Entertainment

=Ancient Roman Entertainment= Adam Briggs and Todd Brockelman The colosseum was a popular place from Roman citizens to spend time. It could hold 50,000 or more people at one time and they gathered there to view shows of recreations of historical battles, circus events involving animals, and gladiators. Gladiators were slaves who were forced to fight for their lives for the entertainment of the citizens of Rome. They were pitted against soldiers and animals as well as each other. At the end of an event, the emperor of Rome could make a decision to let the remaining gladiators live, or to have them executed based on how entertaining they were. The government supplied the shows for free, and anyone could attend. They believed that they could satisfy the masses with shows of violence. The colosseum was constructed with many features to keep the spectators happy including canopies that could be raised when the weather was hot. [|Source] media type="youtube" key="ZI0nsDJWpWQ" width="377" height="311"
 * ===The Colosseum===
 * ===Theatre===

Roman plays were originally religious celebrations, eventually they started moving towards tragedies and comedies. The actors wore large masks with chambers that were used as microphones in them. They also wore wigs and clothes that were different colors depending on the age and role of the player. Old men wore gray wigs and white robes, while younger people wore black wigs and robes of color. Slaves were identified by red wigs. They all wore long flowing robes. Roman theatres were made of stone and the stands were dug into a hill so that they weren't just flat. Women were originally not able to see comedies, but later on in Roman history they were allowed. Women were not allowed to act in the plays but they were allowed to be in mimes (plays that were on small wooden stages on the streets) and pantomimes (miming accompanied by dancers and/or singers).There were two main genres of plays, tragedies and comedies. Tragedies were about a tragic hero who's downfall was because of one of his characteristics, for example, hubris is the downfall of Creon in the play //Antigone//. Comedies were parodies that made fun of many things ranging from government to everyday life. [|Source] [|Source] Roman children's games were quite similar to the games we played when we were little. They played ball games, war games, they played on stilts, and they even played "tic-tac-toe." The war games were played with wooden swords and they were quite harsh on each other. Another type of war game that was played was called "Troy." It is like an ancient version of the game "Red Rover," except this was played in reverse. Instead of trying to get over a line and the other team resisting you, you had to resist the other team try to drag you over a line. Another game that was played was "Knucklebones." This was played the same way as the game jacks but instead of playing with jacks, they played with small bones. The game "tic-tac-toe" was played by making a shape with two pairs of parallel lines that were perpendicular to each other, similar to a larger version of the number sign.They made crosses and circles in the same way that the game is still played today. Three in a row wins. [|Source] [|Source] The Circus Maximus was a popular attraction for the people of Rome. It was a chariot horse race on a 600m long track. It was ordered to be expanded by Julius Caesar to accommadate for the masses. The Circus was able to seat about 150,000 Romans at one time. It had statues of gods along the track. In 81 AD the senate had more viewing space added in the form of the Triple Arch of Titus which could seat 5,000 additional spectators. [|Source] media type="custom" key="8865874" width="529" height="529" == -Todd Brockelman -Adam Briggs
 * ===Games===
 * ===Horse Races===