• The Colosseum in Rome was a venue for gladitorial games.the famous roman landmark in croatia image by Piter Pkruger from Fotolia.com
  
  "Roman" is a term that applies to citizens and residents of the modern city of Rome, Italy, but also refers to a distinctive culture that thrived under the Roman Empire. During the empire’s reign from 27 B.C.E until 395 C.E., its inhabitants (both free citizens and slaves), participated in a number of different games and festivities, many of which they referred to collectively as ludi, which is the Latin word for games.
  
  

Chariot Racing

• According to Nova Roma, chariot racing was incredibly popular in ancient Rome. Competitions took place in large, oblong arenas known as circuses, which the Romans modeled after the Greek hippodrome. Charioteers began at a starting gate, and then raced around a large, long barrier, known as a spina, while making turns at the metae, or turning posts. The participants all belonged to different factions, which would compete for money in addition to fame or glory.
  
  

Gladiatorial Games

• Perhaps the best-known types of Roman games are the gladiatorial games, which Romans began hosting as early as 264 B.C.E., according to VRoma. The games pitted slaves against each other in what was often mortal combat, wherein the objective was to kill your opponents. Emperors and other Roman officials often put on gladiatorial games as a way to appease and win over the acclaim of citizens.
  
  

Dice Games

• Dice games were illegal in much of ancient Rome, due to their strong association with gambling. However, those laws did not prevent Romans from playing them. According to Antiques of Rome, Romans used two different types of dice: tali dice, which had four numbered sides (one, three, four and six, with opposite sides equaling up to seven), and tesserae dice, which like common dice today, have six numbered sides (in addition to opposite sides equaling seven). With tali dice, players typically used four at a time, and tried to get each die to show a different number. With tesserae dice, players typically used three at a time, with the goal of rolling three sixes.
  
  

Board Games

• According to Antiques of Rome, board games were popular during the reign of the Roman Empire, and many people played them on portable boards known as tabulae lusoriae. Some of the most common games were tic-tac-toe (also known as naughts-and-crosses or three-in-a-row), a word creation game—perhaps a predecessor to Scrabble—known as reges and a strategy game called latrunculi, which is similar in style to modern chess.
  
  

Ball Games

• Romans also played a number of different ball games, some of which resemble modern baseball and other mainstream sports. These include pilo trigonalis, wherein three players stand in a triangular formation and throw a ball around while trying not to drop it, and follis, wherein players had to hit a ball with their hands or a padded arm. Another common Roman ball game was harpastum, wherein players tried to knock a ball into an opponent’s goal.