THE ROMAN CULTURE

SSWH3 The student will examine the political, philosophical, and cultural interaction of classical mediterranean societies from 700 bce to 400 ce.

c. Analyze the contributions of Hellenistic and Roman culture; include law, gender, and science.

STRUCTURE OF THE REPUBLIC

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• Patricians= landholding upper class

• Plebeians= farmers, merchants, artisans, traders

• Senate= governing body

• Consuls= two patricians• Dictator= assigned to

be in charge in the event of a war for six months

Patricians

Plebeians

PATRICIANS• Land holding upper class.• The most prosperous families in Rome.• The ruling class.• The wealthy citizens.• Overthrew the Etrucans and claimed Rome to be a Republic.

THE PLEBIAN SOCIAL CLASS

• Were the lower class.• The common-folk.• In between Patricians

and the slaves.• The vast majority of

society.• Usually poor.• Would sell themselves

and their children into slavery.

THE PLEBIAN SOCIAL CLASS

• Illegal for a Pleb to marry a Patrician. • Plebs were considered an

addition to the "real" roman life-styles by the citizens of Rome.• Jobs: farming, military,

trading, prostitution, politics, arts, gladiator/ charioteer, fireman, fishing, management, construction, religion.

PLEBEIANS• Were tradesmen• Lived in apartments

called flats above or behind shops.

• The rich Plebian flats had running water.

• Were sanitary and clean.

• Poor flats did not have running water, toilets, or sewage systems.

• Many of the flats were built with the wood or timber

THE ROMAN FAMILY• Family was the basic social unit in

Rome• Paterfamilias- dominant male• Extended family households• Upperclass children learned to read,

including Greek, even girls• Slaves = teachers• Boys learned: Reading, writing, moral

principles, law and physical training• Girls: taught by private tutors or sent

to private schools• No secondary schools for girls• 12 to marry (girls), 14 the norm• Men married later• Arranged marriages• Divorce introduced in 3rd century

b.c.e.

THE ROMAN FAMILY2nd century a.d changes:

• Paterfamilias no longer had absolute authority over children and wife.

• Women no longer required to have guardians.

• Women could: own, inherit, and sell property.

• Not segregated from men w/in home.

• Viewed as enjoyable company and center of househod social life.

• Women could attend races, theater, and events in amphitheater.

• Could not participate in politics

DID YOU KNOW THAT…• The Romans took

baths?• Baths were used

for entertainment and healing purposes?

• Roman men bathed in wine and women bathed milk?

• It required 500 donkeys to supply the milk for Emperor Nero’s wife to bathe!

SLAVERY• Slavery common = war

captives• Used as: tutors,

musicians, doctors, artists, and teachers

• All nationalitites used as: household workers, farmed estates, built roads and public buildings.

• Slave revolts happened• Spartacus led most

famous slave revolt, w/70,000 slaves.

• 71 b.c.e. Spartacus was captured and killed.

• 6,000 followers crucified.

Roman mosaic from Dougga, Tunisia 2nd century a.d.

ECONOMICS

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• Conquests brought much wealth to Rome

• Wealthy families bought huge estates called latifundia.

• Romans forced the people they conquered to work as slaves on the latifundia Roman Slaves

ECONOMICS

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• Slave labor hurt the small farmers b/c:• it cost more to produce

food• Overproduction brought

prices down• Results:

• Farmers fell into debt• sold their land• moved to the city looking

for work• gap between rich and

poor widens=riots and chaos

Roman Slaves

WHY IS ANCIENT ROME SO IMPORTANT TO WORLD HISTORY?

• The Romans did not necessarily create and invent everything that they are commonly given credit for.

• What the Romans were best at was taking something (like the Etruscan arch),

• adapting it, and putting it to great use (such as in the construction of aqueducts).

• Administration of a vast empire

• Christianity• Architecture• Engineering• Historians• Jewish Diaspora• Literature• Roman law• Romance languages• Transmission of

Greek (Hellenistic) culture

WHY IS ANCIENT ROME SO IMPORTANT TO WORLD HISTORY?

GLADIATORS

THE LIFE OF THE GLADIATOR• Was the fighting as

lawless as it has been portrayed to be?

• The crowds have been shown to be desperate for blood and the gladiators desperate to survive

• But the reality was quite different

• this would not have been a profitable business if the fights were staged the way they were in the movies

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE GAMES AT THIS TIME

• The gladiatorial combat was considered a religious events

• It was considered morally appropriate for young children to watch

• Games promoted honor, bravery and fearlessness in the face of death

• This type of entertainment was considered intellectual

• as opposed to going to other entertainments

NEW RESEARCH ON GLADIATORIAL GAMES REVEALS

• Referees were posted in the arena to make sure of a fair fight. • Unbeatable odds would not have been a good show for the crowd• Food and healthcare was provided

NEW RESEARCH ON GLADIATORIAL GAMES REVEALS

• a layer of fat over muscle, you stand a better chance of sustaining minor cut wounds

• Training camps were closed

• gladiators spent three years there training and could not leave

• that did not stop women, even ones from good families, from sneaking into the camps

GLADITORIAL GAMES• Games can best be

compared to today’s modern boxing matches

• Well organized, short fights with refs

• Weapon selection and pairing of partners very carefully monitored

• Main difference between this sport and modern boxing is that sometimes the gladiators were fighting for their lives.

• There is a big debate over the “Thumbs Up/Down” usage

• In reality, “Thumbs Up” probably meant “Kill the gladiator!” and “Thumbs Down” meant “Put down your weapon.”

ARCHITECTURE & ENGINEERING

• A large part of Rome’s success was due to the importance placed on building and maintaining the empire’s infrastructure– Aqueducts, bridges,

dams, harbors, roads• Public buildings

– Amphitheaters (e.g., Colosseum), basilicas (oblong halls), government offices, palaces, public baths, theaters, etc.

Saint Mary Major Basilica, Rome

ARCHITECTURE & ENGINEERING

• Architecture–Basic style was

copied from the Greeks–Arch copied

from the Etruscans–Dome–Vault

ART AND LITERATURE

Art• heavily influenced by the Greeks.• Roman sculpture tried to be more

realistic than the Greeks• Would show flaws, Greeks would never

do that

Literature• Virgil• Considered to be the greatest poet of

the Roman Empire• Wrote, Aeneid• Horace• Wrote satires, made fun of human

weakness• Livy• Historian, wrote History of Rome• Work became the standard history of

Rome for a long time.• More interested in the story rather than

the fact.

ROMAN LAW• Started with the Twelve Tables

(450 BCE)• Developed over a thousand years• Public law = Relationship of

citizen to state• Private (civil) law = Relationships

between people• Peoples law (jus gentium)=

Rights of foreigners• Justinian Code (6th century CE)• Encapsulated the previous 1000+

years of Roman law• Still used as the basis of civil law

in many parts of EuropeMarriage laws or a funerary relief

ROMANCE LANGUAGES• Law, medicine, and

science

– Scientists have traditionally used Latin as a “universal language”

– Our scientific names, and most legal and medical terminology, is Latin

• ReligionThe Catholic Church preserved the Latin languageCatholic masses were said in Latin until the 1960s

ROMANCE LANGUAGES• “Romance” meaning “Roman”• developed from Latin

– French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish

• English• Old English was a

Germanic language• William the Conqueror,

of Normandy (in France), brought French (a Romance language) to England in 1066

• Middle English is a mixture of these old Germanic and French languages

• About half of modern English can be traced to Latin

CHRISTIANITY• Christianity started in the

Roman province of Judea• Early Christians, as citizens

of the Roman Empire, could travel freely throughout the empire

• There was a significant number of Christians in Rome by 64 CE, the year Nero blamed them for the fire (ca. 30 years after Jesus died)

• According to tradition, Paul of Tarsus (St. Paul) used his Roman citizenship to have his criminal trial relocated to Rome from Caesarea (in Judea-Palestine) in the 60s CE

CHRISTIANITY• Significant number of

Christians in Rome by 64 CE• the year Nero blamed them for

the fire (ca. 30 years after Jesus died)

• According to tradition, Paul of Tarsus (St. Paul) used his Roman citizenship to have his criminal trial relocated to Rome from Caesarea (in Judea-Palestine) in the 60s CE

CHRISTIANITY

• Christianity finally gained acceptance with the Edict of Milan (313 CE) and Constantine’s conversion

• Future Roman emperors were Christians

• As the Western Roman Empire fell apart, the city became the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church

• The Pope used the imperial title “Pontiff”

• The Church ended up ruling the city of Rome and surrounding areas

• Church used Roman administrative districts, such as dioceses, in its administration

JEWISH DIASPORA

• Judea-Palestina (roughly modern Palestine or Israel) was a Roman province• The Romans put down a

series of uprisings• The future Emperor Titus

destroyed the Second Temple of Jerusalem and carried its spoils to Rome (70 CE) Rome Jewish Ghetto

JEWISH DIASPORA• After the Bar Kokhba

Revolt (132-136 BCE), the Jews were forced to migrate from the area around Jerusalem• Jews were never again a

large presence in Israel-Palestine until the 20th century

Rome Jewish Ghetto

RELIGION

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Greek God Roman God

Zeus-ruler of all gods Jupiter-ruler of all gods

Hera-wife of Zeus, protected marriage

Juno-wife of Jupiter, protected marriage

Poseidon-god of the sea

Neptune-god of the sea

• Romans were polytheistic-they believed in many gods and goddesses

• Many of the gods were adapted from the Greeks

RELIGION• Roman calendar is full

of feasts and celebrations to honor the gods and goddesses

• Temples for worship to ask for divine assistance

Neptune-and-Amphitrite-Roman-mosaic-from-Herculaneum

• Some Early Roman Gods or “Numen”– Bellona Goddess of War– Cardea similar to Artemis, had

power over doorways– Cupid God of love like the Greek

Eros– Dis God of the underworld like the

Greek Hades– Faunus God of fields and shepards

like the Greek Pan – Glaucus God of the sea– Lares God of the household-

represented dead ancestors who protected the family

– Liber God of fertility, identified with Baccus, the god of wine

– Saturn God of agriculture and the Roman like the Greek Cronus

– Vesta Goddess of home and hearth similar to the Greek Hestia

EARLY ROMAN GODS AND GODDESSES

the apotheosis (the transformation into gods) of antoninus pius

MERCURY• God of Motion,

Sleep and Dreams, Commerce and Travelers• Graceful, Clever

and Quick• Greek name is

Hermes• Symbols: Wand,

Winged Sandals and Winged Helmet

VENUS• Goddess of Love and Beauty• Greek name is Aphrodite• Married to Vulcan• Symbols: Dove, Sparrow, Swan and Myrtle

MARS• God of War• Greek name is Ares• Bloody, fiery character – not well liked• Symbols: Vulture, Dog

JUPITER• King of the

Gods/Ruler of the Skies

• Greek name is Zeus

• Married to Juno• Symbols:

Eagle, Shield, Thunderbolt and Oak Tree

SATURN• He was an ancient

Roman god of fertility and agriculture.

• Believed to be the deity who introduced agriculture and with it civilization and government.

• Greek name was Cronus• Symbol: a sickle • Saturn was worshiped in

a winter festival called the Saturnalia and his name is used for the day of the week, Saturday.

NEPTUNE• God of the Sea• Second most powerful God on Mt.Olympus• Greek name is Poseidon• Symbols: Trident, Horse and Bull

PLUTO

• God of the under world and wealth

• Greek name is Hades

• Symbols: Helmet, Metals, Jewels

JUNO

• Queen of the Gods• Goddess of Heaven, Marriage and Childbirth• Greek name is Hera• Married to Jupiter• Symbols: Peacock and Cow

VESTA• Goddess of the Hearth. Protector of the home and the family• Greek name is Hestia• Never married• Symbol: fire

APOLLO

• God of Light and Truth, Healing, Archery, and Music• Greek name is

Apollo• Brother of Diana• Symbols: Crow,

Dolphin, Laurel and Lear

CONCLUSION• The Roman mythology

tells us about what the early Romans thought was important.

• The Romans valued family, beauty, honor, truth, wisdom, wealth, courage and strength.

• They were a people who were building a great city and testing the courage and honor that their ancestors would cherish.

SSWH3 The student will examine the political, philosophical, and cultural interaction of classical mediterranean societies from 700 bce to 400 ce.c. Analyze the contributions of Hellenistic and Roman culture; include law, gender, and science. • List five facts that will help you remember this lesson:

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