midnight
The other items -- the play , the naval pageant , the scenes of hunting and combat of beasts amongst themselves -- these were only the prologue . The real spectacle was at last to commence . For this the Romans thirsted -- patricians and plebs alike , rich and poor , man , woman and child . These shows were their very life ; they constituted the essence of their entire being ; for these they rose at midnight and stood waiting , hour upon hour , that they might be near enough to smell the blood when it reddened the sand of the arena , and to see the last throe of agony on the face of those who fell in combat . `` Habet ! Habet ! Habet ! ''