Roman Culture

1
Roman Culture Society

• SS.A.2.4.5 SS.A.1.4.1 SS.B.2.4.1

2
Roman Art

• 500-200 BC Romans adopt Greek culture
• Romans loved Greek art
• Greek statues displayed in public in homes
• Later, copies of Greek statues used
• Original Roman works more realistic
• Greeks created art to idealize the reality
• Romans created realistic art, showing even
  unattractive physical features

3
Roman Architecture

• Architecturepractical art
• Continued to use many Greek conventions
• Colonnades and rectangular buildings
• Roman architectural styles, included
• Arches, vaults and domes
• Used concrete in almost everything
• Engineers built roads, bridges and aqueducts
• 50,000 miles of road

4
Roman Literature

• The golden age of Latin literatureAge of
  Augustus (31 BC-AD 14)
• Virgil best poet of Augustinian Age
• Approved of Augustus wrote his greatest
  workAeneidin honor of Rome
• Horace pokes fun at human weakness
• Live Historian, prose writer, treated history as
  series of moral lessons, advocated virtue, not
  always accurate

5
Roman Family

• Paterfamilias patriarch, dominant male
• Households included wife, children, wives and
  children of children, slaves
• Children raised at home, unlike in Greece
• Children expected to learn reading/writing
• Teachers usually Greek slaves, as learning Greek
  was important to success in empire
• Boys learned morals, family values, law and
  physical training for war

6
Roman Women

• Womanly weaknessmale protection
• Minimum age for marriage 12 years
• Median age for marriage 14 years
• Marriage was for life, usually
• Divorce possible after 3rd Century B.C.
• Men and women allowed to ask for divorce, and
  process was easy
• Could not participate in politics

7
Changes to the Family

• A.D. 200 Paterfamilias no longer absolute
  authority over children, more freedoms
• Could not sell as slaves, or put to death
• Also true about authority over wife
• Women allowed to attend races, theater and other
  public events, sit in women sec.
• A.D. Women have right to property, center of
  household social life

8
Slavery

• Slavery common in ancient world
• Romans had heaviest dependence on slaves, more
  than other peoples
• Slaves considered part of family
• Slaves from all over empire, even Italy
• Greek slaves in demand as tutors, musicians,
  doctors, and artists
• Some mistreated slaves, believe easier to work to
  death and replace, than treat well

9
Slave Revolts

• Some slaves would revolt against owners, even
  killing them
• Some Romans lived in fear of slaves
• 73 BC A gladiator named Sparticus, leads 70,000
  slaves in revolt, beating many legions of Roman
  soldiers
• Killed in 71 BC, followers crucified

10
Daily Life

• Rome is place to be, population 1 million
• Largest city in empire, capital city, richest
• Overcrowded and noisy
• Walking at night dangerous, crime
• Dirty, garbage dumped out windows
• Rich lived in large, beautiful villas
• Poor lived in apts. (insulae) 1-6 floors
• Concrete with wood floors, often poorly built
• Building fires common

11
Public Programs

• Rome had many great buildings
• Baths, theaters, government buildings, markets,
  temples impressive, grand
• 200,000 poor get free grains from gov
• Free entertainment for the people ?
• Paid for by emperors
• Circus Maximus horse and chariot races
• Dramas
• Gladiatorial Shows