You wouldn’t find banners or signs proclaiming ‘Try Lucius’ olive oil!’ or ‘9 out of 10 gladiators prefer Marcus’ fish sauce!’. However, in a sense these mass spectacles were advertisements for their sponsors.

These games were paid for by rich men and magistrates, and they made sure that the populace knew who was picking up the bill. Normally the sponsor would be present at the spectacle and would stand and acknowledge the cheers (or jeers) of the crowd. This was a way to show that he was concerned about the well-being and happiness of the people. This was advertising his worth as a leader.

In the Republic different magistrates or candidates would put on these shows almost as a form of campaigning for office. So much money was spent that various laws were passed to try and reign in the extravagance.

During the Empire the emperor was the best-known sponsor, either directly or indirectly – such as paying for games in the names of the consuls. Out in the provinces local elites paid for local shows, sometimes on their own and sometimes with the help of the emperor.

Rich men were expected to do this, as it was part of their civic responsibility. They were supposed to be magistrates and bestow such largesse on the people, but not all of them did it voluntarily. They could get out of it for various reasons, like sickness or being a practicing sophist – a kind of public speaker who was seen to add value to the community by his rhetoric. Aelius Aristides was one desperately tried to avoid it. Aristides wrote passionate letters explaining that he was a sophist and so shouldn’t be forced to hold an office and spend much of his wealth on the public.

A good overview is Eckart Köhne’s Gladiators and Caesars: The Power of Spectacle in Ancient Rome.