Roman Society

Social divisions among the freeborn

Just as there were many gradations in the lot of slaves (ranging from those who worked in mines to 'the pampered pets' of the wealthy), so too there were gradations in the fortunes of the freeborn, from the very poor (who lived in wretched conditions and could barely feed and clothe themselves) to multimillionaires like Crassus in the 1st century BC (who declared no man could really call himself rich unless he could afford a private army), or the emperors in the 1st century AD (who owned the country of Egypt as a private estate).

The Urban Poor

During the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, increasing numbers of rural Romans were driven from their farms and drifted to Rome to find work. The causes were many, and included:

 Devastation in Italy resulting from Hannibal's invasion and 16-year occupation of the peninsula in the last years of the 3rd century

 The increasing burden on farmers of military service fighting lengthy wars abroad.

 Competition from the importation of cheap food from the provinces, such as corn from Sicily

Hannibal  Competition from an increasing number of large estates (latifundia) owned by the wealthy in Rome and worked by slaves.

1 Roman Society

In Rome itself, as a result of the importation of slaves into the city, there was also little work, and what there was would have been casual and poorly paid.

No figures exist to tell how many Romans were actually unemployed at any time during the 200 years this topic surveys, and it is possible most would have been able to get casual work from time to time. One occupation was to set up a retail business - those with more capital in one of the multitude of small shops, takeaways and taverns throughout the city, and those with less capital selling directly on the street.

The corn dole

In 123 BC, an aristocrat named Gaius Gracchus attempted to deal with increasing poverty in the city by offering poor citizens a limited quantity of corn at approximately half the market price. Subsequent politicians used the corn dole as a bribe to gain popularity, and in 58, Clodius, a political ally of Julius Caesar, made corn available free of charge.

Once Caesar had won complete power and controlled the treasury it became his responsibility to pay for the corn, so in 46 he applied a test of citizenship. It is estimated that he cut the number of recipients by half (300 000 to 150 000), and he may have instituted some degree of payment for all except the very poorest. The corn dole was continued by the emperors, and for some citizens may have been their main or only source of food.

Clients and patrons

Another way the poor survived was accepting handouts from a rich patron. The relationship of client and patron dated back to the earliest days of the republic, when a patrician took under his protection a number of plebeians in a relationship which benefited both parties. The patron protected his clients from the arrogance of other patricians and generally helped them in lawsuits and business matters. In return, the client supported his patron's political ambitions and attended weddings and funerals as a family retainer. In particular, the client visited the patron early each morning to greet him (salutatio) and if required accompanied him (deductio) on his walk to the Forum and law courts. The status of the patron was increased if he had a large number of clients in his train and was highly respected by them, as this advertised both his wealth and his good character. In addition to this daily contact, a patron regularly invited his clients to dine with him.

The relationship was passed on through generations; a patron's son inherited his father's clients and their sons. But like all aspects of Roman society, the association changed greatly over the centuries. Patrician families died out, ex-slaves became clients of their former masters and increasing numbers of poor citizens attempted to ingratiate themselves as clients of the rich. Roman Patrician As the gap between rich and poor widened, the client on each morning visit was given a handout of cash, sportula, which was often essential for his survival. Gradually, the mutual respect disappeared; the clients became parasites and scroungers, the patrons became meaner, more distant and barely concealed their contempt for their clients. Despite this deterioration, the institution was an integral part of Roman life and lasted as long as the empire.

2 Roman Society

The situation of the poor woman

Women were not eligible for the corn dole and were not accepted as clients, as they were expected to rely on fathers and husbands for financial support. Their work opportunities were limited by the large numbers of female slaves, though some worked with their husbands in small businesses, and occasionally a woman owned her own business. If a woman was very poor, or lacked male support, prostitution was probably her only option for survival.

The wealthy of Rome - the equites

As Rome's territories expanded in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, the two main social divisions of freeborn Romans, senators and people, were joined by a third class - the businessmen needed to help run the empire. They were called equites, often translated as 'knights', a title dating back to the time when each provided his own horse (equus) to fight in Rome’s cavalry. Roman senators were a land-owning aristocracy, forbidden by law (the lex Claudia of 218 BC) to take any part in conquests. They were the bankers, moneylenders, merchants, tax collectors, contractors for public buildings, suppliers of provisions and equipment to the army, and many similar occupations.

By the time of Augustus, a man needed a fortune of 400 000 sesterces to be enrolled in the equestrian rank, and 1000 000 to be in the senatorial class. Many equites were rich enough to join the senatorial class, but most preferred to make money through commerce and not to stand for public office. Under the empire, members of this class formed the emperor's civil service.

The wealthy of Rome - the senators

At the top of the social scale were the senatorial class, the rulers of Rome in years of the republic. The common source of their wealth was land, owned and rented, and although they were legally forbidden to engage in commercial activities, many did, using agents to conceal their involvement.

The aim of the men of this class was to make their way up the cursus honorum, the ladder of public offices, culminating in the consulship; the object of their education was to gain skills in public speaking. The only profession open to a senator was to act as a lawyer in the courts, but it was to gain a reputation for rhetorical skills, not for financial gain, as it was beneath his dignity to charge fees. The young males were also expected to serve for a short time in the army, 'Where they would learn to be officers. The daughters of this class could look forward to being married to men of suitable families to seal political alliances.

During the republic, the right of the members of the senatorial class to rule Rome was largely unchallenged. Julius Caesar was murdered by senators on 44 BC because he set himself above other senators as dictator for life, and treated them with contempt. Naturally, many senators were opposed to the rule of Augustus, but he was careful to treat them with more respect and to make an elaborate pretence of sharing power. It could not be concealed, however, that during the 1st century AD the emperor sat alone at the top of the social pyramid, outstripping all others in wealth and power. In a sense, he had become the paterfamilias and patron of the whole empire.

TASK

You have found an ancient piece of parchment which is clearly a letter from Rome around the time of Augustus. You are to write this letter of one page. Create a Roman citizen, of any class, name or status and in your letter pretend you are writing to a friend outside of Rome explaining the social division within Rome. Write in role and make sure you include ideas on:

3 Roman Society  The Urban Poor  The Equites  The Senators  The Client / Patron relationship

This will be handed in for next

4 Roman Society Roman social divisions - Slaves at Rome

Lesson One: Sources of Slaves

The earliest social division at Rome was between aristocratic patricians and plebeians, the rest of the people. By the late republic, this division had evolved and become established under the title the Senate and People of Rome (Senatus Populusque Romanus, often abbreviated to SPQR). The most profound division, however, was between freeborn Romans and slaves, who were virtually 'invisible' and always ignored unless they gave trouble. From the 3rd century BC, when Rome began its first great wars of expansion, slaves became common; by the Ist century BC, Roman life was totally dependent on ever-increasing numbers of them doing the hard work necessary to maintain both the lifestyle of free Romans and the economy of the empire.

Slavery in early Rome

Slavery was an accepted fact of life in the ancient world, and no writings exist which seriously question its existence. Even Stoics and Christians, who argued that slaves should be treated fairly, did not question that it was the lot of some to serve and of others to command, of some to be owned like animals and of others to buy and sell humans.

In the time of the kings and during the first 200 hundred years of the republic, there were comparatively few slaves at Rome. They were generally freeborn Romans enslaved under harsh debt laws or prisoners-of-war from nearby settlements, who spoke the same or a similar language and had similar customs and values. Their owner would have been aware of their common humanity. At this time Romans themselves did hard physical work, the mistress of the house spinning and weaving wool alongside her daughters and female slaves and the master working the fields with his sons and male slaves. While the owners may have looked down on their slaves for their servile status, they did not despise them simply for doing hard work. Slaves were few in number and not easily replaced, so they were of considerable financial value and would have been treated with the respect bestowed on any investment.

Sources of slaves

In the 3rd century BC Rome began its great wars of conquest, first in remoter parts of Italy and then overseas. They defeated and took as provinces:

 in the 3rd century - Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia and Spain;  in the 2nd century - Macedonia, Greece, and parts of Africa and Asia;  in the 1st century - more of Asia, Crete, Gaul and Egypt.

As the armies moved into foreign lands the slave dealers went with them, and any major battle would result in a fresh supply of slaves for the markets. The total numbers of slaves captured in war is unknown, but here are some estimates of numbers sold after battles during the last two centuries BC:

197 BC Macedonia 5000

177 BC Illyria 5 000 (at least)

177 BC Sardinia 80000

167 BC Epirus 150000

146 BC Carthage 50 to 60 000

102-1 BC North Italy 140000

58-50 BC Gaul up to 1000 000

Foreign captives were the largest source of slaves in the late republic, but it was also possible for Roman citizens to be enslaved for debt or for criminal activities, or for exposed children to be reared as slaves. Another source of slaves was the children of slave women; home-reared slaves, called vernae, were generally valued for being co-operative, reliable and skilled.

5 Roman Society SLAVERY – Treatment and Work

Treatment

The large numbers of slaves meant they could be purchased cheaply and easily replaced. They initially spoke foreign tongues and were often quite different in appearance and customs from their new owners. They had been conquered in war, and were purchased to do physical work at a time when wealthier Romans were coming to regard any manual labour 'as being beneath their dignity'. All these factors made Romans despise slaves and feel free to treat them harshly

The value of slaves depended largely on their skills. Slaves from western lands such as Spain, Gaul and Britain in the 1st century AD were less culturally advanced than the Romans and their value lay in their physical strength. They worked on farms, public works and in mines; regarded as potentially dangerous, they often worked in chains by day and were chained in prison-like barracks at night. They were frequently badly fed, forced to work using whips, savagely punished for misdemeanours by beatings and mutilation, and when they died of malnutrition, disease, overwork and injuries or crucifixion, they were simply replaced.

Slaves imported from the eastern lands of Greece and Asia were from societies much older than that of Rome, and were often better educated and more highly skilled than their owners. Such slaves cost more, were valued for their skills and generally worked in reasonable conditions.

Because of their physical strength, males usually fetched higher prices than females, but other factors often played a part. Physical beauty was valued in both females and males, and so was an unusual appearance: black slaves, dwarfs and those with physical oddities might be valued for rarity or for their entertainment value. Numbers of slaves

No firm figure for slave populations exists, but estimates have been made that in the time of Augustus (31 BC to AD 14), perhaps 300 000 slaves lived in Rome, out of a population of around 1000 000; in total, 3 000 000 slaves worked for a population of 7 500 000 in Rome and throughout Italy

In the 1st century AD a writer made the observation that slaves wore the same clothes as freeborn workers, and were never dressed in clothes identifying their servile status 'in case they realised how numerous they were, and were thus encouraged to revolt'. In Rome, it appears male slaves outnumbered females by 2:1, and there was an even higher ratio of male corkers in the countryside.

Slave work

Slaves doing their mistresses hair Nowadays, most hard physical work is done by machine, but in Roman times all tasks - such as the construction of private homes, public buildings, roads and aqueducts, all shifting, carrying, loading and unloading of goods, all digging and mining - were done by human effort, and that effort came from slaves. Many less onerous but just as tedious tasks, such as the production and processing of food and clothing, the creation of art and craft works, the keeping of accounts and copying of books, and household chores like cooking, cleaning and childcare, were also almost totally done by unpaid labour.

It is generally accepted that slaves who lived in the city had less unpleasant lifestyles than country slaves, and the best-off were workers in a large household. Their jobs were many. As well as doing the usual cooking and cleaning, slaves might act as personal servants, attending to the dressing, makeup and hairstyling of their mistress, or helping the master put on his large heavy toga. They waited at table, tended the gardens, carried the shopping (including taking the washing to the laundry), carried their owners around the city in litters, provided entertainment as musicians, dancers, acrobats and readers, kept accounts, wrote letters, looked after the master's private library and cared for the children of the household as nurses and tutors.

6 Roman Society In the countryside, many slaves were needed to work large estates, and even owners of small farms would have expected to own several. Slaves tilled the fields, harvested crops, cared for animals, built and repaired farm buildings, dug drainage ditches, built fences and performed the endless tasks farming required.

In general, their conditions were harder than those of city slaves, who might be threatened with being sent to the country as punishment. Country slaves often worked outside in all weathers in all seasons for very long hours and with very few holidays, and if they were deemed lazy, surly or dangerous, they might have to both work and sleep in chains. The farms of the wealthy were usually run by a trusted overseer, the vilicus, who was himself a slave.

Slaves were the labour force in businesses and factories such as laundries, bakeries, cloth making, shoe making, in forges and shops of all kinds, in the arenas as gladiators, in the building trades and rowing merchant ships.

There were also many slaves owned by the state, working as firemen, police and maintaining public facilities, and under the emperors, the numbers of these public slaves dramatically increased. Perhaps the most feared job was that of working in mines, where it was virtually policy to work men to death, since they were easily replaced. To a slave, working underground ‘in perpetual night’ lit only by torches, beaten, chained and poorly fed, ever-fearful of explosions and cave-ins, with no prospect of ever gaining freedom, death must have often been welcome.

Tasks

1. How were slaves from Britain, Gaul and Spain used? How were they treated? 2. Why were slaves from Greece and Asia treated better? 3. Why did slaves not dress in different clothes to their masters

Complete the following star diagrams – Jobs of Slaves

7 Roman Society Attitudes to slaves

The total power of masters over slaves can be better understood by looking at the power of a Roman paterfamilias, the male head of a family. In early Rome, he had complete rights over his wife and children and was legally entitled to command, punish and even execute them. His rights over his slaves, therefore, are not surprising - he could beat, mutilate, rape and kill them, and also buy and sell them.

The happiness and well-being of slaves must have depended totally on their owner's consideration. They had no human rights and under the republic no protection under the law. Eventually, under the empire, it became a crime to abandon them when sick or to murder them outright. The influence of the Stoic philosophy was also seen under the empire; Stoics never advocated abolishing slavery, but did promote the ideal of common humanity and humane treatment.

As property, slaves could be treated like animals, but they were regarded as far more dangerous than any animal - unlike an animal, they could plot, either as individuals or together, against their owners.

Three major revolts of slaves from country estates terrified the Romans of the late republic. Two of these took place in Sicily, in 134-131 BC and 104-100 BC. The third took place in Italy in 73-71 BC and was led by the gladiator Spartacus, immortalised in novel and film. At one stage, Spartacus had 120 000 men under his command, and it took around ten legions to crush them.

House slaves were also feared, as demonstrated by the law that if a slave attacked a master, the entire household could be executed, because 'someone must have known about the crime before it took place'. Slaves had no human rights but were expected to assume full human responsibilities, including protecting their owners, however cruel their owners might be. Another law very much to a slave's disadvantage stated that 'evidence from a slave was regarded as valid in court only if extracted by torture', because it was believed slaves could not otherwise be relied on to tell the truth.

There was nothing to prevent physical or sexual abuse of slaves, or neglect by withholding food or medical treatment, and the literature tells of many such cases. There are also suggestions that in any establishment there was a hierarchy of slaves, and much ill-treatment might be directed from the more fortunate towards those lower down the pecking order. The worst owners were often ex-slaves themselves, but it seems likely that the lot of many was less tragic. Household slaves had as their prime task making the lives of their masters comfortable, and if they did this they might expect reasonable treatment and even rewards. If they were highly skilled they were of considerable financial value, and as they had direct contact with their owners they were in a position to build up a good relationship.

It is possible city slaves had the freedom to enjoy some of the entertainments on offer, such as the races at the circus, or could visit shops and taverns.

By contrast, country slaves and those working in businesses were expected to make a profit for their owners and were likely to be worked harder. Those on farms might seldom see their master if he was wealthy and lived in town, so had fewer chances to enlist his interest in their wellbeing. Common sense would have made most Romans protect their investments and keep slaves clothed and fed adequately, to get as much work as possible out of them. Many farms had hospitals where injuries could be treated, and it was generally accepted that allowing slaves a defacto marriage, contubernium, would make them more content with their existence. All children born to slave women became the property of their owners and had the slave status of their mother, which must have meant that in some households the paterfamilias had both his legitimate freeborn children and his slave children growing up together.

ACTIVITY

Draw up a PMI chart for “Attitudes to slave”

PLUS MINUS INTERESTING  Eventually, under the empire,  Paterfamilias could beat,  Regarded as far more it became a crime to abandon mutilate, rape and kill them, dangerous than an animal them when sick or to murder and also buy and sell them. them outright.

8 Roman Society Punishments, rewards and freedom

Slaves were regularly threatened or punished if their owners considered that they were not doing their work adequately. Those who ran away from their owners, if caught, were severely punished, partly to serve as an example to others not to do the same. They might be branded on the forehead with their owner's initials, sent to work in the country, sold to a gladiatorial school, tortured, crucified or killed by animals in the amphitheatre. Any slave who claimed to be a freeborn Roman could be executed if caught out.

Slaves might receive rewards for good service, including bonuses of extra food and clothing, or pocket money (peculium) which they might save to buy their freedom. Freedom was the ultimate dream, and as well as slaves buying it, they might be freed for good service. It was common for a Roman man to free valued slaves in his will, or free women slaves who had borne several sons.

The process of freeing a slave, called manumission, might range from an informal statement in the presence of witnesses to a legal agreement witnessed by a magistrate. A freeman, called a libertus, often maintained a close relationship with his former master, and under the emperors some trusted freedmen held very influential positions and made vast fortunes.

Throughout Roman history an unknown but enormous number of slaves were freed, and manumission became a common practice from the 1st century BC onwards. Augustus instituted laws controlling manumission which stated that a slave had to be at least 30 years old and of good moral character to be freed. This was partly because during the 1st century BC some manumission had been politically motivated; some rivals for political power had offered freedom to large numbers of slaves to recruit loyal bodyguards or soldiers. But the rate of manumissions continued to be Manumission high, and it has been estimated that two centuries later, by the end of the A slave wearing a cone-shaped hat 1st century AD, some 90% of Romans had at least one freedman or symbolising free status kneels before a freedwoman among their ancestors. Roman official to receive his freedom. Another slave, just freed, shakes the hand of his former master. ACTIVITIES

Answer the following questions in your notes:

1. In what ways could a slave be punished? 2. What was peculium? 3. How else could slaves be freed? 4. What was manumission? 5. What does the term libertus mean? 6. How and why did Augustus try and control manumission?

9 Roman Society Extras

Attitudes

For some interesting quotes and references on attitudes to slavery go to pages 44-56 in “Slavery in Ancient Rome”. Pay special attention to passages about Larcius Macedo, Pedanius Secundus and Seneca. Revolts: Spartacus

 Born in Thrace and had served in Roman army  Gladiator at school at Capua in southern Italy  73 BC he and a few other gladiators broke out from training school and made their base on Mount Vesuvius  Joined by runaway slaves, and freedmen from country farms  Plundered surrounding area  Divided loot equally so gained large following  First Varnius Glaber sent against him, then Publius Valerius with hastily formed armies  These forces were quickly defeated  Spartacus now had some 70 000 slaves and Romans saw they had a war on their hands  71 BC force had grown to 120 000  Marcus Crassus led ten legions against Spartacus and defeated him  Spartacus’ body never found

 Rest of the army was crucified along the whole length of the Via Appia, leading from Capua to Rome

Freedom

Informal Manumission

 Not technically legal  Avoided the 5% tax placed on all formal manumissions  Slaves did not get full freedom, master could change mind  Didn’t receive citizenship  Changed under Augustus – informally freed slaves became freedmen and received Latin status (partial citizenship). After this it became more popular  Three ways to free: o Send slave a letter in which freedom granted o Invite slave to join him and guests for dinner o Invite a few friends to house and declare slave free in their presence

10 Roman Society

Formal Manumission

 Became a freedman (libertus), but rights as a citizen limited  Could vote, marry, carry on trade, but could not serve in the army, become a senator, or a knight  Couldn’t hold a magistracy even in towns of Italy  Sons of freedmen not subject to these limitations  Three Methods o By the Rod – Master brought the slave along to the praetor who arranged for on of his assistants to act as a ‘declarer of freedom’ (assertor libertatis). Man touched slave with a rod (vindicta) and declared he was free and no longer property of master, Master did not dispute this and praetor decided in favour of assertor. Master then turned slave around and slapped him, and from that moment slave a free man. o By the Census – Only used during Republic, when there were censors. Every five years censors took the job of drawing up list of those who were citizens. Any master who wanted to free a slave ordered his name to be included on roll of citizens o By the will – Most popular. Allowed master to show how grateful he was for the service his slaves had given him during his lifetime. Had to be careful with wording o In 2 BC law passed which restricted number of slaves that could be freed under a will o Express as a proportion of number of slaves a master owned. If owned 1-10 could free half, 10-30 a third, 30-100 a quarter, 100-500, fifth. One hundred the maximum o AD 4 second law – only masters over 20 age allowed to free

11 Roman Society

The impact of slavery on Roman life

The economic effects of slavery included:

 A high standard of living for a considerable number of freeborn Romans. Even humble households could afford 1-2 slaves, while the wealthy might employ up to 400 in their households and 4000 on their rural estates. Few people above the poverty line had to do hard work.  The construction of roads, aqueducts and public buildings on an enormous scale. Massive unemployment for large numbers of freeborn Roman men, many of whom relied on wealthy patrons or a corn dole to survive.

Social effects of slavery included:

 A casual attitude to human rights, ranging from indifference through callousness to extreme cruelty and violence, extending far beyond slaves to most human relationships.  A disinclination to develop technology, as there were always plenty of slaves to do the work.  Contempt for manual work 'as only fit for slaves'.  Servile behaviour in slaves, resulting from their total dependence on their owners whims, taking forms such as obsequiousness, readiness to lie and to blame other slaves for their self- protection, and laziness when not directly supervised.  A perpetual climate of fear. Slaves couldn't prevent themselves being beaten, or their relationships being disrupted if a lover, child or friend were sold. Masters who were harsh feared their own slaves, while masters who were kind still feared slaves - those of other households.  Cruelty to slaves by freedmen, and unscrupulous behaviour resulting from the freedmen's anxiety to distance themselves from their origins and to succeed financially  Resentment by freeborn Romans towards freedmen who gained influence and wealth.  Changes in old Roman customs and values, as freed slaves, originally forcibly imported to Rome from foreign lands, were able to pursue their own ways.  The importing of new religions largely ignored by wealthy Romans but enthusiastically embraced by freedmen and the freeborn poor.

12 Roman Society

Daily Life in Rome

The Romans divided the day into 12 hours, from sunrise to sunset. This meant not only that summer hours were much longer than winter hours but also that the hours each day were slightly longer or shorter than those of the previous day (This caused few problems, because Roman methods of telling the time - sundials and water clocks - were highly inaccurate, but rather bewilders people in the modern world, used to timetables, bells and precise chronometers.)

Ancient forms of lighting, such as oil lamps, candles and lanterns, gave very limited light and were not good to work by. Most people got up at, or even before, first light, had a very simple breakfast, a brief morning wash or none at all, put on outer garments over the underclothes they had slept in and were ready to begin work for the day as soon as it was light.

Shops and factories opened early, children were escorted to school, slaves began the day's work routines and clients called at the homes of their patrons. When the patron was ready, he would walk with his retainers down to the forum, where law courts and banks opened perhaps an hour after dawn. Work of all kinds continued until midday, when the sun was at its highest and the sixth hour became the seventh. Along with sunrise and sunset, this was the only easily measured time of the day Most institutions closed for a lunch break, and, in summer, for a siesta, to avoid activity in the hottest part of the day

Afternoons saw a much more varied range of activities. On some days, shops and factories reopened and meetings of the law courts and senate might continue. On other days, there might be spectacles in the amphitheatre, the circus or the theatre, and people would attend these in large numbers. The public baths were open each afternoon and were crowded by rich and poor alike. The dinner parties of the wealthy began in the late afternoon, and guests would arrive after their visit to the baths. In general, all paid employment and most forms of public entertainment ceased at dusk and the poor went home to sleep. The taverns continued open till late and the dinner parties continued, but it is likely that after midnight only the rich with their bodyguards, the criminals and the drunk and foolish were to be found on the dark and dangerous streets. Augustus set up a night-watch of public slaves, who were both firemen and policemen, but they were few in number and easily avoided by those intent on breaking the law

13 Roman Society

The housing of the poor

Many writers tell of how crowded the streets of Rome were by day - this can be explained at least in part by the unpleasant housing conditions of most of the city's population. The plebeians of Rome lived in apartments, renting as many rooms as they could afford, with the very poor renting only one or even sharing a room with strangers. The apartments were in buildings surrounded by streets and were called insulae, meaning 'islands'. They might be three or four storeys high to make the best use of valuable land, and as the engineering skills used for public buildings were seldom applied to private constructions, most blocks of apartments were badly designed, roughly built and liable to collapse at any time.

The landlord provided no amenities like heating, lighting or plumbing; rooms were simply places to sleep and store possessions. For heating and lighting, residents used lamps and braziers (metal basins on legs) in which they burnt wood or charcoal. Such implements were liable to be upset, and fires were common. There was no running water above the ground floor to put fires out, and all water had to be carried upstairs in pitchers.

The only lavatory was a cesspit on the ground floor (if the tenant was lucky), also used for rubbish disposal; in some apartments, not only did water have to be carried from the nearest street fountain, but the tenants were expected to visit public lavatories some distance away As the streets were dangerous at night, it was common for basins to be used for body wastes, and for the contents of the chamber-pot to be tossed out into the street, along with other household rubbish. The unlucky passer- by could count himself lucky not to get the basin on the head as well as the slops.

The worst rooms had no windows, but most would have opened on to the street or a central light-well, allowing in some light and air. Roman windows at this time had no glass, so openings were shuttered, reducing the room to stuffy darkness; if the shutters were open, in came noise, rain and wind - and possibly burglars.

As well as the dangers from collapsing buildings, fires and burglars, the discomforts of charcoal Fumes, poor ventilation, poor lighting and heating, the fatigue of carrying water and other supplies up rickety stairs, the rooms must have been draughty, dirty, smelly and co-occupied by rats, mice, fleas and bed bugs. It is not surprising the inhabitants spent all their waking hours on the streets or enjoying public facilities and entertainments like the baths, the games and the races.

14 Roman Society

The housing of the rich

The standard Roman house or domus, was a large stone or brick building, and although they varied in size and layout according to the income of the owner, similar features were to be found in most homes.

The early Roman farmers lived in single-roomed, roughly circular huts with a central fire for cooking and warmth, and a hole in the roof to let the smoke out. The houses of the late republic and early empire developed from these, and even the grandest townhouse had as its central feature a hall called the atrium with an opening in its roof. Below it, a shallow basin, the impluvium, caught rain water which drained away into a well for the house water supply. The opening also admitted light and air for the rooms around the atrium: bedrooms, dining room, sitting room and storage rooms.

At the back of the house was a second focal area, a garden called the peristylium, surrounded by rooms used in summer, and often with an elaborate colonnade of columns supporting a verandah-type roof.

No houses have survived in Rome itself, and knowledge of their layout is based on excavations in the towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum, which were buried by the eruption of the nearby volcano Vesuvius in AD 79.

al - ala side room without doors oe - occus guest room an - andron passage to peristylium pc - peristylium garden with colonnade at - atrium hall pi - piscina fishpond cub - cubiculum bedroom po - posticum side entrance cul - culina kitchen ta - taberna shop ex - exhedra summer sitting room tm - tablinum study/sitting-room fa - fauces entrance passage tr - triclinium dining room im - impluvium rainwater basin ve - vestibulum porch

15 Roman Society

Like its neighbouring buildings, a Roman domus lined the street so it was entered directly from the footpath.

If it was situated on a busy street, the rooms on both sides of the entrance were likely to be rented out as shops, tabernae, and had no direct communication with the home behind them. Front rooms not used as shops were part of the house, and might be storerooms, slaves'rooms or extra bedrooms.

The house would appear somewhat uninviting, with few or no windows, and for security reasons any windows would be barred and shuttered most of the time. Each domus faced inwards, taking its light and air from the two openings of the atrium and peristylium. The front entrance was through a passage with a door halfway down the passage.

A doorkeeper might be stationed to inquire one's business, and, if satisfied, to let visitors into the atrium. The atrium was the main reception room of the house, where the master received his clients and other important visitors. Here he would display his wealth with fine mosaics on the floor, fresco paintings on the walls, statues and expensive furniture. At the sides of the atrium were a number of small rooms used as bedrooms (cubicula) in winter, and two recesses or rooms without doors, alae, often containing the lararium, which was a shrine to the lares or household gods, the master's strongbox (fastened to the floor with metal bolts), and the portrait busts and wax masks of any famous ancestors on display

At the far end of the atrium, several rooms occupied the space between the atrium and peristylium. They included the winter dining-room, the trichnium, and a general-purpose room called the tablinum. This might be used as a sitting room by the women of the house, or as a study by the master. It usually had folding doors on both sides, and when these were open a visitor entering through thefauces would look the full length of the atrium and out to the pleasant vista of the garden beyond.

A small passage, the andron, also led out to the garden, which might contain a large fishpond or small pools, fountains, statues, bushes, fruit trees and flowers. Rooms around the garden were intended for summer use, and could include bedrooms, a second dining-room, a sitting-room and a private guest room. Occasionally, houses had an upper storey above the rooms around the atrium, but it was usually only a few rooms and not the whole house doubled.

The kitchen, the culina, was tucked in behind an ala at the back of the atrium. By the first century BC, only slaves worked in the kitchen of a domus, and it was almost without exception small, badly ventilated and without running water. Water was carried from the well under the impluvium in the atrium into the kitchen, where there was very limited workspace. A single stove, which burnt wood or charcoal, had no chimney to direct smoke outside or help the fire burn.

The household lavatory was even more primitive, often just a cesspit situated in or beside the kitchen, so food scraps could be thrown there as well as body wastes.

The family probably used chamber-pots in their bedrooms, which the slaves duly emptied. The unpleasant stench was once again of little consequence, because only slaves worked 'in the vicinity'. Most houses had no bathrooms, and their inhabitants went regularly, often daily, to the public baths to exercise, bathe and socialise. Nor was there any need for a home laundry, as most garments were sent to a fullonica (laundry) to be washed and mended. In most surviving houses, there is no obvious place where the slaves slept, and it seems likely they used spare bedrooms, storerooms or any space available at night.

16 Roman Society

Country houses

Little is known about the housing of peasant farmers in Italy, and by the end of the republic there were not large numbers of them left.

Most of the good land was owned by the wealthy who lived in Rome and visited their country estates only occasionally A moderately rich man might own a farm with a farmhouse called a villa rustica. It was a collection of essential farm buildings, including bedrooms for the workers, kitchen, dining area, barns, stables for animals and workrooms such as a threshing floor for grain, a wine press and wine cellar. The farm overseer, the vilicus, and the farm slaves lived here, and the owner had a small part reserved for his use when he chose to visit.

By contrast, the very wealthy owned at least one villa urbana, which had all the rooms a Roman gentleman thought necessary for comfortable and elegant living, including libraries, baths and extensive gardens with trees, flowers, pools, fountains and colonnades. Unlike the inward-looking town domus, the villa urbana looked outward to enjoy the view, whether of sea or of rolling hillsides or mountains. The owner retreated to these in the summer when Rome was not only very hot and smelly but also dangerous because of disease.

17 Roman Society

Roman Meals

When looking at the food the ancient Romans ate, it is important to keep two points in mind.

 The Romans did not have many of the foods taken for granted today Tea, coffee, sugar, potatoes, tomatoes, oranges, lemons, sweet corn and many other foods came to Europe from the east after the fall of the Roman empire or were introduced from the Americas.

 Most people did not have access to the wide range of food enjoyed by the rich, and luxurious dinner parties were attended by only a relatively small section of Roman society

Meals of the Roman poor

The staple food of the poor at all times was wheat, ground and boiled as a kind of porridge or made into bread. The poor also had vegetables such as cabbages and leeks, herbs for flavouring, and snacks such as sausages which could be bought fairly cheaply at the numerous takeaway bars.

Cooking in apartment buildings was difficult and dangerous, and fast food was both popular and inexpensive. As water was always likely to be polluted, wine (diluted with warm water), was the staple drink.

Available foods

If money was no problem, an endless variety of foodstuffs was available in Roman shops, brought from the Italian countryside and imported from provinces all around the Mediterranean.

Vegetables included beans, lentils, chickpeas, lettuces and beetroot, and the luxury foods asparagus, artichokes, mushrooms and truffles. For fruit, Romans consumed apples, pears, peaches, cherries, plums, grapes, figs, quinces, apricots, dates, and several kinds of nuts. The olive deserves to be mentioned on its own - as well as eating the olive fruit itself, the Romans used enormous quantities of olive oil, for cooking, bathing and lighting in oil lamps. Protein was obtained from eggs and cheese, and though most Romans ate little or no meat, the wealthy had not only beef, pork, venison, poultry and game birds, but also unusual items such as dormice, flamingos, storks, cranes and peacocks. They were also very fond of fish, and would pay high prices for good quality species. Bread was an essential accompaniment to any meal, bought from a nearby bakery.

Roman meals

For most people, breakfast, ientaculum, was a very simple meal, little more than bread and fruit with- water, eaten standing or even on the move during the early daily routine.

Lunch, prandium, was eaten around midday, and was again a very simple cold meal: a selection from bread, eggs, fish, cheese, fruit and vegetables, eaten standing or on the move and accompanied by water or watered wine.

The main meal of the day, the cena, began late afternoon after the visit to the baths. It might be a very simple family meal, but it was also common among the better-off to invite guests. All public entertainment was held in daylight hours, and the private dinner party was in effect the only social engagement or form of entertainment in the evening. According to the income of the host it might be a very elaborate meal, more than compensating for the small amounts of food eaten earlier in the day

18 Roman Society The cena had three main parts:

 The gustatio - tasters such as eggs, shellfish or salad, served cold.  The cena proper - three to seven courses, served hot, with foods such as fish or several types of meat and vegetables.  The dessert (secundae mensae) - cake, pastry and fruit, Wine mixed with water and sweetened with honey was served hot during the meal, and after the eating was over, a drinking party, comissatio, might follow

Least important (lowest couch)

Dining table

Top couch

The guests at the party

At a dinner party, the Romans reclined on couches around a small central table in the triclnium. Three couches each held three people, and each sloped up slightly, so its inner edge was just above the table.

Guests removed their footwear and lay on their left sides, their comfort ensured by mattresses and rugs under them and cushions to support and separate them. The fourth side of the table was left open for slaves to place food for each course in turn. The guests ate with their fingers, placing food from the central dish onto their individual plates. Slaves would already have cut the food into small portions in the kitchen, so knives were unnecessary and fingers were used instead of forks; spoons were possibly used to enjoy the various sauces of which the Romans were very fond - cooked with, or added to, the food. Finger bowls and napkins were provided, and the guests were free to throw scraps or bones on to the floor to be eaten by the host's dogs or swept up by slaves after the meal. The poor used earthenware dishes, but in the household of a rich man, guests might cat off highly embossed silver dishes and drink from silver, crystal or even gold cups, studded with jewels.

During and after the meal, entertainment might be provided in the form of poetry or prose readings, by musicians, or by activities such as juggling, acrobats and dancing. The guest's might entertain themselves with various gambling games.

When the drinking party began, guests might be offered garlands for their hair. It is unclear how much women participated in dinner parties. In early Rome, men did not approve of women drinking wine; women and children sat at a meal while their husbands reclined, and wives attended dinner parties in their own houses but did not accompany their husbands to meals in other houses. As women gained more social freedom in the late republic, it appears that respectable wives did go out dining with their husbands, and were possibly a moderating influence on drinking, gambling and the attendance of prostitutes.

19 Roman Society

Roman religion in daily life

The Romans honoured many gods, ranging in importance from the powerful state gods like Jupiter and Mars to the small and personal household gods.

Most houses had a shrine, a lararium, to their lares, the little gods who looked after the house and the family that lived there, and small offerings of food were made to them each day, usually at mealtime. Other figures honoured regularly included:

Vesta - the goddess of the hearth and domestic fire. The penates - kept the food stores safe. Janus - guarded the door and kept out unwelcome people or spirits. At special times, such as births or marriages, the gods of the house were given special honour, along with any other divine beings who might offer a blessing on the occasion.

Many Romans were initiated into secret cults honouring particular gods, which probably offered their members some form of personal salvation or happiness in the next life. In the countryside on special days, farmers made sacrifices and observed holidays to pray for or offer thanks for good harvests, good weather, general fertility and good health in plants and animals. n Rome there were many religious festivals to state gods during the year, to ensure the health and prosperity of the Roman people. Most Romans would not bother turning up at the temples to watch the sacrifices being made or to join in the prayers, but most festivals were accompanied by several days of popular forms of entertainment, such as plays, chariot racing or gladiatorial combats.

Keeping people happy - the baths

Although there were many unpleasant aspects to living in Rome if you were poor, there were also a few good things - as well as free corn for the eligible, there were magnificent public buildings and facilities, available on an increasing scale under the emperors. One of the most popular was the public baths, which became a centre of social life.

Early Romans swam in the Tiber, regarding swimming as an essential part of the training of a soldier. Warm bathing was probably learnt from the Greek cities in southern Italy and though traditional conservative Romans thought it decadent, from the 3rd century BC onwards several Plan of the baths of Caracalla small public bath

20 Roman Society houses were built at Rome and they were very popular. To court public favour, around 30 BC, Augustus' son-in-law Agrippa built a large public bath complex, and several emperors followed suit during the next three centuries, including Nero, Titus, Trajan, Caracalla, Diocletian and Constantine.

During the 4th century AD, Romans could enjoy eleven large public bath complexes, called thermae, and over 800 smaller private baths. These used an enormous amount of water, and at least nine aqueducts brought over a thousand million litres of water a day into the city They supplied a small amount for piping into the homes of the rich, supplied the public fountains found in most streets (where the poor obtained their water), and provided water to flush the public toilets, but the greatest share of the water went to the baths.

The best preserved baths are the thermae of Caracalla, which were set in gardens covering 27 acres of land and could accommodate 1600 people at a time. Even larger were the baths of Diocletian, spread over 32 acres and accommodating as many as 5 000 at once.

Some baths had separate areas for women and men, while other baths had different times set for men and women to attend, and other times for the sick and disabled.

Typical routine for attending the baths

1. A man first undressed in the apodyterium or changing room, leaving his clothes here under the eyes of a slave, as pilfering was common.

2. He would then go to an area called a palaestra or gymnasium for physical exercise. When he had worked up a sweat, he might enter a small, very hot and dry room to increase his sweating. This was called a laconicum.

3. Next he went to the caldarium, a hot moist room where he lay on a bench and a slave massaged his body with oil and then scraped it off, along with sweat and dirt, using a curved metal rod known as a strigil. This was the usual way of getting clean, as the Romans had no soap.

4. Next he would move to the tepidarium, a warm room with a warm pool of water, completing the process with a dip in the cold pool of the frigidarium. In the really big thermae, this cold pool would have been large enough to swim in.

Bathers of both sexes were able to vary this routine to suit their individual tastes. Once bathing was completed and they were again dressed, they might enjoy all the other amenities of the complex, including walking in the gardens, reading in the libraries, purchasing food and drink from vendors, and talking and socialising with friends.

The attractiveness of the surroundings must have added to the pleasure of the activities, as successive emperors attempted to outdo their predecessors with huge vaulted and domed buildings, adorned with expensive marbles, mosaics and statues. Furthermore, attending the public baths was very cheap, and often free when an emperor or wealthy citizen paid the cost of upkeep for a specified time. Bath complexes were built in virtually every city of any size right throughout the Roman Empire.

21 Roman Society

The heat for the sweating rooms and hot pools was supplied by a hypocaust system. An underground furnace was situated beside the hottest rooms and heated water circulated through pipes. In addition, hot air circulated under the floors (which were supported on pillars) and up through spaces in the walls. The floors were so hot bathers in the sudatorium and caldarium wore wooden-soled sandals. The hypocaust system might also be used to heat the mansions of the wealthy, as well as their private baths.

22 Roman Society Keeping people entertained - the theatre

The most important forms of public entertainment were part of religious festivals, held on set days following state sacrifices to the gods. These were known as ludi, meaning games, and took three forms:

 Theatrical performances or ludi scaenici, held in theatres.

 Chariot racing or ludi circenses, held in the circus.

 Venationes, munera and naumachiae, held in the amphitheatre.

The early Romans may have had simple dramatic performances as part of their religious festivals, but all trace of these have disappeared, and the earliest surviving Roman plays are 2nd-century BC translations of the Greek comedies, which the Romans would have found performed in the Greek cities of southern Italy and Sicily when they conquered them in the 3rd century

The works of only two playwrights, Plautus and Terence, survive today - these are comedies, and were performed before large audiences in temporary theatres, because the conservative Roman senators refused to allow any permanent theatre buildings in the city. The first permanent stone theatre was built by Pompey (son-in-law and rival of julius Caesar) in 55 BC, and could hold up to 35 000 people, 28 000 of whom were seated while the rest stood. In the time of Augustus, two more permanent theatres were built, and under the empire, theatres were built in many provincial towns or existing Greek theatres were enlarged and rebuilt to the Roman plan.

Some towns also had a small roofed theatre called an odeum; in Pompeii the odeum could hold around 500 people and is situated beside the larger open-air theatre which held around 5 000. It was probably used for small private entertainments, such as musical performances or recitations of prose and verse. Both theatre and odeum had a similar shape, a modification of the shape devised by the Greeks several hundred years before.

A semicircle of tiered seats was supported on a series of arches, which gave an excellent view of the stage closing off the open side. The stage was backed by the stage building, which rose in height to equal that of the seating and acted as a sounding-board for the actors. The entire theatre might be covered by a huge awning (velarium) or system of awnings to keep off rain and sun. People brought along cushions to make the stone seats more comfortable, and also food and drink, as they might gather several hours before the performance to get good seats.

23 Roman Society The performances

The Romans of the republic watched comedies and tragedies translated from Greek, that dealt with some tale from Greek mythology or adventure in Greek family life.

Some plays may also have dealt with tales from Roman history or been on specifically Roman themes.

By the time of Augustus, the people were bored with serious plays and even tired of comedies, preferring more visually attractive pantomimes. These usually had a basic story from Greek myth and a minimum of spoken word, and relied instead on vigorous mimed action with songs and dances from solo artists and choruses.

Theatrical performances deteriorated under the empire, as the audience, used to violence and bloodshed in the amphitheatre, demanded similar action on stage. There was plenty of violence in Greek myths, but whereas Greek dramatists had merely reported tragic happenings via messengers, the Romans 'wanted to see it all really happening', so criminals were used to show a Hercules really being burnt on his funeral pyre or an Icarus falling from on high to die on stage. The more cultured Romans had private drama performances and occasionally new works were written, but essentially under the empire, drama was no longer a living art form.

24 Roman Society Keeping people entertained - the amphitheatre

The Romans devised the idea of replacing the stage building of the Greek theatre with another theatre, calling the new construction an amphitheatre, or double theatre.

It seems likely that the first amphitheatre was built around 50 BC by Curio, an ally of Julius Caesar, as a propaganda measure to gain public popularity. Curio built two wooden theatres, turned away from each other back-to-back during the day so plays could be performed on the two separate stages. Late in the day they were suddenly swung around and the wooden stage partitions removed, to create an arena where gladiatorial combats were put on during the evening.

Amphitheatres and the shows put on in them became so popular that most large towns throughout the empire built one, or adapted their theatre so it could be used for gladiatorial shows.

The Colosseum

The best-known amphitheatre is the Colosseum in Rome, and it also happens to be one of the most intact. It is huge, but its name does not in fact derive from its size but from an enormous bronze statue of the emperor Nero, over 30 metres high, which was revamped to represent the sun god Helios and placed nearby.

The Colosseum was begun by Vespasian in AD 72, opened by his elder son Titus in AD 80, and completed in the early 80s by his younger son Domitian. All three were emperors and as their family name was Flavius, the Colosseum is often called the Flavian amphitheatre.

The Colosseum nevertheless deserves its name in its own right.

 It rises to a height of more than 50 metres, and on the outside four series of arches rise, one above the other.  The upper arches were decorated with statues while those on the ground level provided 80 entrances/exits. Two were for the emperor and his guests, one for the performers entering in a grand procession at the start of the show and one for the removal of the dead. The remaining 76 were numbered and each entrance ticket had the number of a seat, of its row and of the nearest gate, so there was no crush on arrival or departure. The large number of exits was partly a safety measure, and if any humans or wild animals threatened the audience, the entire amphitheatre could be emptied within minutes. Inside, there was seating for around 45 000 and standing room for a further 5 000. As in the theatres, tiered seating was supported on a series of arches and vaults, so all had an excellent view, but as in the theatres, Roman class structure was strictly observed. The emperor had his own special box, the front rows were reserved for senators, the equestrian The poles extending upwards from the top were used to raise the order sat behind them, and awning so on. Soldiers and civilians

25 Roman Society had to sit apart, and there was segregation of the sexes except for some instances where married couples might sit together. (As often with Roman customs, we know the rules but not how strictly they were enforced.)  The Colosseum had an enormous awning, the velarium, to protect spectators from wind and rain. Because of its size, it took a long time and extreme precision to raise, and this was the task of a special contingent of sailors. Some estimate it took as many as 1000 sailors up to two days to raise, and it is said that in a high wind the noise of its flapping drowned out the sounds of the spectators cheering.

The Colosseum was also noted for its wonderful stage sets, and scenery with hills, lakes, forests and buildings would appear 'as if by magic' out of the floor and then disappear. People and animals of all kinds might emerge 'magically' from the sandy floor (which is now long gone), exposing to view a complex series of passages. It is likely much of the original floor was wooden and movable, and a system of pulleys and counterweights raised a series of stage sets, enclosed one within another, to pop out like a conjuring trick. A number of lifts took animal cages to the surface so animals might appear through trapdoors.

The Colosseum could be flooded for the extremely popular naval battles, but Titus found it was virtually impossible to keep the arena watertight because of its many openings. Domitian subsequently built a special amphitheatre elsewhere in Rome especially for naval battles, and after the I st century AD, these were no longer staged in the Colosseum.

Wild beast hunts (venations)

The stage scenery was largely used for wild beast hunts or venationes. Trained huntsmen, bestiarii, pursued and fought and slaughtered animal of all kinds, largely imported from the provinces.

Lions, tigers, leopards, elephants and hippopotamuses were often starved to make them more fierce so the massacre would be more exciting, but the hunters were seldom at real risk. They had shelters to retreat to, and archers outside the arena were used to dispatch any animal proving really threatening.

 A second type of hunt involved harmless creatures such as giraffes and ostriches, when the terror of the hunted and the sight of blood provided the thrill.

 A third type of show was the killing of unarmed or bound convicts and slaves by starving carnivores such as lions, leopards, panthers and packs of dogs.

In Rome, the venationes were usually the morning show, the forerunner of the gladiatorial combats, but in the provinces they might be the whole show, as animals and convicts were cheaper than well-trained gladiators.

The gladiatorial combats (munera)

Romans seem to have taken the idea of gladiatorial combats from their Etruscan neighbours, whose custom it was to stage fights to the death at the funeral ceremony of a dead chief. The ritual was based on the idea of pleasing the gods of the dead with human sacrifices, and this idea was never entirely lost throughout the centuries the gladiatorial combats were held. The Latin name, munera, means 'gifts' or 'services', and in this instance probably has both meanings, of services to the dead by gifts to the gods.

The first known Roman games were held in 264 BC, when two patrician brothers had three pairs of gladiators fight at their father's funeral.

26 Roman Society Gladiatorial combats became increasingly popular, and were held at fixed religious festivals each year, especially the Saturnalia in December. They were paid for out of the public treasury and organised by a magistrate called an aedile, who had responsibility for civic affairs. To win popularity, a magistrate might put on an additional show at his own expense, or contribute extra money of his own to make the regular show more spectacular.

In 65 BC, julius Caesar was an aedile, and in memory of his father, organised games with 320 pairs of gladiators. The emperors were unwilling to let other men put on shows in Rome in case they outstripped them in popularity, but they continued the custom themselves on an ever increasing scale. When the Colosseum was opened, Titus gave a hundred days of games of all kinds, and Trajan celebrated his victories in Dacia with 5 000 pairs of gladiators fighting over a period of 117 days.

Gladiators might be prisoners of war, slaves or convicts who had no choice about their profession. There were also volunteers, often ex-soldiers. They lived in barracks and practised in a training school. Their manager and trainer, a lanista, hired out the required number when a show was to be held.

Gladiators wore several kinds of very elaborate uniforms, said to have evolved from the equipment of foreign prisoners of war made to fight with their own weapons. Equipment varied within each category and evolved over the centuries, but, generally, a gladiator wore sandals, shin protection, a belt with a leather skirt to cover the genital area, leather protection on the exposed right sword arm and a decorated helmet. Heavily-armed categories included:

 A Samnite - wore a helmet with a crest of feathers and visor to lower over his face, one greave (shin-guard) on the left leg, and carried a large oblong shield, a sword and long lance.  A Thracian - wore two greaves, a helmet, leather bands around his thighs, and carried a smaller round shield and curved sword.  A Gaul - had a sea creature, murmillo, on the crest of his helmet, and was sometimes given this name.

The people enjoyed watching these heavily-armed men fight each other.

A gladiator with a completely different set of equipment and fighting techniques was the retiarius, so- called from the fishing net (rete) he carried. He also carried the long-handled trident used to spear fish, and may have had a guard on his shoulder and short dagger, but he wore no helmet or greaves and carried no shield. He fought a heavily-armed Gaul or Murmillo, popularly known as a secutor or pursuer, aiming to 'catch' the fish on his helmet. Because of the contrast in fighting techniques and the inevitable fatal outcome, a fight between a retiarius and a secutor appears to have been the most popular contest of all.

The heavy secutor was always on attack, the light-footed retiarius was always retreating to keep out of range of the murderous sword against which he had no defence, trying with his speed, skill and cunning to entangle the secutor in the net and then dispatch him with the long trident. If he lost his net to his opponent, his death was all but certain.

The order of contest

Before the contest began, the gladiators marched in a procession through their own special gate and saluted their sponsor. Under the empire, the sponsor in Rome was usually the emperor himself, greeted in the well-known words 'Ave Caesar, nos morituri te salutamus' meaning 'Hail Caesar, we, about to die, greet you', or a variation of them.

27 Roman Society A warm-up with blunt weapons might precede the serious contests, and a trumpet announced the change to sharp weapons. If the contestants were slow to begin, trainers and attendants were ready with whips and sometimes hot irons to urge them on, with the crowd shouting encouragement to their favourites.

When a man was wounded or cornered, he might cast aside his weapons and raise an arm as a plea for mercy It was up to the sponsor to grant or refuse it, but he usually accepted the vote of the crowd. If a man had fought bravely they might wave handkerchiefs, shout 'Mitte!' ('Let him go!') or signal with their thumbs, but if they decided his performance was poor or they simply wanted blood they called 'lugula!' ('Kill him!').

Today 'thumbs up' is a positive response, and it is usually assumed thumbs up meant granting life and thumbs down meant death. But the opposite is also argued; that thumbs up meant apply the sword to the throat and thumbs down meant to sheathe the sword. In any event, there was no doubt about the crowd's pleasure when they saw the wounded finished off, shouting "Hoc habet!" ("Hes had it!").

A man dressed as Charon, ferryman to the underworld, extinguished any remaining life, attendants dressed as Mercury (guide of souls after death) dragged the body out with a hook, fresh sand was scattered in the arena and the next fight began. For most gladiators, life was short and ended violently, but the fortunate few who were tough and skilful enough to survive could gain great popularity, especially among women, and great wealth. Eventually, they might be presented with a wooden sword and be able to retire.

Naumachiae - mock naval battles

The Roman loved a third type of show held in the amphitheatre, rarely seen because it was both expensive and difficult to put on. These were naumachiae, naval battles, and they required a large watertight arena, real warships and well-trained crews. julius Caesar is said to have put on the first performance in a specially-built lake, and emperors built special amphitheatres or staged them on lakes.

The Roman public loved them, not least because they were seldom held.

28 Roman Society

Keeping the people entertained - the races in the circus

Like the theatrical performances and gladiatorial shows, chariot racing was also connected to religious festivals, though again in the 1st century BC special displays might be put on by rich individuals seeking political popularity or generals celebrating military successes, and in the l st century AD by emperors wanting to keep the people happy

Festivals which usually had chariot racing associated with them occurred in August, September and October, and were primarily harvest festivals. The best-known race track, the Circus Maximus, was built in the valley between two of the seven hills of Rome, the Aventine and the Palatine, where the shrine of Consus, guardian of corn stored in granaries, was situated. (From Rome's earliest days, horse racing and other sports were held here, with spectators seated on the hillsides.)

Unlike the Colosseum, which owed its construction to a single dynasty of emperors, the Circus Maximus evolved over many centuries. The city had at least four circuses inside its walls or very close by, but the Circus Maximus was by far the largest.

Little remains of the Circus Maximus, but it is estimated to have been over 600 metres long and 200 metres wide, with a capacity to hold 250 000 spectators. It was not round, as its name suggests, but rectangular with the two shorter ends rounded.

At one short end were the main gates used by spectators and the inaugural procession, and at the other end 12 starting stalls. When the official in charge dropped a white cloth, slaves flung open the doors and the horses, each with its driver and chariot, sprang forth.

The course had a long barrier, called the spina, down the centre, around which the horses raced. The spina held shrines to Consus and other gods, statues and at least one obelisk, a tall pillar inscribed with hieroglyphics brought as booty from Egypt.

At each end of the spina were the metae, three turning posts in the shapes of cones. The spina was a little more than 200 metres long, and as the chariots raced around it seven times, each race was approximately 1 500 metres long. Competitors were able to tell how many laps there were to go from seven large bronze eggs and seven dolphins placed somewhere on the spina, which were removed one by one or manipulated somehow to indicate the number of laps.

Both long sides of the track were bounded by tiered seating supported by huge stone vaults, and from the outside three levels of arches were visible. The lowest set were open and housed both sellers of food and drink and bookmakers taking the large sums of money enthusiasts bet on their favourites.

The races

At the end of the republic, spectators usually watched 12 races a day, but during the next century, emperors increased the numbers; on some occasions it is said to 100 per day

29 Roman Society Horses raced in teams of two, three, four or six, but four-horse chariots, quadrigae, were the most common, combining maximum power and manoeuvrability

Four teams took part in each race, distinguished by the colours of the drivers' tunics. The four teams were Reds, Whites, Blues and Greens, and each had its own stables and trainers, and competed to buy the services of the best charioteers.

It was a highly dangerous sport, and though the competitors (unlike gladiators) did not need to kill their opponents to win, crashes at high speed were common and often fatal.

Pictures show charioteers wearing the ancient equivalent of crash helmets. Charioteers tied the reins around their chests to ensure they did not lose them - they also carried a sharp knife to slash themselves free if in danger of being dragged behind the horses after an accident. The most skilful drivers were enormously popular, with huge fan clubs (and like today's golf, tennis or basketball players, were able to cam the equivalent of millions of dollars)

The spectators

Emperors were mostly keen followers of the races, and on one side of the Circus a huge 'royal box' can be seen in ancient mosaics and reliefs. No less enthusiastic were hundreds of thousands of ordinary Romans, who could look forward to somewhere between 200 and 240 days of racing each year.

Many writers mention the races, describing the noise, dust, heat and excitement, the men betting large sums and eyeing the female spectators, the women admiring the charioteers and eyeing the latest fashions, and all 250 000 cheering on their favourite colour. Modern horse acing is less dangerous but still has many of the same elements.

30 Roman Society

The Roman family

The family was the basic social unit in ancient Rome, and as well as mother, father and children, a household might contain grandparents, aunts, uncles, daughters-in-law, unmarried daughters, cousins and slaves.

The head of the family was usually the oldest male, called the paterfamilias, and by both custom and law he had very great power (patria potestas, meaning a father's power) over his family In Rome's early days, he had the power of life and death over all family members, including his wife and adult sons, and by the late republic his word was still law, though extreme forms of punishment were not common.

The legal contract of marriage was intended to perpetuate his family by producing legitimate male offspring, and if he divorced his wife he had the sole rights to the children of the marriage.

In theory the mother of the household, the materfamilias, had at home a status equivalent to the paterfamilias, but the respect she was paid often depended on the size of the dowry she brought with her and the importance and power of her family In addition, during the early republic, she was rated on the following duties of a matrona, or married woman:

 Her sexual fidelity to ensure her children were also her husbands.

 Her ability to produce sons.

 Her care and education of the young children.

 Being modest and staying at home.

 Managing the household efficiently and frugally

 Making the family clothes by spinning and weaving wool.

 Paying due respects to the household gods.

 Being attractive, charming and obedient to her husband.

By the late republic her situation had changed greatly Most households had slaves and the materfamilias was more a manager and much less likely to be doing the work herself. Wars in distant lands meant menfolk were often away for long periods and women at times needed to administer the family property as well as the household.

During the last century BC, women often helped their husbands politically At all times they were, in theory, under a man's control, but whereas in early Rome they passed from their father's control to that of their husband, in the late republic they tended to remain as part of their father's family and he mostly left them free to act as they wished. They gained more control over their own dowries and kept their property separate from that of their husband. They also gained the right to divorce their husbands - in early Rome only men had the right to divorce - and divorce became common. A wealthy woman often turned most of the household affairs, including rearing children, over to slaves, and spent her time in her business activities and in developing social and cultural interests. The ideals of what a woman should be like still lingered, but they were in many ways no longer the reality - if, indeed, they ever had been.

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Rites of passage

Birth

The main purpose of marriage was to carry on the man's family, and as this could only be done through the male line, it was important for a woman to have at least one son. Daughters were much less important, as shown by the custom requiring them to take a dowry with them, and fathers literally had to pay to get rid of them. This does not mean that men did not love their daughters - the politician and orator Cicero is known to have doted on his only daughter and was heartbroken when she died after childbirth aged only 34 - but somehow they'just valued them less'. If a son 'did not arrive' or died young, patrician Romans might adopt a son, usually from another branch of the family (When julius Caesar's only legitimate child julia died childless, Caesar adopted his sister's grandson Octavian, who eventually became the emperor Augustus.)

If too many children arrived (especially too many daughters), or if they were sickly or deformed, a father had the right to refuse to bring up the child and it was exposed (ie left outside the gates of the city to die).

Both the time of birth and the days following were a time of considerable danger, and when a child was wanted there would be great rejoicing if a healthy infant was born and the mother survived to rear it.

Because birth involved many circumstances beyond human control, there were numerous religious rituals surrounding it, and many divinities were asked for help. The most important, juno (the protector of women in marriage and in childbirth), was given the title of Juno Lucinia, goddess of light, acknowledging the infant's emergence into day The newborn infant was laid upon the ground to symbolise its origin from mother earth, and its father was invited to pick it up. If he did so, he accepted it into the family and henceforth had a legal obligation to rear it.

An accepted child was anxiously watched over, and a special couch was placed in the atrium of the house for Juno Lucinia or for Hercules, to invite them to take up temporary residence and guard the girl or boy A naming ceremony was held for a girl on the eighth day following the birth and for a boy on the ninth. Offerings were made to the appropriate divinities and a bulla, a good luck charm, was hung round the child's neck to protect it from evil spirits.

Marriage

A girl was given the degree of education her parents considered desirable. Some went to school while others barely learned to read or write, but it was the duty of every mother to teach her daughter how to manage her future household and to see she was closely chaperoned to ensure her virginity at her first marriage. This marriage was arranged by the parents of both families, and was usually preceded by a betrothal or engagement ceremony, the sponsalia, some years before the wedding. It was a formal

32 Roman Society ceremony at which the dowry or 'husband price' was agreed on; and as preservation of family property was another important purpose of a marriage, the marriage was most unlikely to take place if the dowry was not forthcoming.

As Roman families became wealthier, the 'daughter's share' increased in size, and indirectly contributed to female liberation from their husbands' control. A rich family did not want to see all that money becoming the property of a son-in-law, so daughters (and their dowries) remained in their father's family

A girl might be married as soon as she was sexually mature, around 14. The groom was usually around 2 1, but sometimes it might suit a girl's parents to marry her to a wealthy or politically suitable, much older man. There were three forms of marriage:

1. Usus - the most simple, involving only the initial consent of the couple and their living together continuously for a year.

2. Coemptio - the groom paid a small coin to the bride's father in the presence of witnesses. They join hands to pledge their vows while the pronuba places her hand on their shoulders. The groom is holding a scroll, probably the marriage contract..

3. Confarreatio - the most elaborate, used only by patricians. (It was much harder to gain a divorce from a marriage made in this form, and by the end of the republic it was relatively uncommon, while under the empire it was even rarer. No account of rites of passage would be complete without a brief description of this most picturesque ceremony)

The confarreatio

The evening before the ceremony, the bride dedicated her toys and her bulla to the lares of her father's home. This symbolised that she was leaving her childhood behind. It also meant she would no longer be a member of her father's family, but was joining her husband's family

On the day of the wedding, the bride was dressed with great precision.

 Her dress was long and white, worn with a woollen girdle tied in a special double knot called the Hercules knot.

 Her cloak and shoes were yellow and she wore a finely-woven headscarf or veil of bright orange called the flammeum. This covered her hair, which had been parted into six sections using an iron comb in the shape of a spearhead (possibly to repel evil spirits which were believed to not like iron). Each section was individually plaited and then all six were tied together into a cone shape with woollen ribbons.

 Over her flammeum she wore a wreath of flowers which may have included marjoram, myrtle and orange blossom, all of which had religious significance.

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The ceremony took place in the bride's home, with friends and relatives of both families present. A pig was sacrificed and the entrails inspected to ensure the gods approved. Then the wedding contract, formalising the amount of the dowry and the payment dates, was signed in the presence of ten witnesses.

The bride was attended by the pronuba, a woman still married to her first husband, whose task it was to join the hands of the couple while they exchanged vows. The bride declared herself part of her husband's family with the ritual words' Ubi tu Gaius, ego Gaia' meaning 'Where you are Gaius 1 am Gaia'. Next, the couple sat on chairs joined by a lamb’s fleece, and shared a special cake made from spelt flour, far, the ritual which gave the whole ceremony its name. (The precise order of these rites is uncertain and may have varied, but all were essential for the formal ceremony.) The ceremony was followed by a wedding feast for invited guests.

Late in the day, the bride was escorted to her new home in a procession which was highly informal but just as full of old customs. The bride was snatched from the arms of her mother with a ritual display of force, and three boys whose parents had to be still living escorted her, one on each side holding her hands and one in front carrying a torch.

Other torches were carried in the procession, along with equipment for spinning wool to symbolise the bride's duty to clothe her future family, and nuts and coins were thrown to the passers-by as a symbol of fertility. The onlookers shouted feliciter'(good luck) and 'Talassio' (reputedly the name of a god of marriage). Those in the procession sang vulgar songs or told rude stories about the groom, and altogether it was a very cheerful and noisy affair.

When the procession reached the groom's house, the front torch was tossed among the spectators and whoever caught it might hope for a long life.

The bride rubbed oil and fat on the doorposts and wreathed them with wool to symbolise prosperity, then was carried over the threshold to avoid the unlucky omen of a misstep, and, inside the house, touched fire and water as symbols of family life. Inside the husband's bedroom she was prepared for bed by the pronuba, who retired and left the couple to consummate the marriage. Next day, the young wife sacrificed to the lares of her new family

Romans gave great respect to a woman who only married once (a univira), whereas a widowed or divorced man was expected to remarry, especially if he had as yet no son. Divorce became increasingly common in the late republic, and though a woman would lose her children, she expected to regain most or all her dowry, which she would need if she remarried. She also had much more say in choosing a second husband, whereas the first marriage was totally arranged.

Augustus became concerned about a decline in the birth rate in the old patrician families and in wealthy families generally, and passed a number of laws to encourage marriage and the bearing of legitimate children. Adultery became a criminal offence which carried financial penalties and compulsory divorce. If males between the ages of 23 and 60 and females between 20 and 55 were unmarried for any length of time, they became ineligible to receive certain legacies, and if couples did not have three children they were similarly penalised. Mothers of three children were given privileges in administering their property, and fathers of three children were given political advantages. Augustus tried to enforce these measures, but there is no evidence that public morals were improved or that the population of the upper classes increased greatly over the next century.

Coming of age

34 Roman Society Another rite of passage was the coming of age of a young man. Somewhere between the ages of 14 and 17, when it was clear a boy had become physically mature, he dedicated his toys and bulla to his household lares (like his sister before her marriage), and gave appropriate thanksgiving that they had protected him from accident, disease and evil spirits so that he was able to reach manhood.

He then took off his boy's purple-edged toga and put on the all-white toga of manhood, and after sacrificing at Jupiter's temple on the Capitoline Hill, went down into the Forum to enrol as a citizen. He was accompanied by his father, male relatives and friends, and some form of feast followed.

The last rite of passage - the funeral

The Romans were very vague about what happened to the souls of the dead, but they believed strongly that unless certain rituals were carried out, the living would remain contaminated by their contact with death, the dead might not be able to enter the underworld, and their spirits might return to haunt the living.

They also felt a strong need to honour the dead, and to acknowledge the unity and continuity of the family; the long line of dead forbears, the living and the still-to-be-born.

Rituals associated with death

1. The dying person was placed on the ground or close to the earth which would receive the body. This paralleled the lifting of a newborn child from the ground by its father.

2. The nearest relative attempted to catch with a kiss the dying person's last

3. The dead person's name was called loudly three times to ensure their spirit really had gone, and the whole household raised a cry of lamentation (conclamatio).

4. The body was washed, anointed with sweet-smelling oils, dressed in its best clothes and placed on a couch in the atrium. A coin was placed under the tongue to pay Charon, who would ferry the soul across the River Styx to the underworld.

5. Friends were invited to come and pay their last respects.

6. The body was taken on a bier in a procession outside the city for cremation. It was placed on a pyre, lit by a close relative who turned his face away to avoid contamination by the presence of the gods of the underworld.

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7. When the pyre died down, the ashes were doused with water or wine and placed in an urn. The urn was placed in a niche in a family tomb, or a public columbarium (wall with niches for urns resembling the nesting place of a dove, columba) or in a public cemetery.

8. Eight more days of family mourning were concluded by ritual purification of the living and a feast, often held at the tomb, to signify the unity of the family

9. At specific festivals honouring the dead during the year and on the anniversaries of deaths, offerings of food, wine and flowers were made at the tomb or at an altar.

The funeral of a poor person was much simpler, and dead vagrants were simply thrown into refuse pits with a minimum of ceremony'. For the wealthy, on the other hand, cypress branches might be hung on the house door while the body. lay. in state, the funeral procession might include flute and horn players, followed by professional mourners who beat their breasts and wailed loudly The procession might pass through the Forum and halt while eulogies ,vcie given from the rostra, the public speaking platform. Men in the procession might wear masks of renowned members of past generations of the family. linking the dead with illustrious forebears S,

The tombs of the rich lining the roads out of the city, were large and imposing memorials to the whole family

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Roman Clothing

The ideal Roman woman was expected to spin wool and weave cloth for her family's garments, but by the end of the republic it is unlikely, that many women living in the city did so. Most cloth was made in small factories by, slave labour in Rome or imported from the and was purchased from shops.

The basic Roman garment for men was a woollen tunic (tunica) shaped like a long sack with openings for the head and arms. Slaves and working men wore a girdle around the hitch them above the knees. A Roman citizen wore a tunic at all times, but for formal wear also wore the toga, the distinctive Roman garment.

The toga was a large semicircle of white woollen cloth, worn with a swathe of cloth over the left shoulder. It was very hot and heavy needed the help of a slave to be put on, and was hard to keep clean. It was quite impossible for its wearer to do any physical work, so it was the mark of a 'gentleman' (much as the suit and tie is today).

On formal occasions a boy wore a toga called the toga practexta, with a purple stripe along the straight edge. On coming of age, he changed to a plain white toga (toga virilis and if he became a magistrate he wore a man-size toga praetexta.

Men usually wore a loincloth under their tunic and sandals or slippers indoors. The correct footwear to be worn with the toga were sandals with a stiff leather sole and leather thongs called calcei.

Outdoors, if it were cold, a man might wear a thick woollen cloak called a lacerna, and for travelling a broad-brimmed hat called a petasus.

The basic undergarments of a woman were a loincloth and strip of material to bind the breasts. Their dress, the stola, resembled a floor-length tunic, and their cloak, the palla, was worn outdoors, often with one fold over the head.

Footwear was similar to that worn by men, and girls' clothing resembled that of their mothers. The most common cloth was woven from wool, thinner for summer and heavier-weight for winter. The wealthy also wore imported linen and silk. Women's garments were dyed a variety of colours using vegetable and mineral dyes, and the most expensive dye was purple, derived from, a variety of shellfish and imported from Asia Minor.

It is known from frescoes and portrait busts that unmarried girls wore a very simple hairstyle, long hair drawn back and tied at the nape of the neck. By contrast, married women, especially women of fashion, had very elaborate

37 Roman Society hairstyles, requiring several slaves to curl it, plait it, add in purchased hair and generally fasten it in place. Women also wore very elaborate jewellery, hairpins and makeup.

Education

In the early days of the republic, the education of children was the responsibility and task of the parents.

Until they married, girls remained at their mother's side, learning the skills of a housewife which they would be required to use in their husband's house. These included looking after the fire used for cooking and warmth, fetching water if there was no supply in the house, preparing food, and spinning and weaving to create the family clothing. Reading and writing were not essential.

A boy would stay at his mother's side until he was around seven, and then would be taught by his father what it was considered 'a man ought to know'. This included skills used in war, such as swordplay and spear throwing, swimming, riding and running. He would also be taught skills to follow his father's occupation as a farmer, tradesman, or businessman. The son of a patrician would learn reading, writing, and Roman law, history and customs. His father was also responsible for his son's moral training, teaching him the traditional Roman values, including:

 Virtus - courage and manliness.

 Pietas - sense of duty

 Frugalitas - moderation in all things.

 Honestas - sense of honour.

 Disciplina - training.

 Industria - hard work.

 Constantia - steadiness of purpose.

By the beginning of the lst century BC, the care and education of children, like most household duties, had been handed over to slaves, or freedmen of low status, though it remained the parent's responsibility, and some would still have supervised it carefully. It was considered essential for educated Romans to learn to speak Greek, so their nurse was most likely to be a Greek female slave, and when they were old enough to attend school (from the age of seven onwards), a male Greek slave, a paedagogus, guarded them, taught them Greek, guided their behaviour and watched their work habits.

Parents who could afford the fees sent their sons and sometimes their daughters to small schools of up to 30 pupils to be taught by a single master and possibly an assistant. Lessons were given in a rented room, often opening on to the street like a shop, equipped only with hard wooden seats and a table. Pupils went to school early, often before daybreak, escorted by their paedagogus carrying a lamp, books and writing gear. They worked till lunchtime, returned home for a small lunch and usually returned for a short afternoon session.

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Roman education was neither compulsory nor free, and though fees at elementary school were notoriously low, the children of parents who could not afford them would have remained largely illiterate.

Children aged 7-11 were given an elementary education by a litterator, who taught reading, writing and simple arithmetic. This was as much education as girls and most boys would receive; after this girls prepared for marriage and the sons of the less well-off sought work.

 The sons of the wealthy went on to study at a'middle school' under a grammaticus, who taught boys aged 12-15, adding Greek and Roman grammar and literature to more advanced writing and arithmetic.

 Boys 16 and over were still taught the basic subjects, but in addition, at advanced school, they learnt the art of public speaking from a rhetor.

 After some three years, a senator's son aiming for a career in politics might serve in the army as an officer, go abroad to study at a Greek school of philosophy (the equivalent to university), or back in Rome would aim to be taken on as an 'apprentice' lawyer by an older man already distinguished in the law courts. By accompanying him in the courts, he would learn finer points of law and how cases might be pleaded and won.

At all levels, the teaching techniques consisted largely of repetition and memorising, and the content of the lessons was intended to build good characters in the students. Elementary exercises seem to have been copying moral sayings and proverbs and at the next level the moral lessons in literature were stressed. With older students, rhetorical exercises were usually based on highly moral episodes from Roman history and legend, or students were expected to develop moral maxims into speeches.

 Elementary school children learned to write using a wax-coated wooden tablet and a wooden stick called a stilus, pointed at one end to make letters in the wax and shovelshaped at the other to smooth them out.

 For arithmetic, the basic functions of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division were learned using an abacus.

Paper was imported papyrus and very expensive, so was used only by older boys writing with pen and ink. Books were rolls of papyrus or parchment, and the writing was arranged in columns (the reader unrolled the book with the left hand and re-rolled it with the right). Books were copied by slaves and well-off Romans might keep several slaves for this particular task.

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The elementary school teacher, the litterator, was usually a Greek ex-slave, of low social status. Most Roman boys would have looked down on him and he was poorly paid. However, according to accounts he regularly maintained discipline with savage blows of the cane and at times of the whip, and the Romans seemed to have accepted this situation 'as good for the young'.

The most famous litterator was Orbilius, the teacher of the poet Horace, who in the late 1st century BC was known as plagosus, the flogger.

A much more enlightened view of education can be found in the writings of the teacher Quintillian towards the end of the 1st century AD. A highly successful and respected professor of rhetoric, he condemned flogging, believed learning depended on the good will of the student, and advocated holidays and games as beneficial to study

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