LUDI- Free entertainments sponsored by the state, public officials or wealthy families.
LUDI SCAENICI- Theatrical performances: Comedies, Tragedies, Farces and Pantomimes.
- Dramatis Personae- Theatrical masks used by actors to portray different characters.
Roman citizens usually did not appear on stage. Actors
were generally slaves, freedmen or immigrants.
- Plautus & Terence- Two most famous Roman playwrights.
- Orchestra- Circular performing area in front of the stage where the Greek
Chorus performed In Roman theaters the orchestra circle
was cut in half by the scaena and Proscaenium.
- Greek Chorus- A choral group who commented on the action and interacted with the actors.
LUDI CIRCENSES- Chariot races usually held on an oblong race track called a circus.
- Circus Maximus- The largest race track in Rome in the valley between the Palatine and Aventine Hills
- Spina- A 1000-foot-long dividing wall that ran down the center of the circus.
- Carceres- Starting gates. (Literally, "prisons.")
- Spatium/Curriculum- One lap around the Spina.
- Missus- Term for a complete 7 lap race.
- Eggs & Dolphins- Markers that were used on opposite ends of the Spina to mark the laps.
MUNERA GLADIATORIA- Gladiatorial combats usually sponsored in an amphitheater. Borrowed from the
Etruscans. The Romans sponsored gladiatorial combats only at funerals during the Republic. Only
during the Empire were they sponsored as public entertainment.
- Flavian Amphitheater- The Colosseum In Rome. (Named from Nero's nearby colossal statue.)
- Morituri te salutamus - "We who are about to die salute you."
Gladiatorial greeting to the sponsor
- Myrmillo- A gladiator who wore a fish design on his helmet and fought with a shield and sword
- Retiarius- The usual opponent of a Myrmillo. Was armed only with a net and a trident.
- Pollice Verso- The thumbs-down (or "turned" in some direction-the
exact direction is unproven signal to kill a defeated
opponent. Lives were spared by waving a mappa.
- Spartacus- Famous gladiator from the school at Capua who led a slave revolt in 73 B.C.