Roman Life
At the heart of the Roman society was the
paterfamilias, the father of the family. The
paterfamilias possessed power over his children,
regardless of their age. This power made the
father the sole owner of all property acquired by
his sons. You can imagine the kind of difficulties
this might create. A son would work hard and
acquire wealth but that wealth was not his, but
his father's. And although it was typical for both
parents to have died by the time their child may have reached thirty
years of age, if a father managed to live to old age his son may have
built up so extreme a resentment, that he may have resorted to the
murder of his father. By law, the paterfamilias could kill his wife if he
found her in bed with another man. He could not only sell any of his
children into slavery, he could kill them as well. And the Romans are
known for practicing infanticide.
Most marriages were arranged but mothers and
daughters could, and often did, influence final
decisions. Family life was similar to today: some
marriages were happy, others not. Divorce was
relatively easy to obtain. Roman wives were
appreciated as enjoyable company and were the
center of the social life of the household. Women
talked in public, visited shops, went to the games, temples, and
theaters. Roman women led a very visible existence. However,
women could not participate in public life. The basic function of
motherhood was to shape the moral outlook of her children.
Education was very important to the Ancient Romans. The rich
people in Ancient Rome put a great deal of faith in education. While
the poor in Ancient Rome did not receive a formal
education, many still learned to read and write.
Children from rich families, however, were well
schooled and were taught by a private tutor at
home or went to what we would recognize as
schools. In general, schools were for boys and
rarely an individual building but an extension of a
shop - separated from the crowd by a mere curtain.
Learning in Roman schools was based on fear. Boys
were beaten for the slightest offence as a belief
existed that a boy would learn correctly and accurately if he feared
being caned if he got something wrong. There was not a great deal of
subject choice in a Roman school. Lessons were simply learned by
heart. Children did not need to know why something was right - only
to know that it was right and that they would escape a beating.
Lessons were also simply dictated as there were no books as they
were simply too expensive.
There were two types of schools in
Ancient Rome. The first type of school
was for younger children aged up to 11
or 12 where they learned to read and
write and to do basic mathematics. At
these schools, children worked on an
abacus to learn basic mathematics. For
writing, they used a stylus and a wax
tablet. Older children would go to more
advanced schools where they did specific
studies on topics such as public speaking. Girls rarely went to these
schools as they were allowed to get married at the age of 12 whereas
boys had to wait until they were 14 to get married. In general, girls
did go to school. Girls from rich families did receive an education, but
this was done at home. Here they were taught how to run a good
household and how to be a good wife in general - in preparation for
the time they got married. Part of their education would have been
music, sewing and the competent running of a kitchen.
The Romans were known for the lavish banquets of the patrician
class. However, this was not the case throughout Roman society. The
principal diet of the Roman plebeians, the peasant class, was different
from the diet of the upper class. Their staple foods consisted mainly of
wheat or barley, olive oil, some fish and homegrown vegetables. If
they were lucky enough and could afford livestock, they sometimes
had milk, cheese and eggs. Grain was
the staple food of all Romans. Grain
was so important to the Romans that
it was imported from all over the
empire. It was ground into flour and
baked into bread or sometimes boiled
into a kind of porridge. Wine was the
main drink of the ancient Romans and
everyone in all classes drank it. It was
usually diluted with water, milk or
honey. Vineyards were plentiful in the
Italian countryside.
The eating routine of the Romans is quite similar to that of today.
The Romans ate three meals per day. Breakfast was usually small and
consisted of bread being dipped in watered down wine and sometimes
would include dates and olives. Lunch was not regularly eaten by most
Romans, but if it was it would usually consist of bread, fruit, cheese
and leftovers from the previous night’s meal. Supper was the main
meal of the Roman's day and was generally served in the late
afternoon. What was eaten for supper varied among classes. The poor
might only eat a simple meal of vegetables and olive oil whereas the
rich could enjoy such luxuries as several course meals and exotic food
and wine. However, the general Roman supper consisted of three
courses. The first course was the appetizer course. The second course
was when most of the meat dishes like pork, poultry or fish was
served. The final course was the dessert course and offered fruits,
nuts, honey cakes and wine.
Of all the leisure activities, bathing was surely
the most important for the greatest number of
Romans. It was part of the daily regimen for
men of all classes, and many women as well.
Bathing in Rome was conducted for the most
part in public facilities that in some ways
resembled modern spas or health clubs. Public
bathhouses were owned by the state and often
covered several city blocks. Since the Roman
workday began at sunrise, work was usually over at little after noon.
About 2:00-3:00 pm, men would go to the baths and plan to stay for
several hours of sport, bathing, and conversation, after which they
would be ready for a relaxing dinner. These facilities would be open to
women from daybreak until about noon, and to men from about 2:00
pm until sunset. Mixed bathing was generally frowned upon.
Bathing had a fairly regular ritual. Upon entering
the baths, individuals went first to the dressing room
where there were cabinets to store their street clothes
and shoes. Special sandals with thick soles were
needed to protect the feet from the heated floors.
After exercise, bathers would have the dirt and oil
scraped from their bodies with a curved metal
implement called a strigil. Then the bathing proper began with bathers
moving at a leisurely pace through rooms of various temperature.
They might start in the warm room (tepidarium), which had heated
walls and floors but sometimes had no pool, and then proceed to the
hot bath (caldarium), which was closest to the furnace. This room had
a large tub or small pool with very hot. After this the bather might
spend some time in the tepidarium again before finishing in the cold
room (frigidarium). Other rooms provided moist steam, dry heat like a
sauna , and massage with perfumed oils.
Daily Life in
Ancient Rome