11-28-2007, 03:55 PM
Paul,
Have you ever read Thomas Wiedemann "Emperors & Gladiators"? That is a far better book when having a look on the sociological aspects of gladiatorial combat.
Especially the last chapter of Grant's book astounded me because there he compared the gladiatorial games even to the holocaust of the Third Reich. Nothing can be compared to the holocaust (maybe that is a very German view). Also he cites in that chapter some modern philosophers whatsoever discussing brutality in humankind in general and it seems to me too far off to compare it to gladiatorial combat.
Also I missed the detailed information where he took the quotes from, he just says Tacitus in his Annals say that and that but does not state the exact paragraph. A better book for quotes on gladiatorial games is the one by Alison Futrell "The Roman Games".
I put the Grant book for sale at amazon.de right after finish reading it because I think I have much better books on that subject on my book shelf.
Have you ever read Thomas Wiedemann "Emperors & Gladiators"? That is a far better book when having a look on the sociological aspects of gladiatorial combat.
Especially the last chapter of Grant's book astounded me because there he compared the gladiatorial games even to the holocaust of the Third Reich. Nothing can be compared to the holocaust (maybe that is a very German view). Also he cites in that chapter some modern philosophers whatsoever discussing brutality in humankind in general and it seems to me too far off to compare it to gladiatorial combat.
Also I missed the detailed information where he took the quotes from, he just says Tacitus in his Annals say that and that but does not state the exact paragraph. A better book for quotes on gladiatorial games is the one by Alison Futrell "The Roman Games".
I put the Grant book for sale at amazon.de right after finish reading it because I think I have much better books on that subject on my book shelf.
