Flavius
Goes to the
Games.
An Interactive Adventure
The big day had finally arrived. Fourteen year
old Flavius and his little sister Octavia, who was
just ten, were being taken to the games in the
Colosseum in the capital city of Rome. Early in
the morning they had put on their best togas and
prepared themselves for the long journey in their
horse drawn stagecoach to Rome.
As they drew near to the city many hundreds of excited
citizens crowded the roads making it difficult for the
chariot to get through. Flavius and Octavia gazed in
wonder at the sight.
A column of legionaries came marching up the
dusty road accompanied by the chariots.Flavius would
be joining the army when he was old enough and he
looked eagerly at the soldiers armour and weapons.
Soon they arrived at the amphitheatre where the games
were to take place. On the way to their seats they bought
a snack from a stall, perhaps some meat and bread. As
they sat down the first event was about to start.
One of the highlights of todays games is the
appearance of Hector Maximus the most famous of the
gladiators. He is a favourite of Flavius’s and will fight in
the beast show. He was fighting a fierce leopard and after
a hard struggle was able to kill it. The crowd cheered as he
made his triumphal lap of honour.
Eventually the games came to an end and Flavius and
his family made their way home,for their was to be a
great celebration at their villa.Today was the feast of
Minerva the goddess of Wisdom and a huge feast had
been arranged for their many friends and neighbours.
Clothes were usually made
of wool or linen.The most
important article of clothing
was the toga.On reaching
the age of fourteen boys
were allowed to wear the
pure white toga virilis.
Younger boys and senators
wore togas with a purple
stripe.Women wore undertunics with long robes,called
stolas over the top.
In Rome gladiator fights were
held in the Colosseum.They
were hugely popular.People
flocked to see men armed only
with nets and tridents (three
pronged spears) , small shields,
or light armour,fight each other
to the death
Chariots were used in battle and also for racing at the
arena. Chariot racing was very popular and thousands of
people packed into the circus to cheer on their teams-the
Blues, the Reds, the Greens or the Whites.Huge
amounts of money were bet on the races and the
charioteers could become millionaires.
The Romans were great road builders. They neede to
travel as fast as they could across the Roman Empire. The
army had to reach trouble spots, merchants needed to carry
goods and officials needed to travel to govern the Empire.
They built their roads as straight as possible to make travel
speedy. The surface was raised above the aurrounding
ground to keep it free from water. Layers of gravel and
stone were pounded down to make a hard wearing surface.
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The legionary wore a helmet
to protect his head in
battle.He also wore body
armour, made of hinged plates
of iron which fit the body
tightly. He carried two iron
tipped wooden spears and the
iron sword in it’s decorated
scabbard was worn on his right
side. Daggers were often
decorated and were about 25
cms long. His shield weighed
about 6 kilograms and was
decorated with metal strips
and paint
One of the highlights of a day
at the games was the beast
show(minera). Rich Romans
hunted throughout the
provinces of the Empire to
bring back wild and axotic
animals to be used in the
games. The animals were
forced to fight each other or
were put against unarmed
criminals. Thousands of
animals and humans died in
these battles.
In the countryside rich
Romans built new houses
called villas.Some villas had
many of the things that we
have in our homes
today.They had glass
windows,running water,baths
and toilets that flushed.
Most villas had a form
of central heating called a
hypocaust. Floors were built
on brick pillars.Hot air from a
furnace travelled under the
floors and up behind the walls,
keeping the rooms warm.
This is a typical
menu from a Roman
feast. I don’t think
that we would eat
many of these
things for our
dinner.