Christian Mann – författare

This book surveys the practice of horse racing from antiquity to the modern period, and in this way offers a selective global history. Unlike previous histories of horse racing, which generally make claims about the exclusiveness of modern sport and therefore diminish the importance of premodern physical contests, the contributors to this book approach racing as a deep history of diachronically comparable practices, discourses, and perceptions centered around the competitive staging of equine speed. In order to compare horse racing cultures from completely different epochs and regions, the authors respond to a series of core issues which serve as structural comparative parameters. These key issues include the spatial and architectural framework of races; their organization; victory prizes; symbolic representations of victories and victors; and the social range and identities of the participants. The evidence of these competitions is interpreted in its distinct historical contexts and with regard to specific cultural conditions that shaped the respective relationship between owners, riders, and horses on the global racetracks of pre-modernity and modernity. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of The International Journal of the History of Sport.

This book surveys the practice of horse racing from antiquity to the modern period, and in this way offers a selective global history. Unlike previous histories of horse racing, which generally make claims about the exclusiveness of modern sport and therefore diminish the importance of premodern physical contests, the contributors to this book approach racing as a deep history of diachronically comparable practices, discourses, and perceptions centered around the competitive staging of equine speed. In order to compare horse racing cultures from completely different epochs and regions, the authors respond to a series of core issues which serve as structural comparative parameters. These key issues include the spatial and architectural framework of races; their organization; victory prizes; symbolic representations of victories and victors; and the social range and identities of the participants. The evidence of these competitions is interpreted in its distinct historical contexts and with regard to specific cultural conditions that shaped the respective relationship between owners, riders, and horses on the global racetracks of pre-modernity and modernity. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of The International Journal of the History of Sport.

Die Gladiatorenkämpfe verbreiteten sich während der römischen Kaiserzeit im ganzen Reich, auch in den griechischen Provinzen. Gerne betrachtet man sie als sicht- und meßbaren Ausdruck der Romanisierung. Doch wie „römisch“ waren die Gladiatorenkämpfe, welche Bedeutung hatte ihr römischer Ursprung aus der Perspektive der Griechen? In dieser Studie werden die Triebkräfte der Ausbreitung, vor allem aber die Wahrnehmung der Gladiatorenkämpfe durch die Griechen behandelt. Literarische Quellen zeigen, daß Gladiatorenkämpfe weniger zur Verhandlung eines Gegensatzes zwischen griechischer und römischer Kultur benutzt, sondern vielmehr in griechische Diskurse eingebunden wurden. Anhand der Grabdenkmäler läßt sich nachweisen, daß die Gladiatoren im Osten eine Selbstdarstellung an den Tag legten, die sich an derjenigen der Athleten orientierte; die Protagonisten der römischen Institution griffen damit auf griechische Traditionen zurück. Die Grabdenkmäler werden wegen ihrer besonderen Bedeutung für die behandelte Fragestellung in einem Katalog präsentiert. Die Forschungen zu den öffentlichen Spielen der Antike werden mit diesem Buch um einen bislang wenig erforschten Aspekt ergänzt. Gleichzeitig wird ein Beitrag zur Debatte über die Romanisierung der römischen Provinzen geleistet.