10 crazy and bloody entertainments held at the Roman Colosseum

Ancient Rome was famous not only for its conquests. The city, considered the capital of the world, offered its residents and guests the most incredible and terrible sights. The main entertainment centers of the polis were the Colosseum and the Hippodrome. It was there that the most insane and violent shows of the ancient world took place. What ideas were popular with the nation that gave us Cicero and Plutarch?

In ancient Rome, everything was simple — people wanted bread and circuses. Moreover, the spectacles were mostly quoted bloody. We all know about gladiator battles, but this is just one of dozens of types of performances popular with the Romans. The imagination of the entertainment organizers was inexhaustible and even unhealthy. Neither money nor the lives of people and animals were spared on the show.

Many of us imagine the Roman Colosseum as an ancient stadium consisting of stands and an arena. But those who have visited the ruins of this grandiose structure know that there were hidden rooms under it. In the basements of the complex there were cells where gladiators and prisoners sentenced to death in the arena were waiting for their release. There were also rooms for keeping animals there.

In Rome, people loved duels with predators or just the massacre of wild animals over defenseless victims. Sometimes lions, leopards, wolves and bears were released into the arena through the gates. But it also happened that they jumped right out of the ground. There were 24 lifts in the dungeons of the Colosseum. Each of them was driven by 8 slaves and could lift up to 270 kg. The victims were in an empty arena and could not even imagine that death would jump out of the ground in front of them. The effect of surprise was the highlight of the program and the tribunes rejoiced, watching the despair of the condemned when they realized what was waiting for them.

One of the strangest entertainments in Ancient Rome was "petaurua". A huge wooden swing was installed for him in the arena of the Colosseum. Criminals sentenced to death were seated on them with their hands tied behind their backs. After the swing was properly swung, predators were released onto the playground.

In the lower part of the swing amplitude, the animals could grab the victim, but it did not work out right away. A few unfortunate people could hang out between heaven and earth for a long time until they were all eaten. The unluckiest, unable to hold on to the structure with their feet, flew out of the seat themselves and became food for lions or bears under the screams of the crowd.

The concepts of tolerance and mercy among the ancient Romans were extremely poorly developed. Cripples and dwarfs were treated terribly and were often used in deadly games. Under the Emperor Commodus, dwarfs were brought to the city from the Roman provinces, especially for duels in the Colosseum.

A crowd of unfortunate people were released into the arena, giving everyone a meat cleaver. The rules were simple. It was necessary to fight with fellow sufferers until there was no one left. The emperor promised him freedom and a generous reward. But, as a rule, the survivor turned out to be in such a state that he soon died from severe wounds. There were also fights of dwarfs with animals.

And once Commodus ordered to gather the legless in the arena. He tied them along the side of the arena and walked along the row, beating the disabled with a baton. Not everyone survived this strange and cruel performance. Nevertheless, judging by the descriptions of historians, the audience was delighted with this imperial performance.

Emperor Commodus did not spare not only his subjects, but also himself. It is likely that he suffered from a mental illness, because otherwise it is difficult to explain his quirks. Sometimes the monarch would go completely naked with one sword into the arena and fight with wild animals.

A variety of animals were released against the emperor, ranging from ostriches to lions and giraffes. We must pay tribute to Commodus, he was in great shape and always came out of the fight victorious. He also fought with people. But in this case, he always showed generosity and allowed the enemy to surrender.

The emperor, like many of his colleagues, did not die a natural death. First, he was given poisoned wine by the conspirators. But the poison had no effect on the big man. Then Commodus was strangled by his wrestling coach, athlete Narcissus, who participated in the assassination attempt. The wrestler himself ended his life in the Colosseum. He was ordered to be fed to the lions by Commodus' successor, Emperor Septimius Severus.

The Colosseum often showed grandiose performances with the participation of hundreds of actors. Usually these were plays based on myths and legends. The roles of the heroes who died according to the script were performed by criminals sentenced to death. The death of these people was spectacular and terrible.

In one of the performances, the scene of Prometheus' torment was played out. For this purpose, a man was chained to a specially installed rock and his stomach was cut open. In the myth, Prometheus' liver was pecked by a bird of prey. But due to organizational difficulties, she was replaced by a bear. The beast dealt with the "actor" in a few seconds.

The Colosseum was a place where the Romans could see animals and birds from different parts of the world. It was here that for the first time Europeans were shown a live giraffe. The animal was brought from one of the military campaigns by Julius Caesar. However, the animals, even rare ones, interested the audience from one point of view. They were wondering how they would be killed.

Sometimes there were fights between animals. Not only predators were released into the arena, but also zebras, elephants, buffaloes, rhinos and hippos. Often people also participated in fights with exotic animals.

Many Romans were avid hunters. Therefore, one day the Emperor Probus ordered a hunt right in the city. To do this, the Hippodrome (Circus Maximus) was planted with trees and shrubs. A lot of animals and birds were released into the man-made thicket. There were 1000 deer, 1000 wild boars and 1000 ostriches, and no one counted smaller animals.

Probus generously invited everyone to take part in the big hunt. Everyone could come to the Racetrack with their weapons, and then take the loot home. There turned out to be a lot of people who wanted such entertainment, and a merciless massacre took place in the Bolshoi Circus for a whole day.

During the history of the Roman Colosseum, naval battles took place there at least four times. The arena was filled with water, on which a whole flotilla of warships was lowered. Their crews consisted of criminals who had to fight each other to the death. Sea battles were very realistic, with rams and boarding.

For the first time such entertainment was organized by Julius Caesar. Then 4,000 rowers and 2,000 soldiers participated in the naval battle. There were so many people who wanted to take the best seats in the stands that several people were trampled to death. It seemed that nothing could be more grandiose. But Emperor Claudius broke Caesar's record. In his naval battle, 100 ships participated, on which there were 19 thousand people.

Sometimes women's duels were arranged in Rome. At the same time, the participants were not prepared for battle in any way, but simply gave them weapons. According to the Romans, this gave a special flavor to the spectacle. Some ladies held weapons in their hands for the first time in their lives and their actions amused those present very much. The women fought either among themselves or with dwarfs. It is quite clear that the fights most often ended with the death of the participants.

Prisoners, slaves and criminals who were destined to die in the Colosseum, of course, were not happy about it. Sometimes there were real uprisings in the rooms under the arena. And once men sentenced to death for the amusement of the crowd staged a mass suicide.

These were 29 Saxon prisoners who were brought to the Colosseum in the evening to arrange a performance in the morning. The men, not wanting to please the crowd with their torments, simply strangled each other. The last surviving prisoner killed himself by shoving a sponge down his throat on a stick used to wipe himself in Roman latrines.