The Romans: A Cautionary Tale
While the Ancient Greeks were flexing their muscles, the Ancient Romans were getting in on the act. All males from ages 17 to 60 were eligible for military service, so fitness was paramount for the nation. In Rome between 200 BC and 475 CE, men were running, marching, jumping and doing all sorts of physical activity. They were so strong and powerful that the Roman Empire conquered nearly all of the Western World.
But history was not kind to the Romans. The power got to their heads. The society turned fitness into spectacle. Gladiators battled for their lives, at the whim of an emperor. (Being eaten by a hungrier animal at the Colosseum was not exactly the same as playing a game eons later in the L.A. Coliseum.) They had lavish lifestyles back then. Debauchery. Materialistic excess. A flabby population. Which led to . . .