The Decline and Fall of Spectacle

Abstract

This article analyses the decline and fall of most forms of Roman spectacle in Late Antiquity, as the empire contracted in some places and collapsed in others. It explores the evolution and development of various other spectacles—especially equestrian games like tournaments, hunting, and palii—in Rome’s medieval and early modern Latin, Byzantine, and Islamic successor societies, which shared many of the characteristics of ancient spectacle in terms of function if not necessarily form. It also examines the privatization of public spectacle and sites of spectacle in the Middle Ages, as well as the enduring impact of the images of Roman spectacle—especially those associated with the hippodrome in Constantinople—as expressions of political power in medieval and early modern Europe.