There is an old saying: "Scratch a Christian, find a barbarian."

im all for bloody sports as long as both participants agree on joining in. when i grew up, we fought for fun, we were bored, it was good excercise, and we learned about a lot of things that way. what each person can handle, how strong you are, the way a person thinks, and much more. one of my favorite sports 2day is MMA. the gladiators i have respect for, but a lot of them were forced in2 it, so im not ok with that aspect

We had a conversation on this last night, my son and a mate traveleld in different directions last year. The concensus is that the Coliseum also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre was by far the most awe inspiring of the man made sights they experienced. OK, both these guys are into historical European martial arts and each can fight with a gladius. I do not travel, but can ponder on how it must feel to stand there and imaggine what was going on in the vicinity a couple of thousand years back. I find MMA, boxing and such at least more honest than football. Can't stand any of them though.

My son trained with a professional boxer, who happened to be a family member. I wasn't crazy about it at all but my son loved boxing. Who am I to say what he should do with himself? He was happy boxing....We don't have to agree with what other people enjoy in life. It's their bodies, their life. When he had fights, I supported him and kept my mouth shut about how I felt. I'm glad it was short lived and he has done a lot of growing since. He has found other joys in life.

The arena in Rome was not about sport even if they were described as games, it was about the Emperor displaying his authority, and the prudent giving of largesse, and the masses displaying loyalty and obediance to that authority. All the seating was specific to different classes and social groups. It was as close as the Romans came to blood sacrifice without openly admitting it. It was an integral part of any Roman society.
Probably the closest thing to a Roman arena would be a bull ring in terms of spectacle but not necessarily the social structure of the seating (I've never been so not sure of seating)
Like it or not, and you clearly don't, there is a need, and it's heavily male dominated, to see and/or be involved in combat. I'm sure there are plenty of works on this but whatever the rights and wrongs the need clearly exists, barbaric or not.

Change the channel... You don't have to watch it.......and no, I am not trying to troll you. Give it a serious consideration... Just saying, ok?

Gladitorial Combat was not a "sport" in Rome.
It was law.
Most Gladiators were sentenced to the pits. Prisoners of war, for whom the public enjoyed the spectacle of their death because many of them has lost loved ones in conflict with those nations.
No Gitmo for their suspected terrorists, it was the cross or the pits or slavery, and the pits were a part and parcel of slavery.

The arenas were Blood Theatre serving a legal purpose and a social outlet for aggressive hostilities against other nations of people, they also fueled a gambling economy, and were a handy way to dispose of political opponents.

Of course it seems barbaric to us, just as to them we would seem to be squeemish cowards. People who kill by remote control and fear to face their opponent head on eye to eye.

It was a different epoch.

We've come a long way

I hate sports. People fight and get hurt. I hate seeing people get hurt. I hate seeing people fall out in public. It's not funny at all. I guess I'm one to lend a helping hand to anyone who's hurt.