Ancient Roman Entertainment free essay sample

Theatre The theatre is one of Ancient Rome form of entertainment. The characters in Roman plays were all played by male slaves. Men played the parts of the women. The typical characters that were played in Ancient Rome theatres included the rich man, the king, the soldier, the slave, the young man and the young woman. If necessary, an actor would play two or more roles in a single performance. The mask was the most notable part of an actors performance. More masks and wigs were used for comedies that tragedies. Gray wigs represented old men, black for young men and ed for slaves. Young men wore brightly colored clothing, while old men wore white so that the audience can easily identify the characters. Pantomimes were popular during the first century BC. Pantomimes involved miming roles to accompaniments of singers, dancers and musicians. Women wore allowed in mimes and pantomimes, but eventually degenerated into vulgar and disgusting tastelessness. We will write a custom essay sample on Ancient Roman Entertainment or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In Ancient Rome, plays were usually presented on contemporary wooden stages at the time of the games. In 55 BC, the first permanent Roman theatre was built. It had a seating apacity of twenty seven thousand. In Greek theatres there was a circular space located in front of the stage called the orchestra, since Roman plays usually lacked a true chorus, the area in front of the stage simply became a semicircular area. Admission to the Roman plays were free for citizens. Originally, women were only admitted to view tragedies, but, later, no such restrictions were imposed. Public Baths The baths were a place of leisure in the time of the Roman Empire. People from nearly every class could attend the public baths. Diocletian and Caracalla were the wo most well preserved baths of Ancient Rome. Diocletians baths cover thirty acres and the Caracalla baths cover twenty seven acres. Now, the ruins of the Diocletians baths include two Roman churches, St. Mary of the Angels and the oratory of St. Bernard. Towards the center of the Roman baths could be found the tapidarium a warm bathroom. The tapidarium was surrounded on one side by the frigidarium, a large cold pool about two hundred feet by one hundred feet, and on the other side could be found the calidarium, a very hot steamy room heated by subterranean team. Hot air and steam baths had been known to the Greeks as early as the fifth century BC. The original thermae was small. By the first century BC, hypocaust heating allowed for the creation of hot/cold rooms and plunge baths. The baths were not only for leisure, but also, for social gathering. Portico shops sheltered gardens and promenades, gymnasium, rooms for massage, libraries and museums could also be found in the public baths. To compliment these scholarly havens were marble sculptures and other artistic masterpieces. Amphitheater