4/30/15
Per. 7
Links:
Gladiators/Colosseum: http://www.ancient.eu/Colosseum/
The Similarities of Cultural Elements over Centuries
Professional Football and the Gladiators of the Colosseum, both having very similar purposes but existing at very different times. The birth of professional football was done so out of a mutation, a mix of soccer and rugby, created by people that were feeling creative, just like anybody else. The first organized practice of football was played on November 6, 1869, between Princeton and Rutgers colleges. After Princeton and Rutgers got the trend started, many other colleges followed and on November 12, 1892, the first man was payed to play football, which lead to professional football. This evolved throughout the next century and became the sport we know today. The creation of the Roman Colosseum was begun in 72 CE by Emperor Vespasian, and finished by his first born son Titus in 80 CE. This arena was built on behalf of returning Rome to its former glory after the civil war as well as an entertainment source for its people. The Colosseum was used to host spectacular public entertainment events such as gladiator fights, wild animal hunts and public execution from the time of creation, up until 404 CE. These two cultural elements of their nation both have very similar purposes, causes, and possibly futures.
These two cultural elements became wildly popular in their nations because they gave to the people what they wanted to see: brutality that is made interesting to watch. In 1966, the AFL and the NFL decided to quit the competition and made a truce. That truce is what became what we know now as the Super Bowl. The first Super Bowl, between the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs, is what made football so popular in the U.S. This is not to say that football was not popular before the truce of the AFL and the NFL, on the contrary, football players were being offered multi-million dollar contracts to play the sport for teams, the Super Bowl just made the sport that much more popular. The name "Colosseum" fits the structure perfectly because it describes very well it's colossal size. At 45 meters tall and it's arena measuring 85.7x 54.8 meters across, it created a craze among the Roman people who were desperate to get in. This, however, was not a problem because the stadium itself seated 45,000, and 5,000 standing spots, with 80 doors to enter through. In the beginning, games were held at the colosseum every evening lasting until late the next morning, however, that number changed into about 100 games a year after the first few years. The games held in the Colosseum were purely for entertainment of the citizens and the Emperor, and consisted of brutal fights between gladiators, some on chariots or horses, and others on foot. This was by no means a fair competition (similar to modern day professional level football by some standards), the real purpose being blood sports and death. These shows attracted people from all around, dying to catch a glimpse of the action. Unlike football, these games eventually ceased and the Roman Colosseum, destroyed.
Like all great things begin, they must also come to an end. For the Roman Colosseum, this was no exception. The use of the colosseum was becoming corrupt, and instead of being a source of entertainment for the people, it became a way for emperors to torture and ruthlessly kill their enemies. This began much earlier but was most apparent with emperor Domitian who used the colosseum for bloodthirsty dramas, execution, and also the killing of Christian Martyrs by throwing them to hungry lions, shot down by others in the stands or arena, and also burnt alive. The games of the Colosseum were finally abolished in 404 CE by Emperor Honorius, but continued to be used the senate for condemning criminals. The Colosseum was damaged by earthquakes in later years, repaired, and collapsed from the great earthquake of 1231 CE, therefore marking the end of the colossal structure. Even by comparing professional football to the games of the colosseum, we start to notice many more similarities then we thought existed in the first place. Like the fact that professional football may be following the same corrupted end as the colosseum faced. For example, the most recent Super Bowl, Super Bowl XLIX, the New England Patriots vs. the Seattle Seahawks. A conspiracy arose that the Patriots were playing with deflated footballs, which allows for more grip on the ball. This conspiracy even went as far as disqualification of the Patriots from the super bowl, meaning the Seahawks would automatically win. If American professional football continues to follow the same path as the corrupted Roman Colosseum, it may end in a fiery end and consequences that have not yet been imagined.
Professional football and the Gladiator fights of the colosseum, both cultural elements and sports of their nations having very similar purposes but existing at two very different times. Both cultural elements were wildly popular in their nation for the very same thing: brutality while still being highly interesting to the people. These two elements have had very similar pasts and have developed similarly over time. We already know what happened to the Gladiators and the colosseum, the question is will professional football follow the same destructive course?
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