Background

• When did Romans get days off work? How far back did the Romans attribute their religious festivals? What happened at religious festivals? The Roman name for the festivals with entertainment was? By 100 BC how many festivals had entertainment and roughly how many days out of the year? Who paid for the entertainment-during the Republic, during the Empire? At what other events was entertainment provided? What were the main forms of public entertainment; which was the most popular?

• What are the origins? Why did they increase in size and scope? What happened in the morning, lunch time, afternoon? What are the 5 main types of gladiators with their particular arms? What are the aims of the games--for the giver and for the crowd? Who were gladiators? What happened if they were successful? When did the games take place? Did all approve of the games? What effect did the games have on the ecosystem?

• What are the origins? What were the basic teams and their colors? What were the two most common number of horses per chariot? What happened in a typical race? How did they count laps? What was the most important location for the races and how many could sit there? Who were the racers and what happened if they were successful? When did many die? When did the races take place?

• What were the baths associated with? What are the basic features of a bath complex?  How did the baths change during the Empire at Rome and why?  When/where did men and women partake? What could one do/get at a bath complex?

• When did they eat their main meal? What they ate: know two examples of foods from each of the 'categories,' e.g. two types of dessert's are? How long did a meal last, who ate when, how did they 'sit?' What is garum?

Possible Essay Questions:

1. We have seen throughout the semester that in many ways the Romans were very much like "modern" westerners, but that in many ways they were distinctly "ancient." With that in mind, in what ways are the circus (chariot racing) and/or other leisure activities (excluding the gladiatorial games) both "modern" and "ancient" with respect to their aims? What conclusions can one draw? As usual, make sure you give specific examples to support your conclusions.

2. We have seen throughout the semester that in many ways the Romans were very much like "modern" westerners, but that in many ways they were distinctly "ancient." Examine the aims of the gladiatorial games and the movie Gladiator. What conclusions can one draw? As usual, make sure you give specific examples to support your conclusions.

3. We have seen that Roman art is a valuable source of information about the life and times during the Roman empire. Using some of the examples on one to three of the following topics and the appropriate images (the arena, the circus, other leisure-see take-home for appropriate links), detail some of the ways they expand upon the documentary evidence given in our readings. As usual, make sure you give specific examples to support your conclusions. When referring to specific images, give enough information so that I can tell which you are referring to.