The Roman games, particularly the large-scale, violent spectacles such as chariot races, gladiatorial combats, and the slaughter of wild animals, constitute one of the most famous aspects of ancient Roman culture. Indeed, later ages came to view these games as uniquely Roman, a sort of trademark of Roman civilization. The violent nature of these spectacles has contributed to some modern perceptions of the Romans as a violent, callous, even a cruel people. Modern novels and movies about ancient Rome, for example, have frequently portrayed the Roman masses frenzied with blood lust as they watch humans and animals die in the arena.

Yet all of these views are either false or significantly exaggerated or oversimplified. To begin with, the often violent public games in question were not "uniquely" Roman, for the Romans did not invent these pastimes. In fact, the Romans...