…While musing over the possibilities for reforming the American Criminal Justice system, I was left wondering: Could you use a modern-day sports stadium for Gladiatorial games? Using, say, the Oakland Coliseum, for example. Even assuming we drop all of the animal acts.
Granted, we obviously have a few technological benefits we could bring to Gladiator games (Jumbotron systems, High powered lighting, overpriced snack bars, etc.), but not being a major sports fan myself, I have no idea how well a modern stadium would fare in the “Barriers keeping the sword wielding maniacs from attacking the audience” department.
So, friends, dopers, countrymen…I ask you, could the games begin, or would I need to do a lot of retrofitting before I could pit Charles Manson and Ted Kaczynski against each other as Myrmillo and Retiarius?
Ranchoth
I’m not an expert on gladiatorial combat, unless you count watching Spartacus a number of times. But a couple of issues occur to me. Basically, in order to separate gladiators and crowd, you either need a high fence or a deep pit.
A deep pit might create problems with sight-lines from many parts of the stadium, since the seats are located to be able to see the action on the pitch, not fifteen feet below.
A fence would have other problems. Firstly there is again the issue of seeing over the fence into the stadium. Secondly, there is the issue of crowd safety: in Britain, high fences between football pitches and the stands have been prohibited since the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 when scores of people were killed in a crush against the fence.
I think the problems are not insurmountable, since football and soccer arenas are commonly used to house other events like rock concerts and boxing matches with very different requirements. However, the usable seating might be significantly reduced.
One solution might be to put the fighters on a platform surrounded by spikes, crocodiles, etc, to avoid their escape whilst permitting a clear audience view.
(But please don’t put this into practice.)
Use a fence, but make it plexiglass, just like in a hockey rink. That should keep the Gladiators from make a bid for freedom, while still allowing the crowd to see the action.
Most football and baseball stadia have a 4-to-10 foot wall between the fans and field in most areas anyway. Add more fencing is relatively easy. In most stadiums, especially multipurpose stadia, the fencing is movable and so can be easily replaced.
I would think that converting an existing stadium like the NA Coliseum or the Superdome or something to gladiatorial games would be relatively easy. Most large pro sports stadia are consciously designed to be changeable into a variety of formats. The stadium closest to me, SkyDome, can be converted from baseball to pro football to basketball to a convention center and back to a rock concert venue in a matter of hours.
I don’t think sightlines would be an issue. There’s always a nook or cranny you can’t see, but even with a taller fence most of the field would be visible. I mean, they’re big fields.
The only stadia I think you’d have a problem with would be baseball-specific stadia, like Pacific Bell Park or Camden Yards. I’m not sure if they are designed to be convertible to any other purpose.
Many of the smaller venues (~20,000 people) are used for boxing and/or wrestling, which would be similar in setup for a gladiatorial event, IMO.
My design for non-voluntary gladiator fights:
• Combat arena rasied 5’ off the stadium floor (still gives the front row seats a good view)
• 4’ plexiglass wall around the arena (should keep most of the fights inside, yet remain visible)
• Surround the arena with barbed wire for 20’-30’ in all directions.
• Use a retractable walkway to reach the arena safely.
Let the games begin!
Incidentally, the Ultimate Fighting series uses an arena completely enclosed with plexiglass walls. Gives it that Thunderdome 2 men in, 1 man out feel yet still keeps thing somewhat civilized.
Don’t use plexiglass. Use Lexan like in Battlebots.