The amphitheaters of Pompeii were used for punishment, and enjoyment. Well, at least for the people watching. ‘Contestants,’ or prisoners who had committed some sort of crime, were pitted against each other, or against wild animals, or animals were set to fight other animals. This was a gruesome sport with deadly consequences, for this, after all, was a fight to the death. Crowds would gather to watch the ‘fun.’ If someone lived and the crowd had liked the way he had fought, his life might be spared. But if he had fought poorly, in the crowd’s opinion, he would die. Or if he lived he might be kept to fight again another day.
Would I have watched all this if I had been alive back then? Probably. Wouldn’t you have? I mean, back then this was a person’s source of entertainment. It was just something that happened. Everyone accepted it, and probably most everyone enjoyed it. Amphitheaters were an accepted fact of life.
As for this being a fair punishment, I would say, yes. I mean, after all, this would probably be a pretty good incentive not to commit a crime. And those who were set to fight in the amphitheatres? They made a bad choice and are now paying the consequences. No matter what, a crime’s a crime, and they were, after all, criminals.
As for our current methods of punishment, they may be more humane, but are they really working? For some, maybe. For most, well… Criminals just don’t seem like criminals anymore. While in prison they can get an education, even a degree. They have places to work out or watch t.v. Their clothes are paid for, their food is paid for, they can eve use the telephone, and yet they’re still complaining. Isn’t prison supposed to be a punishment? For some it may just seem like an easy way out. And what about capital punishment? A criminal is only put to death if he’s a murderer, and then, sometimes that isn’t even done. In Pompeii, people did not want to be criminals. The stakes for stealing or thievery were just too high.
In the time of Pompeii what I would have done for fun probably would have been pretty much what everyone else did. Go to social gatherings, amphitheatres, plays, and things like that. Like I’ve said before, amphitheatres, and other such things, were just accepted back then, like movies theatres or television is now. It’s basically what time you’re living in.
Amphitheatres were not only a source of entertainment for spectators, but a place to punish wrong-doers. The audience was able to have fun, see that justice was done, and, sometimes help to decide the fate of the unfortunate criminal. The criminal, on the other hand, was punished, usually killed, but, even though it was rare, he could live. Even if it was probably only to look forward to fighting again another day. Amphitheatres were a gruesome place, although they could also bring excitement, or despair, to the people of Pompeii.
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