What kind of sports were available?

[taira1180]

I know that in most small cities in the roman empire they had an amphitheater to make games. But I'm curious to know what kind of games the provincials of small towns could see. I mean, the races of chariots and great combats of gladiators were in Rome. What could an inhabitant of conimbriga in Lusitania or of Lundinium have access? Some combats of gladiators against beasts? Maybe others shows (teat re and music contests?)

[M.ilionario]

Excelente blog! (Excellent blog!) :wink:
Onde encontraste a informação? (Where did you find the information?)

[taira1180]

Thanks for the compliment.
Since the english is the language in this forum, i will only use it (para evitar chatices).
I have several books about the subject, specially about military history. And since i work in a library, i have acess to much more books 8) .

[M.ilionario]

Use English as much as you want , I understand you perfectly....
Could you give me the names of some of your books? I love military history as well but I don't know which to buy nor where to find them

[taira1180]

Actually it's all a question of how much money you have to spend, and where you live (i live in Oporto).
In this forum there is a list of indispensable books, but some are of dificult access, so i will only put here, those i have buy in portugal.
To beggin, the books of Osprey about the roman army in the collection men-at-arm: they are 5 from the early times until the end of the empire. The 1º and the 5º for me are not good, the other are ok. (you may buy them in "livraria britânica" in Oporto. Two books of the collection warrior in the editor osprey about the late cavalry and late infantry, are also good (also in livraria britânica).
For the army of early empire: Yann le Bohec L' Armée Romaine sous le Haut-Empire (in french), and it's an excelente book (you could find it) in livraria nova fronteira.
The history of the art of war of Hans Delbruck: expensive, with already one century, but brilliant (Livraria Leitura).
The roman army as a community by Adrian Goldsworthy (Leitura).
Roman military equipment : from the Punic Wars to the fall of Rome from M. C. Bishop (careful wit this one: my version is an old one and doubt you may find it, but there is a new one, so you may try to buy this one unstead in Leitura).
After this, try the old classics: Tito Livio, Plutarco, Políbio, they have lot's of references.

[M.ilionario]

Thanks, I'll try to find them....too bad I don't live in Porto
What is Leitura? A bookshop?

[taira1180]

Yes, it's a books shop. Even if they don't have the book imediatly, you may reserve (it usually take a month).
Or you could use amazon if you have a good credit card :lol:

[manda]

Hello there -waves-

This was taken from Wikipedia, its not by me.

Sports and entertainment
The ancient city of Rome had a place called Campus, a sort of drill ground for Roman soldiers, which was located near the Tiber river. Later, the Campus became Rome’s track and field playground, which even Julius Caesar and Augustus were said to have frequented. Imitating the Campus in Rome, similar grounds were developed in several other urban centers and military settlements.

In the campus, the youth assembled to play and exercise, which included jumping, wrestling, boxing and racing. Riding, throwing, and swimming were also preferred physical activities. In the countryside, pastime also included fishing and hunting. Females did not participate in these activities. Ball playing was a popular sport and ancient Romans had several ball games, which included Handball (Expulsim Ludere), field hockey, catch, and some form of Soccer.

Board games played in ancient Rome included Dice (Tesserae), Roman Chess (Latrunculi), Roman Checkers (Calculi), Tic-tac-toe (Terni Lapilli), and Ludus duodecim scriptorum and Tabula, predecessors of backgammon.

There were several other activities to keep people engaged like chariot races, musical and theatrical performances, public executions and gladiatorial combat. In the Colosseum, Rome’s amphitheatre 50,000 persons could be accommodated.

[Medusa Gladiatrix]

I know that in most small cities in the roman empire they had an amphitheater to make games. But I'm curious to know what kind of games the provincials of small towns could see. I mean, the races of chariots and great combats of gladiators were in Rome. What could an inhabitant of conimbriga in Lusitania or of Lundinium have access? Some combats of gladiators against beasts? Maybe others shows (teat re and music contests?)

Even in the provincial amphitheaters were gladiatorial combats (professional fighters against each other) as well as venationes (beast hunts: beast against beast, man against beast). The displays of course weren't that ostentatious as in the Colosseum in Rome. Even there you most probably had the standard program with the venationes in the morning, execution (if any) at noon time and the gladiator fights in the afternoon. There were gladiator troupes traveling through the provinces. Recently they found in Künzing (Bavaria, Germany) remains of which they think they might be from a wooden amphitheater which was close to a military camp. So there was even entertainment for the soldiers stationed in the provinces.

If there were any horse racing tracks like the Circus Maximus in the provinces I don't know at the moment.

Theaters and odeons (small theater) were available in provincial cities as well where you could watch theatrical displays or readings or musical concerts, the latter two esp. at the odeons.

[taira1180]

Thanks for all the replies!