I checked all the other reviews on that amazon page; it takes more than one statement it is fiction from an unidentified person in 1999 to be conclusive proof the book is fiction. My research shows that at least 50 reviews and websites identify it as a work of nonfiction. How about a review from an identified professional person.
THIS NEEDS ITS OWN THREAD:: TODAY's WT Paragraph 16
by Lied2NoMore 72 Replies latest jw friends
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suavojr
INteresting notes from the author:
Author's Note
So many sources were used in preparing this volume that it would be impossible to name them all. In many cases, only a single reference was taken from a book.
However, some of the main works dealing with gladiatorial games are listed in the Bibliography. Some of the sequences, especially the description of the shows at the time of Carpophorus, are a compendium of many sources.
In describing how Carpophorus trained the animals that had relations with women, I used Apuleius and also the technique employed by a Mexican gentleman I met in Tia Juana who was making 16mm. stag films on the subject.
The description of the venatores' battle with the lions and tigers is a combination of original sources, J. A. Hunter's account of Masai warriors spearing lions, and comments from Mel Koontz and Marbel Stark, both of whom are professional lion tamers.
The crocodile wrestling is described by Strabo, but I added material told me by a Seminole Indian who wrestled alligators in Florida.
The gladiatorial combats are all taken from contemporary accounts or from graffiti (wall drawings) in Pompeii. The bullfights are from graffiti of the fights, contemporary descriptions, the murals in Cnossus, incidents I've observed in Spanish bullfights, and suggestions made by Pete Patterson, who is a rodeo clown.
The battle between the Essedarii and the Greek Hoplites is a combination of Tacitus' description of British war chariots, Hogarth's description of the Hoplite phalanx in Philip and Alexander of Macedon, extracts from Mason's Roping, and the manner in which a British square was handled in the early nineteenth century. The elephant fights come from contemporary sources as Capt. Fitz-Bemard, who saw war elephants in action in India.
The description of Chilo's tavern is taken from, Macedeo Maiuri's Pompeii and my own notes on a wine shop there.
The conversation between the men is nearly all from Petronius' Satyricon. Although my account of Carpophorus' death is completely fictitious, polar bears were seen in the arena, possibly as early as Nero's reign.
The Romans did believe that the narwhal's horn was that of a unicorn. The narwhal, being a mammal like a whale or porpoise, can produce ivory.
© 1958 by Daniel P. Mannix
Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 58-13384
First Printing: November, 1958
Second Printing: December, 1959
Third Printing: December, 1960
Fourth Printing: September, 1963
Fifth Printing: June, 1969
First Canadian Printing: December, 1958
Second Canadian Printing: March, 1960
Printed in the United States of America
Ballantine Books, Inc.
101 Fifth Avenue
New York, New York 10003Hail Caesar, we who are about to die salute you!
Ave, Caesar, morituri te salutamus.Said to be a sarcastic greeting by Roman gladiators as they entered the arena before starting mortal combat to entertain and to distract Roman citizens from their economic and other social problems.
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suavojr
Check this link, you will find info on this book.
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suavojr
Just read the introduction... Hollywood could not film a movie like this today
NERO WAS EMPEROR and for two weeks the mob had been rioting uncontrolled in the streets of Rome. The economy of the greatest empire that the world had ever seen was coming apart like an unraveling sweater.
The cost of maintaining Rome’s gigantic armed forces, equipped with the latest catapults, ballistae, and fast war galleys, was bleeding the nation white and in addition there were the heavy subsidies that had to be paid to the satellite nations dependent on Rome for support. The impoverished government had neither the funds nor the power to stop the riots.
In this crisis, the Captain of the Shipping hurried by chariot to consult with the first tribune.
"The merchant fleet is in Egypt awaiting loading,” he announced. “The ships can be loaded either with corn for the starving people or with the special sand used on the track for the chariot races. Which shall it be?"
"Are you mad?" screamed the tribune. "The situation here has got out of control. The emperor's a lunatic, the army's on the edge of mutiny and the people are dying of hunger. For the gods' sake, get the sand! We have to get their minds off their troubles!"
Soon a special announcement was made by heralds that the finest chariot races on record would be held at the Circus Maximus. Three hundred pairs of gladiators would fight to the death and twelve hundred condemned criminals would be eaten by lions. Fights between elephants and rhinos, buffalo and tigers, and leopards and wild boars would be staged. As a special feature, twenty beautiful young girls would be raped by jackasses.
Admission to the rear seats, free. Small charge for the first thirty-six tiers of seats.
Everything else was promptly forgotten. The gigantic stadium, seating 385,000 people, was jammed to capacity. For two weeks the games went on while the crowd cheered, made bets and got drunk.
Once again the government had a breathing space to try to find some way out of its difficulties.
These Early "Sport" Excesses Diverted Attention from Social Problems
The games—as these incredible spectacles were politely called—were a national institution. Millions of people were dependent on them for a living: animal trappers, gladiator trainers, horse breeders, shippers, contractors, armorers, stadium attendants, promoters and businessmen of all kinds.
To have abolished the games would have thrown so many people out of work that the national economy would have collapsed. In addition, the games were the narcotic that kept the Roman mob doped up so the government could operate.
A performer named Pylades contemptuously told Augustus Caesar, "Your position depends on how we keep the mob amused." Juvenal wrote bitterly, “The people who have conquered the world now have only two interests—bread and circuses."
Is it possible that the Rome of that time and some countries of today have comparable social issues?
In a sense, the people were trapped. Rome had over-extended herself. She had become, as much by accident as design, the dominant nation of the world.
The cost of maintaining the Pax Romana, "the Peace of Rome", over most of the known world was proving too great even for the enormous resources of the mighty empire. But Rome did not dare to abandon her allies or pull back her legions who were holding the barbarian tribes in a line extending from the Rhine in Germany to the Persian Gulf.
Every time that a frontier post was relinquished, the wild hordes would sweep in, overrun the area and move just that much closer to the nerve centers of Roman trade.
So the Roman government was constantly threatened by bankruptcy and no statesman could find a way out of the difficulty.
The cost of its gigantic military program was only one of Rome's headaches. To encourage industry in her various satellite nations; Rome attempted a policy of unrestricted trade, but the Roman workingman was unable to compete with the cheap foreign labor and demanded high tariffs.
When the tariffs were passed, the satellite nations were unable to sell their goods to the only nation that had any money.
To break the deadlock, the government was finally forced to subsidize the Roman working class to make up the difference between their "real wages" (the actual value of what they were producing) and the wages required to keep up their relatively high standard of living.
As a result, thousands of workmen lived on this subsidy and did nothing whatever, sacrificing their standard of living for a life of ease.
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suavojr
Now, what reaction would we get from society if we were to film something like this as entertainment?
What a double standard for the GB, they tell the R&F never to watch a rated R movie because it is not for christians... yet they entertain themselves with books that if filmed would get banned in most countries.
Soon a special announcement was made by heralds that the finest chariot races on record would be held at the Circus Maximus. Three hundred pairs of gladiators would fight to the death and twelve hundred condemned criminals would be eaten by lions. Fights between elephants and rhinos, buffalo and tigers, and leopards and wild boars would be staged. As a special feature, twenty beautiful young girls would be raped by jackasses.
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00DAD
Literary Influence
According to Martin M Winkler's book, Gladiator: Film and History, Mannix's 1958 non-fiction book Those about to Die (reprinted in 2001 as The Way of the Gladiator) was the inspiration for David Franzoni's screenplay for the 2000 movie Gladiator.
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pixel
Didn't they say on last year's Yearbook that they do really really research before publishing? Yeah right.
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Apognophos
Just because some parts of the book are embellished or hypothetical, that doesn't mean the part about the Christians was fabricated. I'm awaiting more info on this before making up my mind.
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JeffT
I'm doing some research, I'll report back when I know more. I can't find a reference to his college degrees (if any).
And check this out:
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Daniel_P._Mannix
Edited to add
Here's a review from a retired attorney and writer. While this book may not qualify as "fiction" I don't think it qualifies as a source of materiel for a serious article.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Way-Gladiator-Daniel-Mannix/dp/0743413032
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problemaddict
Yeah lets not jump to conclusions guys. Even if it is historical fiction, historical fiction is usually based on real events. i think we are more concern with the actual claims made and wether they are accurate, that what % of the book is fiction and what is not.