Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome
If you had lived in ancient times, would you have chosen to become a Roman citizen? You might have! The ancient Romans invented more games than any other culture.
Birthdays were really big deals. They were celebrated
as festivals, with gifts from friends and family and neighbors!
Find out what the ancient Romans did
all day! Read the delightfully zany, original story, Thomas,
Greatest Lawyer in all...Rome! If you're in
a hurry, use the cheat sheet to find just what
you need! See ya round the Empire!
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Cheat Sheet |
Join the Empire! Become a Roman Citizen!
If you had lived in ancient times, you could have applied to become a Roman citizen. Not everyone who applied was accepted, but anyone could apply. Would you have wanted to become a Roman citizen? Let's find out!
The ancient Romans were very different from the ancient Greeks. The ancient Romans were down-to-earth realists, not idealists. You can see this in their statues. The Greeks made statues of perfect people. The Romans created real life statues. A statue of one of the Roman emperors is a good example. His nose is huge! The ancient Greeks would never have done that.
The Romans were fierce soldiers and wonderful builders. They built roads all over the empire, and all roads led to Rome. The ancient Greeks had roads, but they were not built nearly as well, and the Greek's roads did not connect in any particular order. Connect to what? Each Greek city-state was its own unit. In ancient Rome, Rome was the heart of the empire!
Two thousand years ago, Rome was a busy place. It was a crowded, noisy, smoky, dusty city, with beautiful temples and public buildings. The rich had gracious homes, each with an entrance atrium, which was the center of family life. For those who were not quite as rich, there were apartment buildings, some quite nice ones, and there were shabby tenements for the poor. Narrow streets wound between the seven hills.
Some people walked around Rome. Some were carried in covered litters, with curtained couches carried on poles by slaves. Soldiers strode though town in chain mail or leather armor. Workmen hurried in belted tunics of dark wool. Before daylight, boys hurried to school. Later in the day, Roman citizens strolled around town in white wool tunics. Shops lined the streets. Down in the Forum, courts were in session, and the great Senate orators met and argued.
Even for the poor, life in the city was lively. There was always something going on, like the great State festivals including shows in the theatres, races, and fights in the arenas. These were free spectacles that citizens could enjoy.
The ancients Romans started their day with breakfast.
The lower class Romans (plebeians) might have a breakfast of bread, dry or dipped in wine, and water. Sometimes olives, cheese, or raisins were sprinkled on the bread. In 1c AD, it became the custom to distribute bread daily to the unemployed. Workmen, on their way to work, grabbed some bread, and ate it on the way.
The upper class Romans (patricians) enjoyed
fresh meat, fish, fruits, vegetables, bread, and used honey to
sweeten food. (Sugar was unknown). They had slaves to cook and clean.
Slaves cut their food for them, as they didn't use forks or knives,
but ate with their fingers. A wet towel was handy (or brought by
slaves) to tidy up after a meal. Early in the morning, schoolboys, on
the run, often stopped at a bakery for a quick meal, or to buy a
pancake to eat on their way to school.
Then, they got dressed to go out.
CLOTHING & HAIR STYLES: The very early Romans wore a toga. It looked like a white sheet 9 yards long. Togas were arranged very carefully, in a stylish way. Togas fell out of style rather early. (The toga was inconvenient, and people felt the cold when they wore it.) To get anyone to wear them, even very early emperors had to legislate the wearing of togas by at least senators. Eventually, the emperors gave up. The Romans switched to comfortable tunics, which looked like long tee-shirts. They were far more practical. Tunics were made of cool linen, for summer wear, and warm wool, for winter wear. Sometimes, they worn trouserlike affairs.
Roman Soldiers/Armor: It's interesting to note that most Roman armor probably did not shine. They used a lot of chain mail (a sort of cloth made of circular links), which doesn't shine. They also made scale armor (metal plates about 3 inches long and about an inch wide, sewn together on a linen/leather backing.) Scale armor shines a little, but not much. And, they made leather armor, with the metal on the inside, or at least under the leather, probably again on a backing of linen, to make three layers. So, although the ancient Romans loved the ornate and glittery, their armor most probably did not shine!
Roman Men: 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. 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 1cAD, they had started to style their hair, and wear beards again.
Roman Women: Women enjoyed gazing at themselves in mirrors of highly polished metal (not glass). The ancient Roman women loved ornate necklaces, pins, earrings, bracelets and friendship rings. Pearls were favorites. Women often dyed their hair, usually golden-red. They used false hairpieces to make their hair thicker or longer. Sometimes, Roman women wore their hair up, in carefully arranged styles, held with jeweled hairpins. Sometimes they wore it down, curled in ringlets. Parasols were used, or women might carry fans made of peacock feathers, wood or stretched linen. Women's street shoes were made of leather, like a man's. In the house, most Romans (men and women) wore sandals. Women's sandals were brightly colored. Some were even decorated with pearls.
Roman Boys: Boys wore a tunic down to their knees. It was white, with a crimson border. Once a boy became a man, he put aside his childish clothes, and wore an all-white tunic.
A boy became a citizen at age 16 or 17. The year was selected by choosing the date which came closest to March 17th. Coming of age, becoming a citizen, was quite a celebration. On a boy's sixteenth or seventeenth birthday, the boy dressed himself in a white tunic, which his father adjusted. The day ended with a dinner party, given by the father, in honor of the new Roman citizen.
Roman Girls: Girls wore a simple tunic with a belt at the waist. When they went outside, they wore a second tunic that reached their feet.
BULLA: Children wore a special locket around their neck, given to them at birth, called a bulla. It contained an amulet as a protection against evil and was worn on a chain, cord, or strap. Girls wore their bulla until the eve of their wedding day, when their bulla was set aside with other childhood things, like her toys. Boys wore their bulla until they day they became a citizen. Boys bullas were put aside and carefully saved. A boy's bulla could be wore by the owner again, if he won special honors. For example, if he became a successful general, and won the honor of triumph, he would wear his bulla in ceremonial parades, to protect him from the evil jealously of men or gods.
Once they got dressed, adults might wander down to the Forum, to do their shopping and banking.
The Forum was the main marketplace and business center, where the ancient Romans went to do their banking, trading, shopping, and marketing. It was also a place for public speaking. The ancient Romans were great orators. They loved to talk (although not nearly as much as the ancient Greeks!) The job of their orators was not to argue, but to argue persuasively! People thronging the Forum would stop and listen, then wander away to do their shopping, and perhaps leave a gift at a temple for one of their gods. The Forum was also used for festivals and religious ceremonies. It was a very busy place. To see a recontructed picture of the Forum, see the Picture Index in the links section here.
The kids went to school!
School: The goal of education in ancient Rome was to be an effective speaker. The school day began before sunrise, as did all work in Rome. Kids brought candles to use until daybreak. There was a rest for lunch and the afternoon siesta, and then back to school until late afternoon. No one knows how long the school year actually was; it probably varied from school to school. However, one thing was fixed. School began each year on the 24th of March!
In early Roman days, a Roman boy's education took place at home. If his father could read and write, he taught his son to do the same. The father instructed his sons in Roman law, history, customs, and physical training, to prepare for war.Reverence for the gods, respect for law, obedience to authority, and truthfulness were the most important lessons to be taught. Girls were taught by their mother. Girls learned to spin, weave, and sew.
About 200 BC, the Romans borrowed some of the ancient Greek system of education. Although they did not add many subjects, they did begin sending their boys, and some of their girls, with their father's permission, to school, outside their home, at age 6 or 7.
The children studied reading, writing, and counting. They read scrolls and books. They wrote on boards covered with wax, and used pebbles to do math problems. They were taught Roman numerals, and recited lessons they had memorized. At age 12 or 13, the boys of the upper classes attended "grammar" school, where they studied Latin, Greek, grammar, and literature. At age 16, some boys went on to study public speaking at the rhetoric school, to prepare for a life as an orator.
Did the kids of the poor go to school? At the poorer levels,
no. School was not free. Nor should anyone imagine large classes in
special buildings. Children, educated outside of the home, were sent
to the house of a tutor, who would group-tutor. Children, educated in
the home, were taught by intelligent and gifted slaves. Children, in
poorer homes, did not have slaves to teach them; they were taught by
their parents, as they were in early Roman days.
Next stop, the Baths!
The ancient Romans might hit the baths first, and then wander down to the Forum, although many did prefer to get their shopping done early. In all but the largest baths, there were separate hours for men and women. The women's time slot was apparently much shorter, so that women probably had to be more careful scheduling. Large baths had duplicate facilities.
The Public Baths were extremely popular. Roman women and men tried to visit the baths at least once every day. The baths had hot and cold pools, towels, slaves to wait on you, steam rooms, saunas, exercise rooms, and hair cutting salons. They had reading rooms and libraries, as among the freeborn, who had the right to frequent baths, the majority could read. They even had stores, selling all kinds of things, and people who sold fast food. The baths were arranged rather like a very large mall, with bathing pools.
The baths were packed. The people loved them. At one time, there were as many as 900 public baths in ancient Rome. Small ones held about 300 people, and the big ones held 1500 people or more! Some Roman hospitals even had their own bathhouses. A trip to the bath was a very important part of ancient Roman daily life.
Could kids use the baths? No. Was there an admission charge
to the baths? Yes. Could slaves use the baths? Properly, no. But the
people who could, as a matter of course, brought their slave
attendants with them.
In the afternoon, wealthy Romans took some time to rest at home, or to relax with friends. The poor worked constantly.
Luncheon was usually a cold meal, eaten about 11 o'clock in the morning. Lunch was bread, salad, olives, cheese, fruit, nuts, and cold meat left over from dinner the night before.
Siesta: After lunch, the ancient Romans enjoyed a midday rest or siesta. In summer, nearly everybody took a nap. In ancient Rome, the streets were as nearly deserted during the midday rest period as they were at midnight. Even kids got a 2-3 hour break from school during the midday rest. (After siesta, kids returned to school to finish their school day.)
Roman Houses
The lower class Romans (plebeians) lived in apartment houses, called flats, above or behind their shops. Even fairly well-to-do tradesmen might chose to live in an apartment-building compound over their store, with maybe renters on the upper stories. Their own apartments might be quite roomy, sanitary and pleasant, occasionally with running water. But others were not that nice.
In the apartment houses, or flats, an entire family (grandparents, parents, children) might all be crowded into one room, without running water. They had to haul their water in from public facilities. Fire was a very real threat because people were cooking meals in crowded quarters, and many of the flats were made of wood. They didn't have toilets. They had to use public latrines (toilets).
The upper class Romans (patricians) lived very differently. Their homes were single family homes, which in ancient Rome meant the great grandparents, grandparents, parents, and kids of one family lived in a home together. Homes were made, quite often, of brick with red tile roofs, with rooms arranged around a central courtyard. The windows and balconies faced the courtyard, not the street, to keep homes safe from burglars. There were painting on the walls and beautiful mosaics on the floor. There was very little furniture, and no carpeting. Wealthy Romans might have a house with a front door, bedrooms, an office, a kitchen, a dining room, a garden, a temple, an atrium, a toilet, and a private bath.
The ancient Romans had gods for nearly everything. There were temples all over the Roman Empire. There was a temple in the Forum. Every home had a household god. Most ancient Romans had some sort of shine in their home, which might be a small display or a grand, separate room, to honor the household god. The ancient Romans brought offerings of meat and other items to many temples. Honoring their gods was part of ancient Romans everyday life.
When the kids got home from school, they played with toys or with their friends.
TOYS: Balls, board games, hobbyhorses, kites, tiny models of people and animals. The ancient Romans played with hoops, with pieces of metal on them, like bells, to jingle and warn people in their way. Boys walked on stilts and played games with balls. They played tic-tac-toe, and a game called "knucklebones", which is a lot like jacks, only played with bones.
The boys played war-type games. They played war, and fought with wooden swords, quite fiercely. The game of "Troy" (lusus Troiae) was a team thing involving resisting a whole pack of kids outnumbering you, who'd try to drag you across a line.
The girls played with rags dolls and dolls of wax or clay. Some dolls even had jointed legs and arms. The girls played board and ball games, and even lifted weights.
The ancient Romans loved games. Horace tells of children building small houses, riding on hobbyhorses, and hitching mice to little carts. Kids from poor families had to work a great deal, but they still found a little time to play. Kids from wealthy families did not work or help around the house. They had slaves who did all the work for them, so they had lots of time to play.
PETS: Dogs
were common and favorite pets. Many kinds of birds were pets
including pigeons, ducks, quail, and geese. Monkey were known but
they were not very common. Cats started to become pets around 1c AD.
Dinner time!
During the Republic: (And perhaps almost through the second century B.C.) Romans ate mostly vegetables, and dined very simply. Meals were prepared by the mother or by female slaves under her direction. A table was set up in the atrium of the house. The father, mother, and children sat on stools around the table. Often the kids waited on their parents.
Table knives and forks were unknown, but the Romans had spoons like ours today. Before food was served, it was cut into fingerfood, and eaten by using your fingers or a spoon. In the last two centuries of the Republic, this simple style of living changed a bit. A separate dining room was designed. In place of benches or stools, there were dining couches.
During the Imperial Age:
The lower class Romans (plebeians) might have a dinner of porridge made of vegetables, or, when they could afford it, fish, bread, olives, and wine, and meat on occasion.
Since many of the lower class were citizens, the ancient Romans had a program to help them, somewhat like a welfare program. The welfare program was called the annona.
There was also a separate WIC-type or school-lunch program (the alimenta), just for kids, which was instituted, or at least greatly developed in early 2c AD.
In the regular food welfare system, people were issued welfare stamps, which were little tokens, called tesserae. How these were issued (remember there was no open public postal system), and how Romans identified themselves to the authorities in the first place, we (the authors of this article) do not know. You showed up with your tokens (tesserae) and containers, at large government warehouses. You got wheat flour -- or bread already baked from government bakeries, and other foodstuffs. Meat was distributed on special occasions with special tokens.
The upper class Romans (patricians) had dinners that were quite elaborate. The men had the dinner parties; (decent) women and children ate separately. They ate many different foods, drank lots of wine, and spent hours at dinner. Quite often, the men's dinner parties had entertainment, such as dancing girls or a play, or both. Men reclined on couches, arranged around the dinner table. In their separate dining quarters, women and children usually sat on chairs. As things loosened up in the late Empire, decent women could go to a dinner party.
To make up for it, there were several types of events that only women attend, the most prominent of which was the religious/social Festival of the Bona Dea, the "Good Goddess", held in the house of the hostess. If a man went to the Bona Dea, even the woman's husband in what was after all his own house, he could be put to death!
Julius Caesar divorced one of his wives because there were
rumors that a man had slipped into the Bona Dea festival at his
house. Although it was never proved, it was on that occasion that
Caesar said that not only Caesar's wife should be above reproach, she
should be "seen" to be, as well.
In the evening, the ancient Romans might go to the theatre.
ENTERTAINMENT: The ancient Romans enjoyed many different kinds of entertainment. Most events were free, which meant poor people could attend as well as the rich. Plays were performed in large open air theaters. There were lots of theatres, and even the small ones could seat 7,000 people. Some events happened during the day, some in the evening. If wealthy Romans stayed home, they lit oil lamps, to enjoy the evening. The poor, unless they went out, went to bed as soon as it got dark as they couldn't afford to keep oil lamps burning.
The Colosseum was a huge public entertainment center. The Colosseum could seat 45,000 spectators! This is where the ancient Romans gathered to watch bloody combat between gladiators, and battles between men and wild animals. This is where they threw people to the lions! To see men being killed was very entertaining to the ancient Romans. On occasion, they flooded the Colosseum with water, to hold naval battles, where many competitors died!
The Circus Maximus was another public entertainment center, and was just a single, specific facility in Rome. The Maximus was used mostly for chariot racing. It could seat 250,000 people! (That's a quarter of a million people!) There were other circuses in ancient Rome.
Roman Games (Field & Track) In the city, there was a place called the Campus. This was the old drill ground for soldiers. It was a large section of plain near the Tiber River. Over time, the Campus became ancient Rome's field and track playground. Even such famous people as Caesar and Augustus exercised on the Campus. Young men, all over Rome, gathered at the Campus to play and exercise. On the Campus, men participated in foot racing, jumping, archery, wrestling and boxing. After a bout of exercise, they might jump in the Tiber River for a swim, or wander off to the Baths, to relax.
All over Rome, men practiced riding, fencing, wrestling, throwing, and swimming. In the country, men went hunting and fishing. At home, men played ball before dinner, which were games of throwing and catching. A popular game was to throw a ball as high as they could, and then catch it before it hit the ground. Women did not join in these games.
Drinking: Drinking wine was part of daily life. In very early days, women were not allowed to drink wine. Their husband might kiss them on the mouth to see if they had been drinking. It sounds sweet, but if a husband believed his wife had been drinking, she could be severely beaten. During the Empire, women could drink wine! Life was very different during the Empire than it was in the days of early Rome.
Roman Families
IN EARLY TIMES: (600 BC to about 1c AD) Before the Imperial Age, in very early Roman times, families were organized rather like mini Greek city-states. Everybody in one family lived in one home, including the great grandparents, grandparents, parents and kids.
The head of the family was the oldest male. That could be the father, the grandfather, or perhaps even an uncle. Each family had slightly different customs and rules, because the head of the family had the power to decide what those rules were for his family. He owned the property, and had total authority, the power of life and death, over every member of his household. Even when his children became adults, he was still the boss. But, he was also responsible for the actions of any member of his household. He could order a kid or a grown-up out of his house, but if they committed a crime, he might be punished for something his family did. In poor families, the head of the house might decide to put a sick baby out to die or to sell grown-ups in his family into slavery, because there wasn't enough food to feed everyone. A women had no authority. Her job was to take care of the house and to have children.
DURING THE IMPERIAL AGE: (late 1c AD to about 500 AD): Things changed very rapidly towards the end of 1c AD. Although families still lived in one home, during the Imperial Age, women could own land, run businesses, free slaves, make wills, be heirs themselves, and get a job in some professions. The ancient Romans tried to help their family grow through marriage, divorce, adoption, and re-marriage. After a divorce, ex-in-laws were still important, as were their children. Adopted children had the same rights as any of the other children, rights based on their sex and age. In addition to wives and children, wealthy ancient Roman homes supported slaves.
Old Age: The ancient Romans greatly respected and cared for their elderly. When the older members of a family became too tired for other activities, they could always play with their grandchildren and great grandchildren, all of whom had all been born under their roof, and would one day be honoring them at the Parentalia, the festival of the dead.
Slaves: Wealthy
ancient Romans had slaves. In some homes, slaves were treated
like valued servants. In others, they were severely abused. Slaves
kept the furnaces burning in the bath houses, cooked meals in smoking
chimneys in the kitchens, cleaned, sewed, and did the household and
garden labor for wealthy Romans. Intelligent and gifted slaves also
tutored the kids (those kids who studied their subjects at home),
kept the accounts, and sometimes ran vast farm estates or commercial
departments of their masters' firms.
Roman Weddings
When did they get married? Both parties had to be adults, and they could not marry more than one person at a time. For the first 500 years in Rome, divorce was unknown. So, a great deal of care was taken selecting a marriage partner. Probably the groom had to be at least 14 years old, and the bride had to be at least 12 years old. The bride and groom could not be closed related. In general, marriage was forbidden between relatives four times removed, and between anyone connected by marriage. Thus, in ancient Rome, if you happened to fall in love with your fourth cousin, or your sister's husband's brother, too bad!
Consent: Consent to the marriage had to be shown. Consent was very important and consisted of three steps. First, consent had to be shown in public prior to the wedding ceremony. One way to show consent was for the future bride and groom to appear in public holding hands! Consent was shown again during the wedding ceremony, and once again at the door of her new home, before she entered. More on consent below!
Engagement:
An engagement period before the wedding was considered good
manners, but it wasn't a legal requirement. An engagement ring was
usual, when affordable. This ring was worn on the third finger of the
left hand, as it is today, because the ancient Romans believed that a
nerve ran from this finger directly to the heart!
Dowries: A woman brought into her marriage what goods her family could supply, or goods she could supply herself. The bride's family might provide slaves, clothing, jewels, furniture. These belongings became the property of her husband.
Wedding Preparations: On the night before her wedding day, the bride-to-be gave her bulla (her birth locket) to her father, and gave her toys away to her family. She tried on her wedding dress, which was straight tunic, woven in one piece, which had to be long enough to reach her feet. On the morning of her wedding day, the bride was dressed by her mother. The most important part of her wedding dress was a belt, tied around her waist in the "knot of Hercules". (Hercules was the guardian of wedded life.) Only the husband could untie this knot. Over her tunic wedding dress, the bride worn a flame colored veil. The veil was topped with a wreath of flowers, which the bride had to gather herself.
The Wedding Ceremony: Only the three acts of expressing consent were necessary. Everything else varied. The actual ceremony was held usually at the bride's father house, with guests present.
There had to be witnesses to the ceremony to make it legal, typically at least ten witnesses. The bride and groom would stand before a priest, hold hands. The bride had agreed to the wedding by appearing in public holding hands with her future husband. Once again, the bride had to consent to the marriage during the wedding ceremony, this time by saying words of consent in public. These words were a chant, and were the same words for all brides and grooms. The bride would say: "Quando tu Gaius, ego Gaia." (When-and where-you are Gaius, I then-and there-am Gaia.) This chant may have been chosen for the lucky meaning of the name.
After the words of consent, the bride and groom sat on stools, facing the alter. An offering was made to the god Jupiter, which usually consisted of cake. Once the priest had made the offering, this cake was eaten by the bride and groom. Then followed congratulations by the guests.
Wedding Dinner: After the actual wedding ceremony, there was usually a dinner at the bride's house or possibly the groom's. Dinner was ended by passing out pieces of wedding cake, as it often is today.
Bridal Procession: After the dinner party, the bride was escorted to her husband's house. This ceremony was essential to the validity of the marriage, so it could not be omitted. Anyone could join the procession, and many people did, just for fun. In the evening, torchbearers and flute players appear at the bride's father's house. The mother held her daughter, and the groom took his bride with a pretend show of force from her mother's arms. Then, everyone and anyone paraded over to the groom's house. On the way, nuts were thrown, rather like we throw rice today.
Arrival at her new home: In front of the open door, the bride once more recited the consent chant. Then the bride was carried over the threshold by her new husband, and the doors were closed against the general crowd. Invited guests, however, could enter. In the fireplace, wood was laid ready for a fire. The bride lit this wood with her "marriage" torch, a special torch that had been carried in front of her during the procession. The torch was then blown out, and tossed among the guests, who scrambled for it, like a bride's flower bouquet is today.
Life in the Country
Daily life in the country was slower paced, but still lively, with numerous rural festivals and visits with friends. Farms of the rich were quite often run by slaves. Rich citizens escaped to their country estates to oversee their farms, but mostly to enjoy some rest from the social duties of the city.
In the country, they enjoyed hunting, riding, fishing, and of course, the baths, dinner, and a busy social life between the villas.
The average farmer probably worked hard seven days a week, but enjoyed the local town on market day, selling his wares, meeting with friends, catching up with news. His wife looked after the house and family and supervised the slaves. Although life was socially much slower paced than it was in the city, but it was still Roman. The baths were an important of daily life, and the kids played the same games as did kids in the city.
On the farms, the day ended with an early supper. Supper consisted of food left over from the large noon dinner, with the addition of uncooked vegetables or fruit. The word supper was not used in the city. It was a country term, and a country meal.
The ancient Romans were
great builders.
They built things to last!
Roman Buildings: The Colosseum was built of concrete, faced with stone, as were most amphitheaters. The Romans also used concrete (an ancient Roman invention!) to build the dome of the Pantheon, a temple dedicated to all the Roman gods, which even today is still one of the largest single-span domes in the world. They used concrete to build the underwater port facilities at Caesarea in Israel (fantastic technology, still analyzed by modern engineers.)
Roman
Roads: Are you familiar with the
expression "follow the yellow brick road?" The Romans built
thousands of miles of wonderful roads, to connect every part of the
empire back to Rome. Up until about a hundred years ago, people
were still using these roads, as roads! In recent years, instead of
building new roads, modern engineers simply covered many of the old
Roman roads with a coat of asphalt. The Romans did a wonderful job
building roads!
To help people find their way, while traveling these roads, the Romans more or less invented the milestone which grew increasingly wordy, and increasingly tall, to be easily readable from a vehicle. Some are 6 feet tall. The milestone usually gave the mileage to the nearest large city, sometimes to an intermediate place as well; and the date and perhaps who paid for the road.
There seems to have been no formal traffic code, including what side of the road to drive on; but there were various laws about what you could and could not do on a given type and location of road, and when you could do it. Roads were considerably less crowded, and much less travel than today. The real danger on a road was ambush by highway robbers: which shows that a travelling vehicle could be alone on any given stretch of road.
Roman Aqueducts: As cities grew, the ancient Romans needed more fresh water. To solve this problem, they built aqueducts. These were massive construction projects.
An aqueduct, properly speaking, is the entire conduit - from fresh water spring to town. (CONDUIT&emdash;A natural or artificial channel through which fluids may be conveyed).
Where aqueducts had to cross valleys, some were built above ground, on arches. Most of the time, they were underground conduits, and sometimes conduits lying right on the ground. These conduits could be made of clay or wood, covered or encrusted with stone. The pipes inside the conduits, that carried the water, were made of lead, which in turn required vast mining enterprises and then transportation to get all this pipe out into the field all over the empire, although most of the lead was mined in Spain.
What is extraordinary about the aqueducts is the planning that must have gone into their construction. Since the ancient Romans didn't use pumps, aqueducts had to be positioned at a relatively constant gradient for dozens of miles. You try building something that drops by only 100 feet in 40 miles....and you'll begin to understand why scholars refer to the ancient Romans as such great builders!
Roman Inscriptions: You may have heard that the ancient Romans could not read or write. Actually, the ancient Romans wrote quite a bit. Much of their pottery was signed. Very often, the bricks used to make buildings were stamped with their makers names. Lead pipes leading to these buildings, by law, were stamped. Scholars have found 200,000 Latin inscriptions and, incredibly, several thousands are still being found every year! From a stash of letters written by just plain enlisted men, preserved by being waterlogged from being dumped in a well in Scotland, it would appear that some of the Roman army could read and write. Scholarly estimates are at around 30% of all adult men in Imperial times had the ability to read and write.
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CONCLUSION |
Things yet to learn!
In spite of the many inscriptions and other pieces of the past scholars have labored to put together for us, we still don't know much about ancient Roman daily life. We know quite a bit about Roman government, which was famous for power and law, and a great deal about Roman religion, with its many Roman gods and festivals. But, we still don't know whether the ancient Romans had wastebaskets, or how common cats were, or whether anyone kept a dog indoors. We don't know if they made their bed in the morning or folded up their bedclothes, stashed them away and used the bed as day furniture; or indeed, whether most of the time they had beds or just futons on the floor. (Stuffed with what?) We know they had temples, but what did they do in there? It will be interesting to see what will be discovered, as scholars continue to find inscriptions, and to put pieces of the past together!
One way to learn more about a people is through their legends and myths. Like all the ancients, the ancient Romans loved to hear stories about their gods, their battles, and their origins. You'll find some great links at the end of this page, to help do that. But first..... here's a delightful (and totally fictional!) story about Thomas, Greatest Lawyer in all...Rome!
Thomas, Greatest Lawyer in all of Greece & The Newly Conquered Rome
A delightfully zany story
by Thomas, a 6th-grader from Glen Burnie, Maryland, USA
Once upon a time in ancient Gaul, the three latins were sitting on a po and wearing togas. Some artisan Etruscans came to visit the great republic of Gaul, many legates that went by the popes side. It was a weird day, bums in raggy togas, my estate infested with bugs, but most importantly, what happened to me, greatest lawyer in all Greece and Rome!
My name is Thomas, greatest lawyer in all of Greece and Rome. Today, I am off to court, defending some weird guy named Cupid who claims he can fly. Let me tell you how my day started. I woke up, and the public baths were not flowing due to some segregation act. So I took a cold bath in the local pond. I then discovered someone had stolen my toga. I swore to prosecute them even though I'm a "dream team" defense lawyer. So walking home, covered by only a hemlock bush, I saw the three latins, and was entranced for a bit until I remembered I was half naked. When I got home, my wife said the stupid flu epidemic had started, as was foretold by some weird guy. So I told her not to worry and that if she continues to be a christian some great fire might break out and some loony king will blame it upon you christians. Snorting and walking away, nose held high, I sighed.
What a day I thought...that was just the beginning! While walking to the court an Etruscan robber came up to me and drew a dagger on me, but luckily a Spartan passing by saved me. I warned him to tell his kids and grand kids that the Goths might destroy Sparta all together. Continuing on, I found myself facing a really quite pathetically made bridge. Oh, what a day. I started crossing and it started to break! Startled, I ran across the rest of the way before it fell. Well, I thought, better than what poor old Socrates had happen to him. Poor old chap, I thought.
When I got to the courtroom, I discovered the trial was over with the "sudden assassination" of Freddy The Great, who I was to defend tomorrow. Pathetic, I thought, and went back home. Drenched in sweat and smelling terrible, I went back to the public baths which were now fixed. I went for a swim and then watched gladiators beat each other up in the circus maximus. Pretty amazing day, one wife and kid, Christian, Spartans, the 3 Latins, Etruscans, broken bridges, and being half naked.
Later, I was safe at home. Slouching on the bed and calling for slaves, I got a good turkey dinner. When I went to bed, there were some bar brawls. Nothing major, just another day as Thomas of Argos, greatest lawyer of all Greece, Rome, Europe, Persia, Gaul. That's what happens once upon a day with so many zany characters. This probably happened, sometime in the last 5.4 billion years.
(Our thanks to this wonderful writer, for
his delightful, tongue-in-cheek story!
Before you ask, no! Amongst other things, Greece never conquered
Rome! )
Daily Life in Ancient
Mrs Donn's: The Life & Times of Early Man!
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Thank you Bill Thayer,
for your guidance and help!
We most certainly could not have created this page without your
knowledge, and the many links you provided to help us learn more
about ancient Roman daily life!
And to Thomas, a 6th-grader from Glen Burnie, Maryland, USA for his wonderfully zany story!
(Information on Roman Weddings and country living from ROMAN
LIFE; Mary Johnston; Scott, Foresman & Company, 1957)
Thanks for visiting! Have a great year!
Lin and Don Donn
