1.0 out of 5 stars Swing and a miss.
Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2015
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Alison Futrell's argument is weak, she doesn't use her sources correctly, and makes tons of assumptions. Her thesis is interesting but overall it fell short in many areas and is terribly disorganized with way too many tangential parts.
3 people found this helpful
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Jeffrey Leach
4.0 out of 5 stars Roman Spectacle
Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2002
This book, by Professor Alison Futrell of the University of Arizona, is a reworking of her doctoral dissertation. The title is somewhat misleading; there is little blood in any of the arenas discussed in this book. What we do get is a very intelligent, comprehensive examination of Roman spectacle and the role that it played in shaping (I should say reflecting) Roman society. Although I don't always agree with Futrell's analyses on the role of spectacles, I'll be lucky to pull off a dissertation as good as this one. Fortunately I won't be doing any dissertation work in ancient history.
Futrell starts her analysis with a short history of the two types of games that predominated amphitheater productions: the munera and the venatio. The munera are gladiatorial contests that actually started out as funeral rituals. Futrell provides evidence that gives support to Etruscan origins for the munera. The venatio are the animal exhibits; both peaceful-gee-watch-the-neat-animals-do-tricks kinds and the ones where the animals were slaughtered. Unfortunately, Futrell doesn't provide much more information on venatio. Most of the book deals with munera, although there is also information on arena types and constructions.
Arenas took several forms. Everyone is familiar with the Colosseum, built by the Flavians around 80 A.D. The first theaters were much less impressive. At first, most games were held in the Forums. Eventually, small wooden amphitheaters were built, both during the Late Republic and Early Empire. Augustus was the first to really devote sufficient energy to the amphitheaters. He used them to consolidate his rule by connecting games with an Imperial cult dedicated to himself and Roma. In the provinces, mixed edifice theaters (consisting of seating and stage) melded together local and Roman customs to provide a loyalty to Rome. The military also had their own amphitheaters, which doubled as training grounds for soldiers. Building amphitheaters could be expensive, depending on the type of theater. Oftentimes, liturgies were used to build them, or the emperor provided funds for construction. In the Republican era, generals celebrating triumphs used war booty to build monuments such as these. An intricate series of contracts and labor were required to construct these buildings. Permission was required from the emperor himself because constructing a building that held so many people could be used for seditious behavior. Of course, as a sign of gratitude, the emperor's name would be engraved on the building.
Futrell often makes interesting connections during the course of her examinations. An explanation of the mixed edifice theaters in the provinces involves a long digression into Irish and Welsh myths. This is done so that the reader will understand why Rome built amphitheaters where they did. The Romans wanted to incorporate local traditions as much as possible, if nothing more than to show Roman dominance over them. In Celtic regions, these were built near bodies of water or other types of boundaries, areas that were central to Celtic religion. Another discussion on the role of human sacrifice in Rome incorporates information on sacrifices in Sumer, China, Central America and Carthage in order to make comparisons with the activities in Rome. Different types of ritual sacrifice are discussed and debated, with Futrell arguing that human sacrifice did take place in Roman life, but usually only in times of great social distress. The sacrifices were carried out in order to bring alignment back to society by appeasing angry gods. Futrell carries this idea of sacrifice into the arena, where gladiators were seen as sacrifices to the idea and history of Rome. Gladiatorial games could be seen as the working out, under controlled conditions, of the founding of Rome and the reassertion of the social order.
Futrell's digressions can be a bit disconcerting, and she does have her melodramatic moments (the arena has cosmic dimensions, etc.). Her claim that the amphitheaters also worked to reinforce social hierarchy is widely accepted, but how was this done, exactly? Amphitheaters seated only so many people, most of whom were the well off. Therefore, it is safe to assume that these buildings reinforced social hierarchy amongst the upper classes. The lower classes would have been least affected. In this I think Futrell has a tendency to overplay the role of the amphitheater and games. I do think that the amphitheater, taken in concert with other social controls, worked its magic on the lower classes, but that idea is absent here (or at least understated). Recommended reading for the lovers of Rome.
22 people found this helpful
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Thetis of the Silver Feet
5.0 out of 5 stars it would have been nice to have had some colour plates
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 31, 2016
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Very informative book for any Clasics student - only one niggle, it would have been nice to have had some colour plates.
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