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摘要
摘要
A dramatic, vivid picture of Roman life, Alan Baker's evocative history tells the stories of the extraordinary gladiators, trainers and emperors who participated in history's most violent game. Condemned and yet feared by Emperors, slaughtered and yet adored by the masses and loved by women, the Gladiator's life was invariably short and violent. His existence was an abyss of bloody darkness illuminated only faintly by the prospect of honor, wealth, public attention and the amorous attentions of adoring women. With fear and danger as his constant companions, his enemy was as likely to be a starved tiger as a fellow battle-hardened human being. Yet men gave up their freedom to become gladiators, noblewomen gave up their positions to elope with them, and Emperors risked death to fight these slaves. A work of history that reads like fiction, The Gladiator recreates the stories of Spartacus, Commodus, Caligula and others, bringing to life this most extraordinary Empire and the unique players in the gladiatorial arena.
评论 (5)
《学校图书馆杂志》(School Library Journal)书评
Adult/High School-Baker states at the very beginning that this book is not intended to be a scholarly study, but rather a history for the layperson. He lives up to this disclaimer. The book begins with a look at the origins of the gladiator games (circa 400 B.C.E.) and ends with why they were abolished 800 years later. In the 150 pages in between, the author covers all aspects of the games: training, equipment, styles of fighting, and types of combat (man versus man, man versus beast, and the grand spectacle of the naval battles). There are chapters on why men became gladiators (some were slaves, others prisoners of wars or common criminals, while others voluntarily participated), the development of the arenas, and even a chapter on the emperors who fought. A culminating chapter called "A Day at the Games" provides readers with a vivid blow-by-blow description-what it was like in the expensive and cheap seats, the opening ceremonies, the scheduling of the events, their staging, and the reactions of the crowds. Baker goes into great detail and the book may not appeal to squeamish readers. It is, however, very well written and the information is thorough enough for student research.-Robert Burnham, R. E. Lee High School, Springfield, VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
出版社周刊评论
In a lurid, sometimes sensational, tabloid-like account of Roman gladiatorial life, British author Baker (Invisible Eagle: The History of Nazi Occultism) offers an encyclopedic examination. While there were a few famous gladiators, such as Spartacus, the majority of these warriors were unnamed slaves, criminals or prisoners of war whose lives were nasty, brutish and short. Baker points out that there were different groups of gladiators, each with its own style of fighting. The Thracians, for example, used a round shield and sword, while the retiarii (net-men) used a net and trident spear. The games themselves were sponsored by the emperor, whose popularity was often secured by the magnitude of the contests he hosted. Using historical accounts of various games, Baker imaginatively re-creates a day at the Coliseum in Rome, which included a series of fights between criminals one armed, the other defenseless staged in a round robin manner until only one criminal was left standing; the victor was then killed unceremoniously by a Roman guard. The afternoon brought on the great battles between the "trained" gladiators, like the Thracians and the retiarii. The blood and dust from one combat had barely cleared before another began. Although they reflected the virtue of killing and facing death with the courage and dignity that dominated the Roman Empire, gladiatorial contests came to an end in the fifth century, when Christianity became the official state religion and when the empire itself was weakening. Baker builds upon an already established wealth of scholarship e.g., Michael Grant's Gladiators (2000) as he offers a lively, voyeuristic glimpse into the ancient world. Fans of the Ridley Scott movie won't be disappointed. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus评论
A US debut from British historian Baker renders a real taste of the unenviable gladiatorial life. Baker quickly puts the reader into the world where the gladiatorial contests took place. Rome was then a powerful warrior state, a militaristic culture that prided itself on martial discipline, that appreciated the virtue of a courageous death ("To the people of Rome, how one faced death was at least as important as how one faced one's life"), and that, by rejoicing in the display of blood, "demonstrated their utter contempt for suffering and death." In his trim, formal voice, Baker explains that the first gladiatorial fights started in 264 b.c. as a substitute for sacrifices honoring the recently deceased, nourishing the dead with the blood of the living. But the events grew in importance as Rome grew more imperial and as emperors found them important acts of political propaganda: The more impressive your gladiator shows, the greater your following. Gaining momentum, as they became part of the festivals celebrating the cycle of nature, gladiatorial battles-fought by slaves, criminals, prisoners of war, not a few free men, and occasionally women-soon became frequent entertainments on the Roman calendar. In one particularly vibrant chapter, Baker unfurls a day in the amphitheater as it was played out under the reign of Commodus. It starts with a hunt in the morning, where wild animals sent from the provinces-lions, tigers, bears, bulls, elephants, even rhinoceros-would fight each other and professional fighters known as "bestiarii." Then a few executions at lunchtime, in which the condemned-unarmed-were slain, then the full-bore gladiatorial fights in the afternoon. Baker also covers the architecture of amphitheaters (some had systems of pipes that would spray spectators with perfumed water), as well as the story of Spartacus, and makes brief, enlightening forays into Roman political and cultural history. An entrancing popular study of a topic so outlandish and atrocious from today's perspective that it can't help but fascinate.
《书目》(Booklist)书评
Baker doesn't relate much that has been secret about gladiators, but the recent hit movie will surely bring him readers who don't know it, whether secret or not. He pulls together in one compact volume the basic history of Roman gladiatorial combats, from their origins in human sacrifice to their gradual suppression by successive Christian regimes--a period of not much less than 1,000 years--and a good summary of the training and techniques of gladiators. He emphasizes that although gladiators were legally slaves, they had some of the charisma of rock stars, and he discusses the sacrifice of condemned criminals to wild beasts as well as the occasional dabblings of emperors in the arena (Commodus really was a slimy character). Fictionalized portions constitute a minor drawback, while a strong point of the book is the background it furnishes, which makes it useful to readers only minimally acquainted with Roman history. Good choice for popular history collections. --Roland Green
《图书馆杂志》(Library Journal )书评
Baker (Invisible Eagle: The History of Nazi Occultism) apparently hopes to benefit from the success of Hollywood's blockbuster movie Gladiator with this popular account of Rome's gladiator tradition. His claim that this book is "an attempt to chart the history of the Roman games without succumbing to the anachronism of imposing our own early 21st Century moral attitudes upon them" is, of course, hyperbole, for classical historians are rarely guilty of this historiographical failing. Baker often tells unsubstantiated and irrelevant stories about various emperors in an effort to stimulate the reader. In the chapter titled, "Curio's Swiveling Amphitheater," his muddled theory about the model for the games' venue rests upon a tale of Pliny the Elder that distinguished historian Michael Grant has called spurious. This is a terribly unfocused work, especially the chapter titled "A Day at the Games," which is supposed to give readers an idea of the bloody spectacles by presenting the events in a novelistic manner. Readers who are actually curious about the roots of the games will be far better served by Alison Futrell's Blood in the Arena: The Spectacle of Roman Power (Univ. of Texas, 2001). Not recommended. Clay Williams, Hunter Coll., New York (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
目录
| Introduction | p. 1 |
| Chapter 1 Duty to the Dead | p. 7 |
| Chapter 2 A Branch of Politics | p. 31 |
| Chapter 3 How to Kill, How to Die | p. 41 |
| Chapter 4 The Revolt of Spartacus | p. 59 |
| Chapter 5 Curio's Swivelling Amphitheatre | p. 67 |
| Chapter 6 Realms of Chaos | p. 75 |
| Chapter 7 Duels to the Death | p. 81 |
| Chapter 8 Battles Upon the Water | p. 87 |
| Chapter 9 Battles Against the Beasts | p. 97 |
| Chapter 10 The Emperors Who Fought as Gladiators | p. 113 |
| Chapter 11 The Horror of the Executions | p. 127 |
| Chapter 12 A Day at the Games | p. 149 |
| Chapter 13 The End of a Cruel Era | p. 195 |
| Glossary | p. 207 |
| Bibliography and Suggested Further Reading | p. 213 |