Life and Leisure in Ancient Rome

Becoming a creative city: perspectives from Augustus’ Rome

“…This is another instance where collaboration between public and private sectors was displayed, like in the subsidy for restoration and construction of new buildings or sponsorships of parades. Although tickets were free, they were necessary for admission (Baldson, 1969;Robinson, 1992). Scholars conjecture that the streets themselves must have been almost as entertaining as going to a show, because of the display of busking musicians, storytellers, bear-baiters, jugglers, and many other kinds of performers (Holleran, 2003).…”

Spectators and spectator comfort in Roman entertainment buildings: a study in functional design

“…However, previous research has concentrated primarily on individual buildings as architectural types (Humphrey, 1986;Golvin, 1988;Ciancio Rossetto and Pisani Sartorio, 1994) with their specific construction and design features (Cozzo, 1928;Wilson Jones, 1993), or they have tended to focus on their more general nature and functions within Roman society (Balsdon, 1969;Bollinger, 1969;Rawson, 1987;Beacham, 1999). However, previous research has concentrated primarily on individual buildings as architectural types (Humphrey, 1986;Golvin, 1988;Ciancio Rossetto and Pisani Sartorio, 1994) with their specific construction and design features (Cozzo, 1928;Wilson Jones, 1993), or they have tended to focus on their more general nature and functions within Roman society (Balsdon, 1969;Bollinger, 1969;Rawson, 1987;Beacham, 1999).…”

“…Roman entertainment buildings have always fascinated people with their impressive structures, complex design and the chilling thought of what took place within them. However, previous research has concentrated primarily on individual buildings as architectural types (Humphrey, 1986;Golvin, 1988;Ciancio Rossetto and Pisani Sartorio, 1994) with their specific construction and design features (Cozzo, 1928;Wilson Jones, 1993), or they have tended to focus on their more general nature and functions within Roman society (Balsdon, 1969;Bollinger, 1969;Rawson, 1987;Beacham, 1999). As a result, there are a number of questions regarding the thousands of spectators who actually used the buildings that have not been fully addressed previously.…”