Reading Summary
Pleasures and Excesses in the Roman Empire
Paul Veyne in his article Pleasures and Excesses in the Roman Empire describes the
cultural behavior of the ancient Romans and their view on entertainment and socializing
at the time of the Roman Empire. Roman citizens exhibited the urban life as an impact
from the Hellenistic world. In order to understand the behavior of Romans, Veyne
described the most critical characteristics of their view on pleasure such as banquets,
colleges, baths and races, and sexual excesses.
According to Veyne, a banquet in ancient Rome was not only a form of a meeting but
also a kind of art where Romans could show their wealth and good manners. The Roman
citizens were able to meet each other, eat delicious food, drink wine together and also
listen to the ideas of teachers or philosophers. In other words, this was a place where the
joy of a body and spirit met together. Banquet was a measurement of wealth of a host.
They occurred at fixed intervals or on special occasions.
The poorer citizens that could not afford expensive banquets usually met in taverns.
A tavern was a place where one could meet the people with the same profession
(carpenters, cobblers, etc.). Each member paid an entry fee and women were not allowed
in these taverns. An aristocrat would lost his reputation if found in one of these taverns.
Drinking was understood as a sacrifice or a feast to gods like Bacchus – Roman God of
wine. Religious festivals were celebrations of certain family gods, emperor feasts and
other holidays that took place occasionally when nobody was allowed to work.
The baths were usually hold in houses of wealthy citizens and were open to public for
a little fee. They were also used as a meeting point where one could enjoy the company
of other people, listen to fascinating stories or to find a place to hide from the weather
extremes (the pools were heated). Generally speaking, the baths were not used for
hygiene – people were using them as today’s beaches. There were also decorated based
on the owner’s wealth.
Another Roman passion was to watch the races and fights between the gladiators.
However, Romans were not necessary bloodthirsty but were more excited by the victory
of a gladiator that usually emphasized his triumph by killing his opponent. This of course
was a subject of critique from older philosophers and later by Christians.
The sexual pleasures of Romans could be characterized as extensions of myths
about emperor passion for love. To have a sexual relationship with the same sex was
nothing unusual. Also the role of woman was valued as a role of a servant who could
satisfy one’s sexual desire. However, the love was usually understood as a “state of
moral slavery”.
Romans, according to Veyne, even having some of their bizarre characteristics still
remained to be stable in their passion for the joy of a body connected to the idea of
pleasure being in the company of other citizens. In other words, the Roman evaluation of
public service did not interfere with the idea of pleasure or a personal desire.