In ancient times, the arena was a place where fights took place.
The arena is the place where, in ancient times, fights took place . A Greek word that can be translated as “fight” was transformed, in Latin, into palaestra , which is the closest etymological antecedent of the term used in our language .
The arena, therefore, was the space where fighting was taught and combats were carried out. It could be part of a gym or function independently, depending on the case.
famous lectures
One of the best-known palestras is the one that exists in Pompeii . In this the students acquired fighting techniques, developed their skills and learned everything necessary to be able to fight a rival. It must be said that even what was its central core was filled with water with the clear objective of making its training very complete.
However, we cannot forget other well-known lectures throughout history. This was the case of Delphi and Olympia .
In Spain , specifically in the province of Cuenca, the remains of a palestra have also been preserved. Specifically, it is located in the Segóbriga Archaeological Park , which is listed as a National Monument and also as an Asset of Cultural Interest . It is located on the well-known Cerro de Cabeza de Griego .
Over time, the arenas increased their benefits and, in addition to fights, began to host other activities. Debates of philosophy and art became frequent, as did dissertations and music.
The idea of a lecture can refer to public discussion.
The concept in different expressions
By extension, the notion of palestra began to be used as a synonym for public discussion . In this way, the expressions “come to the fore” , “be in the fore” and “jump to the fore” became popular.
For example: “The minister's lover got tired of ostracism and came to the fore” is a phrase that indicates that a woman , who maintains a clandestine romantic relationship with a minister, decided to publicly report said relationship.
“The singer has been in the spotlight since he confessed his addiction to drugs,” on the other hand, is an expression that mentions the permanent presence of an artist in public opinion based on his confession about problems with narcotics.
“The young Uruguayan tennis player came to the fore two years ago, when he defeated the world number one,” finally, is a phrase that comments on the popularity that an athlete from Uruguay obtained after achieving a resounding victory.
In schools, the expression “come out to the fore” is also used. Specifically, it is used by the teacher to ask one of his students to go to the blackboard, either because he is going to be asked the lesson or because he will have to develop an exercise on it. Thus, an example of this is the following: “Manuel, come to the fore. Let's see if you have studied this week's topic."