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 Rooms of the Roman home, and furniture within
 Latin terms to know:
 1) atrium, tablinum, peristylium, cubiculum, culina, aria , triclinium, bibliotheca,
 Entrance, record room, courtyard, bedroom, kitchen, threshing floor,
dining room, and library respectively
 atrium: The home of the wealthy Romans was first entered through the
atrium, or entryway, which was something of a walled courtyard. There
was a gap in the ceiling, called the compluvium, through which rain could
fall into a collecting pool, the impluvium. The atrium is where an
important Roman would meet with his clients in the morning and take
care of most of his official business.
 tablinum: Within the atrium, at the back opposite the entrance, was the
tablinum, a small chamber built to hold important documents, records,
and valuables. The tablinum served as something of an office, as well as a
passage between the atrium and the peristylium.
 peristylium: While the atrium served as the public front in a Roman
home, the peristylium was the center of private life for the Romans. It was
an open courtyard, often with trees, shrubs, fountains and gardens, and it
was surrounded by the rest of the important rooms of the house.
 cubiculum: The cubiculum is a Roman bedroom. Sometimes these were
located in chambers opening to the peristylium. Otehrwise, they were
built on a second floor of the home.
 Meals would be made in the culina, the Roman kitchen. For the wealthy
Romans, this would have mostly been used by the slaves of the house,
who would prepare all the food. Often connected to the culina was an aria
and a mill.
 The preparation of flour was a tedious process in ancient times.
First, the harvested grain would be taken to the aria, or threshing
floor. Threshing grain consisted of beating the harvested sheaves
to knock loose the the actual seeds of the grain. Once this was
done, it needed to be sorted. This was often done by a process
called winnowing, in which large fans were used to toss the wheat
into the air, so the kernels would fall back to the ground and the
light stalks would be carried away by the wind. Once the
separation was finished, the grain would be ground at the mill. A
mill used large stone wheels to crush the grain into flour.
 While the meals were prepared in the culina, they would have been eaten
by the Romans in the triclinium, the banquet hall. This was also generally
in a chamber off the peristylium, though meals might be taken in the
peristylium itself if the weather was suitable.
 The bibliotheca was a library, where a particularly wealthy Roman might
store a collection of books for his own reading or to be used in the private
education of his children.
 The baths and their various chambers and pools
 The baths were an important part of daily life for most Romans, particularly the upper
classes, who would generally visit them on a daily basis. Thermae and balneae were the
Latin terms for the baths
 Chambers
 Apoditerium: This was a heated changing room, and generally the first place a
Roman would go when visiting the baths. They would leave their clothes here to
be watched over by a slave
 frigidarium: cold pools
 caldarium: warm pools
 sudatorium: a dry heated room to induce sweating, not unlike a sauna
 unctorium: a room for applying oil to the body. The Romans used olive oil in a
way similar to soap. It would cling to dirt on the body, and would be scraped off
with an instrument called a strigil
 palaestra: a field for carrying out exercises
 hypocaust: a furnace beneath the structure for heating water
 Gladiators, their armor, and their weapons
 Gladiator types: Gladiators fought in single combat against one another, and only against
specific other types. Each had unique weapons and armor
 The most popular pairing of fighters was between the retiarius and the secutor. The
lightly armored retiarius would try to entangle his opponent with a net to make it easier
to strike a killing blow. If the net missed, the retiarius relied on his mobility to avoid the
secutor, waiting for an opportunity to strike or to retrieve his net. The secutor was better
protected, but much slower in his heavy armor and hindered by the limited visibility of
his helmet, making the match fair and exciting.
 Retiarius: The only fighter who did not wear a helmet, as well as the most
common type of fighter, the retiarius was armed with a net and trident, as well as
a dagger. His left arm was very heavily armored, since he carried no shield
(unlike nearly all other fighters)
 Secutor: This was the standard opponent of a retiarius. Equipment featured a
sword and shield, armor on both legs and arms, as well as a heavy helmet. The
helmet was smooth so the opponent's trident would not catch any part of it, and
limited vision somewhat, to remove some of the advantage of carrying a shield.
 sometimes, the Murmillo is listed as the opponent of the Retiarius.
Armed like the Secutor, what distinguished the Murmillo was the fishshaped crest on his helmet
 Another common match up would be between fighters from one of three types
 Hoplomachus: Modeled on Greek warriors, the hoplomachus fought with a
spear and a small, round shield. They wore a helmet, and had armour on his right
arm and both legs, with the leg armour reaching higher than that of the Thraex or
Samnite
 Thraex: Modeled on Thracian warriros (Thrace is a region north of Greece) the
Thraex was armored much like the Hoplomachus and Samnite, having a helmet,
greaves on both legs and armor on his right arm. They carried a short sword
which was curved inward, and a square shield a bit shorter than that of the
secutor
 Samnite: Much like the Thraex, but his sword was not curved
 Beyond these common matchings, there was more unusual entertainment
 bestiarius: Regarded as lesser gladiators, they fought agaisnt wild animals,
including boars, lions, bears, leopards, hippos, and crocodiles
 Andabatae: Something of a novelty, the Andabatae fought blindly, wearing a
helmet with no opening for vision
 Essedarius: fought from a chariot
 Dimachaeri: These gladiators fought with two swords
 Desultores: not actually gladiators, they generally performed before or between
fights, displaying acrobatic stunts on horseback
 Clothing
 terms: there are two basic types of clothing for the Romans
 amictus: refers to anything which was wrapped around the body, such as a toga
 indutus: anything which was put on like more modern clothing, such as a tunic
 Toga: the article of clothing most associated with Rome, it was the formal clothing
allowed only to citizens. It consisted of a piece of cloth about 6 by 14 feet which was
wrapped and draped about the body. There were several types of toga, depending on
color and border
 Toga pulla: worn by those mourning a death, it was dark in color where others
were typically white
 Toga candida: the toga further whitened with chalk, it was worn by those who
were running for political offices, and gives our word candidate.
 Toga praetexta: a white toga with a purple border, it was worn by Roman boys,
as well as senators and equestrians
 Toga picta: a red toga, it was worn only by a victorious general granted a formal
parade in the streets or Rome, called a triumph
 Stola: The dress worn by aristocratic women. It was worn over one shoulder, leaving the
other bare.
 tunica: A tunic, it was the most basic form of clothing for men and women of all classes
 petasus: a wide-brimmed hat, usually associated with travelers. Hermes and Odysseus
are usually depicted wearing one
 pileus: a somewhat conical felt hat, it was worn by freed slaves, though at the Saturnalia
festival, everyone wore one
 Slaves
 paedagogus: from the Greek words for "lead"and "child", this slave was essentially a
chaperone and tutor to a Roman boy. He accompanied the child to and from school, and
assisted with schoolwork. Eucleides in Ecce Romani is a paedagogus
 ianitor: the doorkeeper, they watched the gates at night and admitted guests during the
day
 nomenclator: provided names of clients to a Roman patron, discuss patronage!
 vilicus: A slave overseer, they were slaves who were held responsible for organizing the
others slaves, often in charge of estates when the owner was away. Davus in Ecce
Romani was a vilicus
 Marriages- types of marriage and the events surrounding each
 conferratio: the most elaborate type of marriage, common amond patricians
 coemptio: this ceremony included a symbolic purchasing of the bride
 usus: a common-law marriage
 Chariot Races
 The chariot races were by far the most popular type of entertainment in Rome, loved
even more than gladiatorial combat. This can be seen in the fact that the Colosseum held
about 50,000 spectators, where the Circus Maximus held more than 100,000. Typicaly
taking place in a circus, which simply means "circle", they were generally seven laps.
Charioteers did not simply hold the reins, the reins were bound around their hands. This
meant that those who were thrown from a chariot would be dragged behind it or under it.
The danger of the spectacle was part of the appeal to the Romans, much like the cliche
among modern racing of people viewing in the hope of seeing a crash.
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 terms connected to them
 factiones: the four racing teams: russata (reds), albata (whites), prasina
(greens), and veneta (blues)
 carceres: the starting gates, also means "prison" and is at the root of the English
word incarcerate
 mappa: a napkin or scrap of cloth dropped by an official, or by the emperor, to
mark the start of the race
 spina: A low wall that ran down the middle of the circus, giving the course an
elliptical shape similar to modern tracks. On this wall would be placed seven
stone statues of dolphins (delphina) and eggs (ova) which signified the lap of the
race
 meta: the turning posts at the ends of the spina, common place of collision as
chariots tried to turn as close to it as possible
Meals and food
 Meals: ientaculum, prandium, cena correspond to breakfast, lunch, and dinner
 banquets: Wealthy Romans often enjoyed banquets, the term for which is commissatio. A
Roman host and eight guests (so a total of nine) reclined on couches in the triclinium
(which literally means the room with three couches). There were three of these, with
three seated on each, in a square shape, leaving the center open for the table and one side
open for slaves to bring food. These dinners often featured entertainment, which might
be in the form of music, theatrical performances, or even gladiator duels. The actual
meal included an appetizer, called gustatio, which often included eggs and salads. The
main course, or prima mensa, almost always included some kind of meat, which only the
rich generally ate with any frequency. This was followed by the secunda mensa, which
often included cheeses, fruit and pastries.
Republic offices
 cursus honorum: the series of offices a politician held. They had to be served in order,
and a candidate technically had to be a certain age to hold each office
 quaestor: the first office in the series, one had to be 25 to hold this position.
Quaestor were treasurers, in charge of managing the finances of one of Rome's
provinces
 aedile: an optional office not part of the formal cursus, they were in charge of
public works. The aediles maintained the roads, had public buildings like
theatres or baths constructed, and arranged shows like gladiatorial games.
Candidates had to be 36 to serve as aedile
 praetor: judges and provincial governors, praetors possessed imperium, the
legal right to lead an army, and had to be 39.
 consul: Held by those 42 or older, the consul was the highest office in Rome. 2
served at a time, so that no one person had too much power, and they were the
ultimate authority in the Roman republic
Related terms: cursus honorum, Lex Hortensia, plebeian, patrician
Coins
 denarius: A larger coin, a denarius was worth 4 sesterces
 sestertius: the most common Roman coin. Made of silver, it roughly corresponded to
one day's wage for a common laborer, and was 4 times the worth of an as
 As: a bronze coin