Athletics and Literature in the Roman Empire

Greek athletics flourished more in the Roman empire than it ever had before. This book offers an exciting new cultural history of the athletics of that period, setting out evidence for athletic festivals and athletic education. It also explores the way in which discussion of athletics, a highly-controversial subject, could become entangled in wider debates in Greek and Roman culture. In doing so it overlaps between 'literary' and 'non-literary' texts and offers major new readings of a...
More Description

Greek athletics flourished more in the Roman empire than it ever had before. This book offers an exciting new cultural history of the athletics of that period, setting out evidence for athletic festivals and athletic education. It also explores the way in which discussion of athletics, a highly-controversial subject, could become entangled in wider debates in Greek and Roman culture. In doing so it overlaps between 'literary' and 'non-literary' texts and offers major new readings of a wide range of Greek and Latin authors.