What did the Romans do to entertain themselves? Roman Relaxation What did the Romans do to entertain themselves? Did they play games? How did they relax?

Roman Baths

Why were baths so popular with the Romans? Roman baths were more like a visit to a leisure centre than a quick scrub. The Romans loved the baths because they were a good place to meet people and business could be conducted there. When you went to the baths you firstly changed and did some exercises. Then you might have a swim before going into a series of rooms that made you hotter and hotter to help you sweat off the dirt. All the dirt and sweat was then scraped off with a STRIGIL (made out of metal). They then swam in the cold pool.

Games The Romans played similar games to what we play today. Board games with counters and dice were very popular with the Romans. Hunting was also popular. People in the countryside would hunt animals for fun as well as food. Some things the Romans did for fun were horrible. Animals and people were sometimes killed for entertainment as part of shows in amphitheatres.

What did the Romans see in amphitheatres? Specially trained slaves called GLADIATORS would fight each other. They would even fight wild animals such as lions or bears. When a gladiator lost a fight the audience would decided whether he should die or live. The audience would put their thumbs out if they wanted them to die. If they wanted them to live they kept their thumbs in their hands so they couldn't be seen.

The Romans also went to the theatre to watch plays or listen to music. The actors often wore masks to show whether their character was sad or happy.

Today's work Pretend you are writing a quiz about Roman leisure. You need to ask 10 questions with three possible answers, making sure one of those three is the correct one. Decorate your quiz sheet. Draw a box at the bottom of the page. You need to write the correct answers (the people doing the quiz wouldn't see this).