After reading through the articles on social classes, work, education and the means of living of the early civilians, it can be seen that the people in the past probably led a rather hard life. However, was their hard work paid off? Did they have a time to relax under the tight control of strict governments?

Besides work and education, the people of the past did have some form of entertainment in their lives. For the early Egyptians, they enjoyed athletic games such as wrestling, ball games, and gymnastics. Swimming, sailing, and board games were favourite family activities, and the wealthy enjoyed hunting crocodiles, lions, and wild cattle with spears or bows and arrows. The early Athenians, on the other hand, invented the idea of theatre -- that is, plays in which private individuals publicly examined man's fate. For three days running, the people of Athens -- men, women, and children -- would rise at dawn to go to the theatre to watch the tragedies performed. Each day, they would see three plays by one playwright. A panel of judges eventually selected the best play and the playwright received a reward of money.

The Romans had an unusual form of entertainment - they took pleasure in watching men and animals kill each other! They enjoyed watching chariot races and fights between gladiators which were more dangerous and more cruel than chariot races. These fights took place in the amphitheatre, a circular or oval shaped building with an arena in the centre surrounded by tiered seating. The Colosseum was one such amphitheatre, and it could hold 45,000 spectators.

Gladiators were highly trained fighters, usually slaves, criminals, or prisoners of war, who fought each other to the death for the amusement of the spectators. Some gladiators were heavily armed with shields, swords, and body armour; others wore no armour and carried only a spear and net to throw over their opponent. If a gladiator was knocked down but remained alive, the public was allowed to decide his fate. Fluttering handkerchiefs meant "spare him"; clenched fists, thumbs down meant "kill him." The amphitheatre was also used for animal fights, and fights between men and animals. Lions, elephants, and bears were imported from all parts of the Roman Empire, and starved before being brought to the arena.

The Mayas enjoyed a type of ball game which was played in a ball court found in every Maya city. Players competed to hit the ball of the sloping walls of the ball court using only their hips, thighs, shoulders and upper arms. However, the ball game was not so easy as we see it - there was more to the ball game, in which the loser not only lost the game but lost his live as well! Losers were sacrificed as offerings to the Gods.

The ancient Chinese played a soccer-like game, while the ancient Indians, like the ancients Romans, enjoyed chariot racing.

Today, the ancient forms of entertainment still exist in various parts of the world. Sports such as swimming and sailing are still widely enjoyed by most. In fact, in certain schools such as those in the United States, these sports are even part of the school's curriculum. The type of ball games that we have today spans over a great variety, such as American football, soccer, basketball and volleyball. These games are played both for leisure purposes and at a competitive level. In addition, we still watch plays in theatres like the ancient Greeks.

However, the cruel type of entertainment that most Romans enjoy - watching man and beast kill one another, is no longer carried out in most regions of the world, except perhaps in underground fighting rings in countries such as the States. Imagine if this sport was rampant, enjoyed by people all over the world, how many millions of dead bodies would there be living in the streets? Why do you think many Romans enjoyed such a cruel sport? Imagine the traumatising effect watching such a sport would have on the children!

The Colosseum in Rome was completed in AD 82 under the Flavian emperors. It was built as an outdoor arena for gladiatorial combat and originally known as the Flavian Amphitheater.

Maya Ball Court

In the theater of Dionysus in Athens the action took place on three levels. The chorus sat on the second level and commented on the action. The theater was built on land immediately below the hill called the Acropolis in the center of the ancient city.

The theater at Epidaurus in the Peloponnese is the best preserved ancient theater in Greece. Designed by Polyclitus the Younger in the 4th century BC, it can still be used.

Chariot races were a common spectator sport in Rome's Circus Maximus during the reign of Emperor Trajan. One such race was portrayed by the artist Ulpiano Checa in 1890. It was also popular among the Aryans of ancient India.