Changes

=== Rome ===

=== Rome ===

When [[Rome]] finally conquered Greece, the Romans quickly learned the Greek language and copied many Greek art forms, including theater. The difference was that Roman theater placed less emphasis on religion and more on spectacle and excitement. Roman audiences jaded quickly, however, and often expressed their frustration and impatience with rude, insensitive, and frankly loutish behavior. Roman plays tended to be comedies, though many Roman plays had military themes.

When [[Rome]] finally conquered Greece, the Romans quickly learned the Greek language and copied many Greek art forms, including theater. The difference was that Roman theater placed less emphasis on religion and more on spectacle and excitement. Roman audiences jaded quickly, however, and often expressed their frustration and impatience with rude, insensitive, and frankly loutish behavior. Roman plays tended to be comedies, though many Roman plays had military themes.

Roman gamesmasters--chiefly the plebeian and curule ''aediles'' (magistrates in charge of public works)--elevated theater to a high art. In addition to the poetic narratives that had characterized Greek theater, Rome introduced athletic competition, especially that famous genre called ''[[gladiator]]ial combat'' (from the [[Latin]] ''gladius'' a short double-edged sword) in which two men would fight duels with military weapons. At first these duels were mock duels. Then, beginning with the Imperial period, these duels became actual duels to the death, usually between slaves, condemned criminals, and/or prisoners of war.<ref name=MoR>See [[Colleen McCullough]]'s ''Masters of Rome'' series of historical novels, and especially their glossaries, that specifically address the subject of pre-Imperial gladiators.</ref> [[Emperor]]s after [[Augustus]] added combat between man and beast--and most famously, Emperor [[Nero]] publicly executed his enemies, especially [[Christianity|Christians]], by releasing carnivorous animals to eat them before a large audience.

Roman gamesmasters--chiefly the plebeian and curule ''aediles'' (magistrates in charge of public works)--elevated theater to a high art. In addition to the poetic narratives that had characterized Greek theater, Rome introduced athletic competition, especially that famous genre called ''[[gladiator]]ial combat'' (from the [[Latin]] ''gladius'' a short double-edged sword) in which two men would fight duels with military weapons. At first these duels were mock duels. Then, beginning with the Imperial period, these duels became actual duels to the death, usually between slaves, condemned criminals, and/or prisoners of war.<ref name=MoR>See [[Colleen McCullough]]'s ''Masters of Rome'' series of historical novels, and especially their glossaries, that specifically address the subject of pre-Imperial gladiators.</ref> [[Emperor]]s after [[Augustus]] added combat between man and beast--and most famously, Emperor [[Nero]] publicly executed his enemies, especially [[Christianity|Christians]], by releasing carnivorous animals to eat them before a large audience.

=== Medieval and Renaissance Europe ===

=== Medieval and Renaissance Europe ===