Entertainment+2

= = Entertainment

====The Ancient Romans enjoyed what we today might consider boring, simplistic, and perhaps even violent things as their main sources of time wasting fun. All gambling, except that done at the circus and races, were illegal. Which leaves them with what? Board games, dice games, anything they could easily make into a game. And of course, the infamous gladiator battles.====

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Examples of their non-blood soaked enjoyments are : Latrunculi (a sort of chess, example below), the Tali & Tesserae (knucklebones and dice), the Pilae (ball), the Par Impar (odds and evens), the Trochus (stick and hoop) and Micatio (a sort of mix between "odds and evens" and "paper and stone").
 * Simple Games===**

-The Ancient Romans also loved to play "Tic-Tac-Toe." Historians have concluded this about the Ancient Romans because of all of the different etchings that can be found throughout the city of Rome. On many old buildings and monuments, the carvings of a simple game of "tic-tac-toe" can be found in cleverly hidden spots. Below is one etching of a game similar to "tic-tac toe" called Rota. This carving was found in Leptis Magna, which was an Ancient Roman city that is now located in modern day Libya.




 * Child War Games:**

Even though Roman children participated in many simplistic childhood games, older children around ages 6 or 7 start to play war games. Even at a very young age children pick up on the ideas that they will soon have to go to war one day and they play around with this idea by acting out war scenes and battles with all of the other children.

Gladiators
The Roman gladiators are, and were, easily some of the most famous aspects of ancient Roman culture. With it's intense and gory appeal, history has found it immensely interesting.

The gladiator, which is actually Latin for swordsman, was someone who battled in any of Rome's amphitheaters in armed combat. There were strict men only laws on the gladiators. In the arena, they could be brought to fight against any horror : other men, savage wild animals, and criminals who've been sentenced. Most people remember the gladiators as being slaves, forced into the lifestyle after being captured. However, this wasn't always the case. Sometimes a gladiator was actually a regular civilian who willingly chose to enter. It was considered social suicide, but not always. A gladiator upheld some of Rome's most important ethics, "Strength and honor." Roman gladiators swore on an oath that stated that they could be "burned, flogged, beaten, or killed" if that was what was ordered by the general public. Which is probably the reason why so many artists would use them as their muse, many depictions of them in the arena still around to this very date. An example of this is below. media type="youtube" key="XI0Cf-hpuoE" height="390" width="480" [|A modern online game in which the user can dress a gladiator for battle. Proper outfits mean a win, or spare of life. But incorrect answers mean death or a thumbs down.]

Gladiators fought in amphitheaters and coliseums throughout Rome and places which they conquered. Of course, the most memorable is the huge structure standing in the center of Rome which we today call the Coliseum, but was formerly the Flavain Amphitheater. Capable of seating 50,000 spectators, the Colosseum was used for gladiator battles and public spectacles such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology.

=Chariot Races= Chariot Races were another popular Ancient Roman entertainment event. Chariot Races were mostly held at the Circus Maximus and were held in honor of Jupiter. They were also held especially for the god Neptune who is the god of horse-racing. Chariot Racing was very serious and a religious procession proceeded before big chariot races. Chariot Racing was very dangerous and all of the chariot riders had to wear various safety equipment such as leather helmets and padding such as shin and knee pads. The classic chariot racer held their reins in their left hand, a whip in their right, and they were also harmed in order to protect themselves. They could cut themselves free in case their were to be a fatal crash. The horses used in chariot races were beautifully groomed and decorated very elaborately. Their manes were often braided and adorned with pearls and other jewels. The most common types of chariots were drawn by either 2 or 4 horses. The Romans divided their chariot racing teams up, usually by four colors. The four teams were usually dressed in either red, white, blue, or green robes. It is said that these colors were inspired by the seasons of the year. This is a model of what the Ancient Roman Circus Maximus looked like. Many accidents were caused in these types of arenas because there would be as many as 10 chariots at a time racing, and a very limited amount of space on the sides causing many fatalities and injuries. The Circus Maximus is said to have been able to hold 270,000 people in capacity and was about the size of five modern day football fields. The concept of Bread and Circuses comes into play when tyrannic rulers claim to be helping the Ancient Romans with their lives by helping them to get to the largely and elaborate built arenas in order to watch chariot races, gladiator battles, and many other types of entertainments and then had the promise of feeding them at the end of the event.