Blood in the Arena
The Spectacle of Roman Power
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Blood in the Arena
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Narrated by:
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Devon Y. Enyedy
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By:
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Alison Futrell
About this listen
From the center of imperial Rome to the farthest reaches of ancient Britain, Gaul, and Spain, amphitheaters marked the landscape of the Western Roman Empire. Built to bring Roman institutions and the spectacle of Roman power to conquered people, many still remain as witnesses to the extent and control of the empire.
In this audiobook, Alison Futrell explores the arena as a key social and political institution for binding Rome and its provinces. She begins with the origins of the gladiatorial contest and shows how it came to play an important role in restructuring Roman authority in the later republic. She then traces the spread of amphitheaters across the Western empire as a means of transmitting and maintaining Roman culture and control in the provinces.
Futrell also examines the larger implications of the arena as a venue for the ritualized mass slaughter of human beings, showing how the gladiatorial contest took on both religious and political overtones. This wide-ranging study, which draws insights from archaeology and anthropology, as well as classics, broadens our understanding of the gladiatorial contest and its place within the highly politicized cult practice of the Roman Empire.
The book is published by University of Texas Press. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.
Praise for the book:
“Brings fresh perspectives to the study of the Roman amphitheater…important insights into the psychological dimensions of these public spectacles for the Roman viewer.” (Classical World)
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- Deadly Arena Sports of Ancient Rome
- By: Christopher Epplett
- Narrated by: Matthew Josdal
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 213
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 185
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Story4 out of 5 stars 184
It's hard for modern listeners to truly grasp the spectacle that was arena sports in ancient Rome, which pitted man against man and man against beast in mortal combat. Our modern games of football and hockey, or even boxing and MMA, truly pale in comparison. The Gladiators is a comprehensive survey of these ancient sports, focusing on gladiatorial combat and the beast hunts (venationes).
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3 out of 5 stars
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A lot drier than the description lets on
- By Jim on 06-13-17
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The Etruscans
- A Captivating Guide to the Etruscan Civilization of Ancient Italy that Preceded the Roman Republic
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Richard L. Walton
- Length: 3 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 7
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 7
The Roman Republic, and later the Roman Empire, was an unusual conqueror because it would absorb and assimilate elements of the cultures it dominated. A standing practice was to allow the defeated to continue practicing their culture and religion so long as they paid their taxes on time. Such a procedure was part of why Christianity would seep into the Roman Empire around the 1st century CE, for example. For the Etruscans, this meant they influenced aspects of Roman civilization, one of the most powerful cultures in the history of the Western world.
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Thebes
- The Forgotten City of Ancient Greece
- By: Paul Cartledge
- Narrated by: David Timson
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 142
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 118
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 118
Among the extensive writing available about the history of ancient Greece, there is precious little about the city-state of Thebes. At one point the most powerful city in ancient Greece, Thebes has been long overshadowed by its better-known rivals, Athens and Sparta. In Thebes: The Forgotten City of Ancient Greece, acclaimed classicist and historian Paul Cartledge brings the city vividly to life and argues that it is central to our understanding of the ancient Greeks' achievements - whether politically or culturally.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Why is this author considered an expert scholar of Ancient Greece?
- By DaneDeer on 11-06-20
By: Paul Cartledge
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The Fall of Rome
- And the End of Civilization
- By: Bryan Ward-Perkins
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 91
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 72
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 72
In The Fall of Rome, eminent historian Bryan Ward-Perkins argues that the "peaceful" theory of Rome's "transformation" is badly in error. Indeed, he sees the fall of Rome as a time of horror and dislocation that destroyed a great civilization, throwing the inhabitants of the West back to a standard of living typical of prehistoric times. Attacking contemporary theories with relish and making use of modern archaeological evidence, he looks at both the wider explanations for the disintegration of the Roman world and also the consequences for the lives of everyday Romans.
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5 out of 5 stars
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best book ever on Fall of Rome
- By james m. on 01-30-22
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The Invention of Sicily
- A Mediterranean History
- By: Jamie Mackay
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 48
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 41
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 41
Sicily has always acted as a gateway between Europe and the rest of the world. Fought over by the Phoenicians and Greeks, the Romans, Goths and Byzantines, Arabs and Normans, Germans, and the Spanish and the French for thousands of years, Sicily became a unique melting pot where diverse traditions merged, producing a unique heritage and singular culture. In this fascinating account of the island from the earliest times to the present day, author and journalist Jamie Mackay leads us through this most elusive of places.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Wonderful overview of Sicily
- By jay lazier on 01-28-24
By: Jamie Mackay
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The Chalice and the Blade
- Our History, Our Future
- By: Riane Eisler
- Narrated by: Riane Eisler
- Length: 2 hrs and 52 mins
- Abridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 298
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Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 252
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 250
Riane Eisler believes that war and the "war of the sexes" are concepts neither divinely nor biologically ordained. Join the author as she reconstructs a prehistoric culture based on partnership rather than domination and traces the roots of the global shift to patriarchy. Eisler, an acclaimed scholar, futurist, and activist, also presents new scripts for living based on a more socially, economically, ecologically, personally, and spiritually balanced society. This script is in direct opposition to the tension and violence typical of what she calls the dominator model. Her vision is the partnership model, which today is struggling to reemerge. This program is an important contribution to that struggle.
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1 out of 5 stars
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the chalice and the blade
- By Anne on 07-25-08
By: Riane Eisler
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Maya History: A Captivating Guide to the Maya Civilization, Culture, Mythology, and the Maya Peoples’ Impact on Mesoamerican History
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: David Patton
- Length: 4 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 32
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 31
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 31
In this new Captivating History audiobook, you will discover amazing little-known facts about the Mayans as well as the truth about their remarkable history.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Beautifully written, terribly narrated
- By Anonymous User on 01-20-24
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Ancient Rome
- By: Thomas R. Martin
- Narrated by: John Lescault
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 812
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 701
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 696
With commanding skill, Thomas R. Martin tells the remarkable and dramatic story of how a tiny, poor, and threatened settlement grew to become, during its height, the dominant power in the Mediterranean world for 500 years. Encompassing the period from Rome's founding in the eighth century BC through Justinian's rule in the sixth century AD, he offers a distinctive perspective on the Romans and their civilization by employing fundamental Roman values as a lens through which to view both their rise and spectacular fall.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great review and understanding of Christianity
- By David on 12-08-20
By: Thomas R. Martin
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Lost Enlightenment
- Central Asia's Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane
- By: S. Frederick Starr
- Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell
- Length: 25 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 502
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 434
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 432
Lost Enlightenment recounts how, between the years 800 and 1200, Central Asia led the world in trade and economic development, the size and sophistication of its cities, the refinement of its arts, and, above all, in the advancement of knowledge in many fields. Central Asians achieved signal breakthroughs in astronomy, mathematics, geology, medicine, chemistry, music, social science, philosophy, and theology, among other subjects.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Subject worthwhile but repetative narrative
- By F-M on 04-10-14
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Introducing the Ancient Greeks
- From Bronze Age Seafarers to Navigators of the Western Mind
- By: Edith Hall
- Narrated by: Sian Thomas
- Length: 12 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 77
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 65
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 66
Acclaimed classics scholar Edith Hall's Introducing the Ancient Greeks is the first book to offer a synthesis of the entire ancient Greek experience, from the rise of the Mycenaean kingdoms of the sixteenth century BC to the final victory of Christianity over paganism in AD 391. Each of the ten chapters visits a different Greek community at a different moment during the twenty centuries of ancient Greek history.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Surveying the Greeks
- By Jolene on 05-31-18
By: Edith Hall
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Democracy
- A Life
- By: Paul Cartledge
- Narrated by: Paul Hodgson
- Length: 13 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 34
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 29
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 28
Ancient Greece first coined the concept of democracy, yet almost every major ancient Greek thinker - from Plato and Aristotle onward - was ambivalent toward or even hostile to democracy in any form. The explanation for this is quite simple: The elite perceived majority power as tantamount to a dictatorship of the proletariat. In ancient Greece, there can be traced not only the rudiments of modern democratic society but the entire Western tradition of antidemocratic thought.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great Listen!
- By Timothy on 06-01-21
By: Paul Cartledge
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The History of Rome, Book 1
- Roman Origins Before the Monarchy
- By: Theodor Mommsen
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 50
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 47
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 46
Book 1 begins in the dim prehistory of Latium and describes the society that emerged there in the centuries leading up to the establishment of the first Roman king. This penetrating look at emerging Latin culture takes us into the strange world of their religion; their family structure; and their legal system, trade, alliances, and relationships with neighboring tribes and kingdoms. It brilliantly sets the stage for what is to come in the following volumes.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Details beyond imagination
- By David C. on 01-23-17
By: Theodor Mommsen
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Sumerians: A History from Beginning to End
- By: Henry Freeman
- Narrated by: Christopher Boozell
- Length: 2 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 53
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 47
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 46
A legendary civilization vanished under the Fertile Crescent and escaped a fate worse than death until Sumerologists questioned widely accepted truths. The Sumerians reemerged onto the extraordinary timeline of human history. Their tales of kings and gods, including the Epic of Gilgamesh, and their fearless trade in distant lands, during the remarkable Bronze Age, centered in the world’s first city-states that chronicled ancient rivalries and their enduring impact.
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2 out of 5 stars
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The writing is so poor I could not listen.
- By Erin on 12-04-21
By: Henry Freeman
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Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest
- By: Matthew Restall
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 61
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 50
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 50
Using a wide array of sources, historian Matthew Restall highlights seven key myths, uncovering the source of the inaccuracies and exploding the fallacies and misconceptions behind each myth. This vividly written and authoritative book shows, for instance, that native Americans did not take the conquistadors for gods and that small numbers of vastly outnumbered Spaniards did not bring down great empires with stunning rapidity. We discover that Columbus was correctly seen in his lifetime - and for decades after - as a briefly fortunate but unexceptional participant in efforts.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A good book marred by awful narration
- By Dr. Philip Fowler on 02-23-24
By: Matthew Restall
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A History of Iran
- Empire of the Mind
- By: Michael Axworthy
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 13 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 157
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 138
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Story4 out of 5 stars 138
Although frequently vilified, Iran is a nation of great intellectual variety and depth, and one of the oldest continuing civilizations in the world. Its political impact has been tremendous, not only on its neighbors in the Middle East but also throughout the world. From the time of the prophet Zoroaster, to the powerful ancient Persian Empires, to the revolution of 1979, the hostage crisis, and the current standoff over Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Michael Axworthy vividly depicts the nation’s rich history.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Lazy Narration
- By Arya Pourtabatabaie on 11-05-16
By: Michael Axworthy
What listeners say about Blood in the Arena
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Bill Robinson
- 07-10-23
Excellent
So informative. This gave me new perspective on the role of the amphitheater and gladiatorial games in Roman culture. Highly recommend.
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