The Romans: Leisure
Some things which people in Roman times did for fun are similar to things we do today.
Board games with counters and dice were very popular with the Romans. Counters and marked out boards for these games have now been found. However, nobody knows the rules for the games!
Hunting was also popular. People in the countryside would hunt animals for fun as well as for food. The Romans even introduced fallow deer to Britain to make the hunting better.
Some things the Romans did for fun were horrible. Animals and people were sometimes killed for entertainment as part of shows put on in amphitheatres.
What did the Romans see in amphitheatres?
Specially trained slaves called gladiators would fight each other in amphitheatres. They would even fight wild animals such as lions or bears. When a gladiator lost a fight the crowd would decide if the loser should live or die. The audience would wave their handkerchiefs or put their thumbs up if he should live. If they wanted the loser to die, they would put their thumbs down. Amphitheatres were an incredibly successful form of entertainment.
Roman people also went to the theatre to watch plays or listen to music. The actors often wore masks to show whether their character was happy or sad. Some of these plays were written down and the jokes in some Roman comedies are still funny today!
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 out of your clothes and did some exercises. Then you might have a swim in the pool before going into a series of rooms which got hotter and hotter to help make you sweat off the dirt. When the Romans were in these rooms they would often stop and talk to each other. All the dirt and sweat was then scraped off with a strigil and you had a swim in the cold pool.
The most famous Roman baths in Britain are in the city of Bath.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/romans/leisure.shtml