Roman Daily Life FINAL

Faustus or Comitialis

Working days in the Roman calendar

Nefastus

Days when trials, committees, and assemblies were banned

EN (Editio exitio nefas)

A specific type of restricted/inauspicious day in the Roman calendar

Parilia

Roman festival held on April 21

Vinalia

Roman festival held on April 23

Robigalia

Roman festival held on April 25

Julius Caesar

Roman leader who reformed the calendar to 365 days with help from an Alexandrian scientist

46 BCE

Last year of the pre-Julian calendar, lasted 445 days and set January 1 as the start of the year

Leap year issue

For 16 years after Caesar’s reform, leap years were not properly implemented

Egyptian days

Days considered unlucky in the Roman calendar

Feriae Publicae

Official public holidays with games and festivals honoring the gods

Ludi

Public games in ancient Rome

Ludi Magni

Prestigious annual “Great Games” held in September

Ludi Plebeii

Games organized for the plebeians

Consuls

Roman officials after whom each year was named

Gladiators

Combatants who fought in arenas, originally tied to funeral rituals

Etruscans

Culture from which gladiator combat originated

264 BCE

First Roman gladiator games during the First Punic War

Venatio/Venationes

Animal hunts staged in the arena

Bestiarii

Gladiators who fought wild animals

Ludus

Gladiator training school

Lanista

Manager or trainer of a gladiatorial school

Familia

Group of gladiators belonging to a school

Rudis

Wooden sword symbolizing a gladiator’s freedom

Rudiarius

Gladiator who earned freedom

Harena

Sand-covered arena floor that absorbed blood

Editor

Sponsor or financier of gladiatorial games

Emperor Honorius

Banned gladiatorial combat in 404 CE

St. Telemachus

Monk killed while trying to stop a gladiator fight

Gladiator deaths in Rome

Gladiators were usually only killed in Rome because they were expensive to maintain

Condemnatio ad bestias

Execution by wild animals as public punishment

Freedmen gladiators

Free men who fought as gladiators, often out of desperation

Emperor Commodus

Roman emperor who enjoyed and participated in gladiatorial combat

Tunica Molesta

Garment used to burn criminals during executions

Missum fac

Command meaning “let him go”

Missos fac

Command meaning “let them go”

Iugula

Command meaning “kill him”

Hoc habet

Phrase meaning “he’s had it” (defeated or dying gladiator)

Retiarius

Gladiator with net, trident, and dagger, styled like a fisherman

Samnite

Heavily armed gladiator with rectangular shield and short sword

Secutor

Gladiator type that chased opponents with heavy shield

Summa Rudis

Main referee enforcing rules in gladiator fights

Secunda Rudis

Assistant referee in gladiator fights

Thracian

Gladiator with small shield and curved sword (sica)

Hoplomachus

Gladiator modeled after a Greek hoplite

Murmillo

Heavyweight gladiator with oval shield and fish-crested helmet

Galerus

Shoulder guard worn by the retiarius

Manica

Arm guard protecting the sword arm

Parma

Small shield used by the Thracian gladiator

Sica

Curved sword used by the Thracian gladiator

Ocreae

Leg guards worn by Thracian gladiators