69 Living in Ancient Rome

97 Pages·2011·22.29 MB·English

L I V I N G I N …
NCIENT
A
OME
R
L I V I N G I N …
NCIENT
A
OME
R
Series consultant editor: Norman Bancroft Hunt
LIVING IN ANCIENT ROME
Text and design © 2009 Thalamus Publishing
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any
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or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information contact:
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bancroft-Hunt, Norman.
Living in ancient Rome / Norman Bancroft-Hunt. — 1st ed.
p. cm. — (Living in the ancient world)
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-8160-6340-6
1. Rome—Civilization—Juvenile literature. I.Title.
DG77.B33 2008
937--dc22
2008009490
Chelsea House books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk quantities for
businesses, associations, institutions or sales promotions. Please call our Special Sales Department in
New York at [phone] or [phone].
You can find Chelsea House on the World Wide Web at http://www.chelseahouse.com
For Thalamus Publishing
Series consultant editor: Norman Bancroft Hunt
Contributors: Nick Constable, Roger Kean,Angus Konstam,Warren Lapworth
Project editor:Warren Lapworth
Maps and design: Roger Kean
Printed and bound in China
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is printed on acid-free paper
Picture acknowledgments
All illustrations by Oliver Frey except for – Jean-Claude Golvin: 58 (below), 67 (above); John James/Temple Rogers: 88-89 (left); Roger
Kean/Thalamus: 14–15 (all), 52 (all), 53 (below), 65, 74 (above), 75 (with Oliver Frey), 91 (above), 92 (inset); Mike White/Temple Rogers: 29
(panel, both), 38, 43 (top), 48, 51, 53 (top), 54–55, 56–57 (below), 62–63, 67 (below), 72, 82.
Photographs – Corbis: 8–9;Araldo de Luca/Corbis: 38, 46–47, 50, 51, 75, 93 (all); Mimmo Jodice/Corbis: 33 (below right), 39 (center);
Roger Kean/Thalamus: 2, 12 (both), 29 (above), 34-35 (center), 48, 49, 61, 65, 74 (below), 77.
CONTENTS
Introduction Chapter 3: Economy and Roman Law
Place in History 6 The Amazing Roman Road Network 61
What Rome Did for Us 7 Along a Roman Road 62
Italy’s Landscape and Climate 8 Military and Merchant Shipping 64
A Brief History of Rome, 753 BCE–CE 476 10 Ports and Warehousing 66
Table of Major Dates 14 Money, Banking, and Treasuries 68
The Roman Legal System 70
Chapter 1:The Roman Family at Home Crime and Punishment 72
The Paterfamilias and Marriage 16 The Roman Water Supply 74
Children in the Roman Home 18
Education for the Wealthy and the Middle Classes 20 Chapter 4: Religion and Relaxation
Roman Books and Literature 22 Spirits, Deities, and a State Religion 76
Medicine, Illness, and Death 24 Gods and Goddesses 78
A Roman Domus 26 The Major Religious Festivals 80
The Matron’s Role and Slaves 28 In the Arena 83
Daily Roman Meals 30 A Day at the Races 84
In the Kitchen of a Wealthy Domus 32 The Theater and Domestic Games 88
High-Rise Living 35 A Day at the Baths 90
Roman Clothes and Fashion 36
Life in the Country 38 Glossary 94
Index 96
Chapter 2: A Working Life
Date and Time—Roman Punctuality 40
Coming of Age 42
A Senator’s Day 44
Shops and Shopkeepers 46
The Major Crafts 48
Builders and Building 52
Farming 54
A Life Under Arms 56
Place in History
30 BCE
27 BCE
146 BCE
332 BCE
500 BCE
509 BCE
753 BCE
539 BCE
1100 BCE
747 BCE
800 BCE
1100 BCE
1070 BCE
1600 BCE
1782 BCE
1570 BCE
2340 BCE
2686 BCE
1900 BCE
2200 BCE
2600 BCE 2040 BCE
3500 BCE
3100 BCE
6000 BCE
4000 BCE
INTRODUCTION
What Rome Did for Us
n a history of over 1200 years,
IRome grew from a primitive
settlement on the Tiber’s banks
into the most powerful empire of
the ancient world. Rome provided
Europe, much of the Middle East,
and North Africa with a unified
social, legal, and administrative
system, as well as a common
language that was the basis of many
European tongues thereafter.The
Romans quantified time and the
calendar, they gave Europe a
superb road network, concrete
bridges, a postal system, central
heating, piped fresh water,
enormous public baths, and
monumental civic buildings. In the
Roman world, we see the
culmination of ancient Eurasian
culture in about every respect that
can be imagined.
7
1600
1450 CE
1350 CE
1200 CE
1000 CE
800 CE
476 CE
LIVING IN ANCIENT ROME
Italy’s Landscape and Climate
At its peak, the Roman Empire spanned from Scotland to
Iraq, from Romania to Morocco. But it is the geography of
Italy that dictated Roman culture and civilization.
n some respects, Italy shares many To the south, the
Igeographical similarities with Greece. Calabrian region is
As a peninsula, it has a great deal of coastline mountainous, and the
relative to its total area. Unlike the Greeks, eastern Apulian area is
however, the Roman never became happy arid through lack of
seafarers. Italy is also a mountainous place— rainfall, so neither was
only about one-fifth of the land is classified suited to nurturing
as plain, much of which is concentrated in civilization.
the valley of the River Po. The main lines of
To the north, Italy is cut off from the rest communication in central Italy
of Europe by the barrier of the Alps, while from the coast to the interior were
the Apennines running down the center split along the rivers, especially the Tiber.The
the peninsula into two unequal halves. most strategic point on the river, the highest
Running closer to the eastern seaboard, the point for heavy river traffic to reach and the
Apennines reduce the coastal plain to a lowest crossing point to connect with the
narrow strip, poor for agriculture. north-south coastal traffic, was where
Add to this the few and small rivers that legendary Romulus plowed a sacred furrow
run into the Adriatic Sea, which often dry and founded his tiny settlement.
up in the hot summers, and it is easy to see Here, too, were plenty of resources, good
why ancient settlements were few and far pine and beech trees for timber, stone for
between to the east of the mountains. building, and clay pits for making tiles,
By contrast, the wider plains of the bricks, and pottery.
Tyrrhenian coast west of the Apennines 13
region, especially in the Campania, were
capable of supporting a greater concentration 1. Cerveteri (Caeare) 13. Tyrrhenian Sea
of agriculture.Two respectably sized rivers— 2. Veii 14. Site of Portus, the
the Tiber and Arno—provided a plentiful 3. Fidenae new port for Rome built
water supply and a means of navigation 4. Ostia (Antiqua) by Claudius and later
inland. 5. Rome extended by Trajan (now
The farming land supported a wide range 6. Tibur (Tivoli) Rome’s international
of livestock and market gardening, but there 7. Lavinum airport).
was less land for growing cereals.As the 8. Ardea 15. Lake Bracciano
population increased, Italy came to rely on 9. Alba Longa 16. River Tiber
alternative sources for grain to mill for bread 10. Lanuvium (artificially enhanced to
flour, first Sicily, then North Africa and— 11. Velitrae (birthplace make its course more
most importantly—Egypt.This reliance on of Augustus) visible).
overseas sources posed a threat to Rome 12. Antium (birthplace 17. Western edge of the
when, for one reason or another, the supply of Caligula) Appenine Mountains
was interrupted.A failure of the grain supply 18. Lake Alba
inevitably led to riots in the streets.
In ancient times, while the Po valley was a
fertile region, most of the eastern half was
subject to heavy flooding in the winters and
marshy for much of the year.As a result,
civilizations grew up on the western side, as
they did in the center.
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INTRODUCTION
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Po Val l ey
Genoa
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Rome
CORSICA
Area of
photograph
Naples I T A L Y
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SARDINIA
SICILY
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T Y R R H E N I A N
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