By Zach S.
You would really like watching these games like the gladiator shows, the chariot
racing, and the plays. The people did not have to pay, so the poor people could get in to
see the games too.
There were the plays. There are two kinds of plays tragedies and comedies. The
actors were slaves or freedmen. The plays became popular in Rome during the third
century B.C. The first permanent amphitheater was the Theatrum Pompeii. The plays
gradually became more and more spectacular. The plays had lots of music, dancing, and
special effects. The actors became so popular that their fans mobbed them. The people
preferred watching comedies. The actors wore different costumes and different masks. At
the end of one particular play, a criminal took place of an actor and actually tortured to
death. In the tragedies the actors wore platform-soled shoes so they would look taller and
serious.
There was the most popular game was at the Circus Maximus was chariot racing.
The races were very exciting but very dangerous. The drivers were often threw off and
killed. The chariot racing was originally part of a religious festival. The spectacle began
with a parade, as musicians led in the official who was to start the races. This might be an
important senator, or even the emperor himself. At the blast of a trumpet, the official in
charge would raise a white cloth and let it fall to the ground. Two or four horses usually
pulled the chariots. The Circus Maximus was used mostly for chariot racing. It could seat
250,000 people. There were four teams of chariot racers. There were more than one
Circus Maximus in Rome.
There also is the gladiator shows. The gladiators were either slaves or criminals.
The gladiators were trained to fight and to entertain the crowd. At the end of the match,
the spectators decided if the loser should live or die. Thousands of gladiators were killed
in this brutal sport. The fights took place in huge stone stadiums called amphitheaters.
Sometimes the arena was flooded, so that the gladiators can take part in sea battles. The
gladiator fights were originally held as part of ancient funeral ceremonies. They would
fight animals such as lions or bears.
Bibliographies
Bingham, Jane, Fiona Chandler, and Sam Taplin. World History. London:
Osborne, 2000.
Chandler, Fiona, Sam Taplin, and Jane Bingham. Roman World. New York:
Scholastic, 2001.
Donn, Don and Lin. Daily Life in Ancient Rome. 29 Mar. 2005
<http://members.aol.com/Donnclass/Romanlife.html>.
The Romans. 2005. BBC. 29 Mar. 2005
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/romans/leisure.html>.