CULTURE OF ROMAN REPUBLIC
Life in the Roman Republic altered around the city of Rome, and its renowned seven hills. Rome also was famous for its several theatres, gymnasiums and many taverns, baths and brothels. Around the Roman land, residentiary construction varied from very modest houses to country villas. In the city of Rome, the vast majority of the population in the city centre were packed into apartment blocks - or insulae, as they were called back then. Most Roman towns and cities - including Rome - had a forum and temples. Aqueducts brought water to urban areas and wine and cooking oil were imported from foreign countries. Landlords usually dwelled in the cities and trusted their farm managers to take care of their estates. To rise the amount of employment, many landowners freed vast amounts of slaves.
SOCIAL STRUCTURE
Many features of the culture of Rome were taken from the Greeks. The main Roman donations to architecture were the arch and the dome. Latin, the Republic's official language, continues to be used by the Roman Catholic Church, and up until the nineteenth century the language was used a lot in scholarly writings. Roman law laid the foundations of many European countries and their colonies. The centre of the early social structure was the family. The Pater familias was the head of the familyhe was the master over his wife, his children, the wives of his sons, the nephews, the slaves and the freedmen, disposing of them and of their goods at will, even putting them to death. But Roman law only saw patricians as legal individuals.
There were slave markets where slaves could be bought and sold while slaves were also part of the social hierarchy. Many of the slaves were freed by their masters by having their services concluded while some slaves could save enough money to buy freedom. Over a quarter of the Roman population was enslaved at this time.
There were slave markets where slaves could be bought and sold while slaves were also part of the social hierarchy. Many of the slaves were freed by their masters by having their services concluded while some slaves could save enough money to buy freedom. Over a quarter of the Roman population was enslaved at this time.
Clothes
Men normally wore a toga, women a stola. The stola looked differently from the toga and was brightly coloured. The clothes people wore said what class they were in. The tunic worn by the plebeians was made of a coarse and dark material and the tunic worn by the patricians was of linen or white wool. A knight or magistrate would normally wear a tunic with small purple studs. Senators wore tunics with broad red stripes. Tunics worn by soldiers were shorter than the tunics worn by civilians. Boys under the age of sixteen wore a toga with a crimson or purple border while the men over the age of sixteen wore the toga virilis which signified their citizenship in Rome. The toga picta was worn by victorious generals on the battlefield and the toga pulla was worn when people were in mourning. Even footwear said what your status was. Patricians wore red and orange sandles; senators brown footwear; consuls white shoes and soldiers wore heavy boots. Socks were invented by the Romans to keep the soldiers' feet warm on their northern frontier.
Dining
The main foods of a Roman's diet was normally eaten at around eleven o'clock. This included bread, lettuce, cheese, fruit, nuts, and left over meat from the night before. Olives was a staple food also. The family usually ate together on stools around a table. Solid foods were eaten with people's fingers and soups were eaten with spoons. Wine was the basic drink for all classes while it wasn't expensive and this was drank at all meals and occassions. Drinks with grapes and honey were drank also. Drinking on an empty stomach was said to be barbaric and was a sign of alcoholism. People accused their political rivals of alcoholism to decrease their publicity. Known Roman alcoholics included Mark Antony and Marcus Cicero.
Education and literature
Romans adapted many Greek educational methods to their system by conquest Greece and bringing back many Greek scholars. Boys were prepared to grow up as Roman citizens by physical education and some would be recruited to the army. Girls normally took instruction from their mothers at home in the art of spinning, weaving and sewing. Formal schooling didn't commence in Rome until around 200 BC. Children began their education at the age of six where boys and girls learnt for six or seven years about the basics of reading, writing and counting. By the age of twelve, girls generally left school and boys went into grammar schools where they learnt Latin, Greek, grammar and literature followed by public speaking. Oratory was practiced and learnt and good orators were respected a lot.
Latin was the native language of Rome since it was founded in the eight century BC. It was divided into two sections: the written language was Classical Latin while the oral language was Vulgar Latin. Because of Rome's expansion, Vulgar Latin was divided into many different dialects. These then distinguished from one another into the Romance languages, including French, Italian, Romanian, Spanish, Portuguese and some minor languages also.
Latin was the native language of Rome since it was founded in the eight century BC. It was divided into two sections: the written language was Classical Latin while the oral language was Vulgar Latin. Because of Rome's expansion, Vulgar Latin was divided into many different dialects. These then distinguished from one another into the Romance languages, including French, Italian, Romanian, Spanish, Portuguese and some minor languages also.
the arts
The earliest works of Roman prose told of its early military history in Rome. Later on, poetry, history, comedy and tragedy pieces were starting to be produced by Roman authors. Virgil showed the peak of Roman epic poetry when he wrote his Aeneid for Emperor Augustus Caesar. Lucretius tried to amplify science into his science poem. Rome's most common genre was banter. In the third century BC, many Roman homes started to be decorated by landscape paintings by Greek artists. Music was also a big part of Roman society. Music actually comes from the Greek word 'mousique' which meant 'art of the Muses'. Music was accompanied in private and public events in Rome many times. Over time, Roman architecture also was developed and refined. But Roman concrete has been a riddle to this day and it is such a big mystery because most of the Roman buildings stood for more than two millennia. Roman cities were well planned, easily governed and tidily cared for.
Sports and Entertainment
The Campus Martius was firstly built for a drill ground for the Roman soldiers in the city of Rome but later on it became a track and field ground. In the campus, the young people of Rome came here to play and exercise, including jumping, wrestling, boxing and racing. Equestrian sports, throwing and swimming were also physical activities in this campus. In rural areas, pastimes included hunting and fishing. Board games were played in Rome as well, including dice, Roman Chess, Roman Checkers, Tic-tac-toe, XII scripta and Tabula, predecessors of backgammon. Other entertainments included chariot racing, musical and theatrical performances.
Religion
Roman religious beliefs date back to 800 BC. But the Roman religion as many people know of didn't start in Rome until 500 BC when they first came in contact with the Greek traditions. They adopted many of the Greek religious beliefs and only changed the names of the gods and goddesses to Latin. Private and personal worship was an important trait to religious beliefs at this time. Each household, was said to be a temple to the gods. Each household had an altar or lararium where people would offer prayers, perform ceremonies and interact with the household gods. The two most famous deities were Jupiter (King of the Gods) and Mars (God of War). When Rome expanded, they accepted foreign gods also in their people also.