ludi
Sign in to savethumb|upright=1.75|Chariot races, as depicted on this 2nd-century relief, were among the ludi presented at Roman religious festivals Ludi (Latin for "games"; plural of ludus) were public games held for the benefit and entertainment of the Roman people (populus Romanus). Ludi were held in conjunction with, or sometimes as the major feature of, Roman religious festivals, and were also presented as part of the cult of state.
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Encyclopedic overview
9 sectionsContents
- Politics and religion
- ''Ludi compitalicii''
- ''Ludi circenses''
- List of ''ludi''
- Annual ''ludi''
- ''Ludi'' not held annually
- Single-occasion ''ludi''
- See also
- References
thumb|upright=1.75|Chariot races, as depicted on this 2nd-century relief, were among the ludi presented at Roman religious festivals Ludi (Latin for "games"; plural of ludus) were public games held for the benefit and entertainment of the Roman people (populus Romanus). Ludi were held in conjunction with, or sometimes as the major feature of, Roman religious festivals, and were also presented as part of the cult of state.
The earliest ludi were horse races in the circus (ludi circenses). Animal exhibitions with mock hunts (venationes) and theatrical performances (ludi scaenici) also became part of the festivals. Because some of these entertainments are not competitive "games", ludi may also be translated more generally as "shows".
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “ludi” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.