What was a day at the Roman Colosseum like? - From Tickets to T-Shirt Catapults DOCUMENTARY
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Published 2022-03-20
In this animated history documentary we continue to explore the great games of ancient Rome. Previous episodes looked at The Rise of the Gladiators and the Naval Gladiator Battles. In this video we see what things were like from the perspective of your everyday Roman with a glimpse of daily life in the past.
The documentary begins by setting the historical scene for the golden age of the gladiators. We discuss the schedule of the games and when these might occur throughout the year. Next we look at the advertising campaigns which publicized the these upcoming spectacles. This included everything from painted billboards, to teaser events, and word of mouth buzz. We then talk about the ancient Roman ticketing system which was used to assign and distribute seating assignments which involved official and blackmarket sales.
The history documentary then recreates a day at the Roman Colosseum. We start in the early morning tail gate where spectators could mingle outside the arena. Here there were many vendors selling food, cushions, gear, and various super-fan items. You could also gamble and perform magic aimed at the matches of the day.
Once the gates were open, you were then to line up at your assigned gate number, present your ticket, and proceed up to your seat. Each section was a reflection of the social order with the elites getting front row views while the masses were relegated to the higher tiers. Here people could not only enjoy the unfolding events but also socialize as with any sporting event today. We then discuss the program of the day which included the opening processions, the beast hunts, the lunch break, and the afternoon gladiator battles. Along the way we talk about the use of shade awnings, misters, t-shirt catapults, and many more details that are strikingly familiar to today.
Sit back and enjoy A Day at the Roman Colosseum! If you like learning about daily life in the past, be sure to check out our How They Did It playlist.
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Works Cited/Recommended Reads
The World of Pompeii eds. John Dobbins and Pedar Fross
Ancient Rome on Five Denarii a Day by Peter Matyszak
Popular Culture in Ancient Rome by Jerry Toner
Emperors and Gladiators by Thomas Wiedemann
Life, Death, and Entertainment in the Roman Empire eds. D.S. Potter and D.J. Mattingly
As The Romans Did by Jo-Ann Shelton
The Roman Games by Alison Futrell
The Victor’s Crown by David Potter
The Oxford Handbook of Roman Epigraphy eds. Christer Bruun and Jonathan Edmondson
Credits:
Research: Chris Das Neves
Writing: Chris Das Neves
Artwork: Beverly Johnson
Editing: Penta Limited
#History
#Documentary
All Comments (21)
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I love these episodes on daily life in the past and just how much it reveals about the similarities between then and now. Ticketing, tail gating, betting, socializing, and prizes all mirror our own events though I have to say that the Romans have use beat with those goat riding monkey soldiers! What other aspects of the Roman games should we cover next?
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Imagine winning an elephant at the colosseum and try to convince your wife of keeping it.
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Okay the idea of a mom covering her kid's eyes to prevent them from seeing prostitutes or mob violence, but also being totally okay with taking her child to a gladiator match is kind of hilarious.
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Fun fact: the first Kiss Cam was installed in the Collosieum. It was a giant focused bronzed mirror. Unfortunately it only lasted a single day as the poor couple from Capua it found were instantly set afire.
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What is amazing with ancient rome is that it was even greater in reality than in fiction
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Somewhere in Rome during a fight: "This gladiator match is brought to you by Cato's Salt Shop"
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I always adore these closer looks at the lives of the everyday person of the past
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This was quite interesting. I don't think I have ever heard anyone talk about these events in this context, thank you for putting that content out there for us to think about.
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Invicta, Kings & Generals, Armchair Historian, Hisoria Civilis, and Sandroman. What a great bunch of content creators, thanks guys!
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As someone who has spent quite a bit of time studying gladiators, it's refreshing to see the truth being put out there - as opposed to the more Hollywood notion of things.
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My favorite parts of history are the "some things never change" bits.
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Duuuuude so excited for this I loved every second, the sorry about the monkeys fighting while adorning armor and riding goats is hilarious
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The boom in historical YouTube is a dream come true
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Flirt? Joke? Argue? Eat? Drink? Laugh? Gamble? Belch? Chant? Um. Brawl? I want a ticket. Those are all great.
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Actually I found the old-school marketing tactics mentioned in the earlier part of the video (graffiti, paying people to spread rumours or buzz, walking exotic animals around town to spread buzz) really refreshing. In today's Internet world, it's all about digital marketing, email lists, social media, digital noise noise noise. It's really refreshing to see old school physical and social marketing methods that have been used for millilenia.
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So it was basically a Roman Super Bowl. Also, Gladiator bath water, heh.
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These videos are the best, when it's about everyday life things of civilian matters. In historical games/arguments it's always about wars and belligerent stuff. But I always loved these aspects, making it feel more immersive than just historical wars
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I was there! I plan to go back to the Colosseum and film every angle there! This video will be very useful in my work, as always. Thanks‼ ️❤
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For those interested, Lindybeige did a video (not nearly the quality of this one, but you can't have everything) regarding the mortality of gladiators. He took a year which was known to be particularly bloody and compared the number of deaths to the number of gladiators, the number of matches, the number of matches each one fought in, etc and it came out to be something which wasn't particularly dangerous by modern standards. Some of the other things he took note of is the difference in length of duels vs gladiatorial matches and uses that as another basis for how deadly it was. Duels tend to be very short affairs whereas the matches took significantly longer, because you aren't trying to kill the other guy before he does the same to you. Lindybeige also mentions an interesting theory. Most performers have their faces revealed, such as the trope of important people never wear (closed) helmets. Gladiators might have had their extremely large, ornate helmets partially do be able to coordinate with their opponent without the audience being able to see it as their job is primarily to provide a good show, which is much easier if you can take while doing it. This also might have lessened injuries caused by accidents. A question I have, is if the matches had a bit of the same "I can't believe they did this" you can get when someone knows about what is going on, ie oversized weapons, stupid moves in a fight, poor weapon handling, etc. Like a recent movie I watched decided to try and make city fighting in the Crusades have a machinegun crossbow.
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Fun fact: in the medieval and renaissance times, the Colosseum became a marble cave and then the place where all the poorest of the poor, afflicted, plagued and criminals went to sleep and shelter. Walking in the hallways would have been a death sentence, as the worse hive of scum and villainy would have swarm you for everything you got.
