Roman Culture

Ancient Roman culture existed throughout the 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
structures such as the Flavian Amphitheatre (now called the Colosseum), the Forum of Trajan, and
the Pantheon.

The city also had several theaters, gymnasiums, 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).

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 3.5 million and a low end estimate of
450,000. The public spaces in Rome resounded with such a din of hooves and clatter of iron chariot
wheels that Julius Caesar had once proposed a ban on chariot traffic at night. Historical estimates
indicate that around 30 percent 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 urbanization by pre-industrial standards.

The most urbanized part of the Empire was Italy, which had an estimated rate of urbanization of
32%, the same rate of urbanization of England in 1800. Most Roman towns and cities 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 18th-century Europe. The later city of Rome did not fill the space within its
ancient Aurelian walls until after 1870.

Eighty percent 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.
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.

Against this human background, both the urban and rural setting, one of history's most influential
civilizations took shape, leaving behind a cultural legacy that survives in part today.

Clothing in Ancient Roman

Clothing
In ancient Rome, the cloth and the dress distinguished 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.
Even footwear indicated a persons social status. Patricians wore red and orange sandals, senators
had brown 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.[citation needed]
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.

Roman Men

Wigs were worn by men as a disguise and to hide baldness. Hairstyles and beards varied with the
times. In early Roman times, men wore long hair and full beards. For a while, they were clean-
shaven with short hair. About 1 Century AD, they had started to style their hair, and wear beards
again.

Jewelry
Rings were the only jewelry worn by Roman citizen men, and good manners dictated only one ring.
Of course, some men did not follow "good taste", and wore as many as sixteen rings. Most early
Roman jewelry resembled Greek and Etruscan jewelry, but Roman styles eventually developed. The
Romans were fond of colored stones such as topaz, emeralds, rubies and sapphires. Pendants,
especially cameos in gold frames, were popular.

Food
Since the beginning of the Republic until 200 BC, ancient Romans had very simple food habits.
Simple food was generally consumed at around 11 oclock, 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.
Wine in Rome did not become common or mass-produced 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.[2] Wine was considered a staple
drink, consumed at all meals and occasions by all classes and was quite cheap; however, it was
always mixed with water.[citation needed] This was the case even during 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.[citation needed]
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 alcoholicin the gossip-crazy society of the city
bound to come to light and easily verifiedwas 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.
During the Imperial period, staple food of the lower class Romans (plebeians) was
vegetable porridge and bread, and occasionally fish, meat, olives and fruits. Sometimes, subsidized
or free foods were distributed in cities. The patrician's aristocracy had elaborate dinners, with
parties and wines and a variety of comestibles. Sometimes, dancing girls would entertain the diners.
Women and children ate separately, but in the later Empire period, with permissiveness creeping
in, even decent women would attend such dinner parties.
Education
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 learning. Poor children could not afford
education. In some cases, services of gifted slaves were utilized for imparting education. School was
mostly for boys, however some wealthy girls were tutored at home, but could still go to school
sometimes.
Also, Roman schools were rarely an individual building but an extension of a shop separated from
the crowd by a mere curtain! Learning in Roman schools was based on fear. Boys were beaten for
the slightest offence as a belief existed that a boy would learn correctly and accurately if he feared
being caned if he got something wrong. For boys who continued to get things wrong, some schools
had a policy of having pupils held down by two slaves while his tutor beat him with a leather whip.

Religion

Religion played a very important role in the daily life of Ancient Rome and the Romans. Roman
religion was centred around gods and explanations for events usually involved the gods in some
way or another. The Romans believed that gods controlled their lives and, as a result, spent a great
deal of their time worshipping them.

The most important god was Jupiter. He was the king of gods who ruled with his wife Juno, the
goddess of the sky. Other gods were:

Mars God of War

Mercury The messenger of the gods
Neptune God of the Sea
Janus God of the Doorway
Diana Goddess of Hunting
Vesta Goddess of the Hearth
Minerva Goddess of Healing and Wisdom
Venus Goddess of Love

After the reign of the Emperor Augustus (27 BC to AD 14), the emperor was also considered to be a
god and he was worshipped on special occasions. Each god had a special festival day which was
usually a public holiday. This holiday gave people the opportunity to visit the temple for whichever
god was being celebrated. At this temple, priests would sacrifice animals and offer them to the god.
Temples to worship the gods were built throughout the Roman Empire. Temples usually always
followed the same building pattern. The roof was triangular shaped and supported by great pillars.
Steps led up to the main doorway that was usually built behind the pillars. The inside of the temple
would have been very well decorated and there would have been a statue of the god in it. There
would also have been an altar where a priest would have served the god and made sacrifices.
People called augurs could also be found in the temples. These people used the entrails of the dead
animals to predict the future. The Romans took these predictions very seriously and few ignored
the advice of an augur.

Each family home would also have a small altar and shrine. The Romans had personal household
gods or spirits called lares which were worshipped every day at home. The shrine contained
statues of the lares and the head of the household led family prayers around the shrine each day.
The service was considered so important that family slaves were also invited. It is believed that
most Romans were more keen to please their lares than the public gods such as Jupiter.

While it is well known that the Romans worshipped many gods, there was, in fact, an official state
god. This god was named Sol Invictus (the unconquered sun) and was created by the emperor
Aurelian in 274 AD and continued, overshadowing other cults in importance, until the abolition of
paganism under Theodosius I (on February 27, 390). The Romans held a festival on December 25 of
Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, the birthday of the unconquered sun. December 25 was the date after
the winter solstice, with the first detectable lengthening of daylight hours. There was also a festival
on December 19. Though many Oriental cults were practiced informally among the Roman legions
from the mid-second century, only that of Sol Invictus was officially accepted and prescribed for the
army. Emperors up to Constantine I portrayed Sol Invictus on their official coinage and Constantine
decreed (March 7, 321) dies Solis day of the sun, Sunday as the Roman day of rest.

Dwellings

Just like today, Romans lived in a variety of different dwellings depending on class. The rich had
villas (our rich have McMansions), and the poor lived in small apartments over shops just as many
city-dwellers do today. Roofs were not allowed to be higher than 17 meters (during the reign of
Hadrian) due to the danger of collapse, and most apartments had windows. Water would be
brought in from outside and residents would have to go out to public latrines to use the toilet.
Because of the danger of fire, the Romans living in these apartments were not allowed to cook so
they would eat out or buy food in from takeaway shops (called thermopolium). It is amazing to see
how these aspects of life have barely changed our homes may look different, but in many ways we
are the same as the Romans.

Language of the Ancient Romans

The Ancient Roman Empire was a vast empire with people from different ethnicities speaking
different languages. This meant many languages were spoken through different places of the
Empire. However, two major languages of the empire were Latin and Greek. Latin in particular was
the official language of the empire because it was the original language of Rome. Latin was
necessary for anyone seeking to play an important role in administration, politics, and military. It
was also the language of law and literature, although there was considerable difference between
the Latin used in literature and the one used in everyday life.
The history of Roman language Latin goes back to the early years of Rome. Latin was the original
language of Rome and remained the dominant language for many centuries. This language relied
little on the word order and conveyed meaning mainly through a system of affixes attached with
word stems. The language itself was also inspired by the Greek language. Throughout the history of
the Roman Republic and Empire, Latin remained the dominant language although Greek was also a
respectable language among the elite because most of the literature that they read was either in
Greek or translated from it.

Roman Facts:
The Ancient Rome civilization began on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC.
Life expectancy in Ancient Rome was from 20 to 30 years.
The wars between Romans and Persians lasted about 721 years, the longest conflict in human
history.
Ancient Romans celebrated "Saturnalia", a festival in which slaves and their masters would
switch places.
During the 7th century B.C., ancient Roman "vestal virgins" were required to keep their hymens
intact as proof of virginity until age 30 or they would be buried alive.
Urine was used in Ancient Rome to wash clothes.
The Romans used urine to whiten their teeth.
Paris was originally a Roman city called "Lutetia".
The Roman Emperor Gaius Caligula made his horse a senator.
Ancient Greeks and Romans often bought slaves with salt.
Women in ancient Rome wore the sweat of Gladiators to improve their beauty and complexion.
In Ancient Rome, the punishment for killing one's father was the death penalty, consisting of
being sewn up in a sack along with a viper, a dog, and a cock.