“The Allure of the Arena: Exploring the Psychological and Societal Factors Behind the Enjoyment of Gladiatorial Fights and Wild Beast Hunts in Ancient Rome”

HIST/CLST 1100
Winter Term Essay
Part I due February 14, 2024
Part II due March 27, 2024
15% of Grade
Select ONE of the topics listed below for your paper. You will then need to formulate a THESIS
from this topic, an issue or question you will address. In other words, we do not want an
expository essay where you just explain ideas to me; such a paper will be poorly received. 
In
addition, your paper MUST incorporate of all the assigned readings, along with the additional
research you are instructed to perform. Thus, a paper that simply repeats what is discussed in
class will be marked poorly. Although we do not expect to see original ideas in this paper, we do
expect you to delve deeper into a topic than the information that was provided in the lectures and
tutorials. You are free to use our textbook and the weekly assigned readings for this essay, but
again the expectation is for you to dig deeper into the topic. PROPER CITATION methods are
necessary; lack thereof will result in SEVERE consequences, so make sure you understand the
proper conventions for both primary and secondary sources.
Essays should be typed, using double-spacing to allow room for comments. You will be
submitting an electronic copy to Turnitin by 11:59PM of the due date. This is to be done via
eClass.
Essay Topics:
1. Why did some Romans enjoy watching gladiatorial fights and wild beast hunts?
Ancient Sources:
Fagan, G. G. 2011. The Lure of the Arena: Social Psychology and the Crowd at the Roman
Games. Cambridge. pp.287-324 (the English translations appear after the original Greek
or Latin).
Secondary Sources:
Wiedemann, T. 1992. Emperors and Gladiators. London and New York. pp.26-47.
Fagan, G. G. 2013. “Gladiatorial Combat as Alluring Spectacle,” in Kyle and Christensen
(eds.), A Companion to Sport and Spectacle in Greek and Roman Antiquity. Oxford.
pp.463-477.
Carter, M. 2006/7. “Gladiatorial Combat: The Rules of Engagement,” Classical Journal 102:
97-114. 
Part I: Thesis
Write an essay proposal that details the topic you have chosen, as well as the thesis you intend to
pursue. You should also outline how you intend to prove the validity of your thesis, based on a
prelimary reading of the assigned items.
In addition, you must include commentary on 1 SCHOLARLY item not listed as part of the
assigned readings for the essay. You must locate this item yourself, by searching through the
library catalogue. Discuss how this item will contribute to your essay. 
Items set for our weekly
readings do not count for this part of the assignment.
If you do not submit this part of the essay assignment, not only will you receive a zero on the
assignment itself, but you will receive an automatic 50-point deduction in your formal essay. 
Length: 500 words
Value: 5% of grade
Due date: February 14, 2024 
Part II: Essay
Length: Approximately 2200 words. Please include a word-count at the end of your
paper. Papers that are significantly over or under the word-limit will be penalized. 
Value: 15% of grade
Date Due: March 27, 2024
Your tutorial on February 7th will be devoted to writing a good research essay. Make sure to
attend. In addition, make use of the information given to you in the two tutorials on how to
access library resources to help you conduct the research needed.