Rome

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Rome Miscellaneous Topics
Circus Maximus
Expanded by Julius Caesar in 50 B.C.E.,
its purpose was to host 4 mile-long chariot
races this required a few laps by the 12
chariots because the track was 600 meters long
and 80 meters wide
Note the starting gates (B) and the diagonal
layout of the central divider
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Rome Miscellaneous Topics
Circus Maximus
A famous scene in the movie Ben-Hur (1959)
depicts a chariot race it took 3 months and
8000 extras to film the scene
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Rome Miscellaneous Topics
Gladiatorial contests

• Latin word gladius meant sword
• fought each other, wild animals, condemned
  criminals
• average game had 10-13 gladiators / each bout
  lasted 10-15 minutes, as music played
• gladiators were paid / could earn the right not
  to fight
• the audience (or emperor) often decided whether
  a losing gladiator lived (thumbs down?) or died
  (thumbs up?)
• only about 10 died in combat

Pollice Verso ("With a Turned Thumb"), an 1872
painting by Jean-Léon
Gérôme
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Rome Miscellaneous Topics
Roman baths
Public baths were popular in Rome they usually
included hot, cold and lukewarm pools, sauna-like
facilities, and spa-like services such as oiling
and massaging
The wealthy visited the baths often sometimes
daily
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Rome Miscellaneous Topics
Roman sanitation
Roman cities had sewer systems that drained
toilets (under which water flowed continuously)
The holes on the top are for sitting upon / the
holes in the front are for the sponge-stick (the
Roman version of toilet paper)
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Rome Miscellaneous Topics
Togas
Male Roman citizens wore 20 foot-long garments
made of wool called togas over their tunics
Married Roman women wore stolas