There were 1,200,000 in the city of Rome in an area 3 X 4 miles. There wasn't much room. People lived in apartments. There was no wheeled traffic in the city during the day cuz of all the people. There were aqueducts to bring water into the city. They are like troughs that are elevated and gravity-operated so they always run down hill, no matter what the terrain.

The toga was the official dress worn only to formal occasions and Senate meetings.

Chariot races weren't like seen in Ben Hur. They only ran 4 chariots at a time. They were 2-wheeled chariots. The driver had to hold on to the chariot cuz it was rocking back and forth all the time. With his other hand, he held on to the whip. He was working with up to 10 horses. He had no free hands to hold the reins so they were tied around his waist and with body movements he could guide the horses. Everything worked fine until the chariot wrecked and he was tied to 10 running horses. All of them kept a sharp little knife in their belt to cut themselves free if necessary. There was betting. Stockmyer doesn't believe the movie versions with the spike coming out of your wheel to cut off the spokes of the guy next to you cuz it would be just hard to manipulate yourself that close to the guy.

Gladiator games were fun. They were Etruscan and religious in origin. The Etruscans thought there were evil spirits in the world who attacked freshly dead people. They would hire 2 gladiators to fight to the death of one of them at the burial of a relative so the spirit would attack the gladiator instead of Uncle Henry. Romans believed it was good for people to see violence -- make them join the army, get out their viciousness. The 1st acts were animal acts. They had trick elephants, panthers pulling chariots, a lion who came out and opened his mouth releasing a live bunny. But people got bored with that so they set wild animals against each other. They'd pit an elephant against a lion, etc. Next, they got professional hunters who had the Colosseum into a jungle with trees, etc. that were on roll-aways. They'd let loose a vicious animal and the hunters had to find it. Spectators had a bird's eye view. Next, they let men hunt each other. Gladiators were usually condemned criminals. If they became a gladiator they had a chance to prolong their life and maybe someday be free. There were specialists such as long or short swordsmen with large or small shield. There were fish people with trident and lead-weighted nets. By the time a gladiator troupe reached Rome, they were professionals. They didn't get killed much -- just maimed and cut up a lot. They could be rich with side bets and stuff. They got lots of public admiration. If they were fighting and got wounded, they threw away their weapons, laid on their back and stuck up their fist as a sign they were asking for clemency. Their opponent got the choice of their life or death. He looked to the emperor (who had to go to the games) and the emperor checked public opinion (with thumbs up or down sign from the movies). If a gladiator had done well he won a dish of gold and silver coins. Sometimes he could get the wooden sword as a symbol of his freedom and forgiveness of his crime. But they usually refused the wooden sword cuz that was the life they were used to. What would they do out in the real world?? Only the lowest element went to see the gladiator games (similar to the people who go to see wrestling today.) The games were put on as entertainment for the ghetto dwellers to keep them from being out on the streets. Today, we have TV for the same people to keep them entertained. Almost everybody has a TV if not food.

In the evening, the Romans went to the bathhouses. Every Roman went to the bath once a day (men and women both). It cost something like 5 cents. Kids got in free. You enter and take off your clothes in the locker room. There was a slave there whom you tipped to watch your clothes. (If you didn't tip him, he probably stole your clothes himself.) Then you could do what you wanted. There was a library, gyms to exercise, fountains to walk around, ball games with feather ball (there's no rubber for balls.) You could wrestle in a muddy ring. There were barbers and masseuses for the rich. Men and women both liked to get their hair curled with hot metal rods. When you finally bathed you went from cool-warm-hot-warm-cool before you left. You stopped on the way home to get your dinner cuz you can't keep food in the house from bugs and spoilage. They had a spice similar to ketchup that was made of dead fish that had been let sit in a pot out in the sun for 7 days. (Sure would kill the taste of food.)