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a paper on roman stuff. Bathing, wine, and Venus wear out the soul but are the real stuff of life. (Proverb in Sparta, A History of Private Life from Pagan Rome to Byzantium, 183) Civilizations of Ancient Rome and modern day are similar because entertainment is an important part of life. In Ancient Rome, the rich and the poor could enjoy entertainment and relaxation. Men and women spent many hours of their day participating in entertainment activities. Ancient Romans enjoyed many types of entertainment, but the most popular were bathing, bloody spectacles, and banquets.
A gong sounded every morning to open the public baths to the lines of people waiting. Public baths were not only used to get clean but as a place to gossip, meet people, and show off. They could be compared to modern day beaches. The sexes were separated into two different areas; the men had the larger rooms. The society levels at the baths were nonexistent, and gladiators, slaves, men, and women were treated equal. Every town was expected to have at least one public bath, which each person was visited two to three times per week by a person.
The procedure followed at the baths seemed very relaxing. Citizens would first go to the unctuarium where oil was rubbed onto the skin, and they would exercise. Then they would enter the tepidarium or the warm room, with heated floors and walls. Here, they would lie around chatting and gossiping. The last step was the caldarium, which was similar to a Turkish bath, hot and steamy. Romans would sit and perspire, and their skin was scraped with a curved metal tool called a strigil. They were served drinks and snacks in the hot bath, or calidarium. Finally they would take a quick dip in the cold bath, the frigidarium. After this lengthy process, men and women would enjoy massages where oils and perfumes were rubbed into their skin.
Many Roman citizens attended bloody spectacles at the famous colosseum. The colosseum opened in A.D.80 and...