C I R C E N S E S Ut quisquem vicerit occidat - Kill the loser
whoever he may be could have free spectacles; it was a right of
the citizens to join banquets offered by the rich and famous,
and to enjoy shows in the circus or the amphitheatre. Everywhere
in the Roman world rich and prominent citizens felt like a duty
to maintain a cohort of clientes in order to get social
consensus, and the circenses were part of it. In Rome the games
were sponsored by the emperor and by the nobility: "panem et
circenses" were given to the public so as to distract their
attention from more important matters. The gladiatorial "games"
had started as religious rites, though later on the sacred
character of the games was almost forgotten. Their popularity
and also the costs of their "production" grew up to be enormous,
and a proof of their social importance is shown by the fact that
the yearly schedule and the organization of the ludi were
regulated by law. The most popular games were the ludi
circenses, or chariot races, which to