100 THE VICES AND VIRTUES OF ROME 



or other games of the day. The charge for admission 

 was only one farthing of our money, as the structures 

 were built by Emperors. 



Further, the days of labour were far fewer than 

 they are now. There was no Sabbath ; but, whereas 

 the best modern worker has only about ninety free 

 days a year, including his Sundays and Saturday 

 afternoons, the Roman artisan had 175 days of public 

 games, besides occasional festivals. He scarcely 

 worked half the year. The Roman worker's enter- 

 tainment, moreover, was generally supplied free by 

 the Emperors, the patricians, or the municipality. 

 The Great Circus, which was free, held 380,000 

 spectators, and the entertainment provided sometimes 

 cost a public man £90,000 in one day. The chief 

 spectacle in it was the chariot-race (with interludes 

 of foot-races, tight-rope dancers, conjurers, etc.), 

 which was the great passion of the Roman people. 

 The amphitheatre (Colosseum), in which the brutal 

 gladiatorial shows were held, had less than one-fourth 

 that number of spectators, and was not nearly so 

 popular as the bloodless games of the Circus. It 

 also was free and very costly. The finest things 

 were brought to Rome from the ends of the earth to 

 amuse the Roman people. Then there were the 

 theatres, in which plays without words were enacted. 



In addition to this the Roman worker had free 

 corn for his bread (his chief article of diet), and later 

 Emperors added free olive oil and pork. He had free 

 education. By the fourth century there was a system 

 of free elementary schools for the children of all 

 workers ; a system of free secondary schools for the 

 better pupils ; and a number of special schools (like 

 universities) which also could be reached without 



