17. Naumachia
This next competition is so over-the-top, it’s hard to fathom it exists today. In order to play Naumachia, the Roman Colosseum was filled up with water. Then, live-sized warships sailed through the colosseum to recreate famous naval battles from Roman history. However, instead of other historic reenactments, these ships actually did attack one another and sink. People died, even though this was a pretend battle. By the end of the fight, the ships that survived were painted red, and reused later.
The first recorded Naumachia game was given by Julius Caesar in 46 BCE. Instead of holding the battle in the colosseum, he ordered people to dig out a man-made lake. There were 2,000 prisoners playing the part of soldiers and 4,000 men rowing in the boats. Emperor Claudius threw another Naumachia after the completion of Fucine Lake. These were considered to be far more bloody than gladiator battles. Thousands of men were dying for the sake of entertainment, rather than just two men going against one another in combat.
