Research paperThe Roman gladiatorial games"Remember, Roman, that it is up to you to govern the nations. This will be your task, to impose the ways of peace, to spare the vanquished and to tame the proud with war."Quote from Virgil's Aeneid"We who are about to die salute you!"Gladiator (Latin gladius, "sword")The quote above was the cry of the gladiators as they greeted the Roman emperor, as they stood in front of the gathered crowd. They knew what was going to happen; some of them were slaves, some criminals, some were free men who fought because they knew and understood this. They were the entertainment that fueled the bloodlust of the crowd. They were the participants in the Roman version of today's quintessential sports and entertainment package. The Super Bowl, the World Series of their day, ended with Ed McMahons, the owner of the World Wrestling Entertainment franchise of over-the-top theatrics and public execution butchery. The gladiatorial events of the Roman games were the final culmination of violence and excitement that will hopefully never be seen again. They fill our imaginations as films are made of and about them. Ridley Scott's “Gladiator” with Russell Crow, filmed in 2000, or Stanley Kubrick's 1960 epic “Spartacus” with Kirk Douglas. They are the subject of documentaries and magazine articles. They are part of the history of civilization, a black mark on the pages of one of the most powerful and influential empires that have ever walked this planet. They are a charm that one can only try to explain. The beginningThe gladiatorial games appear to have originated with the Etruscans, a civilization north of Rome between the Arno and Tiber rivers, an antecedent... middle of paper... ....chariot racing and hunting events and when Christianity took hold and social morality changed, eventually the games ended all together in 523 AD (Alchin). The idea of ​​the Gladiator still lives and breathes today although in much less violent attitudes. It is stylized in books and films, and the word is used to describe sporting competitions, from boxing to football. We still use the thumbs up or thumbs down sign today to describe something good or bad when it was used in ancient Rome by the emperor or his second to ensure life or death. We are caught up in the violence and trying to understand how a people who brought so much art, architecture and the splendor of a form of government we emulate with our own in so many ways. We are curious and let our imaginations wander, but in many ways we are still fascinated by the gladiatorial games of ancient Rome.