The Lives of the Ancient Romans



The Lives of the Ancient Romans

Plunge into the depths of your imagination and take your mind into a foreign territory: Rome, Italy, in the first century A.D. You’re standing on a street corner, absorbing everything the busy streets present: aromas of fresh-baked breads, carts lined along the curbs stocked with baskets full of fruits and vegetables or brightly-colored ornate garments, the jumbled voices of everyone chatting, bantering, and bargaining prices. This city was the origin of one of the ancient world’s largest empires. The influences that the Roman Empire had on the world during its successful conquest and rule are what make it an important culture to Western civilization today.

First, the family was extremely valued in Roman society. It was the center of everything. The most important member of the family was the paterfamilias, Latin for “father of the family.” His leadership and authority over the family was absolute and unchanging. Until the day he died, he had rights to literally everything in his family. He was in control of all family members’ property, even his grown children’s possessions could not be legally owned as they belonged to him (Casson 10). His authority even included the power to decide the fate of his newborn children: infanticide was a common practice for Romans. For the rich, it was a matter of how many heirs the property would be divided among; to the poor, it was to limit the number of kids to feed. The paterfamilias arranged the marriages for all of his children, when girls were between twelve and fifteen years of age and boys a little older (Casson 11). In other events, birthday parties were traditional and perhaps the most important of all was Saturnalia, a holiday lasting seven days similar to Christmas. It was the ultimate time of joy: people exchanged gifts, schools closed, gambling games were permitted, and slaves could not be punished. In fact, slaves would trade places with their masters and be served by them (Casson 21). All in all, the condition of the family and simply having a family was very important to Romans in all aspects, and they built their institutions and laws around that factor.

Subsequently, for the Roman soldier, although joining the armed forces required their services for twenty to twenty-six years, being unable to marry all that time was hard-hitting. The state did not allow them to because they were needed to be free of family responsibilities; however, because the state “also wanted a continuing supply of manpower for the armed forces, it encouraged them to form liaisons with local women and twisted the law to give quasi-legitimacy to their offspring.” This allowed them to retire and have a family waiting for them (Casson 83). Additionally, new soldiers wrote home once they reached their training bases, with endearing phrases like “Please write to me, Father, first to tell me that you are well, second that my sister and brother are well, and third so that I can kiss your hand because you gave me a good education” (Casson 77). Relationships were valued among Roman citizens. As was stated by the young man, good education was also highly esteemed.

Finally, among the subjects of education were literature and learning Latin. Latin was spoken originally in central Italy, near the Tiber River on the Latium plain. Since Latin became the central language of Rome and for administration purposes, the language spread through the land while the empire did as well. People began to become fluent in the language, and soon Roman boys were learning Latin grammar in school. Pliny, a Roman scholar, encouraged parents to teach their children Latin. Latin texts were found containing a wide range of genres, from comedies like Titus Maccius Plautus to the accounts of Julius Caesar’s victories in battles. A large portion of literature from mid-first century B.C.E was written by Marcus Tullius Cicero (“Language in Ancient Rome” 1). In “Education in Ancient Rome,” Roy and Leslie Adkins state,

“From about the 3rd century BCE a different Roman system of education developed which was different from the Greek tradition, often with a Greek slave or freedman for teacher—the litterator or ludi magister. The education was based mainly on the study of Latin and Greek literature in order to produce effective speakers” (1).

Orations were almost required to be skilled at. As one can see, literature and language played a large role in education and a Roman student’s future career.

In conclusion, the Roman Empire’s rich and cultural history, including its patriarchal society and family values, the order well-trained Roman soldiers maintained in a vast empire; and the importance of education, still remain valid and significant to Western civilization today because it allows us to have a better understanding of our ancestors and their past achievements and failures. This ultimately helps us to improve our actions and progressions toward establishing a future of stability and prosperity while still appreciating the successful ancient civilizations that preceded us.

Works Cited

Adkins, Lesley, and Roy A. Adkins. "Education in Ancient Rome." Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome, Updated Edition. New York: Facts on File, Inc., 2004. Ancient and Medieval History Online. Facts On File, Inc. 

Casson, Lionel. Everyday Life in Ancient Rome. Revised and Expanded ed. Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins UP, 1998. Print.

Corfield, Justin. "Language in Ancient Rome." In Bogucki, Peter, ed. Encyclopedia of Society and Culture in the Ancient World. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Ancient and Medieval History Online. Web. 23 Oct. 2010.

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