Roman Games

Rome, home of the famous Gladiator games. Tens of thousands of spectators showed up for these events. But what part of a roman¡¯s life did these games have? Read on and find out¡­

First of all it should be noted that Romans didn¡¯t only watch gladiators, they also enjoyed chariot races and animal hunts. Let¡¯s find out what was done in each of these sports.

Gladiators (which means swordsmen) were first held as a funeral ceremony for dead heroes but later became so popular that they were held almost on a monthly basis. Most were only little competitions with 20 pairs of gladiators but when an emperor was celebrating there would be large competitions. An example would be when Emperor Trajan celebrated his conquest of Dacia, the celebration lasted over 4 months and 4941 pairs of gladiators fought. These events were held in the Roman Colosseum, which would have held over 50000 people. At first gladiators were slaves or c...