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After one such incident in Pompeii, Emperor Nero forbade all such gatherings for ten years. The incidents usually began with spectators hurling insults at one another, then escalated into stone throwing melees and often ended in carnage when the combatants picked up weapons. Sporting events in ancient Rome often got out of hand.
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The Olympics, however, continued through the Roman era as a pagan festival, with Nero among those that attended, until they were shut down by the Christian Roman emperor Theodosius I, who ordered the closure of all pagan events in 393. Romans appear to have been more interested in gladiator battles, chariot races and large spectacles and less interested in drama and Olympic-style sports as was the case with ancient Greeks. Some racetracks were larger than NFL stadiums. Horses and athletes were given-performance-enhancing drugs. Events were often sponsored by wealthy citizens as displays of their wealth. The huge crowds that gathered in stadiums and forums to watch sporting events screamed " panem at Colosseum !" ("bread and circuses"). Chariot racing and gladiator battles were fixtures of religious festivals. The Romans loved sports, some of which were quite brutal and bloody. The Romans transformed the athleticism and ritual of Greek sport into a spectacle.