Download Life in the Roman Empire - Brookings School District

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Life in the Roman
Empire
Gladiators and the Coliseum
Gladiators were very popular with the
Roman people. Romans liked excitement, and a
man fighting to the death was as exciting as it
could be. Most of the men who fought as
gladiators were prisoners taken in war.
Many politicians put on shows with
gladiators to gain favor with the common people.
Many of these same politicians had gladiators
trained so they could have their own private
armies. They used their armies to break up public
meetings and to influence elections.
In the early days, sometimes three pairs of gladiators fought. As time went on, there were more and
more pairs-twenty-two, twenty-five, sixty; even ten thousand men on one occasion fought during an
exhibition that Augustus put on!
Since they were so popular, the gladiators were trained in schools. They were well fed, put under
tremendous discipline, and given expert lessons in the use of many different kinds of weapons.
The gladiators usually fought in pairs-one man against another. There were two types of
gladiators. The Thracian was lightly armed and the Samnite was heavily armed. Usually a lightly armed man
fought a heavily armed man. But as time went on, the Roman spectators wanted more variety and more
violence. Men fought while blindfolded, dwarfs battled, and even women fought to the death!
When soldiers were captured, sometimes entire armies fought each other using their own weapons.
After Rome conquered Britain, soldiers in chariots fought in the arena so the audience could see the way
the Britons waged war.
The most famous building
for such fights was the Roman
Coliseum. This huge amphitheater
was used for gladiator fights and
aquatic shows. The building was
begun by the emperor Vespasian
and completed by his son Titus.
Titus dedicated the building with
endless displays of fighting between
gladiators and wild beast shows in
which thousands of elephants, tigers
and lions were killed.
The Coliseum took more than ten years to build and covered nearly six acres of ground! It-was an
ellipse that was over six hundred feet long and five hundred feet wide. There were chambers under the
whole structure and arena. Elevators brought up the beasts and the gladiators. There were also water pipes
that could quickly fill the arena and drainage pipes to quickly empty it.
Four levels of seats were provided for the spectators. The Coliseum could seat between forty-five and
fifty thousand people. The wall that went around the arena was fifteen feet high. Rollers were hung on
the wall to keep the beasts from climbing out of the arena.
Spectators with tickets entered the Coliseum from one of eight entrances and took stairs to the
various levels. Awnings went across the top of the amphitheater to provide protection from the sun.
The gladiators fought in the afternoon. Before the fights, they had a large feast and visited with
admirers and friends. As they marched around the arena, they halted before the main official of the games
and made the famous statement, "Those about to die salute you."
During combat, if a man was wounded, he might appeal for mercy. If the people signaled thumbs
down, he was killed and his body dragged from the arena. If they signaled thumbs up, his life was
spared.
The beast shows started out with men killing animals as if in a hunt. Then for more "thrills,"
animals fought animals to the death. Still later, condemned criminals or even innocent men had to fight
the beasts. Eventually, even women and children were "thrown to the lions" for their religious or political
beliefs.
There were also terrible naval battles made possible by flooding the arena of the Coliseum with
water. Many of these battles were bloody affairs where almost all the participants were killed.
After Rome fell, the great Coliseum began to decay. Earthquakes brought down part of it and
people began using the stones to build other buildings. Today, this magnificent ruin stands near the
center of Rome.
The Circus Maximus
Race courses were popular with the Romans from very early times. All they needed for a good
race was a long stretch of level ground. The word circus, which means "ring," eventually came to mean
"race courses." Although other shows were sometimes presented in a circus, unless otherwise said, a circus
was the place to see the exciting chariot races.
The most famous circus of all was the Circus Maximus. In the time of Augustus it could seat
60,000 people. Later, during the time of Constantius, it was enlarged to seat almost 200,000 people!
The Circus Maximus had the same arrangement of all Roman circuses. A large long piece of
ground was surrounded on the three sides by rows of seats. At one end were places for chariots. A gate
was at each end of the circus and there were four towers, two at each end.
In the middle of the arena was a long concrete row called the spina (backbone). This ran for
about two-thirds of the length of the arena. This spina was beautifully decorated with wonderful works
of art. At the ends of the spina were metae, goalposts which marked the end of the course. One try
around the spina was equal to one lap. The race, or missus, was composed of seven laps.
http://persweb.wabash.edu/facstaff/royaltyr/AncientCities/web/bradleyj/Project%201/Pictures/circuses.jpg
On the ends of the spina stood two pedestals. One had seven dolphins on top of it while the
other had seven marble eggs. Each time a lap was finished; one dolphin and one egg were taken down so
the viewers would know how many laps were still to be run.
A large gate was at the end of each circus. One was typically used for the winner to leave the
circus, while the other gate was where the racers would enter. On each side of these gates were carceres
(barriers) which were stalls for the horses. Each stall was large enough to contain only the horses and the
chariot. Sometimes, there were as many as 10 horses per team! In the early days of the races, there were
only four chariots, but as time went on, the number of chariots increased to eight.
In the early days of the Roman circus, anyone who wished to race could do so, but at the Circus
Maximus, racing companies drove the chariots. In the beginning, there were only two companies, the red and
the white. In the time of Augustus, a third team was begun. Eventually, there were a total of six racing
companies involved in the races: Red, White, Blue, Green, Purple, and Gold.
There was great rivalry between the various teams. Each team spent huge sums of money importing the
best horses from all over the Roman world. Each had elaborate and expensive training facilities. Each
attempted to be the best, even if they had to drug their opponents' horses, bribe other drivers or even poison
or kill rival drivers. Every company had loyal fans who bet great sums of money at each circus race.
Racing was dangerous. A driver would attempt to upset another driver or do anything else he could to
win. The chariot was protected in front but was open behind. To protect themselves, drivers wore shoulder
pads, leather straps around their thighs and heavy protectors on the legs.
A great driver could become very wealthy. He would receive large wages and rich gifts from people
who bet on him. Other racing companies would offer him huge sums of money to race for them. A hero to all
who attended the circus, he was invited to fabulous parties and was lionized by the Romans.
The circus usually presented only chariot racing. However, at times there were shows that consisted of
cavalry or of men riding two horses at once. There were also games where wild animals attacked and killed each
other or where animals were killed by men.
Pompeii
Pompeii, a village in ancient Rome,
lay in the rich and fertile Campania region.
This town, dedicated to the goddess Venus,
was a town that believed in pleasure. Many
wealthy and powerful Romans built
extravagant villas there to enjoy the
magnificent scenery of the countryside and
the sea.
The Roman historian Livy said that
its harbor was one of the finest in the world.
Trade with the East, with Africa, and with
other lands made many of the people of
Pompeii very wealthy. Their ships brought
pearls from the East for women's jewelry,
fresh fish, oysters, birds and rich fruit.
http://www.myoops.org/twocw/mit/NR/rdonlyres/History/21H-405JSpring-2005/871F84C6-F507-400D-85AE-21935DCBF75D/0/chp_ancient_city.jpg
With available resources from the countryside and the sea, cooking became an art in Pompeii.
Goose liver pate, mushrooms, suckling pig, fish, oysters, olives and sardines were part of the fare as were
the already famous water ices and ice cream.
The town was laid out like a circle. It was about two miles (3.2 km) around. A wall with
eight gates went around the city. These entry gates had Roman roads leading to each of them. (The
Nola gate is still in good condition.) In the center of the city was a large forum. There were several
public baths, two theaters (one large one and one small one), many temples, a court for gladiators and
other important buildings. The streets were made of asphalt and even today are in very good
condition. Sewers concealed under the pavements led to the sea. Town houses had more than one
story and often had shops along the street.
Pompeii was a prosperous and happy town. Its problem lay in its location. Pompeii was four
miles (6.4 km) from the crater of a large mountain, Mount Vesuvius. On February 5, 63CE, earthquakes
struck Pompeii, and the nearby towns of Naples and Herculaneum. Individual houses were destroyed;
some villas were damaged but public buildings withstood the shock. Many statues were overturned and
several people were found wandering about in a state of shock.
This was only a forewarning of things to come. Some authorities say that the great disaster
occurred in August of 79CE, but most historians now think it happened on November 23, 79CE. On that
day Mount Vesuvius erupted. Lava and mud covered the town of Herculaneum. The village and harbor
were destroyed, but most of the people got away.
Pompeii wasn't as
fortunate. A great black cloud,
described by the writer Pliny the
Younger, rolled across the
countryside and the city like a
river of death. Scalding hot
cinders, stones, and hot ashes
rained down upon the people.
The very air was filled with
poisonous gas. Even at dawn it
was so dark that people carried
lamps and torches. Buildings fell
over, courtyards filled with ashes
and pumice stones, great flames
leaped into the sky; men, women
and children shouted for each
other in the terrible darkness;
people hid in cellars and were
buried alive; some climbed to the
upper terraces thinking the lava
wouldn't get that high. But
eventually the ashes, cinders and
lava covered up the city. Pompeii
was completely destroyed.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Pompeii_the_last_day_1.jpg
Many of the people of Pompeii could have escaped. Ash and pumice fell quite slowly for some
time. Had they left immediately, they might have gotten away. But many went into their homes to
carry away their possessions and waited too long. Many were simply filled with panic and ran to and
fro in the darkness. Farmers rushed into town and were killed by falling buildings. Many people of
the city rushed into the fields and died there. Some men bravely attempted to cut their way through
the lava with axes. And some people resigned themselves to death and simply laid down.
The volcano's eruption changed the area around Pompeii. For about seventeen hundred years, the
city lay buried. Treasure seekers went to the area and dug tunnels to seek riches, but no important
excavations were begun. Eventually, archaeologists were hired to excavate the area for their museum.
They began to uncover the city block by block. They decided to keep the treasure in the city and
restore it to its original condition.
What remains of two thousand bodies have now been found and over half of the city has been
uncovered. If you were to go there today, you could walk through the city and see exactly how an
ancient Roman city functioned.
Name _______________________________________________________________________________ Period _______
Life in the Roman Empire
Directions: Using the information in the Life in the Roman Empire Packet, answer the questions using
POQ (Complete sentences!)
Gladiators and the Coliseum
1. How were most gladiators obtained?
2. Who began the Coliseum? Who finished it?
3. How many acres did the Coliseum cover?
4. How many people could the Coliseum seat?
5. What kinds of battles took place in the Coliseum?
6. What was the famous statement that the gladiators told the main official?
7. Why did the Coliseum decay over the years?
The Circus Maximus
1. In the time of Augustus, how many people could the Circus Maximus seat?
2. How many laps made a missus?
3. What was on the top of the two pedestals? Why?
4. What were the names of the six racing companies?
5. The word circus means?
6. How were racers protected?
Pompeii
1. How far away was Pompeii from Mount Vesuvius?
2. What date was the terrible eruption that destroyed Vesuvius?
3. What kind of materials killed the people of Pompeii?
4. Why didn't more people escape from Pompeii?
5. The remains of how many bodies have been found in Pompeii so far?