Come with me to my favourite era of them all. Can you guess where we're going?
Victorian England?
Nah.
The Renaissance?
Nuh-uh,
The Dark Ages?
Good guess. Try again.
Ancient Rome?
Bingo!
My heart belongs in Ancient Rome, so I thought I'd share one of my favourite legends.
Image by Franck Barske from Pixabay
Gladiatorial fights, along with chariot races, were THE big sports events of the day. You'd cheer for favourite teams and root for favourite gladiators. The men were pretty much the equivalent of today's sport's heroes. Being a spectator would not be much different than going to a football or baseball game today.
The chariot games were fascinating in their own right, but...let's go to the arena instead.
For Ancient Roman slaves, it was possible to buy your freedom. As a gladiator, you were well-paid. Even more so if you were a crowd favourite. Therefore, survive the arena for three years--you'd likely become a free man.
Some free-men became gladiators solely for the fame and fortune. One emperor would partake in battles in the ring himself. Of course...he'd always win.
Picture it.
The Emperor is sitting in the gilded section of the spectator stands, watching the day long gladiator games.
The prisoners come out, forced to fight to the death.
Later, gladiators come out, putting on their fantastic show.
The final performance...
A trap door opens.
Out saunters a lion.
However...the organizers have run out of prisoners.
Trained gladiators are too expensive to continually have killed.
So...
Bored out of his mind, the Emperor instructs his guards to send an entire section of spectators into the arena.
That's right!
You're sitting there at the game, eating Ancient Roman popcorn, cheering with your buddies and family-- and suddenly you're all rounded up and tossed into battle.
According to legend, it happened under Emperor Caligula.
And there you have it. Your useless, but fascinating fact of the day.