Historical note
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — The Hunger Games
CharlesTheBold — 9 years ago(January 16, 2017 07:31 AM)
When we read the book or see the movie we think of Roman gladiators. However, there was another precedent that I read about in history books.
The early Turkish empire required conquered provinces to send boys to Istanbul as "tributes" (Turkish word "devshirme"). They were not forced to be gladiators, but were trained as soldiers, bureaucrats, and other government functionaries. Tributes who served well and loyally could actually become powerful in the Empire. Ironically, when devshirme was abolished, it was not because of the way it oppressed the provinces, but because the Turkish common people wanted the government jobs for themselves.
One tribute from Albania, trained as a soldier, escaped and became a revolutionary leader named Skanderbeg, but his rebellion did not extend beyond Albania.