• Important aspect of Roman life was the games.
• Most of the games took place in amphitheaters.
• The Roman games were normally very bloody and violent.
• Roman games were partly religious. To ensure continued favor of the gods, the consuls of Rome were required at each calendar year to hold games dedicated to the gods.
• Funds for these competitions were first supplied by the public treasury.
• Roman games often included fights to the death between gladiators and wild beasts.
• Other games included chariot races, animal hunts and sea battles.
• Sea battles were conducted by flooding the arena.
• Romans would play field and track in a place called the campus.
• Overtime the campus became Rome’s field and track playground. Even Caesar and Augustus exercised there.
• On the Campus, men participated in foot racing, jumping, archery, wrestling and boxing
• All over Rome, men practiced riding, fencing, wrestling, throwing, and swimming. In the country, men went hunting and fishing.
• Women didn’t participate in these games.
• The Romans would also play many board games.

Gambling:

• Playing dice was a very popular game among the Romans.
• These games were played in taverns as well in gambling houses.
• The emperor Commodus once turned the Imperial palace into a brothel and gambling house to raise money for the treasury that he bankrupted.
• The game of dice could be played with other pieces such as knucklebones or sticks.
• Betting on horse racing and gladiatorial games was never restricted and this left the gamers leeway in satisfying their gambling habits legally.