Download Culture of ancient Rome

Culture of ancient Rome
“Roman society” redirects here. For the learned society, rate of urbanization of 32%, the same rate of urbanizasee Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies.
tion of England in 1800. Most Roman towns and cities
The culture of ancient Rome existed throughout the had a forum, temples and the same type of buildings, on
a smaller scale, as found in Rome. The large urban population required an endless supply of food which was a
complex logistical task, including acquiring, transporting,
storing and distribution of food for Rome and other urban centers. Italian farms supplied vegetables and fruits,
but fish and meat were luxuries. Aqueducts were built to
bring water to urban centers and wine and oil were imported from Hispania, Gaul and Africa.
There was a very large amount of commerce between
the provinces of the Roman Empire, since its transportation technology was very efficient. The average costs of
transport and the technology were comparable with 18thcentury Europe. The later city of Rome did not fill the
space within its ancient Aurelian walls until after 1870.
The majority of the population under the jurisdiction
of ancient Rome lived in the countryside in settlements
with less than 10 thousand inhabitants. Landlords generally resided in cities and their estates were left in the
care of farm managers. The plight of rural slaves was
generally worse than their counterparts working in urban
aristocratic households. To stimulate a higher labor productivity most landlords freed a large number of slaves
and many received wages. Some records indicate that “as
many as 42 people lived in one small farm hut in Egypt,
while six families owned a single olive tree.” Such a rural
environment continued to induce migration of population
to urban centers until the early 2nd century when the urban population stopped growing and started to decline.
Wall painting (1st century AD) from Pompeii depicting a multigenerational banquet
almost 1200-year history of the civilization of Ancient
Rome. The term refers to the culture of the Roman Republic, later the Roman Empire, which at its peak covered an area from Lowland Scotland and Morocco to the
Euphrates.
Life in ancient Rome revolved around the city of Rome,
its famed seven hills, and its monumental architecture such as the Flavian Amphitheatre (now called the
Colosseum), the Forum of Trajan, and the Pantheon.
The city also had several theaters, gymnasia, and many
taverns, baths, and brothels. Throughout the territory
under ancient Rome’s control, residential architecture
ranged from very modest houses to country villas, and in
the capital city of Rome, there were imperial residences
on the elegant Palatine Hill, from which the word palace
is derived. The vast majority of the population lived in
the city center, packed into insulae (apartment blocks).
Starting in the middle of the 2nd century BC, private
Greek culture was increasingly in ascendancy, in spite
of tirades against the “softening” effects of Hellenized
culture from the conservative moralists. By the time of
Augustus, cultured Greek household slaves taught the Roman young (sometimes even the girls); chefs, decorators,
secretaries, doctors, and hairdressers all came from the
Greek East. Greek sculptures adorned Hellenistic landscape gardening on the Palatine or in the villas, or were
imitated in Roman sculpture yards by Greek slaves. The
Roman cuisine preserved in the cookery books ascribed
to Apicius is essentially Greek. Roman writers disdained
Latin for a cultured Greek style. Only in law and governance was the Italic nature of Rome’s accretive culture
supreme.
The city of Rome was the largest megalopolis of that time,
with a population that may well have exceeded one million people, with a high end estimate of 3.6 million and a
low end estimate of 450,000. A substantial proportion of
the population under the city’s jurisdiction lived in innumerable urban centers, with population of at least 10,000
and several military settlements, a very high rate of ur- Against this human background, both the urban and rural
banization by pre-industrial standards. The most urban- setting, one of history’s most influential civilizations took
ized part of the Empire was Italy, which had an estimated
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SOCIAL STRUCTURE
shape, leaving behind a cultural legacy that survives in In the comitia centuriata the Romans were divided acpart today.
cording to age, wealth and residence. The citizens in
each tribe were divided into five classes based on property
and then each group was subdivided into two centuries by
age. All in all, there were 373 centuries. Like the assem1 Social structure
bly of tribes, each century had one vote. The Comitia
Centuriata elected the praetors (judicial magistrates), the
censors, and the consuls.
Main article: Social class in ancient Rome
The center of the early social structure, dating from the
time of the agricultural tribal city state, was the family,
which was not only marked by blood relations but also by
the legally constructed relation of patria potestas. The
Pater familias was the absolute head of the family; he
was the master over his wife (if she was given to him
sub manu, otherwise the father of the wife retained patria potestas), his children, the wives of his sons (again if
married sub manu which became rarer towards the end of
the Republic), the nephews, the slaves and the freedmen
(liberated slaves, the first generation still legally inferior
to the freeborn), disposing of them and of their goods at
will, even having them put to death.
Slavery and slaves were part of the social order. The
slaves were mostly prisoners of war. There were slave
markets where they could be bought and sold. Roman law
was not consistent about the status of slaves, except that
they were considered like any other moveable property.
Many slaves were freed by the masters for fine services
rendered; some slaves could save money to buy their freedom. Generally mutilation and murder of slaves was prohibited by legislation, although outrageous cruelty continued.
Apart from these families (called gentes) and the slaves
(legally objects, mancipia i.e. “kept in the [master’s]
hand”) there were Plebeians that did not exist from a legal
perspective. They had no legal capacity and were not able
to make contracts, even though they were not slaves. To
deal with this problem, the so-called clientela was created.
By this institution, a plebeian joined the family of a patrician (in a legal sense) and could close contracts by mediation of his patrician pater familias. Everything the plebeian possessed or acquired legally belonged to the gens.
He was not allowed to form his own gens.
The authority of the pater familias was unlimited, be it in
civil rights as well as in criminal law. The king’s duty was
to be head over the military, to deal with foreign politics
and also to decide on controversies between the gentes.
The patricians were divided into three tribes (Ramnenses,
Titientes, Luceres).
During the time of the Roman Republic (founded in 509
BC) Roman citizens were allowed to vote. These included
patricians and plebeians. Women, slaves, and children
were not allowed to vote.
There were two assemblies, the assembly of centuries
(comitia centuriata) and the assembly of tribes (comitia
tributa), which were made up of all the citizens of Rome.
The comitia tributa comprised thirty-five tribes from
Rome and the country. Each tribe had a single vote. The
Comitia Tributa elected the Quaestors (financial magistrates) and the patrician Curule Aedile.
Over time, Roman law evolved considerably, as well as
social views, emancipating (to increasing degrees) family
members. Justice greatly increased, as well. The Romans
became more efficient at considering laws and punishments.
Life in the ancient Roman cities revolved around the
Forum, the central business district, where most of
the Romans would go for marketing, shopping, trading,
banking, and for participating in festivities and ceremonies. The Forum was also a place where orators would
express themselves to mould public opinion, and elicit
support for any particular issue of interest to them or others. Before sunrise, children would go to schools or tutoring them at home would commence. Elders would dress,
take a breakfast by 11 o'clock, have a nap and in the afternoon or evening would generally go to the Forum. Going
to a public bath at least once daily was a habit with most
Roman citizens. There were separate baths for men and
women. The main difference was that the women’s baths
were smaller than the men’s, and did not have a frigidarium (cold room) or a palaestra (exercise area).
Different types of outdoor and indoor entertainment, free
of cost, were available in ancient Rome. Depending on
the nature of the events, they were scheduled during daytime, afternoons, evenings, or late nights. Huge crowds
gathered at the Colosseum to watch events like gladiators,
combats between men, or fights between men and wild
animals. The Circus Maximus was used for chariot racing.
Life in the countryside was slow but lively, with numerous
local festivals and social events. Farms were run by the
farm managers, but estate owners would sometimes take
a retreat to the countryside for rest, enjoying the splendor
of nature and the sunshine, including activities like fishing, hunting, and riding. On the other hand, slave labor
slogged on continuously, for long hours and all seven days,
and ensuring comforts and creating wealth for their masters. The average farm owners were better off, spending
evenings in economic and social interactions at the village
markets. The day ended with a meal, generally left over
from the noontime preparations.
1.2
1.1
Food
Clothing
Main article: Clothing in ancient Rome
In ancient Rome, the cloth and the dress distinguished
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footwear, consuls had white shoes, and soldiers wore
heavy boots. Women wore closed shoes of colors such
as white, yellow, or green.
The bulla was a locket-like amulet worn by children.
When about to marry, the woman would donate her bulla
(sometimes called partha) to the household gods, along
with her toys, to signify maturity and womanhood.
Men typically wore a toga, and women wore a stola.
The woman’s stola was a dress worn over a tunic, and was
usually brightly colored. A fibula (or brooch) would be
used as ornamentation or to hold the stola in place. A
palla, or shawl, was often worn with the stola.
1.2 Food
Main articles: Ancient Roman cuisine and Grain supply
to the city of Rome
Since the beginning of the Republic until 200 BC, ancient
Romans had very simple food habits. Simple food was
generally consumed at around 11 o’clock, and consisted
of bread, salad, olives, cheese, fruits, nuts, and cold meat
left over from the dinner the night before. Breakfast was
called ientaculum, lunch was prandium, and dinner was
called cena. Appetizers were called gustatio, and dessert
was called secunda mensa (or second table). Usually, a
nap or rest followed this.
The family ate together, sitting on stools around a table.
Later on, a separate dining room with dining couches was
designed, called a triclinium. Fingers were used to take
foods which were prepared beforehand and brought to the
diners. Spoons were used for soups.
Toga-clad statue, restored with the head of the emperor Nerva
one class of people from the other class. The tunic worn
by plebeians (common people) like shepherds was made
from coarse and dark material, whereas the tunic worn
by patricians was of linen or white wool. A magistrate
would wear the tunica angusticlavi; senators wore tunics
with purple stripes (clavi), called tunica laticlavi. Military
tunics were shorter than the ones worn by civilians.
The many types of togas were also named. Boys, up until
the festival of Liberalia, wore the toga praetexta, which
was a toga with a crimson or purple border, also worn by
magistrates in office. The toga virilis, (or toga pura) or
man’s toga was worn by men over the age of 16 to signify
their citizenship in Rome. The toga picta was worn by triumphant generals and had embroidery of their skill on the
battlefield. The toga pulla was worn when in mourning.
Eggs, thrushes, napkin, and vessels (wall painting from the House
of Julia Felix, Pompeii)
Wine in Rome did not become common or massproduced until around 250 B.C. It was more commonly
produced around the time of Cato the Elder who mentions in his book De Agri Cultura that the vineyard was
the most important aspect of a good farm.[1] Wine was
considered a staple drink, consumed at all meals and ocEven footwear indicated a person’s social status. Patri- casions by all classes and was quite cheap; however, it was
cians wore red and orange sandals, senators had brown always mixed with water. This was the case even dur-
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ing explicit evening drinking events (comissatio) where
an important part of the festivity was choosing an arbiter bibendi (Judge of Drinking) who was, among other
things, responsible for deciding the ratio of wine to water
in the drinking wine. Wine to water ratios of 1:2, 1:3, or
1:4 were commonly used. Many types of drinks involving
grapes and honey were consumed as well. Mulsum was
honeyed wine, mustum was grape juice, mulsa was honeyed water. The per-person-consumption of wine per day
in the city of Rome has been estimated at 0.8 to 1.1 gallons for males, and about 0.5 gallons for females. Even
the notoriously strict Cato the Elder recommended distributing a daily ration of low quality wine of more than
0.5 gallons among the slaves forced to work on farms.
Drinking non-watered wine on an empty stomach was regarded as boorish and a sure sign of alcoholism whose
debilitating physical and psychological effects were already recognized in ancient Rome. An accurate accusation of being an alcoholic—in the gossip-crazy society of
the city bound to come to light and easily verified—was
a favorite and damaging way to discredit political rivals
employed by some of Rome’s greatest orators like Cicero
and Julius Caesar. Prominent Roman alcoholics include
Mark Antony, Cicero’s own son Marcus (Cicero Minor) and the emperor Tiberius Claudius Nero whose soldiers gave him the unflattering nickname Biberius Caldius
Mero (lit. boozer of pure wine, Sueton Tib. 42,1). Cato
the Younger was also known as a heavy drinker, frequently found stumbling home disoriented and the worse
for wear in the early hours of morning by fellow citizens.
2 LANGUAGE
parting education. School was mostly for boys, however
some wealthy girls were tutored at home, but could still
go to school sometimes.
2 Language
Main articles: Latin and Languages of the Roman Empire
The native language of the Romans was Latin, an Italic
Fragmentary military diploma from Carnuntum; Latin was the
language of the military throughout the Empire
language in the Indo-European family. Several forms of
Latin existed, and the language evolved considerably over
time, eventually becoming the Romance languages spoDuring the Imperial period, staple food of the lower class
ken today.
Romans (plebeians) was vegetable porridge and bread,
and occasionally fish, meat, olives and fruits. Sometimes, Initially a highly inflectional and synthetic language, older
subsidized or free foods were distributed in cities. The forms of Latin rely little on word order, conveying meanpatrician’s aristocracy had elaborate dinners, with parties ing through a system of affixes attached to word stems.
and wines and a variety of comestibles. Sometimes, danc- Like other Indo-European languages, Latin gradually being girls would entertain the diners. Women and children came much more analytic over time and acquired convenate separately, but in the later Empire period, with per- tionalized word orders as it lost more and more of its case
missiveness creeping in, even decent women would attend system and associated inflections. Its alphabet, the Latin
alphabet, is based on the Old Italic alphabet, which is in
such dinner parties.
turn derived from the Greek alphabet. The Latin alphabet is still used today to write most European and many
other languages.
1.3 Education
Main article: Roman school
Most of the surviving Latin literature consists almost entirely of Classical Latin. In the eastern half of the Roman
Empire, which became the Byzantine Empire; Greek was
the main lingua franca as it had been since the time of
Alexander the Great, while Latin was mostly used by the
Roman administration and its soldiers. Eventually Greek
would supplant Latin as both the official written and spoken language of the Eastern Roman Empire, while the
various dialects of Vulgar Latin used in the Western Roman Empire evolved into the modern Romance languages
still used today.
Schooling in a more formal sense was begun around 200
BC. Education began at the age of around six, and in the
next six to seven years, boys and girls were expected to
learn the basics of reading, writing and counting. By
the age of twelve, they would be learning Latin, Greek,
grammar and literature, followed by training for public
speaking. Oratory was an art to be practiced and learnt
and good orators commanded respect; to become an effective orator was one of the objectives of education and The expansion of the Roman Empire spread Latin
learning. Poor children could not afford education. In throughout Europe, and over time Vulgar Latin evolved
some cases, services of gifted slaves were utilized for im- and dialectized in different locations, gradually shifting
3.1
Literature
5
into a number of distinct Romance languages beginning
in around the 9th century. Many of these languages,
including French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, and
Spanish, flourished, the differences between them growing greater over time.
Although English is Germanic rather than Romanic in
origin—Britannia was a Roman province, but the Roman presence in Britain had effectively disappeared by
the time of the Anglo-Saxon invasions—English today
borrows heavily from Latin and Latin-derived words.
Old English borrowings were relatively sparse and drew
mainly from ecclesiastical usage after the Christianization of England. When William the Conqueror invaded
England from Normandy in 1066, he brought with him
a considerable number of retainers who spoke AngloNorman French, a Romance language derived from
Latin. Anglo-Norman French remained the language of
the English upper classes for centuries, and the number of
Latinate words in English increased immensely through
borrowing during this Middle English period. More recently, during the Modern English period, the revival of
interest in classical culture during the Renaissance led to
a great deal of conscious adaptation of words from Classical Latin authors into English.
Although Latin is an extinct language with very few
contemporary fluent speakers, it remains in use in
many ways. In particular, Latin has survived through
Ecclesiastical Latin, the traditional language of the
Roman Catholic Church and one of the official languages of the Vatican City. Although distinct from both
Classical and Vulgar Latin in a number of ways, Ecclesiastical Latin was more stable than typical Medieval
Latin. More Classical sensibilities eventually re-emerged
in the Renaissance with Humanist Latin. Due to both the
prevalence of Christianity and the enduring influence of
the Roman civilization, Latin became western Europe’s
lingua franca, a language used to cross international borders, such as for academic and diplomatic usage. A deep
knowledge of classical Latin was a standard part of the
educational curriculum in many western countries until
well into the 20th century, and is still taught in many
schools today. Although it was eventually supplanted in
this respect by French in the 19th century and English in
the 20th, Latin continues to see heavy use in religious,
legal, and scientific terminology, and in academia in general.
Mosaic depicting a theatrical troupe preparing for a performance
authors began to produce poetry, comedy, history, and
tragedy.
During the reign of the early emperors of Rome there
was a golden age of historical literature. Works such
as the 'Histories' of Tacitus, the 'Gallic Wars' by Julius
Caesar and 'History of Rome' by Livy have been passed
down through generations. Unfortunately, in the case of
Livy, much of the script has been lost and it is left with a
few specific areas: the founding of the city, the war with
Hannibal, and its aftermath.
Virgil represents the pinnacle of Roman epic poetry. His
Aeneid was produced at the request of Maecenas and tells
the story of flight of Aeneas from Troy and his settlement of the city that would become Rome. Lucretius,
in his On the Nature of Things, attempted to explicate
science in an epic poem. Some of his science seems remarkably modern, but other ideas, especially his theory
of light, are no longer accepted. Later Ovid produced
his Metamorphoses, written in dactylic hexameter verse,
the meter of epic, attempting a complete mythology from
the creation of the earth to his own time. He unifies his
subject matter through the theme of metamorphosis. It
was noted in classical times that Ovid’s work lacked the
gravitas possessed by traditional epic poetry.
Catullus and the associated group of neoteric poets produced poetry following the Alexandrian model, which experimented with poetic forms challenging tradition. Cat3 The Arts
ullus was also the first Roman poet to produce love poetry,
seemingly autobiographical, which depicts an affair with
a woman called Lesbia. Under the reign of the Emperor
3.1 Literature
Augustus, Horace continued the tradition of shorter poems,
with his Odes and Epodes. Martial, writing under
Main article: Roman literature
Domitian, was a famed author of epigrams,
the
Emperor
Roman literature was from its very inception influenced
poems
which
were often abusive and censured public figheavily by Greek authors. Some of the earliest works curures.
rently discovered are of historical epics telling the early
military history of Rome. As the Republic expanded, The genre of satire was traditionally regarded as a Ro-
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3
THE ARTS
man innovation, and satires were written by, among others, Juvenal and Persius. Some of the most popular plays
of the early Republic were comedies, especially those of
Terence, a freed Roman slave captured during the First
Punic War.
Portrait sculpture during the period utilized youthful and
classical proportions, evolving later into a mixture of realism and idealism. During the Antonine and Severan periods, more ornate hair and bearding became prevalent,
created with deeper cutting and drilling. Advancements
A great deal of the literary work produced by Roman au- were also made in relief sculptures, usually depicting Rothors in the early Republic was political or satirical in na- man victories.
ture. The rhetorical works of Cicero, a self-distinguished
linguist, translator, and philosopher, in particular, were 3.3 Music
popular. In addition, Cicero’s personal letters are considered to be one of the best bodies of correspondence Main article: Music of ancient Rome
recorded in antiquity.
3.2
Visual art
Main article: Roman art
Music was a major part everyday life in ancient Rome.
Many private and public events were accompanied by
music, ranging from nightly dining to military parades
and manoeuvres. In a discussion of any ancient music,
however, non-specialists and even many musicians have
to be reminded that much of what makes our modern music familiar to us is the result of developments only within
the last 1000 years; thus, our ideas of melody, scales, harmony, and even the instruments we use would not be familiar to Romans who made and listened to music many
centuries earlier.
Most early Roman painting styles show Etruscan influences, particularly in the practice of political painting.
In the 3rd century BCE, Greek art taken as booty from
wars became popular, and many Roman homes were decorated with landscapes by Greek artists. Evidence from
the remains at Pompeii shows diverse influence from culSome of the instruments used in Roman music are the
tures spanning the Roman world.
Tuba, Cornu, Aulos, Askaules, Flute, Panpipes, Lyre,
Lute, Cithara, Timpani, Aulos, Auloi, Drums, Hydraulis
and the Sistrum.
3.4 Architecture
Main article: Roman architecture
In its initial stages, the ancient Roman architecture re-
The Colosseum in Rome
The so-called Primavera of Stabiae, perhaps the goddess Flora
An early Roman style of note was “Incrustation”, in which
the interior walls of houses were painted to resemble colored marble. Another style consisted of painting interiors
as open landscapes, with highly detailed scenes of plants,
animals, and buildings.
flected elements of architectural styles of the Etruscans
and the Greeks. Over a period of time, the style was modified in tune with their urban requirements, and civil engineering and building construction technology became developed and refined. The Roman concrete has remained
a riddle,[2] and even after more than two thousand years
some ancient Roman structures still stand magnificently,
like the Pantheon (with one of the largest single span
domes in the world) located in the business district of today’s Rome.
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The architectural style of the capital city of ancient Rome
was emulated by other urban centers under Roman control and influence,[3] like the Verona Arena, Verona, Italy;
Arch of Hadrian, Athens, Greece; Temple of Hadrian,
Ephesos, Turkey; a Theatre at Orange, France; and at
several other locations, for example, Lepcis Magna, located in Libya.[4] Roman cities were well planned, efficiently managed and neatly maintained. Palaces, private
dwellings and villas, were elaborately designed and town
planning was comprehensive with provisions for different activities by the urban resident population, and for
countless migratory population of travelers, traders and
visitors passing through their cities. Marcus Vitruvius
Pollio, a 1st-century BCE Roman architect’s treatise “De
architectura,” with various sections, dealing with urban
planning, building materials, temple construction, public
and private buildings, and hydraulics, remained a classic
text until the Renaissance.
4
Sports and entertainment
The ancient city of Rome had a place called the Campus, a sort of drill ground for Roman soldiers, which
was located near the Tiber river. Later, the Campus
became Rome’s track and field playground, which even
Julius Caesar and Augustus were said to have frequented.
Imitating the Campus in Rome, similar grounds were developed in several other urban centers and military settlements.
spent a deal of time there.
5 Religion
Main article: Religion in ancient Rome
The Romans thought of themselves as highly religious,
and attributed their success as a world power to their collective piety (pietas) in maintaining good relations with
the gods. According to legendary history, most of Rome’s
religious institutions could be traced to its founders, particularly Numa Pompilius, the Sabine second king of
Rome, who negotiated directly with the gods. This archaic religion was the foundation of the mos maiorum,
“the way of the ancestors” or simply “tradition”, viewed
as central to Roman identity.
The priesthoods of public religion were held by members
of the elite classes. There was no principle analogous to
"separation of church and state" in ancient Rome. During the Roman Republic (509 BC–27 BC), the same men
who were elected public officials served as augurs and
pontiffs. Priests married, raised families, and led politically active lives. Julius Caesar became Pontifex Maximus before he was elected consul. The augurs read the
will of the gods and supervised the marking of boundaries
as a reflection of universal order, thus sanctioning Roman
expansionism as a matter of divine destiny. The Roman
triumph was at its core a religious procession in which the
victorious general displayed his piety and his willingness
to serve the public good by dedicating a portion of his
spoils to the gods, especially Jupiter, who embodied just
rule. As a result of the Punic Wars (264–146 BC), when
Rome struggled to establish itself as a dominant power,
many new temples were built by magistrates in fulfillment
of a vow to a deity for assuring their military success.
In the campus, the youth assembled to play, exercise, and
indulge in appropriate sports, which included jumping,
wrestling, boxing and racing. Riding, throwing, and
swimming were also preferred physical activities. In the
countryside, pastimes also included fishing and hunting.
Females did not participate in these activities. Ball playing was a popular sport and ancient Romans had several
ball games, which included Handball (Expulsim Ludere), Roman religion was thus practical and contractual, based
on the principle of do ut des, “I give that you might give.”
field hockey, catch, and some form of Football.
Religion depended on knowledge and the correct practice
Board games played in ancient Rome included dice
of prayer, ritual, and sacrifice, not on faith or dogma, al(Tesserae or tali), Roman chess (Latrunculi), Ro- though Latin literature preserves learned speculation on
man Checkers (Calculi), tic-tac-toe (Terni Lapilli), and
the nature of the divine and its relation to human affairs.
ludus duodecim scriptorum and tabula, predecessors of Even the most skeptical among Rome’s intellectual elite
backgammon.
such as Cicero, who was an augur, saw religion as a source
There were several other activities to keep people en- of social order.
gaged like chariot races, musical and theatrical perfor- For ordinary Romans, religion was a part of daily life.[6]
mances, public executions and gladiatorial combat. In the Each home had a household shrine at which prayers and
Colosseum, Rome’s amphitheatre, 60,000 persons could libations to the family’s domestic deities were offered.
be accommodated. There are also accounts of the Colos- Neighborhood shrines and sacred places such as springs
seum’s floor being flooded to hold mock naval battles for and groves dotted the city. The Roman calendar was
the public to watch.
structured around religious observances. In the Imperial
In addition to these, Romans also spent their share of time
in bars and brothels, and graffiti[5] carved into the walls
of these buildings was common. Based on the number
of messages found on bars, brothels, and bathhouses, it’s
clear that they were popular places of leisure and people
era, as many as 135 days of the year were devoted to
religious festivals and games (ludi).[7] Women, slaves,
and children all participated in a range of religious activities. Some public rituals could be conducted only
by women, and women formed what is perhaps Rome’s
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PHILOSOPHY
most famous priesthood, the state-supported Vestal Vir- cestral dead and of the Genius, the divine tutelary of every
gins, who tended Rome’s sacred hearth for centuries, until individual. Imperial cult became one of the major ways
disbanded under Christian domination.
Rome advertised its presence in the provinces and cultiThe Romans are known for the great number of deities vated shared cultural identity and loyalty throughout the
they honored. The presence of Greeks on the Italian Empire. Rejection of the state religion was tantamount
peninsula from the beginning of the historical period in- to treason. This was the context for Rome’s conflict with
fluenced Roman culture, introducing some religious prac- Christianity, which Romans variously regarded as a form
tices that became as fundamental as the cult of Apollo. of atheism and novel superstitio.
The Romans looked for common ground between their
major gods and those of the Greeks, adapting Greek
myths and iconography for Latin literature and Roman
art. Etruscan religion was also a major influence, particularly on the practice of augury, since Rome had once
been ruled by Etruscan kings.
Imported mystery religions, which offered initiates salvation in the afterlife, were a matter of personal choice
for an individual, practiced in addition to carrying on
one’s family rites and participating in public religion. The
mysteries, however, involved exclusive oaths and secrecy,
conditions that conservative Romans viewed with suspicion as characteristic of "magic", conspiracy (coniuratio), and subversive activity. Sporadic and sometimes
brutal attempts were made to suppress religionists who
seemed to threaten traditional morality and unity, as with
the senate's efforts to restrict the Bacchanals in 186 BC.
As the Romans extended their dominance throughout the
Mediterranean world, their policy in general was to absorb the deities and cults of other peoples rather than
try to eradicate them,[8] since they believed that preserving tradition promoted social stability.[9] One way that
Rome incorporated diverse peoples was by supporting
their religious heritage, building temples to local deities
that framed their theology within the hierarchy of Roman religion. Inscriptions throughout the Empire record
the side-by-side worship of local and Roman deities, including dedications made by Romans to local gods.[10] By
the height of the Empire, numerous international deities
were cultivated at Rome and had been carried to even
the most remote provinces, among them Cybele, Isis,
Epona, and gods of solar monism such as Mithras and
Sol Invictus, found as far north as Roman Britain. Because Romans had never been obligated to cultivate one
god or one cult only, religious tolerance was not an issue in the sense that it is for competing monotheistic
systems.[11] The monotheistic rigor of Judaism posed difficulties for Roman policy that led at times to compromise
and the granting of special exemptions, but sometimes to
intractable conflict.
In the wake of the Republic’s collapse, state religion
had adapted to support the new regime of the emperors.
Augustus, the first Roman emperor, justified the novelty
of one-man rule with a vast program of religious revivalism and reform. Public vows formerly made for the security of the republic now were directed at the wellbeing of
the emperor. So-called “emperor worship” expanded on
a grand scale the traditional Roman veneration of the an-
From the 2nd century onward, the Church Fathers began
to condemn the diverse religions practiced throughout the
Empire collectively as “pagan.”[12] In the early 4th century, Constantine I became the first emperor to convert
to Christianity, launching the era of Christian hegemony.
The emperor Julian made a short-lived attempt to revive
traditional and Hellenistic religion and to affirm the special status of Judaism, but in 391 under Theodosius I
Nicene Christianity became the official state church of
the Roman Empire, to the exclusion of all others. Pleas
for religious tolerance from traditionalists such as the senator Symmachus (d. 402) were rejected, and Christian
monotheism became a feature of imperial domination.
Heretics as well as non-Christians were subject to exclusion from public life or persecution, but Rome’s original
religious hierarchy and many aspects of its ritual influenced Christian forms,[13] and many pre-Christian beliefs
and practices survived in Christian festivals and local traditions.
6 Philosophy
Mosaic from Pompeii depicting the Academy of Plato
Two major philosophical schools of thought that derived from Greek religion and philosophy that became
prominent in Rome in the 1st and 2nd century AD was
Cynicism and Stoicism which, according to Cora Lutz
were “fairly well merged” in the early years of the Roman
9
Empire. Cynicism taught that civilization was corrupt
and people needed to break away from it and its trappings and Stoicism taught that one must give up all earthly
goods by remaining detached from civilization and help
others. Because of their negative views on civilization
and of their way of life, in where many of them just wore
a dirty cloak, carried a staff, and a coin purse, and slept
outdoors, they were the targets of the Roman aristocracy
and of the emperor and many were persecuted by the Roman government for being “subversive”. The philosopher
Lucian attacked the Cynics in his book “The Philosophies for Sale” in which he mocked the Cynics by stating
“First...stripping you of your luxury...I will put a cloak on
you...Next I will compel you to undergo pains and hardships, sleeping on the ground, drinking nothing but water...Leading this life you will say that you are happier
than the Great King...Frequent the most crowded market
place...and in [it] desire to be solitary and uncommunicative...”
7
See also
• Ancient Rome
• Classical antiquity
• Gallo-Roman culture
• Mos maiorum
• Roman Britain
• Romanization
• Romanization of Hispania
• Sexuality in ancient Rome
• Social class in ancient Rome
• Theatre of ancient Rome
• Roman graffiti
8
References
[1] E.M. Jellinek, Drinkers and Alcoholics in Ancient Rome.
[2] The Riddle of Ancient Roman Concrete, By David
Moore, P.E., 1995, Retired Professional Engineer, Bureau of Reclamation (This article first appeared in “The
Spillway” a newsletter of the US Dept. of the Interior,
Bureau of Reclamation, Upper Colorado Region, February, 1993)
[5] Harvey, Brian. “Graffiti from Pompeii”. Graffiti from
Pompeii. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
[6] Jörg Rüpke, “Roman Religion – Religions of Rome,” in A
Companion to Roman Religion (Blackwell, 2007), p. 4.
[7] Matthew Bunson, A Dictionary of the Roman Empire (Oxford University Press, 1995), p. 246.
[8] “This mentality,” notes John T. Koch, “lay at the core of
the genius of cultural assimilation which made the Roman Empire possible"; entry on “Interpretatio romana,”
in Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia (ABC-Clio,
2006), p. 974.
[9] Rüpke, “Roman Religion – Religions of Rome,” p. 4;
Benjamin H. Isaac, The Invention of Racism in Classical Antiquity (Princeton University Press, 2004, 2006),
p. 449; W.H.C. Frend, Martyrdom and Persecution in the
Early Church: A Study of Conflict from the Maccabees to
Donatus (Doubleday, 1967), p. 106.
[10] Janet Huskinson, Experiencing Rome: Culture, Identity
and Power in the Roman Empire (Routledge, 2000), p.
261.
[11] A classic essay on this topic is Arnaldo Momigliano, “The
Disadvantages of Monotheism for a Universal State,”
Classical Philology 81.4 (1986) 285–297.
[12] See Peter Brown, in Bowersock et al, Late antiquity: a
guide to the postclassical world, Harvard University Press,
(1999), for “pagan” as a mark of socio-religious inferiority
in Latin Christian polemic:
[13] Stefan Heid, “The Romanness of Roman Christianity,” in
A Companion to Roman Religion (Blackwell, 2007), pp.
406–426; on vocabulary in particular, Robert Schilling,
“The Decline and Survival of Roman Religion”, Roman
and European Mythologies (University of Chicago Press,
1992, from the French edition of 1981), p. 110.
9 Bibliography
• Elizabeth S. Cohen, Honor and Gender in the Streets
of Early Modern Rome, The Journal of Interdisciplinary History, Vol. 22, No. 4 (Spring, 1992), pp.
597-625
• Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman
Empire
• Tom Holland, The Last Years of the Roman Republic
ISBN 0-385-50313-X
• Ramsay MacMullen, 2000. Romanization in the
Time of Augustus (Yale University Press)
[3] “Roman Art and Architecture”. UCCS.edu. Archived
from the original on September 8, 2006. Retrieved July
14, 2013.
• Paul Veyne, editor, 1992. A History of Private Life:
I From Pagan Rome to Byzantium (Belknap Press of
Harvard University Press)
[4] Lepcis Magna - Window on the Roman World in North
Africa
• Karl Wilhelm Weeber, 2008. Nachtleben im Alten
Rom (Primusverlag)
10
10
• Karl Wilhelm Weeber, 2005. Die Weinkultur der
Römer
• J.H. D'Arms, 1995. Heavy drinking and drunkenness in the Roman world, in O.Murray In Vino Veritas
10
External links
• An interactive Roman map
• Rome Reborn − A Video Tour through Ancient
Rome based on a digital model
EXTERNAL LINKS
11
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