The animals of the arena: how and why could their destruction and death be endured and enjoyed?

摘要

Ludi (games) (spectacula) were important in Roman visual culture. Those involving animals (venationes) developed from moderately sized ritualized killing and hunt into carnage. Their popularity and development in scale and frequency contrasted sharply with the Romans' love of pets, good veterinary medicine, and fascination with animals. I explore factors that contribute to explaining the spectators' endurance and enjoyment of the venationes. Contextual factors were hunting traditions and a political system where power and popularity was gained through donations (euergetism). I suggest that the explanatory psychological factors are: hunter-insensitivity, psychological and neurological processes connected to enjoyment of cruelty (killing, aggression, horror), desensitization, neurological feedback loops, curiosity, envy, competition, mass psychology, diffusion of responsibility (bystander effect), and changed states of mind through identifications and emotional turmoil. Finally, I scrutinize psychologically one exceptional case of divergent mass behaviour at Pompey's games in 55 bc. I deconstruct what has been described as a compassionate attitude by the spectators, and by Cicero, who commented on the incident.