3.4 ROMAN LEISURE + ENTERTAINMENT Flashcards
How tall is the colosseum
57m
Capacity of colosseum
50,000
What was the vomitoria in colosseum
Lots of stairways for people to enter/exit with water fountains in
How many entrances into colosseum
80
Purpose of awning at colosseum
Cover 2/3 of audience from sun
Who sat at what level in the colosseum
- Level - emperor, vestal virgins, senators
- 1st - equites
- 2nd - citizens
- 3rd - women and slaves
Negative to seating at colosseum
Famalies segregated
Seating material at colosseum
Marble apart from fourth tier - wooden
How was the colosseum designed so the experiance was optimal
- Steeply tiered seating
- Oval
- Arena had 4m tall walls
- Archers to shoot any threatening animals
Purpose of trapdoors at colosseum
Link to tunnels underneath and to outside stadium, so animals were a suprise
Why was the floor of the colosseum sand
Absorb the blood of the victims
Why would emperors or politicians put on games
Secure votes and show off wealth/power
Most expensive games at Colosseum by Emperor Trojan after military victories
- 123 days
- 10,000 gladiators
- 11,000 animals
Itinerary of day at colosseum
- Mornining = animal
- Midday = convict execution (vs animals, each other - serve as warning)
- Afternoon = gladiator fights
Romans would’ve liked seeing wild animals at the gladitorial games as they would’ve never seen them. Give examples
Hippo, rhine, buffalo, crocodiles, giraffes
Why might empeorors show animals diying in colosseum
Their might over nature, and vastness of empire
What would happen when a gladiator would surrender
- Raise a finger
- Crowd cheer or boo
- Emperor make descion
How would a gladiator die if defeated
- Accept it without resisting
- Someone dressed as Mercury would remove them
- Sand raked over
Who became gladiators
- prisoners of war
- criminals
- people who signed themselves into it
Features of murmillo
- Heavily armoured
- Fish shaped helmet
Features of secutor
- Heavily armoured
- Helmet with 2 eye-holes
- Leigonary sheild
Features of hoplomachus
- Heavily armoured
- Large crested helmet with visor
- Spear and round sheild
Features of retiarius
- Lightly armed
- Large net, trident
Features of thracian
- Lightly armed
Features of bestiarius
- Fight wild animals
- No armour
- Spear, whips, bows and lances
Why murmillos be pitted against hoplomachus’
Re-enactment of Greek vs Roman wars
Why were retiarius’ pitted against secutors
Heavily armed vs lightly armed
Capacity of Circus Maximus
250,000 (5x more than colosseum)
What were the metae
3 bronze turning points at each end of the spina
What was the spina
- Centre of course
- Wood eggs towered to indicate how many laps done
- Statues of neptune - god of horses
How long was the track at Circus Maximus
600m
Tiers of seating at Circus Maximus
- Bottom - marble, for VIP, priests, senators, equites
- Middle - Stone famalies together
- Top - stone, famalies together, standing room only
How would a horse race start
Emperor / sponser drop a cloth
Nature of the horse-racing
- 7 laps
- Anti-clockwise
- 24 races a day
- Each lap 10-15mins
What would a chariot racer wear
- Colour coded tunic and leather helmet
- Whip
- Reins around waist to steer horse
- Dagger to cut themselves free if they fall off
Teams of chariot races
Red, White, Green, Blue
Prize for winning chariot race
Palm branch
Where would racehorses come from
Spain and North Africa
What was common at chariot racing
Betting of horses
Who usually paid for theatre shows
Usually funded by state for religous festivals or politicians trying to gain popularity
Capacity at large theatre at Pompeii
4,000
Large theatre at Pompeii material
Marble
How was the Large Theatre at Pompeii optimally designed
- Built into hillside
- Semi-circular
- Awning
How were people seated at Large at Pompeii
By class
What was the Scaenae Frons
- Back wall
- Painted and decorative
- May have had statues
What was the orchestra at Large Theatre of Pompeii
Where VIP’s sit, in front of the stage
Roman tragedies
Little evidence of Roman tragedies
Popular Roman comedy writers
Platus and Terence (bades off Greek Menander)
Plots of Roman comodies
- Everyday social situations
- Love affairs
- Identity confusions
- Conflicts between fathers and sons
- Clever characters who outwit their masters
Plots of Roman comodies
- Everyday social situations
- Love affairs
- Identity confusions
- Conflicts between fathers and sons
- Clever characters who outwit their masters
Typical stock characters (easily recognisable)
Flatterer, lecherous old man, boastful soilder
Features of Roman acting and design
- Music often accompany
- No female actors
- Costumes and props give character info
- Multirole
Purposes of acting masks
- Amplify sound
- Allow multi-role
- Hair colour - red = slave. dark = young, white/grey = old man
Features of mime
- Speaking
- Acrobatics, songs and dances
- Plots about sex and Roman life
Features of pantomime
- No speaking
- Single actor
- Ballet like
- Famous - Paris
Social status of chariot racers, gladiators and actors
Low - infamis
Audience interaction at a theatre show
Lots of heckling
Biggest capacity of a bath
1,600
Who would visit baths in morning and afternoon
Women in morning, men in afternoon
How expensive visiting bath
Very cheap
Why would slaves accompany masters to baths
Show power and guard niches in apodyterium
Why would the less-affluent stay at the baths
Try get an invite to dinner parties that night
What would be sold at the shops in the baths
Drinks, nuts, bread and sausages
What would be segregated at the baths
Men vs Women - men’s more extensive
How did you enter the baths
Many entrances from different streets
What was the apodyterium
Changing room
What was palestera
Exercise ground - harpastum and wrestling
What was tepidarium
Warm room to build up a sweat
What was caldarium
Hot room
What was frigidarium
Cold room to close pores of skin
How was the baths heated
Hypocaust
What happened in caldarium
- Hot oil rubbed over body and absorbed into pores
- Massage
- Removed with dirt with a strigil
