Violent Identity: The Coliseumand the Narrative of Death

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Faculty of Fine Arts and Architecture, Lebanese University

Abstract

Gladiatorial games played an important role in maintaining the 
cohesion of Ro- man Society. This role was fully under- stood by 
the roman elites who extended large portions of the state 
resources to- wards building and maintaining a net- work of
amphitheaters throughout the Mediterranean regions. In this 
essay we examine the role of collective violence, its 
transformation into ritualistic-aesthet- ic activity in Roman 
circuses, its uses by the Empire to form collective identity and
maintain internal peace.

Keywords