Free Custom «History of Sports» Essay Paper

Sporting contests emerging as a result of professionalism in sports provided mass entertainment for spectators in the Ancient World. Ancient Greeks participated in Olympic Games, the Romans had the chariot and gladiator races, while the ancient Mesoamericans took part in in ball games. The ancient sports were a source of entertainment for spectators and players were highly influenced by financial gains. The most common similar aspect in modern sporting culture and ancient Roman sports is the presence of aggression and violence.

The Roman chariot race resembles a modern stock car race. Games associated with violence are the ball games like modern soccer. Contemporary professional wrestling, similar to Roman gladiator games experience brutality and fierceness from spectators to players (Rader 39). The Greek boxing lacked fixed set rules resulting in spectator dissatisfaction, therefore, the culture is similar to the modern World Wrestling Competition (Cowther 70).

William Baker explores the history of sports from the Paleolithic times whereby ball game sports were perceived as a profession. He describes the organization of Greek and modern ball games. Both ancient and modern cultures witnessed a dominant element - spectator’s violence. Disillusioned spectators and coaches were on numerous occasions engaged in a combat that resulted in spectator’s death (Baker, 331). The ancient Romans experienced a lot of physical actions in war games in comparison to the ball games. The ball games did not provide a favourable atmosphere for aggression resulting in spectator’s violence (Brasch 440).

 

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In conclusion, presence of aggression and violence in the contemporary game culture resembles the ancient Greece and Roman spectator games culture. The fierce spectator behavior is an outcome of spectators’dissatisfaction, who believe that their team was unfairly judged by referees.