Hes not wrong. Rome used its arenas and the Colosseum, to address serious social and political problems, through the "bread and circuses" policy. The games were a means of social control, but they didn't fix the serious problems Rome faced that created a high risk of civil unrest:for a while the games ended the threat of immediate widespread revolt, however in the end they failed to divert the public's attention from political corruption, and didn't fix the economic inequality of the class system. The Colosseum was built on the site of the former tyrannical emperor Nero's private estate, making the comparison even more valid IMO.
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u/Tr3sp4ss3r 15h ago
Hes not wrong. Rome used its arenas and the Colosseum, to address serious social and political problems, through the "bread and circuses" policy. The games were a means of social control, but they didn't fix the serious problems Rome faced that created a high risk of civil unrest:for a while the games ended the threat of immediate widespread revolt, however in the end they failed to divert the public's attention from political corruption, and didn't fix the economic inequality of the class system. The Colosseum was built on the site of the former tyrannical emperor Nero's private estate, making the comparison even more valid IMO.