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 under-tunics 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.thjfgf

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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.