A Cultural History of Sport in Antiquity

by Paul Christesen (Editor), Charles H. Stocking (Editor), Wray Vamplew (Editor), Mark Dyreson (Editor), John McClelland (Editor)

Overview

A Cultural History of Sport in Antiquity covers the period 800 BCE to 600 CE. From the founding of the Olympics and Rome's celebratory games, sport permeated the cultural life of Greco-Roman antiquity almost as it does our own. Gymnasiums, public baths, monumental arenas, and circuses for chariot racing were constructed, and athletic contests proliferated. Sports-themed household objects were very popular, whilst the exploits of individual athletes, gladiators, and charioteers were immortalized in poetry, monuments, and the mosaic floors of the wealthy. This rich sporting culture attests to the importance of leisure among the middle and upper classes of the Greco-Roman world, but by 600 CE rising costs, barbarian invasions, and Christianity had swept it all away.

The 6 volume set of the Cultural History of Sport presents the first comprehensive history from classical antiquity to today, covering all forms and aspects of sport and its ever-changing social, cultural, political, and economic context and impact. The themes covered in each volume are the purpose of sport; sporting time and sporting space; products, training and technology; rules and order; conflict and accommodation; inclusion, exclusion and segregation; minds, bodies and identities; representation.

Paul Christesen is Professor at Dartmouth College, USA. Charles Stocking is Associate Professor at Western University, Canada.
Volume 1 in the Cultural History of Sport set
General Editors: Wray Vamplew, Mark Dyreson, and John McClelland

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781350023963
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	08/31/2022
Series:	The Cultural Histories Series
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.69(w) x 9.69(h) x 0.79(d)

About the Author

Paul Christesen is William R. Kenan Professor of Ancient Greek History in the Department of Classics at Dartmouth College. His recent publications include A New Reading of the Damonon Stele (2019).

Charles Stocking is Associate Professor in the Department of Classical Studies at Western University. His recent publications include The Politics of Sacrifice in Early Greek Myth and Poetry (2017).

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations vii

Series Preface x

List of Chronological Periods xi

List of Abbreviations xii

Introduction Paul Christesen Charles Stocking 1

1 The Purpose of Sport Paul Christesen Rose MacLean 23

2 Sporting Time and Sporting Space Sofie Remijsen 49

3 Products, Training, and Technology Christian Mann 69

4 Rules and Order Sarah C. Murray 95

5 Conflict and Accommodation Zinon Papakonstantinou 121

6 Segregation, Inclusion, and Exclusion Peter J. Miller 141

7 Minds, Bodies, and Identities Charles Stocking 159

8 Representation Nigel Spivey 179

Bibliography 217

Notes on Contributors 241

Acknowledgments 243

Index 245