From Colosseum to Wembley: echoes of ancient thoughts on the importance of sports in modern football

The main goals of this essay are to explore the connections between ancient writings about sports competitions and the implications that football has on contemporary life, and to highlight the similarities between the both cases. Regarding the method, there were selected three ancient authors, Aristotle, Juvenal and Suetonius and then there were analyzed some of their writings and beliefs about sports and physical activity that can be linked with football. These authors have been chosen because they were citizens of international and influential powers, they had different professions and they were deeply interested in the nature of sports and its impact on individuals and societies.