The development of sports have completely changed throughout generations. There have been different kinds of sports, for different people, for different roles. For example, gladiator battles were the most popular sport during Ancient Rome. A gladiator is either a warrior hero or a villain and is an object of scorn, envy, admiration, or even lust. A gladiator's role is fighting, killing, and dying. Gladiators lived in a training school that was right next to the colosseum and the training was very similar to the training for roman soldiers. The fighting is very different than normal fighting because it is ritualized and specialized. There were various types of armor and it was well decorated and balanced. A gladiator has one in six chances of dying every time he steps into the arena. Gladiator battles were very political and provided entertainment. They excluded women as athletes and were diversions for the common people. There were about 17 different types of gladiators, however of these 17, Thracians, Mirmillones, Retiarii, and Secutores were the most popular. Mostly they carried a sword and shield or a trident and net.
Another period of time where there were different kinds of sports that served different roles was Ancient Greece. During Ancient Greece, Olympic Games began to take place. The Olympic Games included pankration, boxing, wrestling, running, jumping, discus throw, and equestrian events. Pankration was a sport that combined wrestling and boxing and was considered one of the hardest sports. For jumping, athletes used weights to increase the distance of their jumps by throwing them backwards at the end of their jump. And horse and chariot races were used for equestrian events. The athletes were required to be naked to prove that they were not women or cheating. The only female that was allowed to attend the games was a priestess of Zeus's sister, Demiter. Similar to Ancient Rome, the games provided entertainment. However they were mostly based on religion rather than politics.
Ultimately, studying the history of sports allows us to see the development of modern sport. We can easily see more equality, rewards, specialization, and quantification. Sports moved from combat to ball and from religious to secular. It is very interesting to think about current sports and how so many things have changed. For example, women are now allowed to compete in most of the olympic events. Interestingly enough, just this year women are allowed to compete in the ski jump event for the winter olympics. Even though most of the things have changed, some things are still currently changing.
http://www.olympic.org/ancient-olympic-games?tab=the-sports-events
http://www.unrv.com/culture/roman-gladiators.php
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