Gladiators Vs. Modern Athletes

~Roman Gladiators Versus Modern Athletes~

The Roman gladiators are forced to fight in the arena. 

 

Gladiators are to fight with  a hungry pack of lions to entertain the audience.

          To become a Roman Gladiator, you have to be strong, quick under the swords and have a logical sense of swordsmanship. To make it simple, you have to be a good fighter. The sacrifices you will have to make when you become a gladiator is your life will be at risk and you will suffer from wounds. You will have to train really hard every day to become a gladiator. The rewards of being a gladiator is of you become the best gladiator and kill off everyone else, then you will gain your freedom and never have to go back to being a slave or fight in the arena again. 

Kobe Bryant gives his all while playing in the games.

​        Basketball players like Kobe Bryant have to be a good basketball player and have a good mindset to know what moves to play next and have good communication skills to be able to work well with his other group members in the team. He also has to move quickly and jump high and have accurate aim to shoot the ball and gain points for his team. The sacrifices you have to make is you have to devote all your focus on the game and you can have a possibility of getting hurt. The rewards of being a famous basketball player is you will gain the attention and fans from all over the world and have recognition. You will also get trophies and good payments for your good work. You will gain fame and money if you work hard and become someone in the court.

        The Romans established values and influences during early Western Civilization and many of them has still remained in modern times. The values and influences are literature, law, military training, family values, architecture and engineering, art and music, and even religion. The values and influences the Romans established helped shaped our world today. Roman gladiators were very popular because they provided entertainment to the people. They have been through tough training just to entertain the people of the Romans. They were the celebrities of the time. There is a part of human nature that allows us to admire others that risk injury or worse. Gladiators risking their very lives symbolized the mightiest level of this inherent admiration. *1

James Naismith was the inventor of basketball.

         Basketball was invented in the United States by James Naismith. It is a sport that taller people can excel at. It has few minimum requirements, a ball, a target, a person. Basketball can easily be enjoyed with a friend and it doesn't cost much. The first sport that elementary school kids get a chance to play is usually basketball. Almost all schools have basketball hoops, and most have up to 10. Basketball only requires a hoop and a ball, so playing basketball is cheap and requires little. Thus, most kids start out playing basketball as their first sport and many love the idea, playing for colleges, the NBA, or on their free time. Basketball is also a little contact sport for younger kids, giving everyone a fair chance to play the game. Kids grow up with basketball, and thus, watch basketball. They love to play the game and get hooked very easily. More and more kids play each year. Basketball  hoops can be found on any playground, and in many driveways, and, unlike baseball and football, which require large areas. Also, one can shoot hoops alone. Unlike football, which can be painful, and baseball, which requires fairly substantial skill to keep a game going, basketball can be played by any skill level with little difficulty. Therefore, basketball has become like a tradition in the U.S. because it's simply made for anyone who's interested.

   
What’s different about gladiators and famous basketball players is that when you're a gladiator, your life is on the line and you're always at the risk of getting injured. In addition to that gladiators fight with weapons while basketball players don't fight physically, but compete with a subject of sports. However, for gladiators there's always blood shatter and gore in the arena and that's what the people of Rome like to see. There are different rules for gladiators then for basketball players. For gladiators, they have to fight like their life depended on it, which it does and they can't lose, or else they'll die. They have no freedom at all until they win the competitions. However for basketball players, they have the freedom to do what they want to do and not follow anyone's orders and have to be fearful of their lives being on the line. They don't have to be afraid of being slashed by an opponent's sword because they're basically in a basketball competition where either they lose or win the competition. They won't suffer serious consequences if they lose a game. In addition to that, the audience doesn't want to see blood shatter and the members of the teams aren't allowed to get into any fights during the game or they will have to sit out after having a foul. Furthermore, gladiators have to go to a school with other slaves, criminals and wretches that are trained to fight as gladiators and when you’re a gladiator, you can’t escape once you're in. They are trained by butchers a.k.a. old gladiators whose fighting days are over. They are forced to exercise every day with weights to build up their body strength. If they didn't practice right or work hard enough they will be beaten. On the other side, basketball players don't have to go to schools to get trained with other people. They train by themselves with their own teammates and coaches and they work hard to train too, but they won't get beaten for not working hard. They will just get a hearing from their coaches. Basketball is a sport that can be played all around the world while only in Rome, there are gladiators fighting each other. A gladiator’s owner invests in lots of money to buy them while basketball players don’t need to be bought. They simply audition to be chosen to become a famous basketball player. For gladiators, winning is all that matters because their lives depends on it. However, for basketball players, winning is not everything, it’s about the fun of the sport and the audiences supporting you. Even if they lose, it’s not that big of a deal. Roman gladiators will die as a punishment for losing while modern basketball players won’t be punished gravely for losing.  *2
     
        Some similarities about the Roman gladiators back then and the basketball players now is that they both have to go through a series of training before they enter the real competition and compete against their opponents. They both have instructors and coaches that get them to train and get ready for the match. They both have numerous numbers of audiences watching them during the match. Even though Roman gladiators and basketball players are two complete opposite things, it is still a competition and the members on each side all have great passion to win the competition with all they've got. Being a roman gladiator and a basketball player is hard work and it takes time to become a good gladiator and a good basketball player. Also, last of all, these two things are both very popular. Roman gladiators were very popular back in the ancient days in Rome. Now, in the modern days basketball players are very popular among audiences.  *2   
 

       The similarities and differences between ancient gladiatorial combat and today’s professional athletics has helped us understand that there are huge differences but also some similarities between Ancient Rome and modern times. This assignment helped me distinguish between what Ancient Rome and the modern times had in common and how the modern times has changed from back then and how some aspects of it has still remained.

Resources:

1. http://voices.yahoo.com/lasting-values-influence-ancient-rome-753481.html?cat=37

2. http://www.salariya.com/web_books/gladiator/oh_no/pages/training.html