Daily Life in Ancient Rome VI

Circuses

Chariot racing was Rome's oldest and most popular pastime, dating back to at least the Roman monarchy. Greek chariot races were held in hippodromes in the east, but in the west they were held in circuses. Other events eventually infiltrated the circus games (ludi circenses), such as Greek athletics and wrestling, but chariot racing remained the popular favorite. As a sport, it was highly expensive, but organized into a highly profitable business. There were four chariot facing factions, the blues, greens, whites, and reds, the colors of which were worn by respective charioteers during races. If successful, a charioteer could become rich and famous throughout Rome. Images of charioteers survive in sculpture, mosaic, and molded glassware, sometimes even with inscribed names. The factions rivaled greatly, sometimes leading to violence among supporters. In general, however, the greens and blues were the favorites.

The circus itself consisted of tiers of seats build around a U-shaped arena with an elaborately ornamented barrier, the spina, running down the middle. Metae, or turning posts, adorned each end of the course. At the open end of the U waited up to twelve four horse chariots (quadrigae), which began the race from starting gates (carceres), drove to the right of the spina, and then continued counter-clockwise for seven laps. At each end of the spina were seven lap markers, one of which was removed after each lap run by the charioteers. Circuses were also used for two horse chariot racing (bigae), and by the late republic other events, such as foot and horse racing, athletics, and gladiatorial shows/mock battles were commonplace in the circus.

The 1st circus was the Circus Maximus, supposedly built during the monarchy. Later circuses were often confused with Greek stadia, which were later adapted to the Roman world by their own right, but were only approximately one-half the size of the typical circus (180-200 meters in length, 30 meters wide, with only two turning posts and no spina). Circuses remained common in the west and stadia common in the Hellenistic east in the tradition of the Greek games.

Amphitheaters

Several different types of shows all took place in the arena of an Amphitheater. The word arena comes from the Latin for "sand," which was placed on the Amphitheater floor to soak up spilled blood.

Amphitheaters were most commonly used for gladiatorial matches which had been adapted from Etruscan funeral rites (munera). By the last 1st century BC, however, the games had lost their ritualistic significance.

Gladiators came from various lots of life. Originally, there were gladiatorial schools, but these came under state control in the 1st century BC to avoid them becoming private armies. The majority of gladiators were either condemned criminals (damnati), slaves, prisoners of war, or volunteers who signed up to do shows for a fee. There were four main types of gladiator:

* Murmillo: Fought with a helmet adorned by a fish crest, an oblong shield, and a sword. He usually fought a retiaritus.

* Retiaritus: A lightly armed gladiator with a net, brandishing either a trident or a dagger.

* Samnite: Utilized a sword, visor and helmet, and an oblong shield.

* Thracian: Combated with a curved scimitar and round shield.

Various other weapons, women, and sometimes even dwarves were used in the games. Special types of "wild animal matches" (venationes) were introduced in the 2nd Century BC and became very popular. Such bouts included men on foot and on horseback, known as beastiarii, who were usually either criminals, prisoners of war, or trained and paid fighters. Beastiarii fought exotic animals, which eventually led to an extensive trade market.

Originally, wild animal matches took place on the morning of the games, the public executions were held at midday, and then the gladiatorial matches. Over time, however, these divisions became blurred, and often many fights would take place at once, giving the appearance of a battle.

Other spectacles included mock naval battles (naumachiae), known to take place on artificial lakes, as well as animal performances, accompanied by music.

The amphitheater itself is a Roman, not Greek, contrivance, and is particularly common in the west. The very first gladiatorial and wild beast contests were held in open areas, such as the forum or circus. The first known amphitheater dates to 80 BC at Pompeii; the fist permanent one in Rome goes back to 29 BC. The design itself was oval or elliptical. Sloped seating could be supported on solid banks of earth held by retaining walls with external staircases or vaulted masonry structures. An awning (velum or velarium) provided protection from the elements for spectators, and in larger amphitheaters, service corridors and chambers beneath the floor held animals until they were to go out onto the arena, which was done by facility of trapped doors.

In small towns, the local Amphitheater could be the only entertainment. Due to their massive size, they were usually constructed on the edge of a city or directly outside its walls. Military amphitheaters (ludi) built near forts and fortresses served as training grounds for soldiers.

Theaters

In Ancient Rome, plays were presented at the time of the games on contemporary wooded stages. The first such permanent Roman theater was ordered to be built by Pompey in 55 BC, eventually erected on the Campus Martius at Rome. Built of stone, it had a seating capacity of 27,000. Essentially patterned after the Greek theater, it differed in the respect that it was built on level ground.

Excavated out of the sides of hills, the circular space located in front of the stage in a Greek theater was called the orchestra, where choruses and actors performed. Since Roman plays usually lacked a true chorus, the area in front of the stage which might have been an orchestra simply became a semicircular area.

All actors in Roman plays were male slaves. Men played the parts of women. The typical stock characters included the rich man, the king, the soldier, the slave, the young man, and the young woman. If necessary, an actor would play two or more roles in a single performance.

The most notable part of an actor's regalia was probably his mask. While different masks and wigs were used for comedies than tragedies, certain characteristics remained constant. All masks had both cheek supports and special chambers which acted as amplifiers. Gray wigs represented old men, black for young men, and red for slaves. Young men donned brightly colored clothing, while old men wore white. In this manner the characters could be easily identified by the audience.

Admission to the Roman plays was free for citizens. Originally, women were barred from viewing comedies and were only admitted to tragedies, but later, no such restrictions were imposed.

Pantomimes, popular during the 1st century BC, involved miming roles to accompaniment of singers, dancers, and musicians, in addition to visual effects, similar to a ballet. In mimes of antiquity actors spoke.

Women were allowed in mimes and pantomimes, which were more popular than typical plays but eventually degenerated into vulgar and disgusting tastelessness.

Public Baths

In the time of the Roman empire, the baths were a place of leisure time during many Romans daily routine. People from nearly every class - men, women, and children - could attend the thermae, or public baths, similar to modern day fitness clubs and community centers.

The two most well preserved baths of ancient Rome are the baths of Diocletian and Caracalla. Diocletian's baths cover an enormous 32 acres, and now, the ruins include two Roman churches, St. Mary of the Angels and the Oratory of St. Bernard. The baths of Caracalla cover 27 acres.

Towards the center of the Roman baths, adjoining the dressing room, could be found the tepidarium, an exceedingly large, vaulted and mildly heated hall. This could be found surrounded on one side by the frigidarium, a large, chilled swimming pool about 200 feet by 100 feet, and on the other side by the calidarium, an area for hot bathing warmed by subterranean steam.

Hot air and steam baths had been known to the Greeks as early as the 5th century BC, and have been found in Italy dating back to the 3rd century BC. The original thermae were small, hand activated individual sweets called balinae. By the 1st century BC, hypocaust heating allowed for the creation of hot/cold rooms and plunge baths. Bathing quickly became a communal activity. The term thermae was first applied to the baths built by Aggripa in the last 1st century BC. Emperors later built gradually grander baths, and the thermae became an Ancient Roman tradition.

Not only were the baths meant for leisure, but also, for social gathering. In addition to the bathing areas could be found portico shops, marketing everything from food, to ointments, to clothing. There were also sheltered gardens and promenades, gymnasiums, rooms for massage, libraries, and museums. Complimenting these scholarly havens were slightly more aesthetic marble statues and other artistic masterpieces.

Leisure Activities

From the information above, it is obvious that entertainment and leisure were central to Roman life. The public games (ludi) were originally part of religious festivals, but eventually entertainment superseded religion and the games became more numerous. Important games included the Ludi Megalenses (4-10 April), Ludi Cereales (12-19 April), Ludi Florales (28 April - 3 May), Ludi Apollinares (6-13 July), Ludi Romani (5-19 September), and the Ludi Plebeii (4-17 November).

By the 1st century BC, magistrates used private games to gain support in elections. The emperors successfully continued this practice, and the games became more and more lavish as each tried to out-do his predecessor. Enormous amounts of money were spent on the games, yet admission was free. By the close of the 2nd century there were 135 official celebrations, and by the end of the 4th century there were 176. In addition, there were special celebrations, such as the 100 day games celebrating Trajan's victory over the Dacians. Publicly financed games also spread to the provinces.

Restrictions were imposed on the games in the 4th century. Gladiator fights ended in the east at the end of the 4th century and in the west at the end of the 5th. The wild animal contests died in the 6th century. Chariot racing fell silent in the late Roman empire of the west, but continued in the east afterwards.

For the wealthy, however, entertainment could take place at home as they hosted their own dinner parties and lavish banquets. Along with dinner could be music, singing, and dancing by professionals. In some circles, recitation of written work, such as poetry and speeches, followed. For the plebeians, associations (collegia) may have thrown dinner parties.

Eating and drinking for the poor usually meant frequenting taverns, ranging from brothels to gaming houses and everything in-between. Gaming was popular among all classes, and included pastimes such as dice, knucklebones, and gaming counters. Board games were played by adults as well as children. Traditional children's games, such as hide-and-go-seek and leap frog are depicted in Ancient Roman art. Children's toys have also been found.

For the wealthy, hunting and fishing may have provided leisurely sport, but for the poorer these activities were more often a necessity.

Daily Life in Ancient Rome V

Women

An average Roman housewife normally left her home only to go shopping, to go to the baths, or, if she wanted, to visit her friends and relatives. From time to time she joined the public festivities if her husband were to take her to banquets.

Dancing and singing were though to be unsuitable in Rome - the Greeks, on the other side, used to do these things very often in great revelry. The poet Horaz said that dancing was the first step to prostitution, and it were in fact especially prostitutes her danced for others. This attitude, however, eventually changed, and during imperial times boys and girls went to dance classes.

A woman did not count as someone in politics. She could not vote or be a witness in court - unless she was a vestal. A women was also unable to possess her own things. As a girl, she was dependent on her father, as a married woman, to her husband, and as a widow, to a tutor.

Divorce was in the early part of the Empire impossible, even if her husband dated another woman. Husbands in Rome reserved the right to murder both adulterating wives and their lovers if they discovered the infidelity under the law itself. Later, however, women were allowed to divorce - without even having to give a reason.

Children

There was some knowledge of contraception in Rome, and abortion was known to be practiced for unwanted pregnancies. The act was only sometimes a crime (e.g., if the father was being denied an heir).

Birth was a relatively public undertaking, occurring at home with a midwife, usually not a doctor, and several female relatives in attendance. There were no males present. The mother gave birth in a special chair in an upright position.

After nine days a ceremony of lustratio was held and the baby given a name. Wet nurses (nutrices) were commonly employed in all classes.

The father reserved the right to deny that the child be reared - one way of eliminating family numbers, as inheritances were legally divided equally (girls received a dowry). Other reasons for denying a child could include poverty. A posthumous child could not be denied this right, as the child technically belonged to the deceased father. Newborns could be killed or sold. Deformed children were exposed or killed.

Children legally belonged to the father, even after a divorce. An orphan was said to have lost only his father, not his mother, and sometimes went to live with a tutor rather than his widowed mother. Illegitimates took another's name and had no rights.

Adoptio was not the humane adoption of orphaned children, although that was occasionally the case with infertility. More often it was the transferring of a son from one pater familias to another. As such, the son lost all rights in reference to his old family. Usually this was a political procedure, especially when there was a lack of male descendants. Females rarely adopted and could not legally adopt by themselves. In addition, a person with pater familias could put himself willingly under another's power, known as adrogatio. Many patricians did this with plebeian families in order to be eligible to run for the tribunal.

Early in the republic it was the father who taught their sons how to read, write, and use weapons. Boys accompanied them to religious ceremonies, public occasions (the Senate, if the father was a member). At the age of 16, the sons of nobility were given political apprenticeship under a public figure, while at 17 they spent the year campaigning with the army, a system which endured during the empire for some families.

Beginning in the 3rd century BC, a roman system of education developed which was different from the current Greek system, although most teachers remained Greek slaves or freedmen, known as a litterator or ludi magister. With his teacher a child studied Greek and Latin literature to produce effective speaking habits.

The primary level of education, from ages 7-11, involved teaching boys and girls reading, writing, arithmetic, and sometimes Greek, taught by a paidagogus. Secondary education was reserved for boys only, ages 12-15, and was based on the teaching of literary subjects in Latin and Greek by a grammaticus as a general introduction into rhetoric. From the 1st century BC contemporary poets, such as Virgil, were also taught.

From the 2nd century BC, rhetoric was taught to young males over the age of 16 by Greek teachers, but a Latin style eventually took over and rhetoric declined under the empire. However, rhetoric still remained the staple of education and continued to influence literature.

Rhetoric schools were set up under the empire in major cities. Famous teachers of the time period included St. Augustine, St. Ambrose, and Ausonius.

Slaves

Wealth and resources were divided unequally during the empire, with relatively little social mobility. The large labor force consisted of slaves and poorly paid freedmen nearly indistinguishable from slaves. Debt landsmen and peasants tied down to the land were also not technically considered slaves. In the Roman world, slaves and their children were the property of the owner, sold and rented out by dealers and exchanged between individuals.

Slaves had always been used in Rome, but there was a sharp increase in their numbers after the 2nd century BC. Slaves could be obtained as prisoners of war or through trade outside of Roman territory. Parents also had the right to sell their children as slaves to pay off debts.

Homebred slaves eventually outnumbered those who had been free before and were enslaved. Therefore, slaves became expensive and unprofitable to use in unskilled labor, and he was eventually replaced by free labor in mines and other industry. Indeed, slaves were employed in almost every form of skilled and unskilled labor, and performed the "overwhelming" amount of work on mining, manufacture, and private labor. The state owned slaves too, for the purpose of maintaining public works such as roads and aqueducts, but was limited by the practice of contracting out public enterprises.

The agricultural labor force was far more complex, with farming estates worked wholly by slaves as well as those owned by peasants or leased out to tenants.

Treatment of slaves greatly varied. Harsh treatment was usually restrained, as he doing the punishing had to keep in mind he was damaging his own "investment." Treatment was typically more brutal in agriculture, mining, and factories, where slaves might work seven days weekly without holiday. Evidence exists to indicate that slaves were worked in chain gangs and locked away at night, particularly in Southern Italy and Sicily. Slaves were usually branded or wore inscribed metal collars, lessening the chance of escape. A large number of slaves, however, worked as doctors, architects, and teachers, amassing large fortunes.

Slaves became free men (liberati) if their emancipation was granted by their master or if they could raise up enough money to buy their freedom themselves. Formal freeing also granted a Roman citizenship and took place before a magistrate. Clients were freedmen owing legally binding services to a patron, and freedmen became clients automatically. Freedmen were not eligible for office, but their children - also citizens - were.

The more informal act of manumission did not grant citizenship, and the former slaves property returned to the owner after death. Manumission was relatively frequent, so efficient labor was practiced to gain freedom.

Most slave revolts occurred during the republic, and three great ones, in particular, towards the end: two in Sicily (135-132 BC) and that of Sparticus (73-71 BC). During imperial times slaves were apparently not apt to violent acts against owners or rebellion.

Documents on Greek Slavery, c. 750 - 330 BCE

Hesiod

Works and Days, c. 750 BCE

First of all, get a house, and a woman and an ox for the plough--a slave woman and not a wife, to follow the oxen as well--and make everything ready at home, so that you may not have to ask of another, and he refuse you, and so, because you are in lack, the season pass by and your work come to nothing.

Strabo

Geographia, [written c. 20 A.D.], circa 550 BCE

And the temple of Aphrodite [at Corinth] was so rich that it owned more than a thousand temple slaves---prostitutes---whom both free men and women had dedicated to the goddess. And therefore it was also on account of these temple-prostitutes that the city was crowded with people and grew rich; for instance, the ship captains freely squandered their money, and hence the proverb, "Not for every man is the voyage to Corinth."

Antiphon

On the Choreutes, c. 430 BCE

So powerful is the compulsion of the law, that even if a man slays one who is his own chattel [i.e., his slave] and who has none to avenge him, his fear of the ordinances of god and of man causes him to purify himself and withhold himself from those places prescribed by law, in the hope that by so doing he will best avoid disaster.

Demosthenes

Against Timocrates. c. 350 BCE

If, gentlemen of the jury, you will turn over in your minds the question what is the difference between being a slave and being a free man, you will find that the biggest difference is that the body of a slave is made responsible for all his misdeeds, whereas corporal punishment is the last penalty to inflict on a free man.

Aristotle

The Politics - On Slavery, c. 330 BCE

Let us first speak of master and slave, looking to the needs of practical life and also seeking to attain some better theory of their relation than exists at present....Property is a part of the household, and the art of acquiring property is a part of the art of managing the household; for no man can live well, or indeed live at all, unless he be provided with necessaries. And so, in the arrangement of the family, a slave is a living possession, and property a number of such instruments; and the slave is himself an instrument which takes precedence of all other instruments.....The master is only the master of the slave; he does not belong to him, whereas the slave is not only the slave of his master, but wholly belongs to him. Hence we see what is the nature and office of a slave; he who is by nature not his own but another's man, is by nature a slave; and he may be said to be another's man who, being a human being, is also a possession. And a possession may be defined as an instrument of action, separable from the possessor.

But is there any one thus intended by nature to be a slave, and for whom such a condition is expedient and right, or rather is not all slavery a violation of nature? There is no difficulty in answering this question, on grounds both of reason and of fact. For that some should rule and others be ruled is a thing not only necessary, but expedient; from the hour of their birth, some are marked out for subjection, others for rule....Again, the male is by nature superior, and the female inferior; and the one rules, and the other is ruled; this principle, of necessity, extends to all mankind.

Where then there is such a difference as that between soul and body, or between men and animals (as in the case of those whose business is to use their body, and who can do nothing better), the lower sort are by nature slaves, and it is better for them as for all inferiors that they should be under the rule of a master. For he who can be, and therefore is, another's and he who participates in rational principle enough to apprehend, but not to have, such a principle, is a slave by nature. Whereas the lower animals cannot even apprehend a principle; they obey their instincts. And indeed the use made of slaves and of tame animals is not very different; for both with their bodies minister to the needs of life. Nature would like to distinguish between the bodies of freemen and slaves, making the one

strong for servile labor, the other upright, and although useless for such services, useful for political life in the arts both of war and peace. But the opposite often happens---that some have the souls and others have the bodies of free men. And doubtless if men differed from one another in the mere forms of their bodies as much as the statues of the gods do from men, all would acknowledge that the inferior class should be slaves of the superior. It is clear, then, that some men are by nature free, and others slaves, and that for these latter slavery is both expedient and right.

There is a slave or slavery by law as well as by nature. The law of which I speak is a sort of convention---the law by which whatever is taken in war is supposed to belong to the victors. But this right many jurists impeach, as they would an orator who brought forward an unconstitutional measure: they detest the notion that, because one man has the power of doing violence and is superior in brute strength, another shall be his slave and subject. Even among philosophers there is a difference of opinion. The origin of the dispute, and what makes the views invade each other's territory, is as follows: in some sense virtue, when furnished with means, has actually the greatest power of exercising force; and as superior power is only found where there is superior excellence of some kind, power seems to imply virtue, and the dispute to be simply one about justice (for it is due to one party identifying justice with goodwill while the other identifies it with the mere rule of the stronger). If these views are thus set out separately, the other views have no force or plausibility against the view that the superior in virtue ought to rule, or be master.

Others, clinging, as they think, simply to a principle of justice (for law and custom are a sort of justice), assume that slavery in accordance with the custom of war is justified by law, but at the same moment they deny this. For what if the cause of the war be unjust? And again, no one would ever say he is a slave who is unworthy to be a slave. Were this the case, men of the highest rank would be slaves and the children of slaves if they or their parents chance to have been taken captive and sold. Wherefore Hellenes do not like to call Hellenes slaves, but confine the term to barbarians. Yet, in using this language, they really mean the natural slave of whom we spoke at first; for it must be admitted that some are slaves everywhere, others nowhere. The same principle applies to nobility. Hellenes regard themselves as noble everywhere, and not only in their own country, but they deem the barbarians noble only when at home, thereby implying that there are two sorts of nobility and freedom, the one absolute, the other relative.

Daily Life in Ancient Rome IV

Naming a Roman Baby

Far more important to the Romans than the day of birth of a child, the dies lustricus, they day when the baby was to be named, was a joyous occasion. The custom of handing down names to children was of great importance to Romans and their families.

The praenomen was the given first name. In 100 BC there were only about 18 known to be commonly used. The gentile second name, or nomen, referred to the gens, or clan, of the child's family. The cognomen was the third name given the newborn, referring to the family branch. This was originally utilized as a nickname (e.g., Scipio Africanus, in reference to his conquest of Hannibal at Zama).

On the day of dies lustricus, crepundia, or tiny metal trinkets, were strung around the baby's neck by the present guests. The clinking noise they made amused the child, similar to a rattle. In addition, on this day the child, male or female, was given a bulla. This was an elaborate locket made of gold for the wealthy and leather for the poor. It contained charms to ward off the power of the evil numina, and was presented to the child on the day of birth. A boy removed his bulla only after he received his toga virilis, signifying his Roman citizenship. A girl only removed hers on her wedding day.

Marriage

Roman marriage was monogamous. Both parties involved must have been citizens or granted the right of conubium (the right to wed). The minimal legal age was 12 for females and 14 for males, but in reality most of the time people were slightly older.

In early Rome a formal betrothal (sponsalia) was made prior to the wedding. Some children were betrothed by their fathers. Until 455 BC, patricians could not web plebeians, and a free person could not wed a former slave. Later, Augustus legalized that practice as well, except for the senators.

Roman marriage was private, resting on the consent of the two partners. Two people simply lived together with hopes for a lasting union. In fact, while there was a ceremony, there was no prescribed formula or contract, except maybe for the dowry. The wedding ceremony itself held no legal value but to indicate a marriage. The law was primarily concerned with the legitimacy of children, however, and therefore a marriage needed to be made known. Even the dowry was a moral - not legal - indication of the union.

In Early Rome a woman passed into her husbands control and marriage was in manu mariti. However, by the end of the republic, a woman usually remained in her father's power as long as she lived, remaining unintegrated into her husband's family. During the empire, marriage become unpopular and birth rates fell, so Augustus granted special privileges to parents of three or more children.

Confarratio was the oldest and most sacred form of marriage, from which divorce was impossible. It was limited to certain priesthoods, and at the ceremony the Flamen Dialis and Pontifex Maximus were present. A grain cake also had some significance. However, the vast majority of marriage rituals occurred in June and did include special customs, such as sacrifices and wedding feasts.

There was no ban or social stigma on divorce, except for that only a the husband could divorce the wife for adultery - not vice versa. The right of men to slaves and mistresses was taken for granted. It was also acceptable to divorce someone because of infertility. By the late republic, anyone could divorce without giving a reason, so long as he or she shouted "I divorce you!" three times at his or her spouse and there was a witness present.

Death

There was a range of views concerning the existence of an afterlife in Ancient Rome, as well as concerning what it was like. Such feelings often went with the time period, and are reflected, for example, in a major shift from cremation to inhumation (burial) as the chief method of burial around the 3rd century, possibly reflecting a heightened belief in the afterlife as a result of Oriental cults and Neoplatonism, or simply a desire to build gaudy burial monuments associated with some inhumations.

There was no generally accepted view of the afterlife, but many felt that the dead, living in their tombs, could influence the fortunes of the living in vague, undefined ways. Therefore, just to be safe, gifts and offerings were made to the deceased, and celebrations were held at tombs. There was a wide range of superstitious practice associated with burial. Evidence has been found of tombs being weighted down and bodies being decapitated for the purpose of preventing them from haunting the world of the living. Souls were thought to go the underworld (not Heaven or Hell) unless denied entrance by the gods and being forced to wander in limbo for eternity.

Funerals were generally organized by professional undertakers who provided mourning women, musicians, and sometimes dancers and mimes. For the poor, funerals were usually simple, but for the wealthy and especially the illustrious, the funeral was fantastic. Marked a procession through the streets of Rome, mourners paused in front of the forum for a ceremony of laudatio, where the deceased was displayed, normally upright, and a eulogy was read (the laudatio funebris). During the republic and earlier empire part of the procession was made up of the deceased's family, all wearing masks of his ancestors. Those wearing masks rode in chariots as a prominent part of the procession. This right, however, was restricted to those families who had held curule magistracies. The procession continued outside the city to the site of the burial or cremation.

Romans either buried (inhumation) or cremated their dead. Cremation had replaced inhumation as the chief burial rite until about the mid 3rd century, when inhumation took over again. Burials took place outside of towns, often roads, except in the case of young children. They were buried near their houses.

If cremation was the preferred method, the dead was cremated on a pyre, either at a special part of the cemetery (ustrinum) or at their already-dug grave, the bustum. Gifts and personal belongings were also often burned with the dead, after which the ashes were placed in some sort of container (an urn, a cloth bag, a gold casket, marble chest, some sort of pottery, glass, or metal). Jews and Christian objected to cremation, which died out in the fifth century.

In the case of inhumation, bodies were somehow protected, whether by a sack or shroud for the poor or by a wood, lead, stone, or otherwise manufactured coffin for the wealthy. Embalming bodies with gypsum plaster was also a common practice. Christian burials were usually oriented east-west.

Many graves were marked by tombstones, although these varied enormously. Many of them had inscriptions, while many more were marked with wood and quickly degenerated. Tombs of various shapes and sizes have been found, some containing the remains of several deceased. Some Romans also constructed hug mausoleums for themselves, such as the emperor Hadrian and the pyramid shaped tomb of Cestius.

Sometimes, although not often, the deceased seemed to have been granted a sort of "hero" status, almost being treated like a god after death. The deceased would occupy a temple, tomb, or mausoleum where the public could enter - seemingly a forerunning tradition to the Christian beliefs in the powers and sanctity of martyr's tombs.

Rock-cut tombs and catacombs have been found in Rome, Sicily, Malta, and North Africa.

Roman funeral clubs often deposited cremated remains in a collective tomb, called a columbarium, or "dove cote," each urn receiving a respective nidus, or "pigeon hole."

Pagan burials often included goods which might come in handy in the afterlife. The type of good was generally dependent on the wealth of the deceased's family. For the rich, vessels of food and drink, a gold ring, and various perfumes, such as frankincense and myrrh, could all be buried with the departed. A great number of burials have a gold coin in the mouth, the legendary fee of the underworld ferryman Charon. Other burial goods which have been found include boots, shoes, and lamps. It is thought these items were meant to help the departed on his or her journey through the underworld.

Daily Life in Ancient Rome III

Men's Apparel

Roman fashions did not change much over the centuries, but they did vary regionally. In general, children wore smaller versions of adult clothing.

The toga was the formal garment of a male citizen, originally worn alone but later donned draped over a tunic. It was an expensive, fine piece of fabric of heavy white wool. It required frequent cleaning. It was roughly semi-circular, approximately 18 feet wide and 7 feet deep. It was draped in a complicated manner over a body. Several emperors had to issue decrees ordering its use on public occasions.

The oldest representations of togas date toward the later republic and show the toga exigua, a short, simple version of the garment. Toward the end of the republic, the design became more complex, incorporating the sinus (drapes falling from the left shoulder to the right thigh, utilized as a pocket or brought up over the right shoulder as a sling) and the umbo (a projecting mass of folds in front of the body able to pulled up over the head to form a hood.)

Different types of togas were worn by people of different social rank:

* Toga Praetexta: Characterized by a purple stripe, worn by curule magistrates as well as boys until the age of 15 or 16.

* Toga Virilis: The plain toga of a typical citizen. Worn by boys after age 15 or 16.

* Toga Picta: A crimson toga embroidered with gold, donned by victorious generals in triumphal processions and the emperors.

* Toga Candida: A toga given a shiny, glossy look by rubbing it with chalk, worn by people running for public office.

* Toga Pulla: Made of natural black wool and worn in funerals.

Senatorial togas had a large purple stripe (latus clavus). Equestrians wore a toga with a narrow purple stripe (clavus angustus).

The basic garment of a Roman male, however, was the short-sleeved tunic, worn tied around the waist with a belt. It was normally worn indoors, as well as by slaves and children. Long tunics with sleeves were considered effeminate. Extra tunics were worn in colder weather. Senators and equestrians wore tunics with broad and narrow purple stripes, respectively, running from soldier to hip on both sides. Tunics worn by charioteers were dyed the color of their faction.

The dalmatic (dalmatica) was originally a short-sleeved or sleeveless tunic, but by the empire it had long sleeves. It was made of wool, linen, or silk, and worn by people in high position and later as an ecclesiastical garment.

Some calvarymen and soldiers wore trousers, but in general it was thought that long woolen trousers (braca) were uncouth, worn by barbarians outside the empire.

Capes and cloaks are also known to exist, made from either wool or leather, sometimes with hoods, such as the palla, lacerna, paenula, caracallus, cucullus, sagnum, and byrrus.

Beards were fashionable in early Rome, but did not become popular again until the time of Hadrian. There were many barbers.

Women's Apparel

Women originally wore togas like the men, but later this practice was confined to prostitutes and women of ill repute. Therefore, women wore tunics. Married women wore a stola over the tunic, a long, full dress gathered up by a high belt with a colored border around the neck. It could also gathered at the shoulder with a brooch, and was considered the main outergarment of a Roman woman.

Wealthy women wore clothes of rich colors and fine materials, such as muslin and silks. Some areas also saw women wearing close fitting bonnets and hair nets. Women also wore a palla, a long shawl made of woolen goods for outdoor wear.

As fair as their hair goes, women could do anything! Hair could be dyed golden red or black. the hairdresser could skillfully use a curling iron for ringlets and crude scissors. She could also use oils and tonics to hurry growth and add both softness and luster. In the late 1st century and early 2nd century high-piled hairstyles of curls and plaits became popular. By the mid 2nd century, less elaborate plaits and waives were adapted. Hair was usually styled at home by slaves. Dyes were used, and blond hair was fashionable. Black hair wigs were imported from India and blond ones from Germany.

In terms of makeup, a woman's face powder was a mixture of powdered chalk and white lead. Rouge for cheeks and lips was acher or the lees of wine. Eyebrows and eyelashes were blackened with ashes or powdered antimony, and teeth glistened with enamel. A lady chose her jewels, a diadem of precious stones for the hair, earrings, at least one necklace, rings for her fingers, bracelets for her wrists, and circlets for her ankles.

A woman was typically accompanied by two slaves, one with a parasol.

Footwear

Various types of leather shoes and boots were worn, from heavy hobnailed varieties to light sandals and slippers. A carlatina was a sandal made from one piece of leather with a soft sole and openwork upper fastened by a lace. A soccus has a sole without hobnails and a separate leather upper. A calceus was a hobnailed shoe secured by laces. A solea was a simple sandal with a thong between the toes and a hobnailed sole. A caliga, worn by soldiers, was a heavy sandal with a hobnailed sole and separate leather upper fastened by thongs (the emperor Caligula's name means little boots). Shoes could also be made of wood.

Women typically wore sandals similar to those of men, but they were of softer, finer leather. Winter shoes were often cork-soled. Sometimes the soles were thickened to provide the illusion of height. Women did not wear stockings, but rather strips of woolen cloth wrapped around their legs if needed.

Daily Life in Ancient Rome II

The Calendar

Knowledge of the Roman calendar comes to us from literary references and inscribed calendars which have been found previously (fasti).

The original Roman calendar was originally introduced in the 7th century BC, containing ten months (March - December) and 304 days. Two more months, January and February, were probably added in the 6th century BC. January became the first month in 153 BC.

By the time Caesar reformed the calendar, a year was 355 days, made up of 12 months, four of which contained 31 days (March, May, July, and October). February had 28 days and the remaining months each had 29. The derivation of the names of the months is as follows:

* January: Named after Janus, god of gates and doors. On January first, Romans offered sacrifices to Janus so that he would bless the new year.

* February: Derived from Latin februa, signifying festivals of purification celebrated in Rome this month. Legend holds that King Numa Pompilus added this month in 425 BC. It was originally 29 days but one of those days was transferred to August.

* March: The Roman war god Mars.

* April: Latin, aperire, meaning to open, probably because it is the season during which buds start to open.

* June: Uncertain. It could be derived from the Latin goddess Juno, or the Junius clan of Ancient Rome. The Latin juniores means "youth," and the month June may contrast the month May, which is dedicated to maiores, or age.

* August: Named after emperor Augustus, due to many important events in his life happening in this month.

* September - December: The Latin septem, octem, novem, decem, meaning seven, eight, nine, and ten, in reference to the number of each month in the year. June was originally Quintilus (five) and August sextus (six).

The pontiffs of Ancient Rome generally intercalated days to the calendar, but they did so improperly, so that by the time of Julius Caesar, the calendar was three months off. To make up for this, Caesar extended the year 46 BC to 445 days. His reformed version of the calendar contained 12 months with the present amount of days and a leap year. However, his calendar was 11 minutes longer than a true solar year.

The modern Gregorian calendar was developed by Pope Gregory XIII during 1582. That year, ten days were scrapped from the calendar, and the Pope ordered henceforth three days be omitted from the calendar every 400 years.

Roman calendars only had three dates with separate names: the Kalends (kalendae), or 1st day of every month, the Ides, usually the 13th of a month but for three months the 15th, and the Nones (Nonae), or ninth day before the Ides. Romans would indicate the date by relating how many days it was before one of the dates mentioned above, unless it was the day before, in which case the term pridie was used.

A market day occurred every eight days, and was called a nundina. There was no seven day period, or work weed, except in the east, where some days were named after planets. The first reference to a seven day week is found during the reign of Augustus, and was gradually adopted throughout the empire. The days were as follows: Dies Lunae (Monday), Dies Martis (Tuesday), Dies Mercuri (Wednesday), Dies Jovis (Thursday), Dies Veneris (Friday), Dies Saturnae (Saturday), and Dies Solis (Sunday).

Roman Festivals

Feriae (dies ferialis) were holidays for visiting temples and making sacrifices to the gods. At the same time, the term was used for public festivals and private celebrations, such as birthdays.

Festivals often included additional rituals to what was normally practiced, and if not celebrated correctly, the gods could become angry and cease their benevolence. Therefore, there were important ceremonies conducted by public officials during festivals, as well as private prayer and sacrifice.

Many festivals were not celebrated by the state, but rather as public holidays on which only work sanctioned by the pontiff was permitted. Much work was likely done anyway, however, and only the especially pious went to the temples rather than stay at home. Legally, citizens were obliged not to work, but they were not legally obliged to worship.

The number of Roman holidays was originally few in number, but some of the oldest and most time honored survived untilt the end of the republic, preserving the memory of an ancient agrarian society. So many festivals were added that the number of festivals eventually outnumbered the number of working days. However, since there was no weekend or rest day set aside, the impact was not as great as it might seem.

There was often no distinction between religious and secular activities, so that festivals were often events of merry making. Originally "feast days," on holidays the local aristocracy would pay for meals for the poor. Later, this custom ended and the types of festivals were divided into three categories: feriae stativae, annual festivals which occurred on fixed days, feriae conceptivae, festivals whose dates were set yearly by priests or magistrates, and feriae imperativae, irregular holidays proclaimed by consuls, praetors, or dictators to celebrate military victories.

The games, ludi, had a religious element to them during early Rome in honor of Jupiter Optimus Maximus. This ended after 220 BC, and while other types of festivals, such as chariot races, still maintained a religious facet, the games did not. Much festival celebration was geographically located to Rome and its vicinity. Toward the end of the empire, many Roman holidays found there way into Christianity, such as the Lupercalia, which became the Feast of the Purification of the Saint Mary, and, most importantly, the birth of the sun god Sol on December 25th.

Among the more important Roman festivals were the Saturnalia, Lupercalia, Equiria, and the Secular Games.

The Saturnalia was held in December between the 17th and 23rd, during the winter solstice. During the festival, masters and slaves would trade places, gifts were exchanged, and business activities suspended. The Lupercalia honored Lupercus, a pastoral god of the early Italians, and was celebrated at the cave of the Lupercal on the Palatine Hill, where Romulus and Remus were supposedly found by the shepherd Faustilus and taken home to his wife, Acca Lorentia. The Equiria was held in honor of Mars on February 27 and March 14, when new military campaigns were traditionally prepared. Horse races in the Campus Martius notably marked the celebration. Finally, the Secular Games were held irregularly to usher in "new ages," normally every century or so, with games and sacrifices. Later, the celebration of this festival was often neglected.

Time-Telling Devices

To the Romans, there was always twelve hours of day and twelve hours of night, so that the day and night periods of a Roman day varied, unless there was an equinox. A daylight hour in midwinter would be equivalent to about 45 minutes, where as a daylight hour in midsummer would be almost an hour and a half. The length of each hour also varied with latitude.

Midnight was always the sixth hour of night, as noon was always the sixth hour of day. The abbreviations A.M. and P.M. were first used by the Romans as abbreviations for the term ante meridiem and post meridiem, or, before midday and after midday, respectively.

Clocks (horologia) were used, either by means of shadow or water. Sundials (solaria) were introduced around 300 BC. Relying on sunshine and needing a different scaler at different latitudes, as well as needing seasonal correction, made the sundial the inferior to the water clocks of the day, clepsydrae. These often also needed seasonal adjustment, but could be used at night, especially in military camps to measure the four watches of the Roman night. A basic water clock consisted of a vessel filled with orifices that, when filled with water, measured the time as it emptied. More elaborate clocks had a 24 hour water supply and worked by means of mechanism.

Outstanding examples of each device are the Horologian of Andronicus, a water clock erected in Athens in the 2nd half of the 1st century BC, and the solar clock of Augustus, build in the Campus Martius in 9 BC and using an Egyptian obelisk as its gnomon.

Daily Life in Ancient Rome

From the grandest villa to the vilest tenements, the living residences of Ancient Rome continue to strike a sense of wonder into the hearts of those who lay eyes upon them. Over the centuries, Roman houses developed into a unique and functional style all their own.

Town Houses

The Roman town house, or domus, was a single family house. The most popular design for this structure was based around the atrium, which had its roots in early Etruscan homes. These houses had a single main room with many small rooms opposite the entrance, or, in some cases, a set of small rooms around a courtyard, from which the atrium developed.

Early Pompeiian houses were built around an atrium, or a large, open main hall. Later, the compluvium was added, a sloped hole in the room through which to filter in light and air. By the 2nd century, an impluvium had been developed. This was a type of hole in the floor of the house which collected rainwater that fell through the compluvium.

By the late 2nd century BC, the design had been amended, adding many smaller rooms, a peristyle and/or courtyard, and sometimes baths. There was usually only one door and one or two windows which faced the street.

The size of a house was a reflection of the wealth of the owner. A nicer house might have the atrium, which served as a type of reception hall/living room, leading into the tablinum, where the family records (tabulae) and portraits of ancestors (imagines) would be kept. Other rooms could include cubiculi (bedrooms), a triclinia (dining room), oeci (reception rooms), a kitchen, and a lavatory. The wealthy might also have accommodations for baths or a library.

Another modified style is the strip house, especially common in the northwest provinces. In a strip house, a long side would be built facing the street, while one or more wings extended behind. Where frontage was expensive, these types of houses may have been built with one narrow end facing the street which usually acted as a shop.

Other variations on the design in general are an indicator of the wealth of the owner, once again, and the building materials available. Houses were generally built with wattle or daub infill set on foundations of low stone. Mud brick was also commonly used. Interior decorations, which were often imported, were an even more reliable indicator on the wealth of the owner. Houses were usually painted red towards the ground and white above. A few have been found with additional stories and cellars.

Apartments

By the end of the 1st century BC, a growing pressure for land in many larger, overpopulated cities gave rise to the insula, or apartment. The term insula had originally been applied to rectangularly shaped town building plots. 6-8 apartment blocks could occupy one insula, and were usually designed around an open courtyard. However, with most apartment blocks being three stories high, at least, this simply became a light well. Shops usually fronted the streets at ground level.

Despite variations in quality and allegations of questionable safety and sanitation, the apartment block became the most common form of Roman housing, as families began moving into rented spaces owned by landlords.

Most apartment blocks were made with timber and mud brick, making them prone to fire and collapse. The upper floors were without heating or running water and only sometimes had lavatories. Later designs seemed to have been built more safely, with fired brick and concrete, but there were no other improvements as far as sanitation and standard of living.

Augustus limited the height of apartments to 60 Roman feet, a maximum of five stories. Later, Nero imposed fire regulations.

Apartments outnumbered domus style town houses more than 25 to 1 in the fourth century, remaining the main type of housing until the end of the empire.

Shops

Shops were a common feature fronting Roman streets, occupying the front portion of many houses and apartment blocks. In some cases, it seems as though the shops were deliberately designed into the buildings, but in many others they were obviously added later. Most were single room tabernae, but a large number also had rooms in the back for storage and/or production, in addition to a mezzanine floor for storage and living quarters.

Many shops had large masonry counters with ceramic jars built into them, mouths flush with the counter. These conveniences were used to serve wine and food to customers.

Some shops sold imported goods, while others, like bakeries, would make their wares onsite. During the empire, many shops were built in planned, concentrated markets known as macella, while the town forum also acted as a focal point for business. Other types of shops, such as inns and brothels, were common, but unrecognizable unless specifically built for the purpose

Villas

During the middle/late republic, a villa rustica was the term applied to a farmstead attached to an estate, complete with accommodations for the owner should he choose to visit. By the 2nd century BC the term was also used for large country homes and retreats, and soon, the meanings became indistinguishable. Many villas probably performed both duties, gradually passing from owner to owner over time.

A villa's wealthy and luxurious feel differentiated it from typical farmsteads. In the widest sense of the term, a villa was a farmhouse whose Romanized architecture separated it from normal farmsteads, ranging in size from modest to mansion. Romans themselves were not consistent with the use of the term, and there are a great number of borderline cases.

In the eastern provinces, we are unsure exactly what the status and role of the villa was, but during the empire the villa developed throughout Africa, Spain, Gaul, Britain, Germany, and the Danube province. A villa was generally the product of successful farming, and while original funds may have been supplied from elsewhere, maintenance funding came from farming. Villa farm operations were generally dependent on a relatively local market, such as a town or city.

A villa together with the land (ager) it was built on and worked was known as a fundus, or estate. Some villas may have been set aside for important officials and imperial farming operations. Different varieties of the villa developed over the years based on geographical location. The villa suburbana was a farming homestead built on the outskirts of a town in order to farm adjacent land, and was very similar to the domus style town houses. During the republic, the villa rustica developed into a new, peristyle villa, built on a courtyard/garden with colonnaded porticos on all sides. Some were very large and complex. Seaside luxury villas, villae maritimae, were also popular for the wealthy and emperors.

The basic peristyle villa spread from Italy during the 1st century BC, and logically remains have been found of villas in provinces conquered early in the empire, such as Spain. Contravertly, villas are scarce in Britain until the 2nd century AD. Regional differences in villas reflected wealth and tastes of the owner.

The most simple villas are native cottage types resembling farm homesteads. These were usually augmented by adding a corridor verandah, and then a wing at either end. In outlying provinces, the courtyard villa developed into as an addition to the wings and corridor. These had buildings on one-to-four sides of a courtyard resembling a farmyard more than a garden. In villas operated by the more wealthy, a second courtyard was often built to separate the agricultural and residential functions of the villa.

A late development of the northern villas, like those found in the Netherlands and Britain, is an aisled building. This addition was rectangularly shaped, with two rows of posts dividing the inside into a nave and two aisles. Advanced models of this type contain mosaics, fresco, hypocaust heating, and baths, although many still maintained and agricultural or industrial use.

Rooms within a villa are similar to those in town house, though many have several large rooms with unknown functions. These may have served as guest accommodations, servant and slave quarters, or simply storage.