Chapter five-

Chapter Five:
Roman Entertainment
In this chapter I intend to examine three forms of entertainment which would have been widely available throughout roman times: the Races, the Theatre, and the Amphitheatre.
The Roman Calendar was full of holidays. ‘In the reign of Claudius, 159 days in the year were designated public holidays, on 93 of which shows were offered at public expense.’
Some of these shows were Ludi circenses. They took place in the purpose built circuses ,race tracks, and amphitheatres, the most famous of these being the Circus Maximus.
The main requirement for an ‘arena’ in which to hold a race was a long piece of ground.
‘The name arena is derived from the word harena meaning sand. All arenas where covered by sand, and had seats and barriers surrounding them.’
The seats were made from marble or wood and were raised in order to allow a clear view of the race itself. Located at the front of the seats were a marble platform, podium and boxes where senators, magistrates and the such like would be seated. Between the podium and the track was a large metal screen, which offered some protection against animals crashing into the seating.
The race itself generally consisted of seven laps, and the distance of a lap was determined by the particular venue in which the race was taking place.
A chariot race usually consisted of four horses, of different coloured teams, and there was fierce rivalry between both the teams themselves and the supporters of the teams. The aurigae or participants in the race were generally freedmen or slaves. This was one of the few occasions where low class citizens received very high pay. The participants wore a short tunic and cap in their respective teams colour, and carried a knife on their persons in case of emergency. The races were the oldest and most popular form of public entertainment for the Romans.
Another form of public entertainment which was on offer to the Romans was ludi scaenici or the theatre. The theatre was the least popular of the three main forms of public entertainment, but still drew large crowds. There were four main types of play performed at the theatre, and these were comedies, tragedies, farces, and pantomime. The average play lasted in the region of two hours and were always given in the daytime, as there was no lighting in place to allow performances in the dark.
As few people as possible were involved in the performance of a play. The actors were generally slaves (all male) and would often play more than one part. They were managed by a manager, who was often known to reward his troops after a successful performance.
In order to distinguish between the many characters and few actors playing them several conventions were used to differentiate, including the colour of the actor’s wig: ‘Gray wigs represented old men, Black wigs represented young men Red wigs represented slaves’.
‘The brown or white colour of the tragic and comic masks indicated the sex of the actor, while costumes draped in Greek or Roman fashion gave an immediate clue to the nationality and social status of the dramatis personae: white for an old man, multicoloured for a youth, yellow for a courtesan, purple for the rich, red for the poor, a short tunic for the slave, a chlamys for the soldier, a rolled pallium for the parasite, and a motley for the go-between.’ (ibid. III 4;9.)
The stage was always representative of a street with a temple nearby, and the theatre itself was generally located at the bottom of a hill.
Finally, we move onto the final of the three most popular forms of public entertainment in Roman times, and that is munera gladiatoria , or gladiatorial combat.
This took place in the amphitheatre, and looking back is the most well remembered form of public entertainment in Roman times. Gladiators were generally slaves or condemned criminals who were considered to be expendable by both the state and their owners. As the popularity of the gladiatorials grew throughout Rome, the demand for more gladiators increased dramatically.
‘From the time of Augustus all non citizen criminals were sentenced to combat fighting. Later on in the Empire, those found guilty of treason, arson, or murder were forced to fight with lions. Finally by the end years of the empire there were volunteer gladiators, known as auctorati. The Romans became so desperate that they forced men of petty offences into the arena to fight. The persecution of Christianity was mainly to supply gladiators.’

The rule of gladiatorial combat was that similarly armed men and contestants were not allowed to fight each other. This then meant that a weaker contestant or team would face a better armed, and stronger one. In some cases, the crowd was asked to decide whether a wounded fighter should be killed or released. Waving of handkerchiefs signalled a release while the thumbs down meant death for that individual. Often slaves would enter in order to compete for their freedom. The most famous amphitheater is the Flavian Amphitheatre, or Colosseum in Rome which is described as follows;
‘The Colosseum covers nearly six acres of ground. Its interior and the arena are ellipses. The width of 166 ½ feet all around the arena was allotted to the spectators. Under the floor of the arena were chambers which were used as regiments for the gladiators, for dens of wild beasts, beast elevators. Above all these chambers allowed the arena to be flooded very quickly for mock naval battles. The wall that surrounded the arena was fifteen feet high. It was made of marble and had metal reinforcements. There were rollers hung on this wall to prevent the animals from climbing it.’

Above this was situated the seating. The Colosseum seated approximately 80,000 people who came to watch the various style of fighting displayed which included: man against man, man against animal, heavily armed man against lightly armed man, chariots against animals, and mock naval battles. Weapons and armour varied as to whether you were a Samnite, a Thracian or a net-fighter. ‘A Samnite wore a helmet with a visor, a thick sleeve on his right arm, a greave on his let leg, a belt, a short sword, and carried a long shield.’ A Thracian had a smaller shield and curved sword but was otherwise equipped the same as a samnite, but a net fighter had no protection, and his weapons were a net, dagger, and spear.
A gladiatorial would often begin with fights involving blunt instruments until the crowd became bored and the beginning of the more lethal fights were signalled by trumpeters. Any gladiator refusing to enter the arena would be whipped into obedience, or driven in with the use of red hot irons.

Bibliography:

Sources used in references:

- Kamm, Antony The Romans: An Introduction (London: Routledge 2003)
- Rome Exposed: [http://www.classicsunveiled.com/romel/html/circusesandraces.html]
- Rome Exposed [http://www.classicsunveiled.com/romel/html/theatres.html]
- Carcopino, Jerome.’Daily Life in Ancient Rome’ (London: Penguin 1991) pp245-246
- Antony Kamm, The Romans: An Introduction (London: Routledge 2003) p126
- Rome Exposed [ http://www.classicsunveiled.com/romel/html/amphiglad.html]

Sources used in research:


- Kamm, Antony The Romans: An Introduction (London: Routledge 2003)
- Rome Exposed: [http://www.classicsunveiled.com/romel/html/circusesandraces.html]
- Rome Exposed [http://www.classicsunveiled.com/romel/html/theatres.html]
- Carcopino, Jerome.’Daily Life in Ancient Rome’ (London: Penguin 1991) pp245-246
- Antony Kamm, The Romans: An Introduction (London: Routledge 2003) p126
- Rome Exposed [ http://www.classicsunveiled.com/romel/html/amphiglad.html]
- Society: [http://www.roman-empire.net/society/society.html#holidays]
- RomanArt [http://oncampus.richmond.edu/academics/as/education/projects/webunits/greecerome/Romeart1.html]