Both Seneca and Tertullian harbor completely unfavorable opinions of both institution of the games and the people who attend them. They both describe the games as inhumane and barbaric, as they are not only subjecting defenseless, armorless people to this treatment, it is brutal beyond the necessity of the punishment. The brutality is performed at the demand of the crowd, for their pleasure. Tertullian makes the point that some of these people may even be innocent, and all the worse it would be to be subjected to an innocent man being torn apart brutally. Seneca and Tertullian assert that the people who attend the games are not only bloodthirsty animals to begin with, but that anyone who attends the games leaves with greater tendencies toward those qualities than when then entered them. These writers comment on a currently well-known psychological concept of the 'mob mentality'. They assert that one who goes to these games might be sucked into doing the same brutal things, no matter how great his character was prior to the event. The writers sometimes refer to the crowd as a 'mob'. Tertullian even mentions that the man forgets about his own personal, individual identity, when he becomes part of the greater spectacle (modern psychology might call this deindividuation, groupthink, etc.). Tertullian is especially harsh in degrading those that attend the games, saying that they are spending time in the land of Satan, that they are associating with the Devil, and associates them with the paragon of evil himself multiple times.
They are so adamant that people should not attend these games, as they say it is easy to become one of these horrible people and/or participate in the brutality themselves. They both cite that in taking pleasure in the games, desire, jealousy, and general agitation occur. These things are said to be the antitheses of reason and of God. Tertullian gives a much more extensive cosmic argument for not attending these games, but they both make the practical argument that watching people do awful things imbibes you with these awful qualities as well. It is easy to let the horrific scenes rub off on you and make you a more violent, less compassionate person. Both the writers seem to have compassion and pity for those in the arena, whereas the crowd taking part in the spectacle does not.
They are so adamant that people should not attend these games, as they say it is easy to become one of these horrible people and/or participate in the brutality themselves. They both cite that in taking pleasure in the games, desire, jealousy, and general agitation occur. These things are said to be the antitheses of reason and of God. Tertullian gives a much more extensive cosmic argument for not attending these games, but they both make the practical argument that watching people do awful things imbibes you with these awful qualities as well. It is easy to let the horrific scenes rub off on you and make you a more violent, less compassionate person. Both the writers seem to have compassion and pity for those in the arena, whereas the crowd taking part in the spectacle does not.