Roman Games and Events
Rome was a warrior state. Ancient Romans, like the Greeks, loved entertainment. Their idea of entertainment was usually something involving death and drama. For example, they watched many theatrical plays in which the main actor would normally die, they would go to the Colosseum to watch gladiators fight to the death, and watch or participate in animal hunts in which the animal or the person fighting would be killed.
Most of us have heard of the Colosseum in Rome. The Colosseum is a famous arena that is still partly standing today. The Roman’s held a majority of their games and events within the arena primarily because arena itself could seat over 50,000 people. Watching was free so that everyone could come, rich and poor alike. The events held almost always involved death and destruction. There were the gladiators, the feeding of people to lions, animals fighting animals, animal hunts, animal circus acts, and mock sea battles, where the Colosseum was flooded with water. “The animals used in these events were kept below the Colosseum and an estimated 5,000 animals were killed the day the Colosseum opened and an estimated 700,000 people were killed with the entirety of the arena being open” (http://facts.randomhistory.com).
Gladiators are people who fight each other or wild animals for other people’s entertainment in ancient Rome. There were many types of gladiators who were distinguished by the kind of armor they wore, the weapons they used, and their style of fighting. Most gladiators stayed in one category, and matches usually involved two different categories of gladiator. The following examples will show some of the different types of gladiators which have been identified: The Eques (horseman) usually fought against another gladiator of the same type. They probably began their matches on horseback, but they ended in hand to hand combat. They wore bronze helmets with two...