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Roman Daily Life
Roman Citizens
 Rome was the first overly populated
city of its time.
 Every FIVE years Roman men
registered for the CENSUS (official
count of people living in Rome).
 If a man did not register he risked
losing his land and possibly being
sold into slavery

Roman Pride and Greek
Influence
Romans felt great pride in their city because Rome
was filled with beautiful buildings, monuments, and
was the center of religion, politics, and culture.
 Many of their buildings and art work were modeled
after their long admired Greek neighbors.
 They also practiced polytheism like the Greeks and
even copied their gods.
 The Roman gods shared the characteristics of the
Greek gods, but the Romans just gave them new
names.
Example:
Greek God
“Zeus” = Roman God “Jupiter”
Roman Architecture and
Technology
 The Romans spent a lot of time working on designs
such as “arches”(a curved structure used as a
support over an open space, as in a doorway).
 The Romans invented concrete (a mix of stone, sand,
cement, and water) to build sturdier buildings than
had ever been built before.
 An example of a structure that combines the two
elements mentioned is a stadium called the
“Colossem” (site of contests and combats).
 They also made concrete “roads” to allow their
military to travel quickly incase of an emergency.
 Romans built “Aqueducts” (structures that carried
water over long distances).
Roman Social Classes
 High (rich) class
 Small group of citizens that lived in
elegant country estates called VILLAS.
 The rich loved to feast on exotic meat and
entertain one another with musicians,
dancers and performers reciting poems.
Social Classes
Cont…
 Poor Class
 Majority of Romans were poor and
lived in rundown tall apartment
houses with no running water,
toilets, or kitchens.
 Fires were frequent and often fatal
because the houses were made of
wood and built so closely together.
Bread and Circuses
 The Poor needed wheat to survive, so if the
harvests were bad or shipments were late,
the poor often rioted out of desperation.
 The Emperor supplied free grain in
desperate times to stop the riots as well
as provided spectacular shows to distract
the people.
 shows were held in a great arena called
the Colosseum or in smaller arena’s
called circuses.
Colosseum and the
Circuses
 Romans, rich and poor, packed the arenas to watch
violent shows of humans fighting animals, or
animals fighting animals.
 The humans that fought were called “Gladiators”
and they usually fought to the death.
 Gladiators were slaves who were captured in
battle or free men and women that gained fame and
fortune from their wins.
Roman Family Life
 Romans really valued family life and were
encouraged by the government to marry by
the age of 20 and begin having babies.
 Men were in charge of the household and
“owned” his wife, children, slaves, and
business (Paterfamilias- father of the
family).
 Up to three generations of families lived
under one roof.
WOMEN’S ROLES
 Women had independence if their husbands
were rich and powerful, otherwise they
had to stay at home and tend to the house.
 Some wealthy women started their own
careers in medicine, trade, cooking,
dressmaking, or hairdressing.
Slavery in Rome
 Slavery was very common in Rome and both
rich and poor people owned them.
 Household slaves were more fortunate
than others because they were usually
treated with kindness, unlike slaves that
worked in fields or mines.
 Gladiators were not lucky in the fact that
they could die during a show, but on the
other hand, they were able to collect tips
to try and buy their freedom from their
fans if they were successful fighters .
Daily Life Summary
 As the roman Empire expanded, people
beyond Rome gained Roman citizenship.
 Romans were influenced greatly by Greece
and Romans invented arches and concrete.
 A small group of people were wealthy in
Rome, the majority of Romans were poor.
 Men held the most power within their
families.
 Slavery was Common in ancient Rome.
 THE END