The Amphitheatre at the heart of the City

The Amphitheatre at the heart of the Roman town

There were three types of entertainment in the Ancient world:

Hunts (venatio)

They traditionally took place in the morning. The name ‘hunts’ described popular entertainments during which animals of varying degrees of ferocity were released into the arena to be fought by men. A natural setting was created in the arena to resemble a real hunting scene. Lions, tiger and panthers provided the entertainment along with elephants, rhinoceros, giraffes, bulls and bears. To calm the overexcited nerves of the people, rabbits and hares would be released into the ring, where they would flee frantically from the dogs, causing roars of laughter from the crowd. Another type of hunt comprised releasing dangerous animals of roughly equal strength into the arena. Occasionally they refused to fight, so they were forced to do so using chains.

 

 

Executions of prisoners sentenced to death

At lunchtime, in front of terraces which were often empty, Christian martyrs and prisoners condemned to death were executed as a loathsome form of entertainment. According to Roman law, citizens condemned to death were executed with the gladius, but slaves or foreigners condemned to death were thrown to wild animals in the amphitheatres. We do not know if Christian martyrs were executed in the Amphitheatre of Nîmes, but these executions were commonplace in the Roman Empire, in an effort to curb the new religion. Propelled towards the wild beast with whip lashes or tied to a pole, they were eaten alive without being able to defend themselves.

 

 

Gladiatorial combats

It was gladatorial combat, however, that was the most popular form of entertainment with the Romans. The combats took place in the afternoon in a highly charged atmosphere. Gladiatorial combat is believed to have originated from Etruscan funeral ceremonies, where people fought to the death in memory of the deceased. This practice slowly developed into the Roman munera, gladatorial combats organised by the emperor or his representatives. The Romans transformed these combats into an actual performance - the pretext remained the worship of ancestors, but they quickly became a major form of entertainment.