Violence has been socially constructed to mean different things in different contexts. The film Gladiator falls under the category of violence as entertainment. Back in the times of the gladiatorial games of the Roman Empire, violence was for the entertainment of the people as well, however, that only scratches the surface of violence’s purpose in the Roman Empire. Society in this time period is inundated with violence, to a much greater extent than today, and it plays many roles. Violence equals power; the more violence a person can inflict on someone else, the more power they are likely to have. If someone is unable to take part in the violence, he or she is probably on the lower end of the totem pole. Violence is used in the film Gladiator
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However, there were plenty of women who were enamored by gladiators. Some even went so far as to run away with a gladiator and elope such as the story of Eppia, a senator’s wife (Hopkins, 1983, p. 21). The majority of the time this occurs between a gladiator and an upper class female. Similarly, the few female gladiators were sometimes “free women of high status” (Hopkins, 1983, p. 21). These female gladiators were often sexualized in the gladiatorial games. Hopkins describes a statue depicting two female gladiators, one of which had her breasts bared, because that was clearly conducive to battling to the death. The female gladiators also tend not to be seen as competition. The one female gladiator portrayed in the entire movie is maliciously cut in half by another (male) gladiator. And overall, there are very few females in the movie at all, let alone females actually participating in the violence. This society, like many other societies in the time period, attributes violence to the men only while the women are expected to sit on the sidelines and watch and thus preserves gender roles. When women get involved with the gladiator games or the army, they have access to social mobility, but that does not correspond with the division between males and females. Males are supposed to be ambitious, not
However, there were plenty of women who were enamored by gladiators. Some even went so far as to run away with a gladiator and elope such as the story of Eppia, a senator’s wife (Hopkins, 1983, p. 21). The majority of the time this occurs between a gladiator and an upper class female. Similarly, the few female gladiators were sometimes “free women of high status” (Hopkins, 1983, p. 21). These female gladiators were often sexualized in the gladiatorial games. Hopkins describes a statue depicting two female gladiators, one of which had her breasts bared, because that was clearly conducive to battling to the death. The female gladiators also tend not to be seen as competition. The one female gladiator portrayed in the entire movie is maliciously cut in half by another (male) gladiator. And overall, there are very few females in the movie at all, let alone females actually participating in the violence. This society, like many other societies in the time period, attributes violence to the men only while the women are expected to sit on the sidelines and watch and thus preserves gender roles. When women get involved with the gladiator games or the army, they have access to social mobility, but that does not correspond with the division between males and females. Males are supposed to be ambitious, not