Roman Society during Leisure Time
A unique feature of the Roman society was its increased interest towards leisure and entertainment activities. During a time of wars and desires to rule the world, the Romans would easily find time to engage in relaxing activities. The fact that the slaves were the only ones working the entire year and not permitted to attend public events, allowed the Romans to engage in numerous activities in the area of entertainment. Furthermore, different from other cultures is the fact that these activities would apply to both the wealthy population as well as the poorer one. "The people of ancient Roman society occupied their leisure with a variety of activities. Many of these activities were available to people of all social classes."1 This only means that the Romans were a unified people that granted all the Empire citizens' equal rights to work and enjoy themselves. But even though all Romans had the right to participate in leisure activities, these were restricted based on social status and wealth. For instance, the richer population would organize dinner banquets, where the poor were not invited. Also, the latter could not afford to throw banquets, as such had top engage in other leisure activities. All in all, the Roman leisure time
The involvement of Romans in gambling and games reveals once again their interest in relaxation activities; but in this case, a relaxation that involves mind stimulation and the thrill given by the risk of loss. But what makes life worth living except baths, wine, and sex?"6 In their search for practicality and effectiveness, Romans combined several features to attain perfection. From the multitude of leisure activities, the Romans are renowned through history for spending their time at public baths and spas; for organizing and participating to numerous parties, such as celebration parties of births, marriages or political success; for playing numerous games, both gambling as well as board games - characteristic to all social classes and including children; for being spectators to arena fights, such as gladiator against gladiator fights, or gladiator against animal fights; and for spending an increased amount of time in bars. The bath rooms of ancient Rome were regarded as places of relaxation; but in time they came to serve more than the purpose of bathing. These activities were engaged in, even though they were not always considered healthy. They were paid by the contractors, that were the aedile or the praetors. Also, the fact that the Roman society allowed children to play these games was a means of forming the youth's mentality into the Roman way of thinking and acting. "Perhaps each player had a gaming piece which he moved from letter to letter, but we have no idea how the game was played. "Lower-class women had fewer opportunities to get out of the house, to meet friends, and to relax. The ambivalence of Roman citizens' character when it came to public shows is to be seen in their attitude towards the theatre. By today's standards, a Roman year is inconceivable from the holidays' point of view. In their search for the perfect leisure facility, the Romans soon added other functions to the public baths. unified the Romans as a population but internally divided them according to social status, political position and income.
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