Learning about the Hunger Games in Rome

This Saturday I saw the Hunger Games. If you haven't seen it yet, GO NOW, SERIOUSLY. It was so perfect. Not exactly like the book, but possibly even creepier at parts (seeing all of the people at the Capitol on screen and how realistic they made the swanky hotel rooms and everything look, just made the story feel even more similar to our current culture... shivers!).

And funnily enough, it reminded me a lot of the trip I took to the Colosseum in Rome.



Now, we all know that Collins based the series on a combination of the gladiators and reality T.V. But I didn't realize how many elements of her story were really inspired by the gladiators until I saw the Colosseum in person, and learned about how the gladiatorial battles actually took place there.

For example, on this open field that used to be the Colosseum floor, there were around 60 elevators, which lifted the competitors/wild animals/scenery into place.



The field was completely changeable. The designers could make it look like a tropical rain forest, a barren desert, even, according to some historians, a flooded lake (although debates continue about whether or not they ever actually did this). They could change things as the competition went -- add elements like more lions/tigers/bears if the human vs. human fights got too dull, etc.

Sound familiar?

What else sounded familiar? The Rome rose in strength for about 300 years, as a Republic... Peaked for a couple hundred years... And then shifted into an Empire, led by Caeser (which eventually became the title of the emporer, though at first it was a family name), and began its downfall...*

Not that I am looking at any particular large countries that currently operate as Republics but whose governments are becoming increasingly more involved in every aspect of life and whose nominal leader is slowly acquiring more powers that were previously held by other governing branches... COUGHCOUGH.

Creepy.

P.S. - Go watch Hunger Games. NOW!

P.P.S. - "The film adaptation of Suzanne Collins' novel bests any of the "Twilight" movies' box office openings." SUCK IT BELLA, KATNISS 4EVA.

* I realize that was a really brief general summary and is probably not 100% accurate but I remembered what I could, okay?! wine at lunchtime takes a lot out of ya...