Recreations of ancient Rome are interspersed with the ruins of today, where we see experts telling us or actors showing us what happened. As important as this information is, it feels out of place, given that the next episode is titled “Circus Maximus.” We meet several historical experts, and I recognize some of them from other documentaries and historical reenactments concerning ancient Rome. As big as the Colosseum was, it was not the largest arena in Rome the Circus Maximus held that honor. Immediately, the show addresses our popular understanding of Roman sports and corrects it. How does this show address the modern disconnect between slave and star when that was not the case in the ancient world? Most “stars” of entertainment and sports in ancient Rome were slaves and remained slaves until they died, no matter how many mentions we have of them in literature or graffiti. Today on Rome Reborn ® we are going to review each of the two episodes.Įpisode 1, “Slave to Star,” has a slightly misleading title, because it suggests that the status of slave was different from that of star they were not necessarily different at all. Through his life, Smithsonian also shows us the world of first-century Rome.
![chariot races in rome chariot races in rome](https://cdn.britannica.com/16/145416-050-E9FE9A2B/horses-bas-relief-Athens-agora.jpg)
Yes, they were quite famous, but they were slaves all the same. Scorpus was a slave, which was true of the vast majority of sports or entertainment figures in the Roman world.
![chariot races in rome chariot races in rome](http://www.vroma.org/images/mcmanus_images/chariotrace2.jpg)
The two-part show looks at the life and career of Flavius Scorpus, the most successful charioteer we know from the ancient Roman world. This past Easter on April 21, 2019, the Smithsonian Channel presented Rome’s Chariot Superstar, and from the ads it was unclear if this was a documentary or a docudrama. Around Easter there are always a lot of television shows about Jewish history, Jesus, or ancient Rome in general.