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By:Amari J., Gabby G., and Lauren W.
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Romans used mostly slaves to work in the fields. Slaves were
usually available, and they provided cheap labor to work their
fields. The fields were plowed with an ard plow, which is
basically a heavy stick pulled by an ox.
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Grain was harvested by hand until the first century A.D. A reaping
machine called a vallus was invented in Gaul (modern day
France) which allowed for an easier harvest. The wheat was
beaten to separate the chaff from the kernels.
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Rome needed a large amount of food to supply its large
population. Most of the grain was shipped in from North Africa
even Egypt.
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By 100 B.C. most farming was done on large estates. The
owners of these estates often lived in town for the
majority of the year.
Sometimes, the Greek influence on Roman
culture was indirect. For example, the Greek
alphabet was adopted and then changed. The
Greeks use of their alphabet had ore direct
influence on Roman life.
 Many Roman writers were inspired by Greek
Poetry and Myths. The Greeks carved important
document’s such as laws and treaty’s into bronze
or stone plaques.
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Patricians were wealthy citizens of Rome. They usually lived in grand
houses and had slaves to do their work for them. Because they were
citizens of Rome they were allowed to go to the Assembly to vote.
Plebeians were not wealthy but they were citizens of Rome. They
were usually craftsmen or tradesmen and they worked for a living.
Because they were citizens of Rome they were allowed to go to the
Assembly to vote.
Slaves had no money, no rights, no freedom and were not citizens of
Rome. Because they were not citizens of Rome they were not allowed
to go to the Assembly to vote.
From the time of Julius Caesar, 48BC, Rome and the Roman Empire
was ruled by an Emperor. The Emperor was wise if he listened to the
advice of the Senate but some chose to be dictators and do what
they wanted rather than follow the Senate's advice.
Before Julius Caesar took control in 48BC, the Roman Empire was not
ruled by the Emperor but by two consuls who were elected by the
citizens of Rome. Rome was then known as a Republic.
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Traditionally, Roman society was extremely rigid. By the first
century, however, the need for capable men to run Rome’s large
empire was slowly getting around the old social barriers.
The social structure of ancient Rome was based on heredity,
property, wealth, citizenship and freedom. It was also based
around men: women were defined by the social status of their
fathers or husbands. Women were expected to look after the
houses and very few had any real independence
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The boundaries between the different classes were strict and
legally enforced: members of different classes even dressed
differently. Only the emperor was allowed to wear a purple toga,
while senators could wear a white toga with a broad purple stripe
along the edge.
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Roman art grows out of Etruscan Art, and at first it is a lot like
Etruscan art. Because of this, it has a close relationship to Greek
Art as well. Roman art as a type of its own really gets going
around 500 BC with the beginning of the Roman Republic. Roman
people were particularly interested in portraiture: in making
statues that really looked like one particular person, especially a
famous person. Greek people were more interested in ideals:
what is the most beautiful man? what is the most athletic man?
But the Romans were more interested in reality.
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Roman technology is the engineering practice which
supported Roman civilization and made the expansion of
Roman commerce and Roman military possible over nearly a
thousand years.
The Roman Empire had the most advanced set of technologies
of its time, some of which was lost during the eras of Late
Antiquity and the early Middle Ages. Gradually, some of the
technological feats of the Romans were rediscovered and/or
improved, while others went ahead of what the Romans had
done during the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Modern
Era.
Several Roman technological feats in different areas like civil
engineering, construction materials, transport technology,
and some inventions such as the mechanical reaper, were
surprising achievements until the 19th century, and some,
such as the arch, have remained untouched to this day.
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Rome encompassed the religious beliefs and cult
practices regarded by the Romans, and central to their identity
as a people, as well as the various and many cults imported from
other peoples brought under Roman rule.
 Romans could offer a cult to any deity or combination of deities,
as long as it did not offend the mos maiorum. Good relations
between mortals and the divine were maintained
by piety through the correct offering of ritual and divine honurs.
 Some of Rome's cult practices were explained by myths, while
others remained clueless in origin and purpose.
 Rome had extended its dominance throughout the
Mediterranean area, its religious mode was to learn more
about the deities and cults of other peoples rather than to
ruin and replace them.