Ancient Roman Entertainment Essay

The United States has adopted parts of Ancient Roman culture into modern day life. Over time Rome became the superpower of the Mediterranean controlling a vast amount of city-states. Power from trade, innovative minds, a powerful military, and influence from other cultures combined to make Rome one of the most powerful regions of the time period. The United States has taken some aspects of Rome’s culture and has incorporated it into society making both regions similar. Roman culture was like our own culture in the United States today because of the system of government, the use of sporting events to escape the affairs of daily life and the funeral inscriptions on grave markers.

Many aspects of today’s society have been heavily influenced by ancient Rome. Creation of law, development of democratic government practices, designs in architecture, literature and art are all areas where influences of the Roman ideas are present. One significant area impacted by Roman culture is entertainment. Entertainment has always played a vital role in every society, not only in the community, but also through the expansion of knowledge and culture. However, in Roman society, entertainment arguably played a much more vigorous role as lives were literally revolved around the sole aspect of enjoyment. This is where the Latin term panem et circenses comes into context.

Roman theatre initially began in 240 BC when Greek theatre was discovered and translated to Latin, then being brought to Rome. The first drama was held at Ludi Romani, the Roman Festival or the Roman Games. This occurred just before Rome became an empire in 27BC. There were many types of these festivals during a year for all sorts of reasons according to history. Theatre was, and is a diverse art form. It ranged from festival performances, street theatre, and acrobatics to eloquent tragedies.

The Roman way of life is different and similar to modern day. Though one may not know much over the Roman’s the culture is fascinating and still remembered in history. The clothes, food, customs, and leisure are major in Roman lifestyle.

The theatre has been a part of entertainment since ancient Greece, around 4th century BC or thereabouts. The theatre grew out of festivals in honor of the god Dionysus. Aeschylus created the first play in her honor. The first Greek plays were all tragedies but eventually comedy made its way and these plays were performed at festivals all over Greece. Through the centuries theater played the main role of entertainment from noble and royalty to the common person in any city or village, and as we move into the twenties

Since the days of the ancient Greeks, music has been an integral part of drama and theatre. Many composers wrote music to accompany plays, and sometimes the music became more well-known than the play it was written for … It

Rome had many great things, especially within their love of brutality. Many of the Roman people enjoyed to take a break from their hard, ancient, lives and watch some grown men battle people, lions, tigers, and bears to the death (oh my!).

Along with the paintings, Romans had a wide variety of other arts ranging in many different fields of interest. For example, the wealthy owned papyrus scrolls and other documents that they read (Nardo, 70). Music also spread joy and was even played at special occasions, like weddings, as it is today in addition to formal concerts and theaters. Moreover, plays and theatrical arts were performed on stages by prominent actors of the field and written by even more famous writers, like Plautus and Terence (Hinds, 31). Art also played a role in advancing the society through architecture, like the famous arches found along theaters, bridges, and other great structures. But most importantly, the Romans cherished

Greeks took entertainment very seriously. They used drama to investigate the world in which they lived. One of the main themes they used was the theme, "What it meant to be human". There are three major Greeks drama genres; comedy, satyr, and tragedy. All of these help in telling us how Greeks went about deciding what plays to put on and when.

Madam shall we go to the theatre now so that we can get good seats?"

Dance is one of the most beautiful, expressive forms of art known to mankind. It expresses joy, love, sorrow, anger, and the list truly goes on for all the possible emotions that it can convey. Dance not only can express how one feels, but it can tell a story or even be used to praise a higher power. Dance has intricately played an important role to every culture over the course of time. Two forms of dance that have not only stood against the test of time but have influenced the development of other various styles of dance is none other than Classical Ballet and Modern Dance.

Introduced in around 250BC, gladiators were well-trained individuals who fought against each other to entertain the civilians of Rome. The gladiators fought in the Colosseum, which had a height of about 160 feet and capacity of up to 50,000 people. The Colosseum was also designed to be able to flood and hold ships. The term gladiator comes from the Latin word: "gladius" meaning sword. The profession of being a fighter brought great fame to the individual. The theme of death brought people together to see many young men die in battle. The crowd loved vicious shows that were gory and gruesome. Many gladiators who fought in the Colosseum went on to become tremendous war heroes, due to the intense training provided by the emperor. Gladiators always wore clothing that resembled other nations that the Roman army seized. They were also given unorthodox weapons to fight with and their battles usually illustrated famous ones fought by the Roman army. Sometimes, the ‘damnati ad mortem’, individuals who committed ruthless crimes, went into the arena without a weapon. Gladiators were mostly captives of war or slaves of the rich. Some people saw the fighting as a hobby and spent much time and money picking and choosing from the best of the gladiators. A fanatic of fighting was called a "lanista", or an owner of gladiators. Keeping these gladiators in good health became very expensive over time. Different gladiators were allowed to use different weapons based on their past life. For

The feelings that the Ancient Romans had towards music could be described as ambivalent. They admired it and at the same time, they condemned it. Music, nevertheless, played a role in Roman society that, as time passed, became less and less important to the Romans. As a result, much of the information about music in Ancient Rome has been lost in time. However what has been discovered about this topic is quite fascinating, in spite of what it is lacking. The subsequent paragraphs will explain some of the aspects of Roman life regarding music. This includes the history of music in Ancient Rome, the instruments that the Romans played, the uses of music in their society and the impact that music in Rome has had on the music of today.

Entertainment was essential to daily life in Ancient Rome.  According to Juvenal1, it seemed that all Romans were interested in was "bread and circuses,"  and with theatres, amphitheatres, gambling, drama and public baths galore, the Romans never seemed to get bored.

These dances eventually evolved to include praise songs and myths that were enacted by trained dancers and actors. By the end of the 5th century BC, these dance dramas were part of entertainment and provided social and political commentary on the times. Amongst the Romans, dance waxed and waned in acceptance by the powers that ruled. Until 200 BC, dance brought life to Roman processions, festivals and celebrations. However, in 150 BC all of the dancing schools were closed as Roman nobility considered dance as suspicious and even dangerous activity of the masses. Dancing has come a long way since ancient times. But there are still some similarities. When people thought up these dances they were trying to express themselves, their emotions, their problems and beliefs. Today we do the same thing. We make up dances according to our attitudes, beliefs, thoughts and feelings. The future will also contain dances that will reflect that society. There are many different kinds of dances. There is ballet, line dancing, slow dancing, the list goes on and on. Some of these dances are slow. Some of them are fast. They all use different type of instruments. Each dance representing a time, an event, an expression or feeling. Each dance expressing something different. Dances will never die. They are too interconnected in the