In the town, Public Baths were popular with Roman people. They were a place for relaxing and meeting friends or for merchants to do business. All men and women would try to go to the Public Baths at least once a day. Public Baths contained saunas (caldarium), a warm room with a pool (tepidarium), cold pools (frigidarium), and an exercise room (gymnasium).

 

The Main pool at the Roman baths in Bath, England (Aqua Sulis). Photo by  irene. on ccsearch is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0

The Main pool at the Roman baths in Bath, England (Aqua Sulis)

Coliseum in Rome. Photo by Chait Goli from Pexels

In Rome, the amphitheatre is called the Coliseum, and is still standing today. It is one of the best known sights in the city for tourists to visit.

For entertainment, the town had a large stadium, or amphitheatre, where people liked to go to watch gory fights between gladiators (who were slaves captured in foreign wars) or with wild animals. These fights often ended with the death of a gladiator, but if a gladiator survived he could become a big hero!

Roman people also liked chariot racing. Chariots were used in wars, and in Rome, the Circus Maximus was built for chariot races. Popular teams were named after colours.

The theatre was introduced from the Ancient Greece and was held in large outdoor semi-circular theatres. Plays were either tragedies or comedies, and actors used masks to show the character they were playing.

Theatre in Bosra, Syria

Plays would have been performed in a theatre like this.

The Roman invented mime, and women were allowed to act in mimes, but not in other plays.