2024 Summer Olympics

[pbehn]

Tennis Golf and Cricket are a complete waste of grass, they should be banned on environmental grounds with the bars and cafes preserved to remind people what decadence leads to.

 

[GrauGeist]

Yeah...the opening ceremony was too weird.

It was supposed to be a nod to Dionysius, but completely lacked anything Greek.

Now, if you want to honor the spirit of the Greek games, have Greek Hoplites enter the stadium in full gear like they did back in the day: Athenians, Spartans, Laodiceans, Thebians, etc.

Now that would be really cool.

 

[SaparotRob]

"Joey, do you like movies about gladiators?"

 

[GrauGeist]

"Joey, do you like movies about gladiators?"

The age of the Gladiators was long after the sun set on the Hoplites.

 

[SaparotRob]

Don't bother me with facts.

 

[GrauGeist]

Don't bother me with facts.

Well, perhaps these facts might help:
Gladiators were often poorly armed and had various pieces of obsolete armor (if they were given any).
Their weapons were subgrade and often specialized for arena combat and certainly not military grade.

Actual trained Gladiators were often pitted against weaker opponents who had little or no protection and armed with only a trident or old sword.
Captured prisoners of war were often pitted against professional Gladiators, but they were not afforded their armor or weapons, so there was an intended handicap to insure they would lose.

To be honest, there was nothing glorious about gladitorial combat - Hollywood makes it out to be much more spectacular than it really was.

 

[Snautzer01]

Well, perhaps these facts might help:
Gladiators were often poorly armed and had various pieces of obsolete armor (if they were given any).
Their weapons were subgrade and often specialized for arena combat and certainly not military grade.

Actual trained Gladiators were often pitted against weaker opponents who had little or no protection and armed with only a trident or old sword.
Captured prisoners of war were often pitted against professional Gladiators, but they were not afforded their armor or weapons, so there was an intended handicap to insure they would lose.

To be honest, there was nothing glorious about gladitorial combat - Hollywood makes it out to be much more spectacular than it really was.

I think you might want to dig deeper.
Romans set up games cancelling out the advantage one had, with a handicap.

 

[GrauGeist]

I think you might want to dig deeper.
Romans set up games cancelling out the advantage one had, with a handicap.

The games were rarely ever fair.

On certain occasions, there would be a showdown between two celebrated Gladiators and in such a case, they were evenly armed - but this was the exception, not the rule.

 

[pbehn]

Was there no breakdancing, BMX or synchronised diving between gladiators then?

 

[GrauGeist]

Was there no breakdancing, BMX or synchronised diving between gladiators then?

No - Rome took their cicenses seriously and didn't allow that sort of nonsense.

 

[pbehn]

No - Rome took their cicenses seriously and didn't allow that sort of nonsense.

I can point you to sources that maintain that the mens 3 meter springboard synchronised diving is the ultimate expression of masculinity and gladiatorial combat, and it has been for several thousand years. I must admit all those sources work for the BBC sport commentary team though.

 

[GreenKnight121]

Geez, GrauGeist - SaparotRob was making a joke with a reference to a scene in the movie Airplane (1980 version) - and you took him seriously.

Sigh.

 

[GrauGeist]

Geez, GrauGeist - SaparotRob was making a joke with a reference to a scene in the movie Airplane (1980 version) - and you took him seriously.

Sigh.

Ahh...now, if he had said "have you ever seen a grown man naked", I would have caught the reference.