Federal State Autonomous Educational Institution
higher professional education
"Belgorod State National
Research University "(NRU" BelSU ")
Pedagogical Institute
Faculty of History and Philology
Department of Russian History
Course work
Dwellings and everyday life of ancient Rome
full-time students
course group 02031102
Ponomareva N.A.
Supervisor:
Candidate of Historical Sciences,
associate professor Litovchenko E.V.
Belgorod 2014
Introduction
Chapter II. Life of the ancient Romans
1 Family way of life
2 Daily routine and entertainment
3 Furniture and household utensils
4 Nutrition
5 Water supply
Conclusion
Introduction
dwelling ancient rome life
The relevance of this topic lies in the fact that this work "Dwellings and Everyday Life" is of great interest, as it gives an opportunity to see the daily life of the population of the Roman Empire, with an endless set of interesting little things in everyday life. Nowadays, in our life you can find a lot in common with the life of people of that time. The same significant stratification of society, someone also lives in ruins and pays for them with difficulty, and next to it there are the mansions of millionaires who shamelessly, like in ancient Rome, buy up land by giving bribes to responsible persons. Luxurious public buildings are being built, and temples, at the same time, there is no money to repair roofs in many high-rise buildings. The historical experience of Ancient Rome is in some respects reminiscent of the domestic one, and it helps to better understand and accept the present.
Object: history of everyday life in Rome
Subject: social relationships and the system of building dwellings in ancient Rome
Purpose: to consider dwellings and everyday life in ancient Rome.
To achieve this goal, it is necessary to solve the following tasks:
identify the main types of dwellings and their functions;
to identify the correspondence between the wealth of the villa and the social status of a Roman citizen;
explore the daily life of the ancient Romans.
Methodology of work:
Research methods can be a generalizing method and a problem-chronological one. Methods are used to establish causal relationships and specific historical interpretation of the key events to reveal the topic.
Historiography. A significant place is given to the everyday life and description of the dwellings of the inhabitants of Ancient Rome in the works of historians, mainly these works began to appear after they began excavations in Pompeii and Herculaneum, which provided significant material for archaeologists and historians studying the ancient period.
The work of the historian of antiquity ME Sergienko "Life in Ancient Rome" is devoted to the everyday life of Rome and its inhabitants. AD A separate chapter of the book is devoted to home and life in it. All premises of the house, their history and evolution are described in detail. In his other book, Pompeii, the release of which, in 1949 was timed to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the beginning of excavations in this ancient city, M.E. Sergienko also introduces the life of the ancient city and its citizens. Using materials from archaeological excavations in Pompeii, she examines the structure of a house, its furnishings, the location of certain premises using specific examples. She notes that "The house was erected so that it looked like a small fortress, which concentrated all life inside itself, opposing the pressure of hostile external forces with solid impenetrable walls." In addition to describing urban dwellings, the book also describes village estates, their location and features. The author notes that “Each country estate consisted of two halves:“ city ”, where the owner was resting, studying, receiving guests and having fun, and purely economic“ country ”- with barns, sheds, rooms where wine and olive oil, with barns and pantries, kitchen and slave rooms ".
Referring to the testimony of ancient writers and the research of contemporary scholars, the French historian P. Guiraud recreates the family and state structure, customs and mores of Ancient Rome. A significant place in the book is devoted to descriptions of dwellings - this is the Roman house of a rich city dweller, and the dwelling of a poor man in Rome, and magnificent villas "in the midst of enchanting nature." The author describes the appearance of houses and their interiors, the arrangement of floors, ceilings, walls. Talking about apartment buildings, P. Guiraud notes that "the vast majority of Roman citizens lived in rented premises."
The ancient Roman civilization is presented in an unexpected perspective in Jean-Paul Robert's book "The Birth of Luxury: Ancient Rome in Pursuit of Fashion" The author very convincingly shows what an unexpectedly large influence fashion had on ancient Roman architecture, games, literature, economics and even religion.
The beginning of the book by F.F. Velishsky's "Life of the Greeks and Romans" was based on archaeological research carried out by the author in Italy. Its purpose was to facilitate the understanding of ancient life. The author devoted much of his work to a description of a Roman house, including the history of the house, its evolution, a description of apartment buildings and life in them, and also describes the estates in the village.
The book of the famous writer and historian M. Grant "The Romans. Civilization of Ancient Rome" contains extensive information about the daily life of the citizens of Ancient Rome. The sphere of their public interests is being investigated - science, religion, philosophy, art, literature and architecture. The author's goal was, according to his own opinion, "to outline the features of the civilization of the ancient Romans ...". He considers both the dwellings of wealthy Romans and their decorations, and such an "Italian invention" as an apartment building, as well as the technology of their construction and operation.
Interesting materials on the history of Ancient Rome are contained in the second volume of W. Wegner's essay "Rome. History and Culture of the Roman People" The author tells about the life of Roman citizens and the population of the empire, in particular, describes in detail the works of art that adorned the dwellings of the ancient Romans and the dwellings themselves.
The book of professor K. Kumanetsky "The history of culture of ancient Greece and Rome" was prepared by the scientist's many years of research. The author traces in detail all stages of the development of applied art, architecture, sculpture. Concerning the dwellings, the author notes that "In the narrow streets in the center of the city one could find four-storey, somehow built tenement houses for the poor. For themselves, the rich built on the model of the Greek the atrium and bedroom house was too pathetic. " The author believes that the reasons for the evolution of the wealthy Roman house were not only fashion, but increased aesthetic demands.
Thus, in historiography, we have not come across research that would be similar to ours.
Sources. Roman writers mention the everyday life of Roman citizens and their homes in many works, they describe the living conditions of either the authors themselves or their friends and acquaintances: city mansions and apartment buildings, huts and villas. So in the witty epigrams of Mark Valery Martial, the order reigned in Rome is ridiculed, the life of people not very wealthy is shown, a description of apartments in apartment buildings is given, and the houses and feasts of the rich are immediately described.
In the satires of Decimus Julius Juvenal, descriptions of tenement houses are also given, and life in them is compared to life in the countryside "Where the slope of Tibur is high, no one is afraid that the house would collapse." The author describes the apartments under the roof and their furnishings "There is one bed at Codr, six pots on the table and a small goblet below ... an old chest protects the works of the Greeks on scrolls."
You can learn about life in a rich estate from the work of the Roman scientist Mark Terentius Varro "On agriculture"he also gives a definition of what, in his opinion, should be called a villa.
Pliny Secund the Younger in "Letters", which were conceived as an epistolary literary work and describes the material and spiritual life mainly of the upper strata of society in the late 1st - early 2nd centuries. AD He describes his estate and the villas of his acquaintances, tells in particular about his Laurentian villa, this description helps to imagine what a sea villa was, even more magnificent was his Tuscan villa, located among a vast estate that produced various products in abundance.
Thus, there are enough sources to solve the problems of our study.
This work consists of an introduction, two chapters, a conclusion and a list of sources and literature. The first chapter deals with the types of dwellings and their functions. The second chapter examines the villa of a wealthy Roman as an indicator of his status.
Chapter I. Types of dwellings and their functions
1 Urban dwellings: apartment building (insula), city mansion (domus)
The city mansion, the dwelling of a noble and wealthy person, was a rectangle surrounded on all sides by buildings that closely adjoin one another, forming a solid wall around the courtyard, interrupted only where there was an entrance and an entrance. Above all the buildings - above the dwelling, above the barns and sheds - there was, according to the custom of the southern countries, a canopy supported by pillars: this primitive portico protected from the direct effects of rain and sun.
Externally, residential buildings in cities had simple facades with no windows. Light entered the rooms through gaps in the wall of the house overlooking the courtyard, but these holes in the wall of the peristyle were small because the sun was often too strong.
The internal structure of a rich Roman house of the times of the empire consisted of: an atrium - a reception hall, a tablinium - an office and a peristilium - a courtyard surrounded by columns - a reception hall that makes up the main part of the house. In ordinary dwellings, the visitor, having crossed the threshold, found himself in the atrium. In large houses, there was also a corridor between the door and the atrium. From above, the atrium was protected by a roof, the slopes of which, facing the inside of the house, formed a large rectangular opening. Opposite this hole in the floor there was a depression of equal size - an impluvium - for the drainage of rainwater. Impluvium was of great importance. Before water pipes appeared in Rome, rainwater was used for household needs, which was collected in an impluvium. Excess water was poured into a special cistern, which was located under the atrium, and water was taken from there as from a well. On both sides of the atrium were living and service rooms that received light from the atrium. The rooms adjoining the atrium on the front side were usually given over to trade movements, and they had an entrance only from the street.
The atrium was followed by the tablinum - the master's office - a room open from the atrium and peristyle. On one (or on both sides) of it there was a small corridor, through which they passed from the atrium to the peristyle.
Peristylium - peristyle - was an open inner courtyard surrounded by a colonnade and various outbuildings. In the middle of it there was often a small garden with a pond, on the sides were bedrooms, a dining room, a kitchen, work rooms, a home bath, servants' quarters, storerooms, and so on. The peristyle usually contained a room for the home gods.
The roof of the house in ancient times was covered with thatch, and later with tiles. The ceiling was originally simple, planked, but over time it began to be given a graceful shape, forming beautifully shaped recesses on it. It was supported by columns, often marble.
The floor in ancient times was made of clay or stone, and then, especially in rich houses, mosaic, often of highly artistic work. Light entered the house partly through holes in the ceiling, partly through doors or through openings in the wall, which were closed by curtains or shutters, subsequently sheets of mica and, finally, glass were inserted into them. In ancient times, a pine torch or pine torches were used for lighting, in addition, something like candles, later oil lamps came into use.
To produce fire, iron was struck against flint or dry pieces of wood were rubbed against each other. They insulated the house by means of hearths, braziers, portable stoves, or with the help of warm air, conducted through pipes under the floor, in the walls from the oven located under the floor.
The upper floor was sometimes arranged over the peristyle buildings, less often over the atrium, and contained various residential movements. Sometimes, in the form of a covered balcony, it protruded far into the street above the lower floor; usually had a flat roof, which was often decorated with flowers or trees planted in pots or in the soil poured here.
The main type of building in Rome was a multi-storey, apartment building, apartments in which were rented out - insula, there were 46 thousand such houses in the city. Characteristic feature insulas - several floors. In Rome, there were four and five (in some cases more). Each floor has its own staircase directly from the street, with brick or travertine steps. The mansion has its back to the street; in insula, each floor looks out onto the street or courtyard. The insula's appearance is simple and strict: no unnecessary decorations, the outer walls are not even plastered, the brickwork is all in plain sight. Only in insuls with more expensive apartments, the entrance is framed by columns or pilasters, also made of bricks.
The monotony of the walls is enlivened only by the rows of windows and a line of balconies. There is often a portico in front of a row of benches on the ground floor. But, identical in their basic features, insulas - both in plan and in size - were very diverse and were intended for residents of different social status and conditions. However, even in insuls, designed for wealthy renters, in which it was not bad at all on sunny days, in bad weather, when autumn showers began or winter cold weather began, it became very uncomfortable. There is no protection from rain and frost, because there is no glass in the windows: glass is expensive and rarely used, mainly in bath rooms. The poor inhabitant of a bad house must have felt these shortcomings, common to all insuls, especially acutely. Firewood in Rome was expensive, and cooked so as not to give off smoke was available only to a wealthy person.
The poor part of the population was forced to nest in multi-storey apartment buildings, poorly built and unreliable and, moreover, overcrowded. Homeowners tried to save money on everything: the foundation was shallow, the walls were thin and of the cheapest material, rooms with low ceilings, small and dark. Houses are being built continuously due to collapses, fires and resales, which also occur continuously. These resales are a kind of voluntary collapse: houses are demolished and rebuilt at will. The owner also saved insula on the heating system, the arrangement of chimneys left much to be desired, as a result of which fires often occurred, which, for example, were a common disaster for Rome. The worst fire, which burned down the houses of ten of the fourteen districts of the city, occurred in 64 AD. NS. during the reign of Nero. True, they say that the emperor himself ordered the city to be set on fire, but there is no evidence of this.
However, the houses erected in the course of the restoration of Rome, undertaken and paid for by Nero, were more durable and from that time became more and more durable. Nero also forbade the use of wood in the walls, the height of buildings was reduced, he also ordered to build houses at some distance from one another and make spacious courtyards, and expanded the streets. But there is no doubt that the urgent need for housing and the pursuit of profit forced the construction to bypass all the decrees of Nero. There were good strokes in Rome, but there were also bad ones, and these bad ones were not isolated
It is believed that ancient Rome was a city where water was abundant. It's right. Water flowed night and day, but not for private use (the only exceptions were those who lived on the 1st floor). The rest had to either buy water from a water carrier, or follow it into the yard, to the nearest fountain or well. The lack of water was also associated with the lack of latrines in Roman insuls: their inhabitants were forced to use public latrines or take out all the garbage on a nearby dung heap, or even just throw it out of the window onto the street. It was best to live on the first floor. This floor was supplied with water from the water supply system and there was a sewerage system.
2 Rural dwellings: estates (villas), hut (taberna - poor man's dwelling)
Village dwellings were divided into two completely different categories: the permanent dwelling of the real inhabitants of the village and the rural estates of the rich and aristocrats (villas).
The poor peasants remained faithful to their ancient huts, having neither the leisure nor the means for any improvement or innovation.
This country estate is a rectangle surrounded on all sides by buildings that closely adjoin one another, forming a solid wall around the courtyard, interrupted only where there was an entrance and an entrance. This place, of course, should be under special and constant supervision: housing looks directly at it, where there is always one of the owners, most often, of course, the hostess busy with chores around the house.
Above all the buildings - above the dwelling, above the barns and sheds - there was, according to the custom of the southern countries, a canopy supported by pillars: this primitive portico protected both people and animals, and the walls themselves from the direct effects of rain and sun.
Atrium is the largest room, which for a long time remained a place where the whole family gathered to dine, do housework, and sit at their leisure; here sacrifices were made to the larams. If the house was in general the kingdom of the mistress, then the atrium became the place from which she ruled them, keeping an eye on everything, not losing sight of anything, gathering the whole family around. Here she worked with her daughters.
In the back of the atrium is the central room, the tablinum, where the owner and the hostess live. Around the atrium are other, mainly service rooms. Finally, there is a small vegetable garden behind the house. Such a house structure was nothing more than a village house, a farm; thus, the atrium is a courtyard where pets can quench their thirst in the central pool. Little by little, this courtyard became completely enclosed, except for a hole in the center of the roof.
In every household there are things that are good to have at hand, which are not worth keeping under lock and key, but which you still need to keep an eye on with the master's eye. Such a place in the courtyard of the taberna was a povet - a three-walled, completely open barn on the fourth side. The Italian owner had two such traditions and he arranged them next to his own chamber, so that it would not be easy to take what should not and who should not.
There must be water in the village courtyard: a spring, a well, a rainwater cistern; watering cattle, washing, preparing food - for all primary needs, everyday and master's, you need to have it right there at hand. In the warm season (it lasts a long time in Italy), food was cooked in the courtyard, where a fireplace was placed near the water or a portable brazier was placed. Near the hearth they were hammering together a table on which food was laid, there were dishes and at which, in all likelihood, they had dinner.
As for the well-to-do people, their dwelling arrangement was in many ways similar to the arrangement of a city mansion, with the only difference that more space was allocated for office premises. A villa should be defined as any property that generates a lot of income from animal feeding. The villa consisted of three separate parts: the praetorium - the owner's dwelling, the rustic, in which slaves and cattle live, and the fruit garden, where the harvest and various fruits are kept. In addition, there were also: a backyard, a current, an apiary, a vivarium, an orchard and a vegetable garden. The country villas of the Roman wealthy were surrounded by magnificent gardens with statues. There were often home zoos with outlandish animals. The owners admired the amazing fish, which were bred in specially constructed reservoirs.
Pretorium was built on a dais so that the landlord could see everything that is happening around on his estate. Rustic is a courtyard surrounded by buildings or high walls; it usually faces south; in the middle there is a reservoir from which the cattle are watered and where they are bathed. Around there are corrals for oxen, sheepfolds, stables, chicken coops, pig barns, sheds with carts, barns where agricultural implements were stored, a hospital, a kitchen, baths that open only on holidays and, finally, ergastul (room for keeping dangerous or guilty slaves.), dug in the ground.
The bailiff is placed just opposite the entrance gate to make it easier for him to observe. If it happens that additional workers are hired for the time of the harvest or mowing, then they are arranged for the night in reed huts erected near the place where they work.
In the orchard, the main buildings, which are likewise located around the central courtyard, are as follows: a press for squeezing oil, an oil cellar, a wine cellar, a cortinal with boilers for boiling wine, a kitchen, pantries, and fruit and bread barns. The windows of the wine cellar are facing north; it is almost completely dark in it, as a result of which it is cool, which is necessary to preserve in good shape guilt.
The vivarium is a small park in which all kinds of game are raised; it is surrounded by rather high walls and, as far as possible, is protected from cats, badgers and similar predators. It is crossed by a stream; if there is no running water, it is replaced by a stone basin, in which rainwater is collected.
The backyard is surrounded by buildings on three sides: from the south - a bakery, from the west - a woodshed and a sennik, from the east - a shed for a straw warehouse. All this is placed slightly to the side to reduce the danger in the event of a fire. In the northern part, two large pits were dug: one for fresh manure, the other for last year's.
The current is located at an elevation accessible to all winds. It is slightly convex in the middle so that rainwater can easily drain from it. The whole harvest is taken to a neighboring barn and from there they take it piece by piece and thresh it with flails, rollers or horses; to clean the grain, they throw it up with wooden shovels, if the wind is too weak or too gusty, then the grain blows.
The vegetable garden occupies the entire south side of the villa. It consists of ridges separated from each other by narrow paths; water for irrigation is taken from pools with spring water located at a certain distance from one another. A wide variety of vegetables are bred: artichokes, garlic, onions, cabbage, turnips, lettuce, peppers, capers, watercress, radish, chicory, beans, melons, asparagus, cucumbers.
The orchard is as well watered as the vegetable garden. Trees are arranged in it in oblique rows according to species. Fig trees, walnut trees, almond trees, pomegranates, pears, apple trees, rowan trees, plums, carob and quit trees, and cherries grow here. By means of grafting, it was sometimes achieved that different fruits grew on the same tree.
A wealthy Roman's villa was an indication of his status. Its arrangement cost enormous funds, besides, an important person had to be the owner of not one, but several villas. Following the fashion was expensive. All over Italy, Gaul, Spain, Africa - villas arose throughout the empire; they were all built and decorated in almost the same way, with minor changes due to local customs, traditions, and climate.
Chapter II. Life of the ancient Romans
1.Family way
Everyday life is a part of a person's physical and social life, including the satisfaction of spiritual and material needs in: food, clothing for protection from the adverse effects of the environment (clothing, shoes, etc.), housing, maintaining physical health, preserving and continuing the family (clan). Life in a broad sense is a way of stereotypical vision of everyday life.
Here we will consider such aspects of the life of the ancient Romans as family life, daily routine, household utensils, food.
Family and upbringing in the early period of the history of Rome was considered the goal and the main essence of a citizen's life - having his own home and children, while family relations were not subject to the law, but were regulated by tradition. In ancient Rome, the family as the basis of society was highly revered. The family was believed to be the guardian of high moral standards and what was called "paternal morals"
The authority of the father of the family, his power over his wife and children were indisputable. He was a harsh judge of all misdeeds committed by the household and was considered the head of the family court. He had the right to take his son's life or sell him into slavery, but in practice this was an exceptional phenomenon. Fathers of families, as a rule, entered into marriages between their children, guided by prevailing moral norms and personal considerations. The father could marry a girl from the age of 12, and marry a young man from the age of 14.
Although the woman was subordinate to the man, "belonged only to the family and did not exist for the community," in wealthy families she was given an honorable position, she was engaged in the management of the economy.
Unlike Greek women, Roman women could freely appear in society, go to visit, attend ceremonial receptions, and, despite the fact that the father had supreme power in the family, they were protected from his arbitrariness. A man, a husband was allowed to file for divorce in case of infidelity or infertility of his wife. Moreover, the fact that the spouse went out into the street bareheaded (usually a married woman used various ribbons and scarves) could be infidelity, since by this (it was believed) she was specifically looking for male looks.
A woman could be beaten to death or tortured with thirst if she was caught drinking wine, since they were prohibited from drinking it (so as not to damage the conception of a child). Adultery was severely punished in ancient Rome, but in connection with divorce and widowhood, and often, and a large difference in the age of the spouses, there were betrayals and extramarital cohabitation. In the case of the capture of the wife's lover, according to the unwritten law, the husband, together with his slaves, had the right to perform all kinds of violence against him. Often, the poor man's nose and ears were cut off, but this was nothing compared to the fate that awaited the guilty wife. She was simply buried alive in the ground.
During the absence of a spouse, the wife should not have been locked up. The favorite female occupation was considered to be walking around the shops and gossip with sellers and acquaintances they met. The wife was also always present next to her husband at all receptions.
The law prescribed humanity in relation to relatives and neighbors. Among the many maxims that the Romans enriched us with, there is this: "Whoever beats his wife or child, he raises his hand to the highest shrine." The Romans distinguished between a legal marriage and an incomplete marriage. The first was possible only between Roman citizens and allowed two forms: the wife either passed into the power of her husband and was called "mother of the family", matron, or she still remained in the power of her father and was called only "uxor" (spouse, wife).
2.2 Daily routine and entertainment
The life of the Roman population was very variegated: the poor, enlisted in the lists of receiving bread from the state, praetorian or firefighter, artisan, client or senator lived in very different ways. However, the daily routine was almost the same for the entire urban population: getting up in the morning, busy time, rest in the middle of the day, hours spent in the bathhouse, entertainment.
Ancient Rome was on its feet at dawn. Lamps gave more soot and smoke than light, so daylight was especially valued. Lying in bed when "the sun is high" was considered obscene. The morning toilet for both the rich and the poor artisan was equally simple: put your feet in sandals, wash your face and hands, rinse your mouth and put on a raincoat if it is cold. For wealthy people who had their own barber, this was followed by a haircut and shave.
Then the first breakfast was served, usually consisting of a piece of bread dipped in wine, smeared with honey or simply sprinkled with salt, olives and cheese. According to the old custom, all household members, including slaves, came to greet the owner. Then, according to the order, there were economic affairs, checking accounts and reports and issuing orders for current affairs. Then the reception of clients began, with a large number of them taking two hours. The clientele developed from the ancient custom of placing oneself, a petty and powerless person, under the protection of an influential person. By the 1st century AD, he demanded a "good tone" of society: it was inconvenient for a noble to appear on the street or in a public place without a crowd of clients surrounding him.
The patron paid for all the services of the client meagerly, although at the same time everyone was informed how he showed a lot of care and attention to the client. Clients, more often than not, could not get out of their bitter need. The customer service provided, albeit meager, but still some kind of livelihood. In Rome, for a person who did not own any craft and did not want to learn it, the only, perhaps, way to exist was the position of a client.
As early as the 1st century BC, the patron dined with his clients; later he invited only a select few three or four people to the table and paid the rest of the very modest sum of 25 asses. And the client did not always receive this miserable amount, if the patron got sick or pretended to be sick, the client left with nothing.
Lunch at the patron's, which every client dreamed of, often turned into a source of humiliation for him. As a rule, they had two very different dinners: one for themselves and their friends, the other for clients. The patron, according to Marcial, eats Lukrin oysters, mushrooms, flounder, fried turtle dove; the client is served with edible shells, pork mushrooms, small bream and magpie dead in a cage.
Noon was the line dividing the day into two parts: the time before it was considered the "best part of the day", which was devoted to study, leaving, if possible, the second part for relaxation and entertainment. Lunch is served in the afternoon. He is also modest: at Seneca it consisted of bread and dried figs, Emperor Marcus Aurelius added onions, beans and small salted fish to the bread. For the working people, beets served as a seasoning for bread; the son of wealthy parents, returning from school, received a slice of white bread, olives, cheese, dry figs and nuts. Then it was time for a noon rest.
After the midday rest, it was the turn of washing in the baths, gymnastic exercises, rest and walks. "Rest - after business" - said a Latin proverb. The Romans used their free time in different ways. Educated people with high spiritual interests devoted themselves to science or literature, not counting it as "deeds", but considered it as leisure, as a "repose of the spirit." So resting for the Romans did not mean doing nothing.
The choice of activities was wide: sports, hunting, conversations, and especially attending shows. There were many spectacles, and everyone could find the one that he liked the most: theater, gladiator fights, chariot races, acrobatic performances or showing exotic animals.
Attending various public shows was a Roman's chief pleasure; the Romans indulged in him with such passion that not only men, but even women and children were present at the spectacles; horsemen, senators and, finally, even emperors took an active part in them. Of the stage performances, the Romans loved comedy most of all, but they were even more attracted by their games in the circus and in the amphitheater, which, with their terrible scenes, contributed much to the moral coarsening of the Roman population.
In addition to the above-mentioned public shows, the Romans also loved various games, in particular the game of ball, dice, and a game similar to modern checkers or chess. The ball game was the favorite and was a good bodily exercise not only for children but also for adults. It was played in public squares, especially on the Champ de Mars, in special halls located at the baths, as well as in other places. Dice has long been a favorite pastime.
Public readings, and then discussions of poetry, eventually became an integral part of cultural life during the period of the Roman Empire. Meetings of listeners with poets took place in thermae, in porticoes, in the library at the Temple of Apollo, or in private houses. They were arranged mainly in those months when there were many public holidays associated with spectacles: in April, July or August. Later, orators also began giving speeches to the public. The recitation of a speech or poetry sometimes dragged on for several days.
The favorite place for recreation and entertainment of the Romans were public baths - thermae. These were huge, luxuriously decorated buildings with swimming pools, halls for games and conversations, gardens, libraries. The Romans often spent whole days here. They washed, talked with friends. In the baths, important public affairs were discussed, and deals were made.
After 3 pm, all family members, except for the small children who ate separately, gathered for dinner, to which they usually invited another friend. Lunch was a little homemade celebration. It was a time of friendly casual conversation, a funny joke and a serious conversation. Reading at dinner was a custom among the Roman intelligentsia; a slave-reader was specially appointed for this. Sometimes in rich houses dinner was accompanied by music - these houses had their own musicians. Sometimes the diners were entertained by dancers, but they were not allowed into the strict houses.
3 Furniture and household utensils
The dwelling of the ancient Roman was filled with furniture much less than our modern one: there were no desks, no bulky cupboards, no chests of drawers, no wardrobes. There were few items in the inventory of the Italian house, and, perhaps, the first place among the furniture belonged to the bed, since the ancients spent much more time in it than we do: they not only slept on the bed, but also dined, and studied - read and wrote. Beds, a dining table, small tables, a few stools and chairs, one or two chests, a few candelabra - that's all the furnishings of an Italian home.
The bed of the Roman is very similar to the modern one: on four (rarely six) legs. In addition to the headboard, it is also sometimes equipped with a footboard, which is an exact copy of the headboard. Each pair of legs is tied together by a strong crossbar; sometimes, for greater strength, two more longitudinal bars were added, embedding them closer to the frame. A frequent belt binding was pulled over the frame
The beds were made of wood (maple, beech, ash). The legs were sometimes carved out of bones. In one of the most noble and wealthy Pompeian houses, in the house of a faun, they found ivory bed legs; more often, of course, they took cheaper material: horse bones and from cattle. It happened that the bone was covered with a carved pattern; wooden legs were upholstered in bronze. The headboard, the graceful curvature of which already had an ornamental value in itself, was also trimmed with bronze. On the Pompeii dining bed, a silver pattern is woven over the bronze overlay of the armrests; above and below them there are figurines of cupids cast in bronze on one side of the bed, and swan heads on the other side. Very often the head of a donkey was on the head.
The lack of taste, characteristic of many strata of Roman society of that time, the replacement of the simple and in its simplicity of beauty with abundant and not always harmonious ornamentation, respect not for a thing, but for its value - all this was extremely vividly reflected in the example of beds with tortoiseshell inlay. We do not know at what price the beds were and which of them were more expensive and which were cheaper, but that such furniture was available only to rich people, it is obvious. And they covered such a bed with luxurious and expensive fabrics.
First of all, a mattress stuffed with good, specially for stuffing mattresses with treated wool, was placed on the belt binding. The bedding that covered the mattress and the blankets were both expensive and luxurious.
Tables were needed for different purposes: they ate behind them, put different objects on them; like the beds, they served practical purposes and, like the beds, were the decoration of the room.
It must be admitted that the Romans, who are usually reproached for lack of taste, discovered a great artistic tact, placing in the center of the atrium, in the most illuminated place, such a table as the cariboule. This heavy bulky table with menacing grinning figures approached a huge, dark, almost empty room; he created a single general impression, the main general tone, which the rest of the furniture, lighter and more cheerful, could soften somewhat, but was no longer able to break.
Another type of table were portable tables with gracefully curved legs that ended in goat's hooves. Tables-stands belong to the same type of light tables, several examples of which have come down to us from Pompeii. To the same type of light tables, sometimes three-legged, sometimes on four legs, are sliding tables, which, with the help of fasteners that went on hinges, could be made higher or lower. Several such tables have been found in Pompeii; one with a removable board in red thenar marble with bronze trim on the edge; the familiar already curved legs end in a flower cup, from which rise figures of satyrs, holding small rabbits tightly to their chests.
As for the seats, in the Italic house they were represented by stools, the legs of which were carved in the manner of a bed, and chairs with curved legs and a back thrown back quite strongly. This comfortable furniture was generally considered intended for women.
Tablecloths appeared only in the late empire. Treats were put on the table in such a way that they could be put on a plate. The diner held a plate in his left hand; with the right, he took the overlaid pieces, since there were no forks. Liquid food was eaten with spoons. The napkins were small pieces of shaggy linen cloth, with which they wiped their hands and mouth, they were put on the table for guests, but the guests brought such napkins with them. It was customary to take home from dinner the leftovers of the treat, which they wrapped in their own napkin.
The kitchenware was very diverse and many of the kitchen utensils are similar to modern ones. Treats were served on the table in deep covered dishes or in bowls, individual dishes were placed on a large tray. Both the dining room and the kitchen utensils were earthenware. Back in the II century. BC. of silver at the table was only a salt shaker, which was inherited from father to son. By the end of the Republic period, nothing remained of the ancient simplicity. Some even began to make kitchen utensils from silver. The guests came with their slaves, who stood or sat behind the master. He rendered various services to the owner and carried home a napkin with everything that the owner had taken from the table.
Food was usually cooked in clay pots, in bronze or lead pots, and the following methods were generally used to store food: smoking for cheeses, drying for meat, and coating with honey for fruits. Subsequently, they began to use brines. I would like to note that salt during that period was mainly used as money, and it would not have occurred to anyone to salt any dish solely for taste. Salt was valued dearly, as it was used to preserve food on long voyages or sea expeditions.
The devices for heating food were like a brazier: they were boxes with hollow walls, coals were placed inside, and liquid was poured into the cavity. Such a device was connected to the vessels installed at the bottom.
Various devices for warming drinks were curious. One of them, the most remarkable, is the autepsa, an antique samovar. In a tall, jug-like vessel there were two containers: one for coal, the other for liquid. hot coal was poured through a special side hole, while the liquid was poured and poured out using a scoop - there was no tap at the auteps. In the heat, by the way, instead of coal, the vessel was filled with ice brought to the city, and the liquid was thus cooled.
There was also a more perfect "samovar". In its middle part, a coal cavity was arranged with a grate at the bottom for ash removal and air access. There was a liquid between this cavity and the outer walls, opening the lid slightly, you can see both containers - the middle one for coal and the perimeter one for the liquid. Through a special widening on the side, the "samovar" was filled, and steam was released here.
2.4 Nutrition
During the day, food was usually taken three times: in the morning at about 9 o'clock there was an ientaculum - a morning light snack; around noon prandium - breakfast and after 3 o'clock cena - lunch. A more sumptuous dinner, with invited guests, was called a convivium - a feast.
The dining room was called the triclinium, which shows that they were reclining at the table. Originally ate in the atrium, sitting by the hearth. Only the father had the right to recline; the mother sat at the feet of his bed, and the children were placed on benches, sometimes at a special table, on which small portions were served to them, moreover, not from all dishes; slaves were in the same room on wooden benches or eating around the hearth; this was done especially in the countryside. Later, special halls for dinner parties began to be arranged, in which wives and children gradually took part. Since then, they began to interfere in the conversations of the men, they were even allowed to eat while lying down. The wealthy houses had several dining rooms for different seasons. The winter triclinium was usually located on the lower floor; for the summer, the dining room was moved to the upper floor, or the dining bed was placed under the velum in a gazebo, under a canopy of greenery, in the yard or in the garden.
At the beginning of the meal, prayers were always offered to the gods. Immediately after dinner, during dessert, or a little later - in the evening, there was a drinking binge, during which they drank, talked and had fun. These binges very soon took on the character of rough orgies. Few of its participants amused themselves with a serious conversation. As a rule, singers, singers and all kinds of musicians would very soon appear at such a feast. Sometimes the host read his own poems or asked one of the guests to read the poems of his own composition. Comedians, mimes, jesters, magicians, dancers and even gladiators were called to amuse the audience; dice were also played.
In the first centuries of the existence of Rome, the inhabitants of Italy ate mainly thick, steeply cooked porridge made from spelled, millet, barley or bean flour, but already at the dawn of Roman history, not only porridge was cooked in the household, but also bread cakes were baked. The culinary arts began to develop in the 3rd century. BC NS. and reached unprecedented heights under the empire.
In addition to cereals and legumes, vegetables and fruits, fermented milk products were also used. Meat was used quite rarely. Usually, sick or old pets, unsuitable for work in the fields, were slaughtered for this. In any case, the meat was very hard, it was rarely fried, but boiled in broth for a long time. Bread and cereals were staple foods in the ancient world. They were used to prepare stews and cereals, such as maza - a mixture of flour, honey, salt, olive oil and water; Turon is a mixture of flour, grated cheese and honey. Many foods are sprinkled with barley flour before cooking. Beans and other legumes were used abundantly.
The national soup of the ancient Romans was borscht - a lot of cabbage and beets were grown especially for it. Even the great poet Horace considered the cultivation of cabbage to be his main business. Subsequently, this wonderful soup spread among many peoples of the world.
Breakfast and lunch passed very quickly and dinner was given a lot of attention. The whole family was going to him. Typically, they served bean soup, milk, cheeses, fresh fruit, as well as green olives in brine and black olive paste. Subsequently, bread appeared on Roman tables, and lobsters and oysters in wealthy families. Since beef was very rare, game, frogs and snails were used in abundance.
There were three types of bread in ancient Rome. The first is black bread or panis plebeius, for the poor, the second is panis secundarius, white bread, but of poor quality. Often, the population was given grain, flour, or already baked bread. The third, panis candidus, is a high quality white bread for the Roman nobility.
It should be noted that the bulk of the inhabitants of ancient Rome did not have the opportunities that the wealthy Roman nobles had, so the plebeians most often bought food from itinerant sellers. Usually these were olives, fish in brine, a kind of wild bird kebab, boiled octopuses, fruits and cheese. The poor man's dinner consisted of a piece of bread, small pieces of salted fish, water, or very cheap low quality wine.
Those who could afford it dined during the day in numerous taverns. Wine played an important role on the table of the ancient Romans, which usually completed the dinner. Both red and white varieties were produced. At that time, there were already various cooperatives for the production of this popular drink. In Rome there was a port with a neighboring market, where only one wine was sold. When served, it was usually diluted with water and consumed warm or cool, depending on the season. Wine with the addition of honey was used as an aperitif.
5 Water supply
It is believed that ancient Rome was a city where water was abundant. It's right. The water flowed night and day, but not for private use. The landlord, if he received permission to conduct water, led the water to his yard, and if he himself lived in this house on the first floor, then to his apartment. Residents had to either buy water from a water carrier, or follow it into the yard, to the nearest fountain or well. The legislative act ordered each tenant to have water in their premises (this could prevent a certain number of fires).
It is impossible to imagine the life of the ancient Romans without thermal baths - a complex complex of bath rooms. In order to provide the citizens and slaves of Rome with the opportunity to wash, many baths were erected in the city, the largest of which were named after the rulers of Rome, on whose orders the construction of these baths was carried out. So in Rome, 15 "imperial" terms were built, among which the most famous and luxurious were the baths of Vespasian (consisted of more than a hundred rooms), Caracalla (designed for a simultaneous reception of 2300 people), Diocletian (in addition to common pools, it had 3 thousand individual baths from alabaster) and Constantine (the last term, built in 310 AD) The construction of the very first term is attributed to the famous rich man Maecenas.
In addition to the huge and magnificent baths, there were also many small baths, which during the reign of Augustus, with a city population of about 1 million 335 thousand people, were 865 public and 800 private.
Of course, the wealthy Romans could afford to wash their homes, since many villas were equipped with domestic small pools and baths, but the baths, being an important component of ancient Roman culture, for most dignitaries was not so much a place for washing as a place where all political , economic and other problems. As the comfort of the baths grew, many wealthy Romans preferred to spend whole days in the baths, eating, having fun, playing sports, listening to speakers, poets and doing everything else that could be done in the baths.
Home baths were used mainly by women and not for washing, but for maintaining beauty, which is why baths were taken with all kinds of medicinal additives from herbal decoctions and aromatic oils. Women washed themselves in baths either in the same room with men, or on special women's days. Only in the II century AD. under the emperor Trajan, special women's baths began to be built.
It should be noted that the baths were a public place, because all the costs for the baths were borne by the emperors, and the price for entry was purely symbolic. Therefore, both the rich and the poor washed themselves in the same baths. True, at the same time, representatives of different strata of the population and different financial capabilities visited different halls of the thermal baths, which, depending on the alleged status of those who were washed, differed not only in the quality of the decoration of the premises, but also in the purity of the water.
During the construction of the baths, a cascading arrangement of halls was adopted, in which the halls of commoners were located below the halls of the nobility. Water flowed into the pools by gravity, and since all the thermal pools were united into a single system, the water first entered the upper pools, and through them - into the lower ones. Consequently, only those who could afford the expensive upper halls got clean water. At the same time, the visitors of the lower halls got water, which had already managed to wash the bodies of the Roman nobility.
During the construction of the term, the builders had to solve several engineering problems. I would like to dwell on some of them in more detail.
Obviously, washing is impossible without water. With the same volume of water used daily, it was simply necessary to create a system of constant water supply to the city. For this, no separate supply systems were created, but the existing and constantly improving drinking water supply systems of the city were used.
In general, in ancient Rome, the first aqueduct (aqueduct) - Appia Claudia - appeared in 313 BC. NS. Initially, ground structures were created, which often rose above the ground on supports, as a result of which the aqueduct took the shape of a bridge. This design did not interfere with movement, which was especially important inside the city itself.
The very part of the aqueduct, through which the water flowed, could be made in two ways. The most common method was brickwork, inside which a rectangular channel was created. To reduce water leaks from the water supply system, it was necessary to ensure high-quality lubrication of all masonry seams, which was quite time consuming, but cheap. Therefore, this method has become the most applicable.
However, as the population grew and the building density increased, it was necessary to lay underground water pipelines, which could no longer be completed according to the first option. In this case, lead pipes were used, thanks to which only in Rome it was possible to build two underground water pipelines with a length of several tens of kilometers.
During the construction of lead pipelines, no one thought about the fact that lead entering the body with water leads to gradual poisoning. For the inhabitants of Rome, such a pipeline was harmful the more that the water that fed the city was rich in carbon dioxide, which, upon contact with the pipes, formed carbon dioxide, which actively replaced calcium in the human body, leading to chronic diseases... Considering the fact that the dishes of the Romans, and even cosmetics were made on the basis of lead, it becomes clear why the age of the noble Romans and especially the Romans rarely exceeded 30 years.
Continuing the conversation about aqueducts, it should be noted that, regardless of the form of the water supply system, water flowed through it in a non-pressure way, that is, only due to the difference in water levels. Moreover, each aqueduct had to be equipped at the point of water intake with a water-lifting device, which were most often used multistage systems of continuous action with mechanisms for raising water of the "endless chain" type. The drive could be carried out from the muscular traction of both humans and animals.
Of course, aqueducts were built not only in Rome, but in all provinces of the empire. So water pipelines have survived to this day not only in the territory of modern Italy, but also in Spain and Turkey. The quality of the aqueducts was such that many of them were used until the twentieth century. At the same time, as in the times of the Roman Empire, water came from aqueducts to special city fountains, from where it was already carried home with the help of improvised means. In addition to the fountains, of course, water flowed into ponds, storage facilities and baths.
In the latter case, one more problem had to be solved related to water heating. And it was solved by creating large raised to the height of the boiler-baths, heated from below by several continuously burning fires, evenly distributed under the bottom of the boiler. Thus, uniform heating of the entire mass of water was ensured, which already flowed through the pipes by gravity into the upper basins of the thermal baths. As we moved to the lower basins, the water was not additionally heated, so that the lowest classes were content with only slightly warmed water.
In order to prevent people from scalding with boiling water in the upper basins, or special settling ponds were formed, where those who like to warm up could enjoy the hottest water, or they mixed boiling water from a boiler with cold water supplied to the thermal baths directly from aqueducts without heating.
The issue of heating concerned not only the water itself, but also the premises of the baths themselves, because only in such conditions it was possible to speak of a comfortable stay in the thermal baths. To solve this problem, the ancient Roman builders in the 1st century. AD created the world's first central heating system called hypocaust. At the same time, if the main area of application of the hypocaust was nevertheless the terms, the architects of the northern provinces of the empire managed to appreciate all the advantages of this system and began to widely use it for heating the living quarters of the houses of the nobility.
The work of the hypocaust is quite simple: the oven, located under the building in its central part, heated the air in the basement, which, together with the smoke from the burnt wood, rising upward, began to move under the floor from the center to the periphery along horizontal channels, while heating the floor. Further, the air passed into the columns inside the walls and, moving upward, gave them heat, as a result of which the room warmed up from all sides except the roof. The removal of hot air with smoke to the outside was carried out through the chimneys in the building. Almost all hypocaust pipes were made of clay, which made it possible not only to ensure the fire safety of the structure, but also to prevent smoke from entering.
Thus, it can be noted that Roman baths played a significant role in the development of many engineering systems for residential and public buildings. Due to the fact that the baths were used in all areas of the empire, the bath traditions penetrated into the cultures of many peoples of both Europe and the East. Only after the collapse of the Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. many engineering tricks were lost in the West, but fortunately survived in the East.
It should be noted that all the noted engineering tricks and luxury were characteristic only of city baths. In villages, baths were built on the banks of rivers or lakes, consisting of one or two rooms in addition to the dressing room. The general construction of the village bath included a moat with a dense canopy of branches. To create steam, stones heated on a fire were used, which were periodically watered. After a person steamed in this simple room, he took a bath in a cold reservoir.
Conclusion
Houses in Roman cities were striking in variety: from dilapidated shacks to high-rise buildings and large mansions. The city mansion, where a noble and wealthy person lives, developed from a village manor, but acquaintance with Greece and its culture had a deep influence on the life of the Romans. The old house remains completely intact, but a new half is added to it, borrowed from the Hellenistic house. The house doubles as it were.
Only rich people could afford to live in their own homes, which were different versions of the same plan. The more successful the owner was, the more his house grew. The successful homeowner bought neighboring land and buildings and connected them to his mansion.
At the same time, most of the inhabitants of the cities lived in terrible cramped conditions and poverty. They were constantly threatened with the possibility of perishing under the ruins of a house or being burned in it.
Some apartments in the insul, on the first floors, were luxurious and spacious, consisted of several large rooms, but others were cramped and poor little rooms with no running water or sewerage.
The Romans used the word villa to refer to a rural house as opposed to a town house. Many wealthy Romans considered the village to be a source of income and a place of enjoyable relaxation. The owners of the villas, the wealthy townspeople, came to the village only for some time a year. The rest of the time the estate was managed by a clerk, and all the work was done by slaves. Most of the villas were centers of agriculture. Only a few villas were luxurious palaces that existed simply for the entertainment of their owners. Only very rich people could afford such villas. At the same time, owning a villa was fashionable and prestigious. The richer the villa, the higher the status of its owner. Friends and acquaintances were invited to the villa, in front of whom the owner of the villa could show off his wealth. In addition, it was prestigious for important people to be the owner of not one, but several villas, which could be located in different locations: by the sea, in the mountains.
List of used literature
Sources of
.Varron M.T. About agriculture // Reader on the history of Ancient Rome / Ed. S.L. Utchenko. - M .: Publishing house of socio-economic literature, 1962. - 364 p.
.Marcial M.V. Epigrams // Antique Literature. Rome: Reader / Ed. ON. Fedorov. - M .: Higher school, 1985 .-- 528 p.
.Pliny the Younger. Letters // Reader on the history of Ancient Rome / Ed. IN AND. Kuzishchina. - M .: Higher school, 1981 .-- 280 p.
.Seneca L.A. On the Benefit // Antique Literature. Rome: Reader / Ed. ON. Fedorov. - M .: Higher school, 1985 .-- 440 p.
.Yuvenal D.Yu. Satires // Antique Literature. Rome: Reader / Ed. ON. Fedorov. - M .: Higher school, 1985 .-- 538 p.
Literature
.Velishsky F.F. Life of the Greeks and Romans / Per. from Czech. - Prague: Printing House I. Militkiy, 1878. - XVI, 670 p.
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.Carcopino Jerome. Daily life of ancient Rome. The apogee of the empire. Moscow: Young Guard, 2008.
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Families from the times of Ancient Rome can be compared with modern families, although there are radical differences. So, in the 21st century, strict social class rules and legalized violations of rights just look wild. But at the same time, children in ancient times loved to play no less than modern ones, and many kept pets in their homes.
1. Marriage was just an agreement
Girls married early adolescence, and men got married at 20-30 years old. Roman marriages were quick and easy, and most of them did not even smell like romance, it was purely an agreement. It was concluded between the families of the future spouses, who could see each other only if the wealth of the proposed spouse and his social status were acceptable. If the families agreed, then a formal engagement took place, during which a written agreement was signed and the couple kissed. Unlike modern times, the wedding was not held in a legal institution (the marriage had no legal force), but simply showed the intention of the spouses to live together.
A Roman citizen could not marry his beloved hetaira, cousin, or non-Roman woman. Divorce was also simple: the couple announced their intention to divorce in front of seven witnesses. If a divorce happened on the accusation that the wife was cheating, then she could never marry again. If the husband was found guilty of this, then he was not threatened with such a sentence.
2. Feast or hunger
Social status was determined by how the family ate. The lower classes mostly ate simple food day in and day out, while the wealthy often held feasts and celebrations to demonstrate their status. While the diet of the lower classes consisted mainly of olives, cheese and wine, the upper class ate a wider variety of meat dishes, and just plain fresh produce. Very poor citizens sometimes ate only porridge. Usually all dishes were prepared by women or house slaves. There were no forks then, they ate with hands, spoons and knives.
The parties of the Roman nobility went down in history, thanks to the decadence and the abundant delicacies that they received. For hours, guests reclined on dining sofas while slaves gleaned scraps around them. Interestingly, all the classes relished a sauce called garum. It was made from the blood and entrails of fish by fermentation for several months. The sauce had such a powerful stench that it was forbidden to use it within the city limits.
3. Insula and Domus
What the Romans' neighbors were like depended only on social status. Most of the Roman population lived in seven-story buildings called insulas. These houses were very vulnerable to fires, earthquakes and even floods. The upper floors were reserved for the poor, who had to pay rent daily or weekly. These families lived under constant threat of eviction in cramped rooms with no natural light or a bathroom.
The first two floors in insul were reserved for people with better income. They paid rent once a year and lived in larger rooms with windows. Wealthy Romans lived in country houses or owned so-called doms in cities. Domus was a large, cozy home that easily accommodated the owner's shop, library, rooms, kitchen, pool and garden.
4. Intimate life
There was complete inequality in the Roman bedrooms. Whereas women were supposed to bear sons, be celibate and remain faithful to their husbands, and married men were allowed to cheat. It was perfectly normal to have extramarital sex with partners of both sexes, but it had to be with slaves, getters, or concubines / mistresses.
Wives could not do anything about it, since this was socially acceptable and even expected from a man. While there were undoubtedly married couples who used passion as an expression of affection for each other, it was overwhelmingly believed that women tied the knot in order to have children, rather than enjoying a wide variety of sex lives.
The fathers had complete control over the life of the newborn, without even asking the mother's opinion. After the birth of the child, they laid it at the feet of the father. If he raised the child, then it remained at home. Otherwise, the child was taken out into the street, where he was either picked up by passers-by or he was dying. Roman children were not recognized if they were born with some kind of disability or if a poor family could not feed the child. The thrown out "lucky ones" ended up in childless families, where they were given a new name. The rest (those who survived) ended up becoming slaves or prostitutes, or they were deliberately maimed by beggars so that the children were given more alms.
6. Family vacation
Rest was a large part of the Roman family life... As a rule, starting at noon, the elite of society devoted their day to rest. Most of the recreational activities were public: rich and poor alike enjoyed watching gladiators gut each other, cheer on chariot races, or visit theaters. In addition, citizens spent a lot of time in public baths, which had gyms, swimming pools and health centers (and some also had intimate services).
The children had their favorite activities. The boys preferred wrestling, flying kites, or playing war games. The girls played with dolls and board games... Families also often just relaxed with each other and their pets.
7. Education
Education depended on the child's social status and gender. Formal education was the privilege of noble boys, and girls from good families were usually only taught to read and write. As a rule, mothers were responsible for teaching Latin, reading, writing and arithmetic, and this was carried out until the age of seven, when teachers were hired for boys. Wealthy families hired tutors or educated slaves for this role; otherwise, the boys were sent to private schools.
Education for male students included physical training to prepare young men for military service. Children born to slaves received virtually no formal education. There were also no public schools for disadvantaged children.
8. Initiation into adults
While the girls crossed the threshold of adulthood almost imperceptibly, there was a special ceremony to mark the boy's transition to men. Depending on the mental and physical prowess of his son, the father decided when the boy became an adult (as a rule, this happened at the age of 14-17). On this day, children's clothes were removed from the boy, after which his father put on a white citizen's tunic on him. The father then gathered a large crowd to accompany his son to the Forum.
This institution registered the name of the boy, and he officially became a Roman citizen. After that, the newly-made citizen within a year became an apprentice in the profession that his father chose for him.
When it comes to the attitude towards animals in ancient Rome, the first thing that comes to mind is the bloody massacres in the Colosseum. However, ordinary citizens cherished their pets. Not only dogs and cats were favorites, but also domestic snakes, rats and birds. Nightingales and green Indian parrots were in vogue as they could mimic human words. Cranes, herons, swans, quails, geese and ducks were also kept at home. Peacocks were especially popular among birds. The Romans loved their pets so much that they were immortalized in art and poetry, and even buried with their masters.
10. Women's independence
In ancient Rome, it was not easy to be a woman. Any hopes of being able to vote or build a career could be forgotten right away. The girls were doomed to live in a home, raise children and suffer from husband's debauchery. They had almost no rights in marriage. However, due to the high infant mortality rate, the state rewarded Roman women for having children. The prize was perhaps the most coveted for women: legal independence. If a free woman gave birth to three children who survived after childbirth (or four children in the case of a former slave), then she was awarded the status of an independent person.
Under the Emperor Trajan (beginning of the 2nd century), the population of the Roman Empire, in comparison with the then population of the Earth, was relatively larger than the current total population of China, Russia and the United States and, accordingly, the rest of humanity.
To bring up the eyes of the Roman woman, they used cuttlefish ink liquid, antimony, burnt soot date palm or even a special pasta, the main ingredient of which was fried ants. Red lead and red mercury sulfide were suitable for lip tinting. Nobody knew then that these were highly toxic substances. Wealthy ladies painted their heels and palms red, and gold dust was applied to the nipples. Sodium bicarbonate paste or urine was used to brush the teeth in the morning.
Lying down, they ate only on special occasions: at banquets and on holidays. On ordinary days, they ate like we did, sitting at the table.
Selling and buying is not a woman's business. Similar to the markets in many Islamic countries, you would not see a woman bargaining with a shopkeeper. The husband, servant or slave does it for her.
The proverb "Money does not smell" (pecunia non olet) is indeed associated with the emperor Vespasian, but he introduced not a fee for common areas, but a tax on laundries, which took urine from public toilets for washing.
For especially grave and cynical crimes, they were sentenced to be eaten by a lion in the arena in the presence of tens of thousands of spectators. By hanging the condemned in a special way, they could prolong his life, while the lion ate him from below. Or they staged the myth of Prometheus, using a man-eating bear instead of an eagle. The unfortunate death ended the setting under Nero of the myth of Pasiphae copulating with a bull.
The Circus Maximus hippodrome in Rome accommodated almost 400 thousand spectators, the Pompey Theater - 25 thousand.
The main purpose of the round hole in the dome of the Pantheon was not to smell the incense burned in the temple in heaven, but simply to collect rainwater. Ordinary residential buildings were built in this way.
Rome was variegated, multicolored. Our white walls would seem like a blank canvas in a frame, about our monuments the Roman would ask why they were not painted.
The Romans went to the bathhouse every day, but they changed their tunic and loincloth (subligar, a type of underwear) much less often, about once a week.
Women did not wear a toga, except for those convicted of adultery or prostitutes. Ordinary women's clothing there was a long, almost toe-length shawl, which was also used to cover the head. In addition to the ladies' version of underwear, women wore a semblance of a bra - strophium, or mamillare. The bikini is an ancient Roman invention.
The demand for silk from China led to the fact that huge amounts of money settled in the hands of Rome's worst enemies - the Persians. The emperors tried to prevent this, but to no avail. The silkworm and all the technology were imported to Constantinople only under the Emperor Justinian (6th century), after the fall of Western Roman civilization.
To eyeliner, the Romans used cuttlefish ink liquid, antimony, soot of a burnt out date palm, or even a special paste, the main ingredient of which was fried ants. Red lead and red mercury sulfide were suitable for lip tinting. Nobody knew then that these were highly toxic substances. Wealthy ladies painted their heels and palms red, and gold dust was applied to the nipples. Sodium bicarbonate paste or urine was used to brush the teeth in the morning.
The wrist sundial - solaria was in use. They had a concave surface and resembled today's egg-holders. A beam of light passed through a tiny hole, and the time could be read by a luminous point on a kind of dial. The watch was designed for the geographical longitude of Rome; it made no sense to take them with you on a long trip.
Clothes, tablecloths and sheets were washed in an aqueous solution of soda, special clay and human urine. To collect the latter, special amphorae were installed in the cities, where any passer-by could relieve themselves and where urine from the surrounding dwellings was drained.
Under Septimius Sever (2nd century), there were 46602 multi-storey residential buildings and 1797 private buildings (domus) in the capital.
Samples of graffiti on the interior walls of apartment buildings:
Many women were deceived by Restitutus
Marcus loves Domitia
Greek woman Eutykhida, with good manners, will give herself up for two aces
The terracotta piggy banks were exactly the same as today.
There were no forks, they will be invented after many centuries in Florence. (It should be clarified: there were forks, but not as part of a cutlery, they were used in cooking and serving; apparently, the first table forks in Europe appeared no later than 4 in the Eastern Roman Empire - buzhor). They ate with spoons, knives, and mostly with their hands.
Everywhere there were images of an erect phallus: in niches in the streets, at the entrances to shops, inlaid in the sidewalk. It was believed that seeing or touching such an image would bring good luck.
The usual working hours are 6 hours from morning to lunchtime. The exceptions were, for example, traders and barber, clients came to them even after dinner.
There were no regular weekends. Did not work on holidays (about 30 days a year).
Birds flying east good sign flying west is bad.
Freedom of religion was supported in the state. Christians were persecuted for refusing to recognize the divine nature of the emperor. They were never killed in the arena of the Colosseum. The most bloodthirsty executions took place under Nero, when the Colosseum was not yet there. The venue was Nero's personal hippodrome near the current Vatican.
The ancient Romans did not know stirrups, the latter appeared only in the Middle Ages.
Gambling, like money betting, was prohibited, those caught in this had to contribute 4 times more to the treasury than was at stake; nevertheless, everyone played and bet. Most often, dice and duodecim scripta - backgammon - were played. Emperor Augustus somehow lost 200 thousand sesterces in one day.
There are no exact data on the number of literate people, it can be assumed that the vast majority of free citizens could read, write and count. Only the poorest could not pay for the education of their children. For comparison: in 1875, 66% of Italians did not know how to read or write.
The left hand was enough to show the numbers from 1 to 100. For round hundreds and thousands, the right hand was used. Other parts of the body served as the designation for hundreds of thousands. Two fingers of both hands connected above the head - 1 million. The statue of Janus, according to Pliny, stretched out both hands, which showed the number of days in a year - 365. Benedictine monk Beda in the 8th century. copied this "hand account" from an old manuscript and kept it for us.
Today's Testaccio Hill in Rome was actually a pile of rubbish nearly 40 meters high. The trash is formed exclusively by broken amphoras - more than 40 ml of debris.
At least 60% of the capital's population were not local natives.
List of the most pressing problems of the capital (according to Prof. Staccioli):
traffic jams;
noise and chaos in the streets;
dirt and debris;
lack of housing and exorbitant prices for it;
inadequate construction, loss of life when houses fall;
uncontrolled immigration;
crime situation after dark.
There was no racism in the empire. The population had different rights depending on social status: citizens of Rome; Foreigners; slaves.
Prisoners of war, convicted criminals, and foundlings became slaves. Slaves were also bought from slave traders from Eastern Europe, Asia or Africa. Insolvent creditors could fall into slavery, but the law distinguished them from other slaves. A free citizen who fell into poverty could sell himself into slavery of his own free will. The owner could torture a slave with impunity, injure him and even kill him.
The greatest damage to the monuments of ancient architecture in Rome was caused by Pope Julius II (16th century). In pursuance of his plan for the reconstruction of the city, he ordered the use of the ancient forums as a source of building material. According to contemporaries, many buildings were in excellent condition, but a month was enough to dismantle and destroy them. The protests of Michelangelo and Raphael had no effect.
Conquering Dacia and capturing there great amount gold and silver, the emperor Trajan (2nd century) eliminated the tax arrears of the Romans. All tablets and scrolls with promissory notes written on them were solemnly burned in the central square.
A leopard was driven into the arena for a fight with a gladiator, which was previously trained to death on unarmed slaves.
Children were given birth in a sitting position.
In the 1st century. the equivalent of 6 kg of wheat cost 3 sestertius. At the end of the 3rd century. - 240 sesterces.
Few people knew how to swim, swimming was not a sport or entertainment.
The entrance to the baths was free for soldiers, children and slaves.
Trajan's victory over the Dacians was celebrated at the Colosseum arena with games that lasted 120 days in a row. 11 thousand animals and 10 thousand gladiators were killed. 4 and a half centuries of the existence of the Colosseum before the ban on games under Christians made it the place of the greatest concentration of mortality in the entire history of mankind. It is conservatively estimated that about 1 million people were killed in this arena. A comparable figure is given by Auschwitz, which, however, occupied a much larger territory.
Gladiators received leave, they were allowed to marry and have children. The prize for a victory could amount to a considerable amount, and it was allowed to spend at its discretion. It is difficult to say how many survived, but these were not isolated cases. Someone Maximus in the 1st century. was released after 40 victories in a row. By tradition, instead of a combat sword (gladius), he was handed a wooden (rudus) - a symbol of a free peaceful life.
Contrary to popular myth, the phrase Ave Caesare, morituri te salutant was uttered only once during the reign of the Emperor Claudius (1st century), and the Colosseum did not yet exist.
The games were played to the accompaniment of orchestras.
More often than not, the fate of the defeated tribune was decided not by the position of the thumb, but by shouts of mitte ("free him") or iugula ("cut his throat").
Fights with a fatal outcome did not happen as often as is commonly believed, due to the enormous cost of each combat unit, taking into account the time for its preparation. In addition, the gladiator "had" to live for some time in order to maintain a kind of tote in the stands.
The price was the blood of gladiators. The Romans believed that it helped with epilepsy and impotence. The mortally wounded gladiator was quickly dragged away, killed in a special room with rounded corners (to make it easier to clean the floor and walls), let down and then sold his blood.
The average wealthy and noble Roman is a well-trained, by no means overweight, dark-haired man with blue eyes.
Without tomato and mozzarella (the first were brought much later from America; the second became possible only with the advent of Asian buffaloes, most likely already under the Lombards), there could be no pizza. There was no spaghetti or other pasta.
Belching while eating was considered good form, it was not forbidden to spoil the air.
The wife remained faithful to her husband, the husband was allowed to have connections on the side. Public morality, however, demanded that these connections be with persons of lower status, i.e. male slaves or slaves. With the change in the economic situation of the woman (she inherited the fortune of her father and, in the event of a divorce, retained the rights to this inheritance), they began to be more tolerant of the infidelity of their wives. From the 1st century. BC. for a divorce, the expression of the will of any of the spouses was enough.
Bill Clinton in the situation with Monica Lewinsky, if they lived in Ancient Rome, would not cause any outrage. First, there was intimate relationship with a lower status, which was not too condemned; secondly, in oral sex, only the side whose oral cavity was "defiled" looked unsightly. There was a moral prohibition against male-male oral sex, regardless of how active and passive roles were assigned, and cunninlingus. Age didn't matter.
A free citizen caught in a passive role in anal sex with another man was condemned in any case. He was infringed on his rights as a gladiator, prostitute or actor: he could not vote and defend himself in court.
Pornography in today's sense did not exist. Erotic scenes were reproduced on the walls of ordinary houses and on dishes; sex was not a taboo topic with children.
From the book by Alberto Angela
Usually, ordinary people associate Ancient Rome with famous myths and ancient architecture. Heroic men in golden armor and chariots, charming ladies in tunics and Democratic emperors ate grapes in their lounges. But the reality in ancient Rome, as historians testify, was not so rosy and glamorous. Sanitation and medicine were at an embryonic level, and this could not but affect the life of Roman citizens.
1. Mouthwash
In ancient Rome, small need was such a developed business that the government introduced special taxes on the sale of urine. There were people who only made a living by collecting urine. Some collected it in public urinals, while others went from house to house with a large vat asking people to fill it up. It is difficult to imagine the ways of using the collected urine today. For example, they cleaned her clothes.
Workers filled a vat with clothes and then doused them with urine. After that, one person climbed into the vat and stomped on the clothes to wash them. But that's nothing compared to the way the Romans brushed their teeth. In some areas, people have used urine as a mouthwash. It has been claimed that this makes the teeth shiny and white.
2. General sponge
In fact, the Romans, when going to the toilet, took with them special combs designed for combing out lice. And the worst thing happened after people relieved of great need. In every public toilet, which was usually visited by dozens of other people at the same time, there was only one sponge on a stick, which was used for wiping. At the same time, the sponge was never cleaned and was used by all visitors.
3. Explosions of methane
Every time a person entered a Roman toilet, he risked dying. The first problem was that creatures living in the sewer system often crawled out and bit people while they were fulfilling their needs. An even worse problem was the accumulation of methane, which sometimes accumulated in such quantities that it ignited and exploded.
The toilets were so dangerous that people used magic to try and stay alive. The walls of many toilets were riddled with magic spells designed to scare away demons. Also in some toilets there were statues of the goddess of luck Fortune, to whom people prayed when entering.
4 gladiator blood
There were many eccentricities in Roman medicine. Several Roman authors have reported that after gladiatorial battles, the blood of dead gladiators was often collected and sold as medicine. The Romans believed that gladiatorial blood could cure epilepsy and drank it as medicine.
And this was still a relatively civilized example. In other cases, the liver of dead gladiators was completely cut out and eaten raw. Ironically, some Roman physicians actually report that this treatment worked. They claim to have seen people drinking human blood and recovering from epileptic seizures.
5. Dead flesh cosmetics
While defeated gladiators became a cure for epileptics, victors became a source of aphrodisiacs. In Roman times, soap was quite rare, so athletes cleaned themselves by covering their bodies with oil and scraping off dead skin cells as well as sweat and dirt with a tool called a shear.
As a rule, all this dirt was simply thrown away, but not in the case of gladiators. Their scrapings of dirt and dead skin were bottled and sold to women as an aphrodisiac. It was also often added to face creams used by women in the hopes of being irresistible to men.
6. Erotic art
The volcanic eruption that buried Pompeii left this city perfectly preserved for archaeologists. When scientists first began excavating in Pompeii, they found things that were so obscene that they were hidden from the public for years. The city was full of erotic art in its craziest forms.
For example, one could see a statue of Pan copulating with a goat. In addition, the city was full of prostitutes, which was reflected on ... the sidewalks. And today you can visit the ruins of Pompeii and see what the Romans saw every day - penises carved in the roads that showed the way to the nearest brothel.
7. Penises "for good luck"
The topic of penises was quite popular in Rome, in contrast to modern society. Their images could be found literally everywhere, they were even often worn around the neck. In Rome, it was considered fashionable among young men to wear copper penises on a necklace. It was believed that they were not only fashionable and stylish, but could also "prevent harm" that could cause the people who wore them.
Also penises "for good luck" were painted in dangerous places to protect travelers. For example, images of penises were painted almost everywhere on decrepit and rickety bridges in Rome.
8. Exposure of the buttocks
Rome is unique in that for the first time in history there has been written evidence of the exposure of the buttocks. The Jewish priest Josephus Flavius first described the demonstration of the buttocks during the riot in Jerusalem. During Passover, Roman soldiers were sent to the walls of Jerusalem to watch for an uprising.
One of these soldiers, according to Josephus, "turned his back to the city wall, lowered his pants, bent down and uttered a shameless sound." The Jews were furious. They demanded that the soldier be punished and then began throwing stones at the Roman soldiers. Riots soon broke out in Jerusalem, and the gesture remained for thousands of years.
9. Artificial vomiting
The Romans took the concept of excess in everything to a new level. According to Seneca, the Romans ate at banquets until they simply “didn’t fit more,” and then they artificially induced vomiting to continue eating. Some people vomited in the bowls they kept near the table, but others did not "bother" and tore right on the floor next to the table, after which they continued to eat.
10. Goat dung drink
The Romans did not have bandages, but they found an original way to stop bleeding from wounds. According to Pliny the Elder, people in Rome covered their abrasions and wounds with goat dung. Pliny wrote that the best goat droppings were collected during the spring and dried, but fresh goat droppings were suitable in emergencies. But this is far from the most disgusting way the Romans used this "product."
The charioteers drank it as a source of energy. They either diluted boiled goat dung in vinegar or stirred it in their drinks. Moreover, this was done not only by poor people. According to Pliny, the biggest fanatic of drinking goat dung was the Emperor Nero.
Early in the morning at dawn, the first sounds of a new day were heard in Roman houses. Slaves scrubbed marble floors with beeswax, rattled dishes in the dining room, lit a fire in the stove, opened shutters and prepared details for the masters' daytime toilet. All Roman houses were happy in different ways, depending on the wealth of the owners. The owners themselves also woke up early, minus those cases when parties turned into night festivities with friends.
The Romans were in a hurry to get to work. True, they worked until noon and a day after two, since holidays in ancient Rome prevailed over weekdays, and on weekdays after dinner the Romans arranged their own holidays. How?
The pleasure principle 2,000 years ago
Unlike the principle of deprivation and suffering, legalized several centuries later by the Church, the pagans of ancient Rome followed the principle of pleasure. They discovered it long before Freud's theory. If there was no god who could become the patron saint of pleasure in all its forms, the Romans borrowed it or invented it themselves. They were in a hurry to live. This innate impulse was creative and destructive for those times, but no one really thought about it.
The ritual of morning washing was performed over a basin or a bronze bowl, but without soap - the Romans did not know it. Instead, they used beech ash, ground clay and lye, or bean flour. For smoothness, the skin was then softened with an oil balm. They dried themselves with a linen towel. Men shaved daily, the elderly, oddly enough, did not hesitate to dye their hair black, and the bald ones did not neglect wigs. Slaves and female slaves were responsible for ensuring that men were clean-shaven, starched, and dressed in a clean toga, while women had their hair in fashion, make-up and dressed in the best possible way. Wealthy Romans had barber slaves (tonzors) and ornatrices for matrons. The hair was twisted with a hot iron rod - an analogue of curlers.
The Romans made their first breakfast in a hurry, very often on the way to work, having bought cold or warm snacks in one of the many shops. After that, the women either started household chores, or visited friends and relatives. There were few working women in ancient Rome and they were mainly employed in craft workshops.
Roman Forum 2000 years ago - the meeting place could not be changed
at first they were places of lively trade or, simply put, ordinary markets. During the imperial period, they became centers of attraction for the Romans. Basilicas were erected and senate curiae appeared. Here were held solemn processions of the conquerors and demonstrations of loot in the conquered territories. The most recent events could only be found on the forums. The former markets gradually turned into fairs, and then into cultural and political centers of the city.
Simple Romans who lived in multi-storey insulah, often in small rooms without sanitary facilities and water, they rushed with pleasure in the morning to the forums: this was a way to join the good and feel like a resident of a great empire. Here verbiage and oratory was allowed in unlimited quantities and for everyone. Anyone could address the crowd from an impromptu podium and give a speech on any topic, except those that questioned the greatness of the empire and the status of the existing government.
There were no less than eleven such forums in Rome during the imperial period. Both bread and circuses - everything could be given and received here to a resident of the ancient city in the rhythm of a rapidly changing daily. Here trade agreements were concluded, prices for fast-moving and slow-moving goods were set, and the splendor of colonnades and painted statues filled the hearts of the inhabitants and guests of Rome with pride and aesthetic satisfaction. After work (by about one o'clock in the afternoon), the Romans, having washed and changed their clothes, flocked to the squares in the hope of getting a chance, a good offer or buying a first-quality overseas product at the best price.
Healthy :
Roman bathing 2000 years ago
The ancient Romans believed that truth was in water. They even worshiped the goddess Veritas, the daughter of Saturn, who was believed to have lived in the depths of the wells. However, the Roman emperors, with the help of an army of thousands of slaves and noble craftsmen, allowed the inhabitants of the ancient metropolis to literally bathe in the true moisture of bliss. Aqueducts and baths were built, which completely changed the idea of the Romans about the properties of water and its political significance.
The famous baths of the emperors became the focus of a new culture and way of life in ancient Rome. The Baths of Diocletian and Caracalla were visited daily by thousands of Romans, young and old. Libraries, playgrounds, health-improving procedures, following the example of the ancient Etruscans, alternated with relaxation and sunny procedures, and the fate of the republic was decided "on the sidelines" of the thermal baths or directly in the pools.
The baths in the afternoon have become an alternative to forums and circuses. Especially after Agrippa's greatest decision to make them free for everyone. You could see mimes, dancers, sellers of flowers and amulets, you could have plenty of food and drink, you could place bets on gladiators, spin a love affair, or just choose one of the priestesses of love. You could go in for sports or read ancient manuscripts.
Sophisticated mechanism water treatments today, for reasons of economy, it has survived only partially. Meanwhile, Roman baths had their own rules for enjoying water. Visitors first entered thiepidarium- a spacious pool with slightly heated water, in which they stayed for about an hour. Then it was the turn caldarium: Here the water was heated to a temperature of approx. 40 ° C. Finally, the bather chose the laconicum - a pool with hot water in a room with heated air (a prototype of a sauna). For the final hardening served as a tonic frigidarium with cold water.
Colosseum and circuses 2000 years ago
Everything new is well forgotten old. Two thousand years before the advent of modern boxing, wrestling, fencing, horse racing and even football, Roman civilization enjoyed the brutal struggle of male power in numerous arenas and stadiums. The sight and smell of blood excited and intoxicated crowds of thousands of spectators, and the victorious gladiators became idols. Contrary to popular belief, the death of a gladiator in the arena of the Colosseum was not a common occurrence. The Romans were merciful in their own way, but at the same time practical: buying and training a gladiator cost a lot of money.
Unfortunately, Roman people did not have the same compassion for the wild beasts that were included in the Colosseum performances. According to the testimony of contemporaries, it is known that at least 5,000 predatory animals were killed in 100 days of the celebration in honor of the opening of the Colosseum.
Big Circus, or Circo Massimo, which could accommodate up to 300 thousand spectators, shook the cheers and roars of the enthusiastic audience the Roman sky is almost daily. According to the legend, the abduction of the Sabine women and the subsequent clash of the Latins and the Sabines, which miraculously ended in a strong union of the two tribes, happened just after one of the equestrian competitions in the arena of the Great Circus.
But this was only a small part of the entertainment industry in ancient Rome. There were stadiums - buildings with a purely sports orientation, among which is the famous Domitian stadium, exact copy which is the current gem of Rome - Piazza Navona. There were circuses in which battles were held on water and on life-size ships. Among them is Naumachia Augusta in the area of the current Trastevere quarter.
End of the day and dinner in Rome 2000 years ago
Tired of the sun and celebrations, the Romans ran into taverns before going to bed (an analogue of the current fast food - fast food) or hurried home, where a dinner warmed up by slaves was waiting for them. They often dined in the presence of slaves who were huddled in a corner of the refectory. If guests were received, according to all the rules, dinner became a loose concept. The care of the slaves was to see off satisfied guests, to light the way with a torch, or to personally harness the carriage.
After supper, the couple retired to their chambers. In Roman families, if there was such an opportunity, the spouses slept separately and only as needed slept in a bedroom with a wide bed. This is one of the mysteries of the Eternal City. But the morning is wiser than the evening.
