Rome Revision - Life in the Home
Key Content
Life in the home: The role of the paterfamilias: his rights over family members and slaves, his
involvement in the education of his son, duties connected with religion, family finance; his
responsibilities towards his clients.
The wife: status, rights and duties, daily activities, spinning and weaving, the supervision of slaves,
the wife as mother.
The dinner party (cena): the organisation, guests, entertainment, purposes.
Progress Bar
Describe – Explain - Evaluate
Patrons and clients
1. Describe the patron/client system. Explain the duties of both the patron & the client. P152153
Dinner Parties
2. Define the following: cena, comissatio,synthesis, triclinium p155-158
Women
3.
4.
5.
6.
What was considered to be a women’s main purpose in life? P159
List the duties of a wife.p165-166
Describe the rights that women had and the influence they had in roman society. P167
Explain how women of the upper classes began to have more influence from the 2nd century
BCE – Choose an example from Cornelia – Sempronia – Livia or Agrippina p167-171
Paterfamilias
7. What was the role and powers of the Paterfamilias? Give examples. P32
8. What were the responsibilities of the Paterfamilias? P32
9. What were the religious duties of the Paterfamilias? Give examples P32
Question Practice
1. Describe the typical arrangement of a dining room for a Roman Dinner Party (Cena) (5)
2. Explain how a roman may entertain his guests at a dinner party (5)
3. Explain why dinner parties were important to the Roman household (5)
To what extent do you think that a roman wife lived a fulfilling life? In your answer you might like to
discuss:
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the various duties of a Roman wife
her status in Roman Society
anything else you think is significant
(30)