- Emperors encouraged citizens to go the games so they wouldn't get bored and criticize their leader. So in other words the games were a way to keep the citizens of Rome occupied and not viciously murder their leader.
- Arena is Latin for sand which was put on the Coliseum floor to soak up all the the blood.
- The Emperor sometimes flooded the middle for naval combat, many people died from these battles.
- The first games were more than 3 months with almost 5000 animals killed and over 3000 gladiator fights.
Ripping off the Romans
Ancient Rome's Entertainment
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Today's Entertainment
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The Gladiators
Gladiator battles were terribly bloody, but this was very entertaining 2000 years ago.
A bloody fight to the death was incredibly entertaining for the Romans. The criminals or prisoners would choose one of the 5 types of gladiators. The Hoplomachus, along with the Secutor, had a rectangular shield and a short straight sword. The Thracian was one of the more nimble of the 5, armed with a small round shield and a curved scimitar. The Retiarius was equipped with two projectiles, a trident of Neptune and net to entangle his opponent, the problem was he could get tangled in his net. The second last type of Gladiator was the Secutor just about exactly like the Hoplomachus, those were the two bulkier and heavier armed than the rest. Lastly was the Venatores, only armed with a spear and they fought animals like lions tigers and even elephants. If they won the fight and survived the "thumb trial" the gladiator would be free. (Fun Fact: the Emperor decided the fait of the winner with his thumb, up means live and down means die.)
The Roman Baths
The Baths of Trajan was the biggest, and most famous bathhouse in all of Ancient Rome.
Since every Ancient Roman city had a local bathhouse they were a major part of an average citizen's daily life. The baths just for cooling off after a hot day of working they were also for leisure, exercising and socializing. Thermae was what the Roman's called the baths, but the baths weren't just baths they were swimming pools too. That's where we got the idea of swimming pools from, but the Romans stole the idea from the Greeks. Each Thermae had a-caldarium (a hot room), a tepidarium (a warm room) and a fridgidarium (a cold room.) Believe it or not the swimming pool in the Baths of Trajan was 200 feet wide by 100 feet long. With a few little tweaks the baths 2000 years ago would be the same as they are today. Why? Because the Thermae back then also had food, ointment and clothes advertisements. Other rooms like gardens, libraries and even gyms surrounded the baths, kind of like small mall. In conclusion the Thermae were a impactful portion on a Roman's daily life.
Bibliography
· http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colosseum
· http://www.historyonthenet.com/Romans/entertainment_in_rome.htm
· http://persweb.wabash.edu/facstaff/royaltyr/AncientCities/web/bradleyj/Project%201/Games.html
· http://library.thinkquest.org/26602/entertainment.htm
· http://www.stephenbiesty.co.uk/galleries_exploded_views_Colosseum.html
· http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladiator
· http://bodyrebooted.com/tag/eating/
· http://library.thinkquest.org/10805/romanmap.html
· http://powertripberkeley.com/in-side-the-roman-colosseum-roman-architecture-and-engineering-in-side-the-colosseum/
· http://www.dreamstime.com/illustration/facts.html
· http://forums.colts.com/topic/19913-ceasar/
· http://www.crystalinks.com/romebaths.html
· http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/circus.html
· ROME, Stephen Biesty 2003
· Ancient Rome, Susan McKeever 2004
· Roman Town, Hazel Martell and Mark Bergin 1997
· http://www.historyonthenet.com/Romans/entertainment_in_rome.htm
· http://persweb.wabash.edu/facstaff/royaltyr/AncientCities/web/bradleyj/Project%201/Games.html
· http://library.thinkquest.org/26602/entertainment.htm
· http://www.stephenbiesty.co.uk/galleries_exploded_views_Colosseum.html
· http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladiator
· http://bodyrebooted.com/tag/eating/
· http://library.thinkquest.org/10805/romanmap.html
· http://powertripberkeley.com/in-side-the-roman-colosseum-roman-architecture-and-engineering-in-side-the-colosseum/
· http://www.dreamstime.com/illustration/facts.html
· http://forums.colts.com/topic/19913-ceasar/
· http://www.crystalinks.com/romebaths.html
· http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/circus.html
· ROME, Stephen Biesty 2003
· Ancient Rome, Susan McKeever 2004
· Roman Town, Hazel Martell and Mark Bergin 1997