Sport in the Greek and Roman Worlds: Greek Athletic Identities and Roman Sports and SpectacleVolume 2 (Oxford Readings in Classical Studies) - Softcover

9780198703785: Sport in the Greek and Roman Worlds: Greek Athletic Identities and Roman Sports and SpectacleVolume 2 (Oxford Readings in Classical Studies)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0198703783 ISBN 13: 9780198703785

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2014

From the identity of Greek athletes and the place of Greek games in the Roman era to forms, functions, and venues of Roman spectacles, this second volume of Sport in the Greek and Roman Worlds contains eleven articles and chapters of enduring importance to the study of ancient Greek and Roman sport, a field located at a crucial intersection of social history, archaeology, literature, and other aspects of those cultures.

The studies have been updated with addenda by the original authors, and four of the articles that were originally published in German have been translated into English here for the first time. The studies, selected for breadth and importance of historical topics, include: the economics, status, gender, and training of ancient athletes; the place of Greek athletes in the Roman era; the evolution of Roman games from Etruscan customs and of the Roman arena from earlier traditions; the monetary prices of gladiators; the role of animal games in Rome; and the Roman team sport of chariot racing.

A companion first volume complements this one with studies on Greek sport in its epic, heroic, and Bronze Age origins; the ancient Olympics in its relation to religion, politics, and diversity of competitors; Greek events in track and field and equestrian events. The articles in both volumes offer an excellent starting point to inspire newcomers to the study of ancient sport, and to give students and scholars an informative set of models for present knowledge and future research.

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About the Author:

Thomas F. Scanlon is a Professor of Classics and director of the Programme in Comparative Ancient Civilizations at the University of California, Riverside.

Review:

a fine collection of articles and an excellent contribution to our teaching materials. * Onno van Nijf, L'Antiquite Classique * Scanlon's collection is a welcome addition to existing offerings then, especially as it collects, updates and synthesizes important scholarship by all the heavy-hitters in the field, articles which undergraduates would be hard-pressed to locate in their original, relatively obscure journals or to read in foreign languages ... Scanlon's collection - as the latest entrant into the increasingly crowded field of sport history texts - is a winner. * Sinclair Bell, The Classical Journal Online * These volumes assemble a notable array of scholarly treatments ranging across a great many aspects of ancient sport, and they are valuable for what they reveal about the past. But perhaps their greater value is less explicit: despite the disparities, the very continuation of sport and competition through the long centuries demonstrates the continuities of human nature lurking beneath cultural and historical differences. The desire to strive, to compete, and to triumph has been common to all ages. * Justin D. Lyons, Sport Literature Association *

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