substance and which served them as bread. They had such vegetables as
the cabbage, turnip, radish, leek, garlic, onion, cucumber, and pumpkin.
Meat was rarely eaten, perhaps only on festival occasions. The market
afforded all kinds of foods. Among the animals were the rabbit,
pheasant, guinea-fowl, common poultry, peacock, kid, pig, and boar;
there were various kinds of fish and oysters and snails; beside the
plants mentioned above were rue, lettuce, cress, mallow, and sorrell. It
would seem that they had quite a number of different kinds of grain;
among the fruits were the apple, pear, plum, cherry, quince, peach,
pomegranate, fig, olive, and grape; there were lemons and oranges and
nuts of various kinds.
Wine was the only drink of an intoxicating nature that the Romans had.
It was customary to mix the wine with water, and to drink the wine
without putting water into it was considered a sign of intemperance. For
a number of years the water-supply was such as could be obtained from
the Tiber, wells, and natural springs, and it was not till the time of
the republic that the water was brought from outside of Rome, for which
means aqueducts were built and which continued to be built until there
was an abundant supply of water.
=Child and Parent.= The Romans practiced the exposure of infants as in
Greece. This was begun in the early times and carried down into the
later times. The children so exposed were usually feeble or deformed,
but the father had the power to use it on any child and this was
sometimes done when the father considered the child to be illegitimate.
The new-born child was laid at the feet of the father and it was his
duty to take the child up into his arms and declare it to be his child
and that he would rear it and support it. In case the father did not so
claim it, the child was carried away and placed at some cross-roads,
where it would die unless taken up by a slave-merchant to rear it to
sell.
The relation which existed between the father and the child was known as
the _patria potestas_. This power of the father was very great in early
times. He could sell his children, disinherit them, select a wife for a
son or a husband for a daughter, and he even had the power to put them
to death. This power ceased only at death or if the father lost his
rights of Roman citizenship. The father himself could emancipate his
son. Also this power over the son ceased should he become a _flamen_, or
priest, and it ceased over the daughter if she married or took the
vestal vows.
=Names.= The Romans had three names: These were the _prænomen_, the
individual's own first name; the _nomen_, the name of the _gens_ or
family to which he belonged; and the _cognomen_, or surname, which
distinguished the particular branch or division of the tribe from which
he sprung. Thus in the name Marcus Tullius Cicero, Marcus was the
prænomen, Tullius the nomen, designating the Tullian family, and Cicero,
the cognomen, showing that he was from the Cicerones branch of the
tribe.
The boys received the nomen, family name, on the ninth day after birth
and girls on the eighth day. On such day the ceremony of purification
took place, which was by sprinkling with a branch of olive or laurel
dipped in water, the burning of incense, and the offering of sacrifice.
The boy was given his prænomen when he put on the toga virilis at
sixteen or seventeen and the girl when she was married. The wife at
marriage took the nomen of her husband's family, but this was not often
a change from her own family as usually marriages were between members
of the same gens. In later times, when marriage did not mean so much,
and divorces became frequent, the wife did not take her husband's nomen
but she was known by the nomen of her father's gens.
=Care and Treatment of Children.= The birth of a son was a happy day in
a Roman household and the door of the house was decorated with flowers
and green branches. The boy's ninth day after birth and the girl's
eighth day was the day of purification, the _lustratio_. A branch of
laurel or olive was dipped into water and used to sprinkle the child,
incense was burned, a sacrifice was made upon the family altar for the
child's welfare, and he was carried to one or more of the temples and
placed under the protection of the gods. Also, as stated above, the
child's name was bestowed upon him at this time. Usually a private
record was made of the time of the lustratio, which was sometimes
offered in cases of identification. Under Marcus Aurelius there was
begun a public registry of births, as it was decreed that within thirty
days after birth the name of each child, born free at Rome, should be
placed in the public records in the archives of the treasury in the
temple of Saturn. The birthday was religiously observed by every Roman,
rich or poor, high or low, at which time the members of his family were
brought together and offerings were made to the household gods and a
festive time made of the day. Many mothers turned over their children to
the care of nurses and the wealthy employed wet-nurses. Each Roman child
wore round his neck a _bulla_, which was a small locket of gold or some
other metal, sometimes of leather, usually heart-shaped, or circular,
and attached to a ribbon or chain. This was a charm against the evil
eye. The boy wore his bulla till he put on the toga virilis at manhood
and a girl wore hers till her marriage.
"Identical with modern times were the anxious care of mothers,
relatives, and nurses, the words of endearment (such as birdie, little
dove, little crow, little mother, little lady), and the lisping childish
language and the lullabies ('sleep, my child, or suck'), rattles and
other means of soothing (such as beating the stone that had hit the
child), and the many superstitions, at all ages: such as binding on
teeth of horses and boars to alleviate the teething, and old wives'
simples and amulets against the evil eye. As a preservative against the
_strigæ_, or vampires, garlic was wrapt up in the swaddling-clothes and
hawthorn planted in the windows. A mother, who was passing a temple of
Venus, would mumble a prayer for her daughter's beauty and make a vow.
The figure of the girls was made artificially perfect. They wore tight
stays from early childhood, so as to raise the hips into relief, and
nurses' carelessness often produced rounded backs or unequal
shoulders."[192]
=Citizenship.= At seventeen years of age the Roman boy became liable
for military duty. In earlier times this was the age at which he assumed
the toga virilis. In the later times the age for taking the virile robe
varied, usually taking place between the fourteenth and seventeenth
years, but there were cases where boys were invested with the toga
virilis as early as twelve and where it was withheld until nineteen. The
time of year for this ceremony was not fixed, although a favorite date
was at the time of the _Liberalia_, or feast of Bacchus, which occurred
on March 17th.
"To make the gods propitious, the youth has passed the last night of his
infancy covered, like a bride on the eve of her nuptials, with a white
material and a saffron-colored sort of net-work. Is not this a betrothal
which is now to be completed: the indissoluble union of the new citizen
to the city?"[193] The bulla was removed from the boy's neck and the
toga prætexta taken off him and both were consecrated to the lares, a
sacrifice was made, and then the boy was invested with the toga virilis.
Then the boy was conducted to the Forum by his father or guardian,
accompanied by relatives and friends, and formally presented to the
public. He was, probably, also taken to the _tabularium_ under the
Capitol and his name enrolled among the list of full citizens.
This was a very important event in the life of the boy, as it freed him
from the control of others, as he became by law a man, capable of
looking after his own affairs and of holding property. After this he
entered upon the affairs of life. If he was of the middle or lower
classes, he entered directly into business or work; if of the upper
class, he began to prepare for public life or the army.
=Inheritance.= Every citizen had the right to make a will and to leave
his property to the ones he wished to receive it. There were two kinds
of wills recognized, the one made in civil life before the public
assembly, and the other was in military life, made when an army was
drawn up ready for battle and while the auspices were being taken.
Instead of a written will there might be an oral declaration, which had
to be made before the proper authorities and witnesses and recorded in
the city registers. If the will of the soldier dying in battle was
unfinished, it was valid if there was no doubt as to his intentions.
Those by law who could not make a will, or whose will was invalid, were
persons under the power of another, minors, the insane, people not
capable of managing their own affairs, the civilly dead, and the
banished. Where there was no will, the law provided an order of
inheritance, the children taking precedence. In case there was neither
will nor legal heir, the estate went into the public treasury.
=Adoption.= It was a sacred duty for a Roman family to preserve its
name, its domestic sacrifices, and its traditions. These were
transmitted from one generation to the next, so in case there was no
son, the head of the family was authorized by law to adopt a son. There
were three kinds of adoption. The first was adoption properly so-called;
the second was the _arrogatio_, adrogation; and the third was adoption
made by will or testament, to be confirmed by the proper authorities
after the death of the testator.
There were three conditions necessary to adoption. The first requirement
was that there were no sons in the family, nor hopes of any, and that
the father should be about eighteen years older than the one to be
adopted as a son; the second condition was that the honor, religion,
domestic worship, or sacrifices of the two families, should not in any
way be injured; and the third, that there should be no fraud or
collusion.
Adoption proper was for minors. The two fathers, the natural and the
adoptive, arranged the matter between them and then, with the child,
went before the proper authorities and in the presence of witnesses was
legally carried out. The adopted son took the rank and the name of the
family into which he entered, he was introduced to the domestic
sacrifices, and he became a full heir. If there was a daughter in the
family, she became his sister and he could not marry her.
Adrogation was the form of adoption used with citizens who were their
own masters. This required the consent of the people assembled for the
purpose. Under this act a citizen with his property and all persons
subjected to him passed into another's power.
"These adoptions finally led to abuse. The patrician, to obtain the
tribuneship, would be adopted by some plebeian, and those who were
without children, that they might enjoy office to which only fathers of
families could be elected, adopted children, whom, after obtaining the
offices, they emancipated. This finally required, to remedy it, a decree
of the senate in the reign of Nero."[194]
=Sickness and Death.= Throughout the time of Rome, medicine was largely
in the hands of slaves and freedmen. Those engaged in the medical
practice were mostly Greeks and orientals, especially Egyptians. Up to
the middle of the republic, they treated their patients according to
certain old prescriptions and nostrums. In the later days of the
republic, the practice of medicine began to take on more the form of a
profession and later the profession became to be divided into
physicians, surgeons, and oculists, and also there were dentists, ear
specialists, and the like. There were, too, women physicians and
midwives. As those engaged in medicine were not required to be examined
and were not held by law to much responsibility, quackery prevailed. The
practice of medicine was quite remunerative and the physicians who were
successful made large salaries.
Among the Romans the duties to the dead were carefully attended to. They
believed that the souls of those who had not received the proper honors
accorded to the dead were condemned to wander for a long number of years
along the banks of the Styx before they were permitted to cross over
into the realms of the dead. The dying person was surrounded by his
relatives and when he had breathed his last his eyes and mouth were
closed by the nearest relative present and the _conclamatio_ was made,
all calling out loudly three times to the deceased as though he might be
in a trance. Upon his not awakening, the relatives and friends retired
and left the body to the professional undertaker.
The body was washed, anointed, and clothed, the coin to pay Charon, the
ferryman of the Styx, was placed between the teeth, and then the corpse
was laid upon a couch in the atrium, with feet turned toward the
entrance door. Flowers were placed about the couch and the decorations
and crowns, if any, of the deceased were displayed about the body. To
show that the house was in mourning, branches of cypress or pine were
hung in front. The body lay in state for seven days for visitations of
kindred and friends.
The day of the funeral having arrived, the funeral procession took
place. In ancient times all funerals were in the night time, but later
they were held in the day time, yet still later the procession went with
lighted torches.
The order of the procession was arranged by the _designator_, master of
ceremonies, and it closely resembled a triumphal procession. At the head
marched the musicians, which might have been a single flute-player or a
band of musicians with trumpets and pipes and horns; then came the
mourning-women, hired for the occasion; next came dancers and mimes, one
of whom was dressed up to resemble the deceased, and who acted out his
character, imitating his style of speaking, his manner, and exaggerating
his peculiarities. Following these came professional actors dressed in
the garbs of the ancestors of the deceased and wearing wax masks
representing their features, who strove to imitate them in speech and
actions. Then were displayed the crowns and rewards the deceased had
been honored with and the spoils and standards he had taken in war. Then
came the torch-bearers and lictors, with lowered faces, followed by the
nearest relatives or friends or slaves set free by the will, bearing
upon a lofty bier the corpse extended and exposed in rich garments. Then
the family of the deceased followed, the sons with veiled faces and the
daughters with heads uncovered and hair loosened. Last came the
freedmen, slaves, clients, friends, and the general public.
There were demonstrations of grief displayed by the mourners, the
nearest relatives tearing their clothing, pulling out their hair, and
covering their heads with dust, the women smiting their breasts,
scratching their faces, tearing their hair, and the like.
If there was to be a funeral oration, the procession went to the forum,
the bier being set down in front of the rostrum and surrounded by the
wearers of the ancestral masks. A near relative, usually, mounted the
tribune and delivered a eulogy upon the deceased and his ancestors. An
informal eulogy might be given at the place of interment, in which case
the procession did not stop at the forum. At the close of the oration
the procession passed on. The burial place might have been public, along
some one of the great highways leading out of Rome, or it might have
been private, upon the suburban estate of the deceased. The vestal
virgins had the right of burial within the city itself. The body was
placed in the tomb, those present were then sprinkled, in order to
purify them, three times with a branch of olive or laurel dipped in pure
water, and then all returned from the funeral.
The above description refers to the funeral of the wealthy and
illustrious. The bodies of the middle classes were placed in the
_columbaria_, which were built up or cut out of rock, being
super-imposed niches. These were often built by joint-stock companies
who would keep them in order, letting out the niches as they were
wanted. The poor were given a place in the common burial-ground, their
bodies being carried out at night by the _vespillones_, carriers of
corpses. Persons killed by lightning were buried at the place they fell,
which was enclosed with a wall. The bodies of malefactors were left
unburied, exposed to the elements and to the birds and the beasts.
The earlier Romans interred their dead. Burning the body gradually came
into practice and became general near the close of the republic and
almost universal under the empire. As Christianity grew, cremation
gradually fell into disuse and interment became the practice.
In one way of cremation, perhaps the earlier form, a grave about three
and a half feet deep was made and filled with fuel. The body was placed
on the fuel and as it burned the bones and ashes of the body fell into
the pit with the coal and ashes of the fuel. The remains of the body
were gathered up and put into an urn which was set up in the grave and
the dirt heaped around so as to form a mound and then a wall was built
around the place.
In another way, a funeral pile, made of wood and in the form of an
altar, was built up outside the city and near the family burial place.
The eyes of the corpse were opened and it was wrapped in a shroud and
laid upon the pile. The nearest relative impressed a last kiss upon the
lips of the deceased and then with a burning torch and head averted set
fire to the pile, the others present raising a _conclamatio_. While the
pile was burning there was thrown upon it incense, perfumes, clothing,
ornaments, weapons, and other things, as last presents to the deceased.
When the body was consumed, the fire was extinguished with wine. The
bones and ashes of the body were collected, dried, sprinkled with
perfumes, and put into an urn, which was placed in a tomb. The last
farewell was spoken, those present were purified with a sprinkling of
pure water, and then all departed.
Relatives and friends came together the day after the funeral and
partook of the funeral feast. If the deceased had been a great or
wealthy man, scenic games were given and raw meat distributed among the
people. The mourning continued for ten days, during which time none of
the relatives could be summoned to a court of justice. On the ninth day
a banquet was held, bringing the whole family together again, and on
the tenth day the house was purified and the funeral ceremonies ended.
"The purification of the house ended the funeral ceremonies, but the
'paternal Manes' had three festivals which brought together again
families: in March, the three nights of the _Lemuralia_, to appease the
Manes whom forgetfulness might irritate; in February, the _Parentalia_,
'the day of the dear kindred,' which Ovid calls also the festival of the
_Caristies_, and in the summer, that of roses, _Rosalia_, which were
then scattered around the tomb. On this day all the relations were
united at the same table, _socias dapes_, in order that the festival
might lead to forgetfulness of quarrels: 'This is the time,' says the
poet, 'when concord takes pleasure in descending among us.'"[195]
=Industries.= Agriculture was the most important industry of the early
Romans. The farms were small and many of the leading citizens followed
the calling of farming. Later there arose large landed estates, which
greatly changed the manner of farming. The proprietors did not work
themselves and most of the work was done by slaves. Large tracts of land
were used for parks and pleasure grounds and others were kept in
pasturage. Thus agriculture decreased or changed and as the population
grew the people of Rome were no longer able to supply their own food and
food-stuffs were imported from other countries. The time came when
immense supplies of grain were brought in by the government and
distributed free among the people or sold at a nominal price.
On a great estate the dwelling of the master, the villa proper, stood
apart from the other buildings, which were built around a court-yard and
all were enclosed with only one entrance which was guarded by a porter
with a fierce watch-dog. The slaves that could be trusted worked out in
the fields and the others were kept within the enclosure, often in
underground chambers, and did indoor work. A great deal of the farm work
was done by hand and for which they had a number of implements, such as
spades, mattocks, rakes, hoes, and forks. They had different kinds of
plows to suit the nature of the soil. They usually used oxen for
plowing.
The Romans understood about fertilizing and drainage and rotation of
crops. It seems they had many different kinds of grain and practiced
both fall and spring sowing. Next in importance to the grains were
various kinds of pulse, the most useful being the _faba_, some variety
of bean. They raised turnips as food for cattle and sheep.
Among the animals raised on the farms were cattle, bred mostly for
draught rather than for beef; horses and mules, race-horses commanding
the highest prices; sheep and goats and hogs. Poultry-raising was quite
important. Doves and thrushes and peacocks were raised and for which
there was quite a demand. Since honey took the place of sugar, great
attention was given to bee-culture.
Two of the greatest industries were the raising of grapes for wine and
olives for oil. Market-gardening employed quite a large number and it
was quite profitable, especially near cities and large towns. There were
various kinds of fruit-trees and grafting was a common practice. Beside
fruit-trees other trees were raised, in particular trees for shade and
ornament.
"In considering the Roman farmer's year as a whole, we find that he
computed rainy days and festivals at forty-five and reckoned on thirty
days after the sowing when there was no field labor to be done. But on
these thirty days, and on the stormy ones, there were ropes to make,
baskets to weave, and other home-made utensils to prepare; while all the
other instruments of the husbandman--his 'mute servants,' as Verro calls
them--had to be repaired and thoroughly cleaned. Even on feast-days
certain kinds of work were allowed, such as the cleaning of drains and
the mending of highways, so that only the December Saturnalia seem to
have afforded a complete holiday to the slaves.
"On New Year's day, a little work of every kind was done for good luck;
but then followed a time of complete relaxation. In the latter half of
January, the ground was cleared of brambles, and the trimming of the
vineyards completed; while the autumn-sown grain and the beans, if they
were sufficiently grown, were hoed for the first time. Early trees were
now grafted, and the stock was planted. Vineyards were also cultivated,
and young orchards set out, grass sown and ground broken, fields manured
and osier-beds renewed. Vine-sets were also transplanted, if needful and
the late fruit trees grafted.
"In March, the vegetable garden was prepared, the autumn grains received
their second hoeing, and the spring grains were sown. In April, came
weeding, sheep-washing, the setting out of new vineyards, the trimming
of old vines, and the olive-grafting.
"May brought the earliest mowing, and in this month the earth was first
spaded up about the olive-trees, and the vineyards dug over, this latter
process being repeated each month until cold weather. The olives were
also trimmed, the vine-shoots nipped; in warmer latitudes the sheep were
shorn, and the lupins, which had been sown as fertilizers, were ploughed
in. In June the first ploughing was finished and the second done, the
threshing-floor was made ready, vetches mown, beans picked, and honey
taken from the hives.
"Grain-harvest took place in July, and the cutting of the straw and
gathering of leaves for the winter fodder of cattle. In August, figs and
grapes were dried for winter use, and brakes cut for litter.
"September was, _par excellence_, the month of the vintage, and then,
too, turnips were planted, and the later grains harvested. In October,
winter grains were sown and harrowed in, trees trimmed, and the
olive-picking begun.
"November was devoted to a general cleaning-up of autumn work. The
making of oil was finished in December, and the vines trimmed, and we
may close the brief _résumé_ of the work of the Roman agricultural year
by a few general precepts from the natural history of the elder Pliny:
'He is no farmer who buys what his estate can supply. He is a bad head
of a household who does by day what can be done by night--except in case
of foul weather; he is a worse who does on working-days what is
permitted on holidays; the worst of all is he who on a pleasant day
chooses to work within doors rather than in the field."[196]
The upper classes in Rome held in low esteem, and even in contempt, the
tradesmen and mechanics. This might have been because these people
performed for the masses the duties that slaves did for the higher
classes, and so all were put on the same footing. These people were,
with few exceptions, debarred from serving in the legions and in
consequence they became cowardly and likewise at times unruly. Yet the
laboring class, as everywhere and in all times, were greatly needed at
Rome and did perform a large amount of honest and useful labor. The
great commerce carried on needed a large number of sailors and in the
ports dock hands and porters and clerks. The city, too, needed a large
number in the trades, as, bakers, tailors, shoemakers, potters,
carpenters, and various kinds of smiths. There were needed plenty of
small shops where the people could procure the things necessary for life
and such shops would call for the employment of many people.
People of the same trades would naturally associate together and
attachments would be formed, so that guilds came into existence at an
early date, both from this natural instinct of association and for the
protection of their trades. Among the crafts represented in the guilds
were weavers, carpenters, dyers, leather-workers, tanners, smiths,
porters, and a number of others. They were modeled after the gens or
family, with a religious center and a patron deity. They had separate
inns for their meetings. They had festive days at which times they went
in procession through the streets carrying their emblems and banners.
They provided for the funerals of their members, they had their widow's
fund, and in other ways they looked after the interests of the ones
belonging to the guilds.
Rome had an extensive commerce. Traders went along with the soldiers or
quickly followed after them to open trade with the conquered provinces.
Thus London in 61 A. D., only eighteen years after the conquest, had a
large number of Roman merchants among its people. The roads built from
Rome into all parts of the world greatly promoted commerce. The traders
did not stop with the boundaries of the empire but went out among
peoples not under Roman sway. As an instance of this was their going out
into the North of Europe to the Baltic for amber and at one time there
was quite a trade in this and in other articles. Even before Cæsar's
conquest of Gaul, Roman traders had entered it over the St. Bernhard
pass and had even gone among the Belgæ. The Mediterranean, the Black
Sea, and the Atlantic were full of Roman ships trading with the various
provinces and countries. The conquest of Egypt opened up a great trade,
not only with that country but through it also with Arabia, Ethiopia and
even India.
=The Spectacles.= The public games, or Spectacles, were the greatest
amusements the Roman people had. Originating in early times as religious
celebrations, they became so fixed as to make them a public necessity, a
means of keeping the mass of the people busy so as to keep their
attention away from affairs of state. As it became a duty of the
government to provide grain free or at a nominal cost, so it became its
duty to furnish free entertainment for the masses. These games were
provided by the officials and made free to the public. There were four
phases of the spectacles. Horse and chariot races were held in the
circus, gladiatorial fights and fights with animals and also sea fights
in the amphitheater, scenic representations in the theater, and athletic
and musical contests in the stadium.
The Circus Maximus was located in Rome in the valley between the
Palatine and Aventine hills. It was of an oblong circular form, about a
mile in circumference, and seated 150,000 or more people. Among the
displays were exploits on horseback, such as leaping from horse to horse
while running, picking up things from the ground with the horse in full
gallop, and the like. Young men in full armor gave mock-fights, and
sometimes there would be military drills, and again boys from senatorial
families and young princes went through cavalry exercises in glittering
armor. The greatest displays of all were the chariot races. Factions
arose with their colors, at first but two with white and red, and then
four with white, red, blue, green, and later gold and purple were added
but soon dropped out, leaving the four factions and colors. Heavy bets
were made by the factions and there were fierce contests and often
fights between them. Sometimes two chariots raced, usually four, and
again at times six, and there were two or four horses to each chariot,
rarely three. The victor in the race was crowned and received a cash
prize and his was greeted with great applause.
The amphitheater was an elliptical building with an arena in the center
and with tiers of seats leading up all around. The Coliseum at Rome was
the greatest of all, being computed to have contained 87,000 seats. In
the amphitheater were held the gladiatorial fights. Just how these
originated is unknown but the first public exhibition of gladiators at
Rome was given in 264 B. C., by the brothers Marcus and Decimus Brutus
at their father's funeral. Such continued at funerals and then they were
given at other times, the number of days and number of fighters
gradually increasing, till Trajan, upon his return after a victorious
campaign on the Danube, gave gladiatorial games for 123 days, in which
10,000 fighters took part. The gladiators were captives, slaves, and
criminals, and under the empire knights and senators and even women were
enrolled among them. There were schools for the training of gladiators.
Emperors, senators, and all classes of people attended these fights and
although women at first were excluded, later they were admitted freely.
The gladiators wore helmets and had leather coverings for their legs and
they carried shields. Their weapons were the lance, dagger, sword, and
rapier. There were others who used the trident and the net for
entangling their opponents. They were usually matched by pairs and when
one was overcome his life depended upon the people, who would turn down
their thumbs for his life to be spared and upon the turning up of their
thumbs the wounded gladiator was slain by his opponent. The victor
received a palm crown, sometimes money, and he might be given his
freedom.
"These gladiatorial exhibitions proclaim the true nature of the Roman
character. When the vestal virgin, the Roman matron, and the young lady
could find amusement in such scenes of human slaughter, it can certainly
surprise no one that the Roman character, in its constituent elements,
possessed so much hardihood, and could remain such firm proof against
every tender feeling of humanity. The school of blood in which the young
were reared, and the old matured, was eminently calculated to form
precisely the character which the Roman possessed. It is thus that the
manners and customs of a people are influenced by, and in their turn,
influence the character from which they originate."[197]
Another great amusement of the Romans was the _venatio_, or exhibit of
wild animals. The first known display of wild animals at Rome was given
by Marcus Fulvius Nobilior, the conqueror of Ætolia, in 186 B. C.,
eighty years after the first gladiatorial exhibit. These displays grew
until all parts of the world were searched to find animals. There were
bears, elephants, deer, hares, stags, boars, bulls, crocodiles,
hippopotamuses, rhinoceroses, lynxes, apes, giraffes, tigers, ostriches,
hyenas. They were made to fight with one another. They were starved to
make them fierce with hunger and then driven into the arena against one
another with whips, pricked with lances, burnt with hot irons, and in
other ways tormented to make them extremely angry. There were also
fights between men and beasts. These were often captives and criminals
compelled to fight, but there were others, _bestiarii_, who were
trained, as the gladiators, in schools to fight against animals. These
men sometimes were assisted by dogs trained to hunt and to fight wild
animals. In some exhibits, captives and criminals were bound to stakes
and animals set upon them or they were sent unarmed or poorly armed
against the wild animals. There were, too, exhibits of trained animals
and animal-training became a regular profession under Augustus.
Another form of the spectacle for the entertainment of the Roman public
was the _naumachia_, or naval battle. As in the other contests, usually
the combatants were captives and criminals. These were held in the
amphitheater, in which case the arena was flooded with water, or great
ponds were dug for the purpose. The first naval battle on a large scale
was given by Julius Cæsar in 46 B. C., the two sides having biremes,
triremes, and quadriremes, with 1,000 marines and 2,000 oarsmen on each
side. Claudius in 52 A. D. gave a naval contest in which there were 100
triremes and quadriremes and 19,000 warriors and oarsmen. Other large
naumachiæ were produced by Augustus, Nero, Titus, and Domitian. In these
conflicts real fighting took place and large numbers were killed.
There were no theatrical entertainments in the early times of Rome. In
364 B. C., during a plague which could not be stopped, to appease the
wrath of the gods scenic performances were first introduced into Rome.
Actors from Etruria were brought to Rome, who gave mimic dances to the
accompaniment of a flute. For a long time there were no theaters erected
at Rome, a temporary wooden stage being erected for the occasion. Later
wooden theaters were built and then torn down after the performances
were over, being used but one time. The first stone theater was built on
the Campus Martius in 55 B. C. by Pompey, and which was large enough to
hold 40,000 people. Comedies, tragedies, and pantomimes were given.
Tragedy was never popular with the masses as they were too much used to
seeing real tragedies enacted in the arena for any great impression to
be made upon them by the imitations of the stage. Pantomime attained to
the most significance of all performances upon the Roman stage and
especially under the empire. The professional actors were mostly slaves
and freedmen or natives of other countries, as there was a prejudice
against the profession in Rome. Noted actors were paid high fees for
their performances. Many of the most famous actors belonged to the
imperial households.
The last of the great spectacles were the athletic, literary and musical
contests. These contests were not common under the republic but they
grew on the people till they became popular under the empire. Athletic
contests were first introduced into Rome at the same time as the exhibit
of wild animals and by the same person, in 186 B. C., by Marcus Fulvius
Nobilior, who brought athletes from Greece for the purpose. These
contests continued to be given and they increased in popularity till a
stadium for them was built in 28 B. C. on the Campus Martius and the
demand from the people became so great that the officials who provided
the state games included athletic contests with the other games. The
Capitoline Agon was instituted by Domitian in 86 A. D., and it took rank
with the Olympian. For these contests he built a stadium large enough to
accommodate 30,000 or more spectators. There were contests in oratory
and poetry, in music, and in athletics. The oratorical contests ceased
in later times, but those in poetry increased in importance and the most
talented poets in the empire competed for the prize of oak-wreath,
bestowed by the emperor upon the winner after the decision of the
judges. The gymnastic contests for men and boys were the same as in
Greece. The Spartan custom of races for girls was introduced but soon
discontinued because of the feeling against it.
=Other Amusements.= Among the sports of the Romans was that of hunting.
They kept parks for this purpose and they also hunted in fields and
forests. They used dogs in hunting and they were trained for hunting
various kinds of animals, as, the lion, the bear, the stag, the hare,
and the like. Boar-hunting was one of their most common pastimes. They
had hawks and other birds of prey trained for hunting. Fishing was
another sport and they made use of rod and line and net. In winter when
the water was frozen over they would cut holes through the ice for
fishing. They had large fish-ponds on their country estates.
Walking was used as a means of exercise and as a pastime. This was done
in the open air and also there were covered walks built at different
places and in particular about the Campus Martius and the Forum. There
were also places provided for horseback riding and for pleasure driving
in vehicles.
There was a game similar to chess in which the chess men were glass,
ivory or metal colored. Dice were in great use and gambling with dice
prospered in spite of laws against it. Under the empire there arose an
entertainment similar to a lottery, in which tickets were distributed
free to the guests or sold to them and a drawing was made for the
prizes. At their banquets and elsewhere the guests were entertained with
musicians, mimics, dancers, jugglers, acrobats, rope-dancers, and other
kinds of performers.
=The Bath.= The Romans in early times took their baths in the Tiber.
Later, the _lavatrina_, or washhouse, connected with the kitchen by a
heating apparatus, served as a bathroom. In those days they bathed only
for health and cleanliness. Under the empire, bathing became a fashion
and it was carried to excess. When the supply of water became abundant
by means of the aqueducts, baths multiplied rapidly and public baths
were established. The public baths were at first arranged for and used
only by the common people, but their importance grew gradually until all
classes used the public baths and they were enlarged and beautified and
different kinds of baths provided, as, hot, tepid, cold, and shower. The
usual time for the bath was in the afternoon shortly before the evening
meal. It also became the custom to take a bath after the meal and then
the number was often increased till the bath was taken seven or more
times during the day and evening.
The _thermæ_, baths, at Rome, under the empire, covered large spaces,
with magnificent structures adorned with paintings and sculptures, the
walls lined inside with marble, with marble columns, and silver
mouthpieces for the water pipes. There were rooms not only for bathing,
but also large halls for swimming, and rooms for places of meeting for
conversation, for listening to the reading of poems by their authors,
for gymnastic exercises, and the like, and provided with libraries and
museums. Thus these thermæ became centers for gatherings of various
kinds and places of amusement.
=Games and Plays.= Children in Rome played a great deal, just as do
children everywhere. They had their dolls and hobby-horses and
toy-houses. They played with carts and used them very much as the
children of the present. They skipped stones and walked upon stilts and
spun tops. They used nuts for playing a number of games, one being
called _ludus castellorum_, in which three nuts were to be so arranged
that a fourth nut could be placed upon them without displacing them, the
winner receiving all the four nuts. They played _par impar_, odd or
even. The boys and even sometimes the young men would roll a large iron
hoop, which had iron or brass rings fastened around it and kept up
quite a clatter while the hoop was rolling. Some of these hoops were
five or six feet in diameter and required quite a little skill to roll
them, being rolled and guided by means of an iron rod.
Ball was a game especially liked by the boys and young men of Rome.
There were three kinds of balls used--a large hollow ball, a small
hollow ball, and a ball stuffed with feathers. At the country villas
about Rome there was usually a place for ball-playing. The boys used the
streets and squares of Rome for ball-playing, particularly before the
butchers' shops in the Forum Romanum. They played ball alone or with a
few or with many. In one game the ball was thrown up into the air and
all tried to catch it. The _trigon_, or _pila trigonalis_, was a
favorite way of playing ball, the players being placed in a triangle and
they were to fling the ball at one another, the one failing to catch it
and return it being the loser. There was a game in which they would
choose sides and have the ground marked out as for lawn-tennis.
=Religion.= The Romans were of a deeply religious nature even down into
the times of the empire. Religion entered into the life of the Romans in
a practical way and touched upon the civic duties and social relations,
as the events of life were held to be of a sacred nature. The Roman life
was closely connected with religion, as every activity of life was
presided over by a deity, whom it was necessary to worship properly in
order that the activity might prove successful.
The child came in contact with religion at his very earliest life in the
home in the worship of the household gods, the Penates and Lares, the
former being the gods of the hearth, who guarded the stores and
provisions of the family, and the latter were the spirits of departed
ancestors, who were the protectors of the family. In the atrium was the
image of the chief lar between two penates, to whom were offered
sacrifices each morning by the father as priest, and birthdays and
marriages and the putting on of the toga virilis by the boy and the
return of a member of the family after a long absence were occasions of
special religious exercises. The young people, too, were led further
into religion as the gens and the state carried on similar sacrifices
and ceremonies for the common good, for the state had its common hearth,
presided over by the Vestal Virgins, who guarded the sacred fire upon
the altar, which symbolized the home.
=Vestal Virgins.= In Rome was a worship in which was preserved a common
hearth, having always burning on it the domestic fire of the whole
nation. This was in the temple of Vesta, the goddess of the home. The
goddess being herself a virgin, it was considered necessary that this
fire should be cared for by virgins.
This temple of Vesta went through a purification on June first of each
year and a renewal of the fire was made on March first. In case the fire
went out it was kindled again by the rubbing together of two pieces of
"lucky wood," thus producing a fire, and in later times by use of a
concave mirror to focus the sun's rays. This was the most sacred of all
worship at Rome and the letting this fire go out was considered a great
evil, as this was emblematic of the state and its extinction meant the
extinction of the nation, hence the Virgin who, through carelessness or
negligence, permitted this was severely scourged in the dark by the
pontifex.
There were six Vestal Virgins. When chosen, the girl was not to be
younger than six nor older than ten; she was to be the daughter of
freeborn parents, alive at the time of her selection and residing in
Italy, and not engaged in any dishonorable calling; she was to be free
from mental and physical defects.
At the time of the admission of a Vestal, her hair was cut off, and a
very solemn ceremony was gone through with, after which she was dressed
in white and admitted to the work of the Virgins. It appears that her
hair was allowed to grow again and to be worn long. Her dress was always
white and she wore round her forehead a broad band which had ribbons
fastened to it. In processions and at sacrifices she wore a white veil,
buckled under the chin.
The term of service was thirty years, the Vestal being a novice during
the first ten years, an active priestess the second ten, and a teacher
of novices the remaining period. At the end of the term of service of
thirty years, the vestal could go back to her family and even get
married, but most of them remained in the service of the goddess.
The Virgins had four important duties to perform: (1) Tending the sacred
fires; (2) Bringing water daily from the sacred spring, for ceremonial
sprinkling and sweeping; (3) Offering sacrifices of salt and cakes, and
pouring libations of wine and oil on the sacred fire; (4) Guarding the
seven sacred objects on which the stability of Roman power was supposed
to stand, the chief of these being the Palladium.
The Vestals were very jealously guarded. Death was inflicted on any one
committing an offense against one of them. No man was allowed to go near
the temple of Vesta at night nor at any time permitted to enter the
dwelling of these Virgins. If a breach of chastity occurred on the part
of one of them, she was severely punished by being cruelly beaten and
then buried alive. The one sharing her disgrace met a violent death.
Twelve Vestals were so punished.
The privileges of a Vestal were very great. She was entirely free from
the control of her parents; she could make a will; could give evidence
without taking an oath; had the seat of honor at banquets and games; one
who was convicted of a crime, if he accidentally met her, was given his
liberty. She was treated with the utmost respect and reverence; a consul
meeting her on the street, always made way for her; and all the people
gave great homage to her. In all the troublesome times between
patricians and plebeians neither party disturbed the Vestal Virgins but
on the contrary greatly respected them.
=Education.= As long as Rome was in its full strength, education was
wholly of a practical nature, its aim being to prepare its young that in
manhood they might be of most service to the state. It was more of the
Spartan idea than the Athenian, but unlike Sparta the Roman state did
not undertake the education of the young but left that wholly to the
home, and it was not till the time of the empire that education was
taken up by the state, for before that time the state did not even
assist in education, let alone control it. Although the state did not
concern itself with education, yet love of country and obedience to its
laws were so instilled into the minds of the young that no other nation
has ever got its citizens to quite so high a pitch of patriotism as the
Roman people reached under the republic. As conquest grew and wealth
increased under the empire, the Romans came more and more under the
influence of Greece until Greek methods and models and ideals dominated
Roman education.
In the early times of Rome there were probably no public schools,
education being wholly in the hands of the parents. The early years of
the child were under the mother, and he received his training from her.
These early years of the child could not have been passed better than
under the care and training of the old Roman mother, for she was a woman
of purity and dignity and industry, qualities fitted for the training
of the child's younger years. As the boy grew older he would be
permitted to be in the atrium of a morning when his father received his
clients and so the boy would receive training in custom and law as he
would hear the counsel given by his father to the clients. The boy would
also gain much from the discussions of the men at the banquets and other
gatherings as he would attend with his father. The child of these times
did not learn through instruction so much as by informal training and in
imitation of his elders.
Reading and writing were taught to the boy by the father and also simple
calculations, such as would be needed in everyday affairs. Ballads,
national songs, and religious hymns and deeds of the men of the past
were learned by the Roman boys. Physical training of the boys came
mostly through games while the young men practised gymnastic exercises,
but only to prepare them for military life. Such training made warriors
and loyal citizens but also made these Romans selfish, overbearing,
cruel, and rapacious, without lofty ideals or enthusiasm for the higher
things of life.
Literary education may have said to have begun at Rome during the third
century before Christ. In 260 B. C., according to Plutarch, a school was
opened by Spurius Carvilius at which fees were charged, the first of the
kind. This man was a freedman and he had been a domestic tutor to the
consul of the same name, Spurius Carvilius, who, as mentioned before,
was the first man at Rome to divorce his wife. From this time education
increased and there became three kinds of schools--elementary, grammar,
and a higher school, the rhetor's school. The first was presided over by
the litterator, or ludus magister; the second by the literatus, or,
grammaticus; and the third by the rhetor. Added to these kinds of
schools were those of the various philosophies, which were given to the
adherents in form of lectures. The child entered the elementary school
at about the seventh year of age. Near his twelfth year he went into the
grammar school and at fifteen or sixteen, if he had determined on
politics or law, he would enter the rhetor's school.
As stated above, the child entered school at about seven years of age.
The term _ludus_ was used to designate the elementary school and
_schola_ the higher school. In the elementary schools, reading, writing,
and arithmetic of a very elementary nature were taught. In learning to
read, the child was first taught his letters and then syllables, which
were followed by words and then came the sentences. At the first of the
elementary schools the reading was taught by means of exercises given by
the teacher on account of the scarcity of books. But during the second
century before Christ large numbers of slaves were put to copying books
so that from this time there were plenty of copies to be had at
reasonable cost, and no doubt each child had his own reading book, which
contained, perhaps, a Latin version of the Odyssey and the standard
Latin poets. Special attention was given to correct pronunciation and
intelligent expression. After the child had learned to read he was then
taught to write. In the beginning the teacher would make the letters
with a stylus on a waxen tablet and then he would give the stylus to the
child to trace the letters, the teacher guiding the child's hand. In
arithmetic but simple calculations were taught in the elementary
schools, the children learning to count and to calculate on the fingers
or by means of pebbles and after using these means till they gained some
facility an abacus with pebbles was used. Also the waxen tablet with the
stylus was used for calculation.
It is quite probable that for a large number of the children school
education ceased with the end of the training in the elementary schools.
At twelve years of age the boy who went on with his education entered
the grammar school. There were two kinds of these schools--the Greek and
the Latin. In the Greek schools the language used was Greek with Greek
literature and methods of instruction, and at first the teachers were
Greek. The Latin schools differed in that the language used was Latin
and while at first the literature was Greek translated into Latin later
there was a Latin literature. Too, the Latin schools laid more stress
upon the practical side of the work rather than the theoretical. The
head of each grammar school determined what the curriculum should be but
these were quite uniform after all, as all were striving for the same
end. The principal studies were grammar and literature, but also were
included mathematics, geography, history, and music.
In the study of grammar there were studied the divisions of the letters
into vowels and consonants with the divisions of the vowels, the sounds
of the letters or phonics, philology in a simple way, the parts of
speech, the inflections of the parts of speech, and the like. In
literature in the Greek schools, the study of Homer took the leading
part as did the study of Vergil in the Latin schools, and also other
authors were studied. Geometry was studied along the practical lines of
mensuration and astronomy. Likewise geography and history were entered
into for practical purposes. Music was taken up to aid in getting proper
intonation and rhythm in oratory and for learning the religious chants.
There was but little training in gymnastics, only for hygienic purposes
and as an aid to military training. Dancing was not taught in the
schools but in the home. This was not as with us, but more of the form
of calisthenics. There was nothing such as the round dance with us,
which would have been thought shockingly vulgar by the Romans.
When the youth, at about sixteen years of age, assumed the toga virilis,
his further education depended upon what his life's work was to be. If
it was to be war, then he at once entered the army. If he was to enter
public life, then he attended the rhetorical school and studied oratory
and law. Also he frequented the places where he could hear the public
orations and he might have attached himself to some orator or jurist.
In the rhetor's school those things were studied which would help the
young man in his public career. Oratory and rhetoric were the leading
studies, and, as he sought, too, to gain a wide knowledge, mathematics,
philosophy, law, and literature would be included in the course. The
youth usually remained in these higher schools for two or three years.
Then he might go on with his studies through travel and attendance at
centers outside of Rome.
"Youths of higher intellectual ambition did not rest satisfied with the
instruction obtainable at Rome, but (at least after 80 B. C.) resorted
to Athens and other philosophical and rhetorical centers. In the last
decade of the Republic there were many famous schools of this higher
class. In addition to Athens, the mother city, we have the great
university schools of Rhodes, Apollonia, Mitylene, Alexandria, Tarsus,
Pergamus, and afterwards, in imperial times, Smyrna and Ephesus. In the
time of Cicero Marseilles also was already a widely known school."[198]
The elementary schools were poorly provided for, as they were not held
in regular school houses for there were no buildings for such
educational purposes. The school-rooms were sometimes on the street or
in the market-place, wherever a quiet, convenient corner was found;
they were, too, in sheds or booths in front of a house like a lean-to;
again they were in places similar to a veranda of a house. If the
school-room was the street, the children sat on the stones; in
buildings, they sat on the floor, or they might have had benches. The
grammar schools were better cared for, as they were generally in covered
places attached to large buildings and opening on the street. They had
benches for the children and the teacher sat on a chair on a raised
place. There were often placed in grammar schools sculptures of marble
or plaster and also paintings. All school-rooms were open to the public
and frequently the parents and friends went in to see the work and at
times there were great "speech days."
The pedagogue was used in Rome, as in Greece, to have charge of the boy
and to accompany him to and from school. Although the Romans used the
Greek term _pedagogue_, yet the Latin terms _custos_, guardian, and
_pedisequus_, attendant, were, perhaps, most commonly used and, too,
were used _comes_, companion, and _rector_, governor. The Romans were
more careful in the selection of a slave for pedagogue than were the
Greeks, and yet he was too often too old or too much physically disabled
for the best performance of his duties. These slaves often were
manumitted when their duties were completed in a satisfactory manner.
The elementary teacher, litterator, was usually a slave or freedman, and
too often quite ignorant, in consequence these teachers were held in
little esteem and almost with contempt. Although the grammaticus was
better educated and received more esteem yet he did not have a high
standing. It was only the rhetor who was respected and praised in Rome.
The elementary teacher received very poor pay and the grammar teacher
did not fare much better. Yet in later times the grammaticus and rhetor
were both well paid and there were some who even became wealthy.
The school year, at least for the elementary schools and probably, also,
for the grammar schools, consisted of eight months, with a vacation from
July to October inclusive. There was a holiday in whole or in part every
eighth day, market day, and there were numerous other holidays
throughout the school year. The school day began at daylight, often
before, and continued till evening, with a recess for dinner. There
were, however, no home lessons.
The discipline at school was very severe. The ferule, whip, strap, and
rod were very liberally used. There must have been quite a good deal of
such punishment, as many wrote protests against it, Quintilian, perhaps,
most of all.
"Roman boys, like boys in our times, occasionally shirked school, or
contrived to feign illness in order to avoid reciting their lessons. The
master hung up, where all might read it, a board with names of pupils
who absented themselves or had run away. Persius tells us that when a
boy he used to rub his eyes with olive oil to give him the appearance of
illness, though how oil would have that effect is not apparent. Pliny
says that school children took cumin to make them pale."[199]
In the early days the education of the girls was for the most part that
gained from the mother in the home. They were taught spinning and
weaving and sewing and other household arts, and, no doubt, they also
learned to read and write, the same as the boys. When education became
common, girls had about the same studies as the boys but whether they
attended the same schools with the boys is a disputed question. It is,
perhaps, true that the girls of the common people attended the
elementary schools with the boys, while the girls of the higher classes
had tutors at home. It was more difficult for women to get higher
education as they must have obtained it through private instruction and
possibly, after marriage, from their husbands.
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2. Abbott, Frank Frost. The common people of ancient Rome.
3. Anderson, Lewis F., History of common school education.
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6. Dean, Amos, The history of civilization.
7. Dill, Samuel, Roman society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius.
8. Donaldson, James, Woman: Her position and influence in ancient Greece
and Rome and among the early Christians.
9. Duruy, Victor, History of Rome and the Roman people.
10. Fowler, W. Warde, Social life at Home in the days of Cicero.
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12. Friedländer, Ludwig, Roman life and manners under the early empire.
13. Graves, Frank Pierrepont, A history of Education, Before the middle
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14. Guhl, E., and Koner, W., The life of the Greeks and Romans.
15. Ihne, W., Early Rome.
16. Lanciani, Rodolpho, Ancient Rome in the light of recent discoveries.
17. Laurie, S. S., Historical survey of pre-Christian education.
18. Letourneau, Ch., The evolution of marriage.
19. Mommsen, Theodor, The history of Rome.
20. Payne, George Henry, The child in human progress.
21. Preston, Harriet Waters, and Dodge, Louis, The private life of the
Romans.
22. Shumway, Edgar S., A day in ancient Rome.
23. Wilkins, A. S., Roman education.