ENTERTAINMENT

ELE Syllabus Entry

Circus Maximus Colosseum theater (theatrum) thermae

charioteer gladiator

SECTION CONTENTS

The Colosseum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Gladiators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
The Circus Maximus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Colosseum or Circus Maximus? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Roman Theater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
The Thermae . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Other Activities for Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Answer Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

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The Colosseum

The Colosseum in Rome was a sports stadium. Colosseums are also known as arenas or
amphitheaters. Ruins of this four story building can be seen in Rome today. Entertainment there
was called “The Games.” The Romans went to the Colosseum to watch fights. This building could
seat about 45,000 people. The city officials and men were seated in the first and second tiers
of seats which were nearest to the floor of the arena. The women sat in seats above the men,
and the poor, slaves, and foreigners stood at the top of the Colosseum. There was an awning
that could be pulled into place to keep the sun out of the eyes of the spectators.

Sometimes the fights were between men. The men were called gladiators and they were either
prisoners, condemned men, or soldiers of fortune. There were several methods of combat, some
of which are listed on the next page.

If the fight was close, sometimes the emperor would allow the crowd to determine the winner
(who would receive gold) and the loser (who would die). According to many sources, thumbs up
meant the fighter would live and thumbs down indicated that he should die.

The Games sometimes featured animals. Exotic animals from northern Africa such as elephants,
giraffes, ostriches, panthers, and tigers were occasionally paraded around the Colosseum for the
Romans to see. More often, fights were staged between beasts. Sometimes beasts of the same
kind fought; other times different species were pitted against one another.

Once in a while the emperor would provide a hunt for the gladiators. He would release three to
four thousand animals on the floor of the Colosseum which had been transformed into a facsimile
of the animals’ natural habitat. The gladiators and the animals stayed in cells underneath the
floor of the Colosseum until it was time to fight. Then the gladiators would hunt the animals until
they killed all the animals.

Underneath the Colosseum was a series of canals that would allow the floor of the Colosseum to
be flooded. If the Emperor wished, he could provide the Romans with a mock naval battle right
in the Colosseum. The ships would sail around and fight until one sank the other.

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Gladiators
Gladiators used several methods of combat depending on the weapons they used. They could
use (1) a net and trident; (2) sword and shield; (3) war chariots; and (4) two swords. They could
also wear visored helmets (fighting blind). Cut out the gladiator below and arm him to his best
advantage. Be prepared to give a reason for your armaments.

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The Circus Maximus

The Circus Maximus in Rome was an oval track for chariot races. It had seats for 250,000
spectators. There are no ruins of this race track in Rome, just a grassy area where it used to be.
The men who drove the chariots were called charioteers. They were usually slaves or freed slaves.
Most Roman charioteers raced “quadrigae,” two-wheeled chariots pulled by four horses.

An afternoon at the Circus Maximus consisted of two parts:

1. A procession of priests, officials, musicians, dancers, and competitors. This

procession was similar to the procession of athletes at the opening ceremonies of
the Olympics.
2. The race itself which started when the chariots were lined up and the Emperor
dropped a white cloth.

There were four chariots per race, differentiated by the color of tunic the charioteer wore.
Romans placed bets on these colors: red, blue, green or white. The charioteer wrapped the reins
around his waist like a seat belt, and he carried a knife to cut the reins should the chariot crash.
The race was seven laps around the Circus. Each lap completed was documented by the
flipping of golden dolphins in the center of the track, the area known as the “spina.” Winners
earned great amounts of money.

Make a Model of a Quadriga

Cut apart an egg carton and use each cup as the

body of a chariot. With a small paper punch, make
two holes on the sides, one opposite the other, and
attach cardboard wheels with brads. Punch four holes
in the front of the chariot so you can attach horses.

Make the horses from small Tootsie Rolls. Insert toothpick

halves for the legs, neck and tail. Put a raisin on the top of
the neck-toothpick for the horse’s head. Attach a piece of yarn to the neck of each horse and
tie the other end from to the chariot. (Large and small gumdrops can be substituted for the
Tootsie Roll and the raisin, if you wish.)

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Colosseum or Circus Maximus?

Where did the following things happen?
In the blanks below, write C for Colosseum or CM for Circus Maximus.

_____1. Gladiators fought with nets, swords, and tridents.

_____ 2. Ships tried to sink each other.

_____ 3. Charioteers wore red, blue, green, or white.

_____ 4. This building was four stories high.

_____ 5. Golden dolphins were tipped for seven laps.

_____ 6. This racetrack is oval.

_____ 7. There was an awning to keep the sun out of the spectators’ eyes.

_____ 8. A lion might fight against a bear.

_____ 9. This building was also called an amphitheater.

_____ 10. The emperor started the race by dropping a white piece of cloth.

_____ 11. Charioteers carried knives.

_____ 12. Four horses pulled the chariots.

_____ 13. Animals and men were kept under the floor until it was time for them to fight.

_____ 14. This building no longer exists.

_____ 15. There is a spina in the center.

_____ 16. Thumbs up, thumbs down.

_____ 17. There were quadrigae.

_____ 18. One man might use two swords and another might use a net and a trident.

_____ 19. Men could hunt animals.

_____ 20. This building is in ruins.

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Roman Theater
At first, Roman tragedy and comedy were presented as part of the Games. The first
permanent theater was built in Pompeii in 55 B.C. The Roman theater was in the shape
of a half-circle. (When two theaters are joined into a full circle, an amphitheater – a
double theater – is formed. Amphitheater is another name for a colosseum.) The
audience sat in the circular area on high tiered stone seats. The actors played on a
rectangular stage in front of the audience. Since Roman theaters were always outdoors,
lighting was not a problem.

Early Roman comedy included farce, music, dancing, and monologues. The Romans
introduced improvisation and mime to the stage. Mimes wore no masks as was the usual
custom. Atellan Farce was also part of Roman comedy. It included short situations acted
by characters in masks.

Works from two Roman writers of comedy exist. Born in 254 B.C., Plautus, the first Roman
comedy playwright, based his plots on those of Greek New Comedy. His humor was
coarse and boisterous, and he wrote in conversational Latin. Terence, born in 185 B.C.,
produced his first play at age 21. The Latin in his plays exhibits a beauty in style that is both
subtle and elegant. The plays of Plautus and Terence served as direct models for Moliere
and Shakespeare’s comedies in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Roman tragedy, a much less popular dramatic form for the Romans, is represented by
playwrights Ennius and Seneca. Ennius, born in 239 B.C., based many of his plays on
Euripides. Only about 400 lines of his works remain. Seneca, born in 5 B.C., wrote plays
about inflexible characters who create for themselves a series of dreadful events. The
staging of these plays was incredible. The sets were lavish, and there were realistic scenes
of blood, violent action, and horror. Sometimes a house would actually burn on stage,
and sometimes actors died. In the realm of tragedy, Seneca, too, influenced
Shakespeare.

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The Thermae

Imagine that you are a Roman living around the first century BC. One of your daily
routines would be a visit to the public baths (thermae). If these thermae were very
large, there would be different sections for men and women. If they were smaller,
the hours of bathing would be different for them. Supposing that you were to visit
one of these baths....

First you would arrive at the changing room (apodyterium) where you would give
your clothes, shoes, and parcels to an attendant and receive a towel in
exchange.

Next, you would take a plunge in the warm-water pool (tepidarium), and from
there you might enter the hot-water room (caldarium) for a short while.

After all the steam and hot water, you would then plunge into the cold-water pool
(frigidarium).

After all this bathing, you might want to relax with a massage, or you might prefer
to engage in a lively ball game in the gymnasium (palaestra).

Aside from the bathing pools and the gymnasiums, some baths even included
libraries, lecture halls, and swimming pools. Some even served food and
beverages to their clientele. They very much resembled spas and country clubs
of modern times.

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Other Activities for Entertainment

1) If you have The Usborne Time Traveller Book of Rome and Romans by Heather Amery and
Patricia Vanags, there is a good visual of the Colosseum on page 16 and another of the
Circus on page 17.

2) Write a short description on the lines below telling what you would do if you were a
gladiator.

If I were a gladiator, I would __________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

3) Write a short description on the lines below telling what you would do if you were a
charioteer.

If I were a charioteer, I would __________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

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ENTERTAINMENT ANSWER KEY

p. 51 Colosse um or Circus M aximus?

C 1. Glad iators fought with ne ts, swords, an d tridents.

C 2. Ships tried to sink e ach oth er.
CM 3. Charioteers wore red, blue, green, or white.
C 4. This building was four stories high.
CM 5. Go lden dolphins w ere tippe d for seven laps.
CM 6. This rac etrac k is oval.
C 7. There w as an aw ning to ke ep the sun ou t of the spe ctators’ eye s.
C 8. A lion might fight ag ainst a bea r.
C 9. This building wa s also c alled an a mphitheater.
CM 10. The emperor started the race by dropping a white piece of cloth.
CM 11. C harioteers carried knive s.
CM 12. Fou r horses pu lled the ch ariots.
C 13. An imals and m en w ere kep t unde r the floor until it was time for them to fight.
CM 14. This building no longer exists.
CM 15. There is a spina in the ce nter.
C 16. Thumbs u p, thum bs d ow n.
CM 17. There were quadrigae.
C 18. O ne m an m ight use tw o swords an d an other m ight use a net an d a triden t.
C 19. M en co uld hun t anim als.
C 20. This building is in ruins.

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