THE BIRTH OF SPECTATOR SPORTS

Method of Social Control

BEFORE THIS

….

THERE WAS THIS…

PURPOSE

 People in Rome were often poor, miserable yet for 100s of years were kept from rebellion 

HOW?

 Emperors would hold various times of ‘games’ or ‘events’ to entertain the masses in which they would toss bread and other items into the crowd to keep the peace.

SPECTATOR SPORTS

 “VENATIO” – The Hunt  Man vs. Beast  Elephants, seals, bulls, bears from the extent of the empire  Tigers & Lions were the crowd favourite  “DAMNATIO AD BESTIAS”  Men who were sentenced to death were pretty much force fed to animals  Being fed to a Tiger was quick  To prolong pain they were fed to wild dogs

THE GLADIATOR

 Usually captured soldiers from other countries  Trained in a gladiator school known as the Ludus  Training was very expensive  Different schools would compete to have the best gladiator  As gladiators gained fame through victory they were treated as legends and invented to attend ceremonies and could possibly earn their freedom.

FACT OR FICTION?

 Gladiators were highly trained and very expensive and it is unlikely that they ever fought to the death  Slaves on the other hand….

• Reported to be so much blood that the arena was completely red at the end of the battle….

Bloodiest of ALL….

• Naval ships were placed inside the coliseum to do battle…

BATTLE RE-ENACTMENTS

 Often times Gladiatorial combat was carefully scripted to re-enact famous Roman victories  Again, Gladiators were spared, slaves were not.

CIRCUS MAXIMUS

 Could seat 250 000 people  5x the size of the biggest soccer stadiums  600m track used for chariot races

Role of Women

 The role that most Roman women had was to be a supportive wife to her husband.  Roman women had no legal rights, they were highly respected.  some free Roman women did perform duties and the roles of teachers, secretaries and saleswomen, bakers.  They may have also been female doctors (more so midwives)

Oh the Men!

 In each Roman family, the head of the house was always the "paterfamilias", of the father. The father had total power over the entire family and could sell his children as slaves or get them killed. Even if he had a son and the son married, he would only be the Paterfamilias if HIS father died.

 Only children from wealthy families went to school. Poor families had to get their children to work for more money. Schools were not free. Poor families could not pay for the lessons (very different from Greece and Socrates idea of education)  Children from poor families were often taught by their parents. Kids got married at the age of 12 for females and 14 for males. They would not be allowed to marry their relatives

Kids will be….kids?

 If a father did not approve of a newborn, he would leave it outside to die. Romans found it very odd that Athenians and Egyptians raised their own children.

 When a child was born it would be given a bulla or a charm around its neck. When the boys reached adulthood they would sacrifice all their toys and bulla to the Gods to symbolize they are now men (usually at the age of 14-18)  Women did not have a ceremony, they only became adults when they married (ahh…cest la vie!)

Living Conditions

 Wealthy Romans lived in large houses made out of stone and marble  Poor Romans lived in tall, crammed apartment buildings  The poorest families would live on the top floor  Question: How did the poor get rid of their trash?

The life of a Roman

 City stunk from the baths, sweat, and odours coming out of the kitchens. Not to mention that trash was simply thrown out on the streets or hidden in alley ways.

 Most people (besides politicians) did not have permanent jobs. Slaves were much cheaper  Life was busy and loud. Rome was overcrowded and dirty.

 Massive taxation and lack of justice

Roman Life con’t

Roman Faith

Shift away from Faith

Sex was a big part of Roman Culture. It was often expressed openly even though homosexuality was largely illegal. It was frequent in bath houses and brothels.

Bath houses

 The Romans were concerned about health and cleanliness. A network of pipes brought clean water into the city of Rome and removed waste.  The public bath house was the place where people went to socialise and do business as well as getting clean.  The large spacious entrance or meeting area is a place where visitors can walk and talk or sit on seats around two large fountains.

12 facts about the bath house

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There were hot, warm and cold baths 8.

Water was heated by a boiler over a fire 9.

You could buy refreshments at the baths People did weight lifting at the baths The hot room was called the caldarium The cold room was called the frigidarium 10.

11.

Public slaves could give you a massage There was no soap so people used oil instead Men and women used separate bath houses The floor might be covered with a mosaic 12.

You had to pay to use the baths Sticks called strigils were used to scrape dirt off the body

Take it off (oh la la)

  Fashion was very different than it is today. Just like brand names today, Romans would use their clothing to show their status in society.

Do you know the difference between a toga and a tunic? • • • • • •

TUNIC

Casual Worn for everyday Like a tracksuit Mostly worn by poor Poor=cloak Military men wore shorter tunics • • • • •

TOGA

More formal Like a business suit Really identified the wealthy and aristocrats Senator or Consul=Praetexta Which is a white toga edged with purple

;)

     White symbolized purity and purple royalty so combined together for the upper classes Later on, emperors wore purple togas lined with gold to show royalty as well as wealth and control Married women wore sleeveless togas whereas unmarried women wore sleeved togas with a shawl.

Women in Rome wore A LOT of makeup. This influence came from the Egyptians and Plautus (254-184 BC) was a roman philosopher who wrote, “ A woman without paint is like food without salt,” meaning a woman wasn’t complete without makeup. Both men and women wore “coverup” to improve their looks

LET’S FEAST!

     Romans were very particular about their food The quality of food eaten depended on the classes It was illegal for an oven in the house because of fires Tomatoes were not yet introduced to Rome until the 4 th century C.E

in ancient times vomiting seems to have been a standard part of the fine-dining experience. In his Moral Epistles the Roman philosopher Seneca writes, Cum ad cenandum

discubuimus, alius sputa deterget, alius reliquias temulentorum

[toro] subditus colligit, "When we recline at a banquet, one [slave] wipes up the spittle; another, situated beneath [the table], collects the leavings of the drunks.“

Come Dine with Me

        Most wealthier Romans would lay down when eating. They would lay on their left sides and eat with their right hands.

Most Roman food didn’t have bones (but when it did they would toss the bones on the floor, along with other garbage, and the slaves would clean it up)  Dinner could last up to 6 hours!

Romans ate 3 full meals a day (ok the poor had one)  Time break down: Breakfast   LUNCH Sunrise  6 pm (after lunch a 2-3 hour nap was taken  DINNER  9-10p, Feasting was a huge part of Roman life. Both for festivals and for daily consumptions. The rich would each quite exotic food like stuffed flamingo and hearty meats while the poor ate porridge and eggs. Romans loved their sweets! Cakes sweetened with honey were very popular and commonly (like everything else) were enjoyed with wine mixed with water.

Men and women normally sat separately when dinning (especially the upper classes) The Romans had a program called annona to help the poor buy food. Citizens were given tokens called tesserae that could be exchanged for bread and other food items. Poor children attending school were given food through a program known as the alimenta which was developed in the early second century A. D.

The Romans preserved their foods by smoking, dehydrating, spreading honey on fresh fruits, or by salting.