They picked up the Etruscan practice of having people fight to the death in “games” in honor of the dead (another form of human sacrifice) and moved it away from funerals to turn it into a form of popular entertainment. Gladiatorial matches and other spectacles at the circus entertained the population and fed the reputation of the sponsors at the cost of the blood of the slaves who fought and died in the arena. And in daily life, the Roman authorities would act with unsurpassed brutality against anyone who dared to question or challenge their authority.
