What kind of games did the romans play

Rag dolls Wax dolls Board games Loading Children also played with their pets. You can also check it out by clicking on the buttons to the left. This article is part of our larger resource on the Romans culture, society, economics, and warfare. The aim of the contest was to kill your opponent.

If a gladiator realised he was going to lose he would raise his left arm and point with one finger. The contest would then stop and the emperor or, if he was absent, the president of the games, would ask the crowd to decide whether In 53 BC the first amphitheatre was built.

Initially they were made of wood but later giant stadiums of more durable material were constructed. The most famous of these was the Colosseum which seated 50, people. The contest would then stop and the emperor or, if he was absent, the president of the games, would ask the crowd to decide whether the gladiator should be spared to fight another day. Those who favoured mercy would raise their hands or wave a white handkerchief, while those who wanted to see the man killed would give the thumbs-down sign.

The decision of the crowd would depend on how the defeated gladiator had fought. A man who had shown signs of cowardice or had been a dull fighter would invariably be killed.

If the gladiator was a good fighter and had only lost because of bad luck, he might be spared. If the crowd decided the defeated gladiator should die, the emperor or president would turn down his thumb and shout out jugula and the victor would cut the other man's throat.

The Romans liked seeing fights between a retiarius and a mirmillo. The retiarius carried only a long trident and a net. He wore neither helmet or armour and his main objective was to entangle the mirmillo in his net. There were also fights between women slaves, gladiators on horseback, and men in chariots. It was not only trained gladiators who were killed in the Roman games. Men captured during warfare, who were believed to be too rebellious to become good slaves, were also forced to fight.

Some men refused to take part. One group of twenty-nine Saxons committed suicide together rather than fight as gladiators. Another prisoner killed himself by pushing a sponge from the latrines down his throat. Julius Caesar was one of the first politicians in Rome to realise that providing free gladiatorial contests was a good way of becoming popular with the people. In the early days of his political career, Caesar got himself heavily into debt by putting on free shows.

However, by doing so he developed a strong following, and later this was a factor in helping him gain power. These free shows became known as the Roman Games. Emperors who followed Caesar continued the policy of paying for this entertainment. Over the years the Roman Games grew in size. Emperor Augustus boasted that he could provide an average of pairs of gladiators for every spectacle that he organised. A hundred years later Emperor Trajan put on a show that lasted days and included 9, gladiators.

The games also took place more often and by AD about days a year were devoted to the games. In an effort to keep the people of Rome happy, emperors were constantly looking for new ways of making the games more exciting. One of the most popular developments was the staging of famous battles from the past. Employing their aqueduct system and a large basin metres by metres , it was even possible for them to replay naval battles in the amphitheatre.

There have been a lot of references to boys and girls playing ball games outdoors. A variety of balls have been identified which ranged from bouncing balls to wool balls. Harpastum was a simple small ball game played by five to twelve players in the ancient country of Rome. It was played on a rectangular field marked by boundary lines and split by a center line. Each team tried to keep the balls in their sides and tried to steal them from the other side.

The game did not have any complicated rules but a lot of trickery must have been involved. This game was played by Julius Caesar in order to remain physically fit. Soccer was a popular game in Rome, though not team soccer.