The course traces the origins of sport in the Greek world through to the gladiatorial spectacles of the Roman arena. It focuses upon its role in the celebration and definition of cultural identity, the impact of sporting success upon competitors and their places of origin, its impact upon spectators, its significance as a cultural phenomenon and the uses to which it was put by individual rulers and states, especially spectacle as entertainment and propaganda. Attention is also paid to the representation of athleticism, notions of manliness, and beauty in literature and art.