Because of a lack of slaves during one animal fight, Caligula apparently offered up a large section of the crowd to be fed to the beasts! And when Caligula watched a battle in the stadiums, it was not only the gladiators and slaves that were at risk of death the crowd was too. Far from feeling bad about this, Caligula laughed at the dying priest. One story goes that as he was about to sacrifice a bull to the gods, he changed his mind at the last minute and swung a mallet at the head of the priest instead.
Emperor Caligula was famed for his love of violence and disregard for human life. Gory violence occurred not only within the Colosseum many emperors experienced it as a part of their everyday lives. The Colosseum remains impressively intact and offers visitors a chance to step into the famous amphitheatre. The site of Circus Maximus, the first and largest stadium of ancient Rome, can still be viewed today however very little of the original structure remains. Romans also involved animals in the brutality, with exotic animals such as lions, tigers, and elephants being brought into the amphitheatre to either face each other or a human competitor. Thousands of spectators would pile into the stadiums to catch a glimpse of two gladiators compete in an epic, violent battle that normally ended in death. Gladiatorial battles were also a big draw for audiences. Emperors built these grand stadiums to entertain the masses and keep them happy and the most popular forms of entertainment were undeniably gory.Ĭhariot races were one of the most popular forms of entertainment in Roman times, but they were notoriously dangerous, which added to the excitement for the crowds. Probably the most famous aspect of Rome’s gruesome history are the events that took place in the Circus Maximus and later in the Colosseum. According to some historians, no actual sexual assault took place but, even so, this is one gruesome way to forge an empire. While the races distracted the Sabine men, Romulus’s followers abducted many of the women.
Romulus, as an act of friendship, staged a chariot race. When the Sabine men refused, the Romans knew they had to take what they wanted by force. They needed women to increase their population and so they approached the Sabines and asked to take some of their women for wives. When Romulus first founded Rome in the 8 th-century BC, he had many followers, but most of them were men. Rome’s very beginnings are rumoured to have centred around violence according to the legend of the rape of the Sabine women. Despite the societal development, the Romans lived in relative squalor and their favourite past times often centred around brutal violence. However, the reality was not so pleasant. With its roads, temples, baths, and palaces it can be viewed as a time of unparalleled advancement and new, exciting pleasures. The Roman Empire is remembered as one of the most significant examples of the development of human civilisation. A Gruesome History of Rome The violent entertainments enjoyed by the Romans are famed throughout the world, but these were not the only gruesome feature of ancient Rome.