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Entertainment
Ludi were a form of free entertainment at the expense of the state.
There were three categories of the activities. The ludi scaenici were
theatrical performances, ludi circenes were exhibitions in a circus like
the chariot races, and munera were gladiatorial contests performed in
an amphitheater. Juvenal went as far to say that all the Roman public
was interested in was panem et circenses (bread and circuses). And
with the theater, races, gladiator fights and public baths, the Romans
never seemed to be bored.
Shows were regularly put on during the
religious holidays. The Romans loved live
theatre. Plays were only performed during
religious ceremonies and religious festivals.
However, since the ancient Romans
celebrated over 200 holidays a year, there
were many opportunities for plays to be
staged. Someone had to pay for the play, as
actors received a small fee. Usually a wealthy noble would pay the bill,
in honor of the gods, and give the play to the people as a gift. There
were a total of between 66 and 135 holidays per year. There were four
kinds of dramatic performances: comedies, tragedies, farces, and
pantomimes. The latter two were considered the most popular.
The Forum was an open area, and used as the marketplace. Typically,
there were buildings around the Forum including a major temple.
When it came time to stage a play, a wooden platform was built in the
Forum. The actors were men. Each actor played several roles. They
wore simple costumes that could be changed quickly and in public. The
actors held up happy face masks and sad faced masks, to help the
audience understand what was going on in the play. Over time, masks
became very elaborate. Over time, masks became very elaborate.
During the play, the Roman people would talk to each other. Because
it was noisy, sometimes people would raise their voices so they could
be heard. That made it even more noisy. So that everyone could follow
along with the story told by the actors, no matter how noisy the crowd
became, the actors would sometimes use a technique called
pantomime. Pantomime is a play without words. The actors used
dance, music, hand gestures, facial expressions, elaborate sets, and
costumes to present the play.
Since Roman theaters had no lighting
facilities, plays were given during daytime
(originally, after the noon hour, but later,
mostly in the morning). The average comedy
required around two hours. Each performance
group had a manager, who was in charge of
the actors (most often slaves), and the
troop's costumes. Most managers tried to
have the least amount of actors possible; therefore, actors played
many different characters within one play. One way to distinguish the
characters was by their wigs: Gray wigs represented old men. Black
wigs represented young men. Red wigs represented slaves. A manager
usually rewarded his actors with a complementary dinner when a
performance was unusually successful. Actors were not highly
respected in ancient Rome. It could be a dangerous occupation. When
the Romans saw a play they did not like, they shouted at the actors
and told them to get off the stage. If they did not get off the stage,
the audience might begin to throw things at them.
The favorite spectator sport
of the Romans was the
chariot race. Chariot races
were a main feature of the
Ludi Romani , but were also
part of the other ludi.
Roman not only loved the
tremendous excitement of
these dangerous high speed
races. The team of horses
was called auriga; and the
best horse was always on
the extreme left to lead the
team around the arena. The
chariots were built purely for speed, very far removed from war
chariots, and were drawn by teams of two, four or sometimes more
horses. A two-horse team was called a biga, a three-horse a triga and
a four-horse team was a quadriga. The race was normally seven laps
around the stadium floor. With the racing circuit being sand, there
could be no lanes and little which could be describe as rules. The
Romans did use a staggered gate system to ensure the outside teams
didn’t suffer from unequal racing distance. The first driver to complete
the seven rounds was the winner. Between start and finish pretty
much anything was allowed. Crashes were frequent and could be quite
spectacular.
The public adored the top drivers. They were quite literally comparable
to modern day sports stars. And, quite naturally, there was a huge
amount of betting surrounding the races. Roman passions ran high
when it came to supporting one of the racing teams and its colors the
various racing factions derived their names from the colors worn by
their charioteers: the red, green, blue, and white. The fanaticism of
the spectators sometimes led to disturbances in the grandstand. The
most popular ludi were the competitions that originally took place in
the Circus Maximus. The Circus Maximus was the oldest and largest
public area in Rome.
Gladiator contests probably
originated as funeral
games. Over time, lost
their exclusive connection
with the funerals of
individuals and became an
important part of the public
spectacles staged by
politicians and emperors.
The Romans eventually
designed a building called
an amphitheater
specifically for this type of
spectacle because the seating extended all the way around the oval
performance area, which was covered with sand. Early amphitheaters,
both in Rome and elsewhere, were built of wood, but stone
amphitheaters proved to be much more durable. The most famous
venue for these contests was the Colosseum in Rome. The Colosseum
had a seating capacity vary from 40-60,000, with 50,000 most likely.
It had a maze of underground structures, corridors, ramps, animal
pens, and rooms for prisoners. Beneath the layer of sand, the floor
held the wooden trapdoors through which animals and men would
“magically” appear and which could be used to produce other special
effects. The top story of the Colosseum was equipped with posts to
which were attached a huge awning that would shield the spectators
from the hot sun; this image shows the post holders for this awning.
Seating in the amphitheater was arranged by rank, with a special box
for the emperor and his family and ring-side seats for senators. Those
who had the least political clout, foreigners and women, were
relegated to the topmost rows.
The people who fought were called gladiators. They fought each other,
or wild animals like lions, to the death. Generally, gladiators were
condemned criminals, prisoners of war, or slaves. Professional
gladiators were free men who volunteered to participate in the games.
Gladiators were paid each time they fought. Criminals who had been
found guilty of murder and condemned to death went into combat
without weapons. Criminals who had committed other crimes were
trained in special gladiator schools, and they fought with weapons of
their choice. They could earn their freedom if they survived 3-5 years
of combat. However, although gladiators generally fought about 3
times a year, few survived 3-5 years. Gladiators were trained like
professional athletes. They were fed three meals a day and given
medical attention if needed. Training
included using different weapons such
as war chain, net, trident, dagger and
lasso. They were taught combat
techniques that disabled and captured
their opponents rather than killed them.
When one of the gladiators in a contest
was wounded, the crowd went wild. If one of the gladiators felt he was
defeated, he would raise his left hand with one finger extended. This
was to ask for mercy. It is believed that the crowd voted for death or
to spare him by signaling with their thumbs: thumbs up and the
gladiator lived, thumbs down and his opponent was to kill him. The
defeated gladiator knelt at the feet of the winner and was killed. The
winner would receive a prize, such as a golden bowl, crown, or gold
coin, along with a palm leaf that symbolized victory. Successful
gladiators, or those who fought in a spectacular way, were regarded as
heroes, rather like exceptional athletes are today.
Gladiator
Combat