Chariot races were held at the Circus Maximus at the foot of the Palatine Hill. The chariot driver (aurīga) waited behind the barrier at the start (carcer, which also meant `prison’), and, when the starting cloth (mappa) was dropped, they raced around the central reservation (spīna, which also meant `tooth-pick’)

The charioteers were organised in teams distinguished by different colours, with the venetī (`Blues’) and prasinī (`Greens’) the most popular in the imperial period.

The Colosseum (or Amphitheatrum Flavianum), built in the first century , was Rome’s main venue for gladiator fights.

Gladiator contests, like other shows, were put on at the expense of a patron (often the emperor himself) and members of the public were admitted free to the ordinary seats. The patron could decide whether a defeated gladiator lived or died.

Different types of gladiator were equipped in different ways, as exemplified in this mosaic from Leptis Magna in north Africa.

One popular variety was the murmillo, named after a kind of fish that his helmet was thought to resemble.

The thrāx (`Thracian’ ) had both legs protected but a smaller shield.

The retiarius (`net-man’) was armed only with his net and a trident The retiarius (`net-man’) was armed only with his net and a trident. The secutor (`pursuer’)was distingusihed by his helmet with two eye-holes.

Gladiators were originally slaves, prisoners of war or condemned criminals but under the Empire perhaps more than half of the fighters were free men who were prepared to risk death for money and glory. They were trained in gladiator schools (lūdī) under a trainer known as a lanista (a word originally meaning `butcher’!)

Also popular was combat between wild animals and the bēstiārius