Roman Relaxation

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

2. Roman Baths

3. 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. 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.

6. Animals and people were sometimes killed for entertainment as part of shows in amphitheatres. 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.

7. What did the Romans see in amphitheatres? • 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. • 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.

8. 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.

9. 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).