Roman Sports and Spectacles A Sourcebook

Roman Sports and Spectacles: A Sourcebook contains numerous translations from the Latin, including famous authors, such as Cicero, Seneca, Tertullian and Augustine, and the not so famous, including graffiti, advertisements and tombstones to paint a world view of what sports Romans played and what they thought of them. The world of Roman sports was similar in many ways to our own, but there were significant differences. For one thing Roman sports centered during religious festivals and the participants were most often slaves. Roman sports were not team sports, but individual competitions. And sports like chariot racing and gladiatorial competitions were very dangerous. Each document includes an introduction to the source material.

Anne Mahoney is Lecturer in Classics at Tufts University. She has published articles and reviews on Greek poetry, particularly drama; and on Latin poetry, from Saturnians to the 19th century. She also has overseen the revision of "Allen and Greenough's New Latin Grammar" for Focus Publishing and updated the metrical material in that key reference work. She holds a Ph.D. from Boston University, and is the Focus series editor for Greek and Latin language texts.