This is a readable, up-to-date, illustrated introduction to the history of sport and spectacle in the ancient world from the Ancient Near East through Greek and Hellenistic times and into the Roman Empire. <br><ul><br><li>Covers athletics, combat sports, chariot racing, beast fights and gladiators. </li><br><li>Traces the precursors of Greek and Roman sports and spectacles in the Ancient Near East and the Bronze Age Aegean. </li><br><li>Investigates the origins, nature and meaning of sport, covering issues of violence, professionalism, class, gender and eroticism. </li><br><li>Challenges the notion that Greek sport and Roman spectacle were polar opposites. </li><br><li>Approaches sport and spectacle as overlapping and compatible features of civilized states and empires.</li></ul>