Romans, baths & intellectual pain

 Iv'e always thought the Roman methods of entertainment were a bit too un-relatable for me to find very interesting but it's exactly that nuance that makes it so! Especially when it comes to elite Romans...

The elite Romans had their own word for leisure, 'otium', which meant having a period of intellectual reflection, philosophical discussion and time for self improvement. Personally I would opt to go see a play at the local theatre, but each to their own I guess. 

Over the years,  I have found both Pliny the Younger and Pliny the elder interesting characters that offer valuable insight into Roman life. However, Pliny the Younger has never been more boring and kind of hilarious to me, as when I learnt of what he did for some leisurely time away from work. 

In his work, epistles, he explains how he used his free time to gather his friends in the month of July, when the law courts were quiet, to come to his home and ask them for feedback on his writing. This was a 2 day sleepover type event! No offence to poor Pliny but the last thing I would want to do on a hot summer day in July in Ancient Rome is go over to my pals house and listen to him speak about philosophy and engage in intellectual conversation for two days. But that is what the elite society liked to do and maybe I am just not intellectually advanced enough! 

The elite Roman's also had more upbeat dinner parties where the servants would pour cold water over their hands for maximum relation, this one sounds better to me to be honest! Minus the whole owning a slave section, that I'm not so keen on. 

Of course there were more general streams of leisure such as baths (which I honestly wouldn't fancy either) but if that's your networking method then fair play! There was street performances, the theatre, gambling and obviously the roman games. The Roman games even had food vendors like your watching the NFL with an extra large Pepsi max and a corn dog. If I was going to opt for anything, I would probably take the street performers as my choice of leisure, after all that is still a form of entertainment on todays streets. 

So, if I ever got my hands on a time machine, you would find me either heckling a street performer, with a corn dog or running away from my invitation to a philosophical sleepover with my pals in high society!