torial games as a way to buy a crowd's attention and demonstrate his power over life and death (Watkins 8).
             The immense popularity of these gladiatorial contests in private ceremonies eventually led to their institution in more public forums. Julius Caesar was the first to use gladiatorial contests as a way to entertain the masses; his genius in presenting spectacles to the Roman people equaled his skills as a general and a politician. The people felt that the larger the scale of the battle, the better. Caesar responded to this sentiment with a battle between two armies, each with 500 men, 30 cavalrymen, and 20 battle elephants. He even managed to outdo his previous effort with a naval battle including 1,000 sailors and 2,000 oarsmen, staged on a huge artificial lake dug just for that purpose. Although hundreds of lives were lost in these colossal clashes, Caesar felt that the affirmation in his power that resulted was worthy of the bloodshed (Wiedemann 27).
             After Augustus Caesar came to power, he continued to utilize the displays as a significant political tool. In 22 B.C. Augustus brought all games in Rome under his direct control, realizing that the games were too important to be exploited by anyone else (Watkins 8). Augustus' reign was marked by wide scale improvements throughout the empire. Augustus boasted that he "found Rome brick and left it marble" (Gyles 894). Gladiatorial contests originally had a lot of religious significance when they were privately held to honor the deceased, but all religious value was lost during the transition into a public entertainment. The emperor would often serve as the sponsor and host in Rome, and local dignitaries played that role elsewhere (What Life... 142). The first public gladiatorial battles were held in the Circus Maximus, the chariot-racing stadium. As the popularity of these bloody contests swelled to an enormous level, the Roman consul realized...