Ancient Games - Introduction

There are sports that have been played for centuries, many of them strongly based on violence where the participants were often prisoners or slaves and needed to fight until their death. During the first naumachia games, given by Emperor Caesar, 6000 prisoners of war had to fight to their death. The somewhat less bloody Gladiator games, also from the Roman Empire saw competitors fight not only with other gladiators, but also with convicted criminals and wild animals. 

Many ancient sports are still played today at events such as The Olympics and The Highland Games, which includes competitions in caber toss, hammer throwing and sheaf toss.