Gregor Samsa-
Rome: Society From Augustus To Titus.
Section #1-Geography.
Location-
• 'Italia'
• Western Rome is located along the River Tiber (Legendary date of founding-April 21st, 753 BCE)
• Prior to 'Unification' by Rome, Italy existed as a centre for several tribes, notably the Etruscans. This 'unification' occured in the fourth century BCE. (334)
Geography-
• 'Seven Hills'-Capitoline, Palatine, Caelian, Aventine, Esquiline, Quirinal, Viminal.
• Palatine-Location of palaces. Fora at bottom.
• Temperate climate. [’Mediterrean’]
• Presence of swamps> Majority of population live in vicinity of hills > Swamps eventually drained. [Artificial manipulation of ‘geography’.
Topography-
• Villas located upon hills.
• Tenement housing on lower ground. (Social stratification reflected through topography.)
Resources-
• As a political/administrative centre, Rome faced shortages of staple crops such as wheat. This would be reflected in the utilisation of Aegyptus as the Empire's 'Bread-Basket' in allocating the amnona.
• However, Rome/Italy was a centre for olives and vineyards, among other goods.
Section #2-Elites, Groups, Value And Society, lend me your ears.
Key Terms And Concepts-
• Princeps-
• Pater Familas-
• Pietas
• Virtutes-
• Auctoritas - influence and status
• Civilis - unassuming
• Clementia - mercy or forgiving others their faults
• Concordia - all parts of the state acting with harmony - Levick suggests that to proclaim concordia acknowledges that opposition existed
• Constantia - steadfastness and moral courage
• Iustitia - fair-dealing, righteousness or discharge of duty
• Levitas - adaptability
• Liberalitas - generosity
• Moderatio - restraint and moderation
• Pietas - duty and loyalty (esp. to one’s ancestors)
• Potestas - legal powers as a result of rank
• Providentia - foresight and prudence
• Virtus - courage and valour - refers to military
• Virtutes - mertits
Features & Structures of Government.-
The Princeps and The Senate.-
• Number of senators reduced from 1000 to 600. [Senatorial rolls.]
• Qualification of 1 000 000 sesterces in wealth and/or property required.
• Fines for non-attendance increased. [17 BCE, again in 9BCE.]
• Senatorial sessions reduced to two/month.
• Counsulship reduced to six months (5 BCE)- Consules Ordinarii Asuffecti.
• Publication of senatorial minutes ceased.
• Senators forbade to leave Italy without the permission of the princeps.
• Treasuries > Senatorial treasuries minted copper and bronze coins, while 'Imperial' treasuries minted silver and gold coins.
• 'carefully hidden autocracy'-Michael Grant.
• Senators administrated peaceful provinces.
• Role and/or Importance of the senate dependent upon princeps.
• Tiberius- Required senatorial support > Attempted to treat the Senate with dignity ['the most important public business- was transacted in the senate-Tacitus] > Refused titles such as 'imperator'. > Widespread sycophancy. > Maiestas.
• Gaius- Prior to his 37 CE illness, empowered the senate. > However, this attitude would soon be lost, and replaced with disdain > Insisted upon deification > Held multiple counsulships > Encouraged informants > Abolished the senate's minting within Rome.
• Claudius- Respected the senate > Allowed provincial senators, extending senatorial rights to the Aedui (Criticised for this practise) > Allowed Achaea and Macedonia to again become imperial provinces >Growth of imperial bureaucracy weakened the role of the senate > fisci released from senatorial administration.
• Nero- Initially elevated the senate. (Coin inscriptions, > "The senate is to preserve it's ancient functions" > Refused pater patriciae > Treason laws revived 62 CE > By 65 CE, opposed by the Senate [Eg: Conspiracy of Piso.] > Presence of informants "Often he hinted broadly that it was not his intention to spare the remaining senators, but would one day wipe out the entire Senatorial Order"-Suetonius.
Growth Of Imperial Bureaucracy and The Role Of Freedmen-
• The Princeps required a bureaucracy, in order to conduct the administration of the state. (This concept had been foreign to Republican Rome, and this contributed to the instability of the period.
• ‘As control of the princeps over administration widened at the expense of the Senate, imperial officials took over an ever-increasing share of government..”-Sinnigen, A History Of Rome To AD 565, p.337.
• During the Augustan principate, equestrian procuratorships and prefectures had been created.
• Gradually, the quantity of these posts would increase.
• The increase was spurred by the increasingly heightened powers of the princeps.
• Secretaryships were converted into ministries under Claudius.
• The role of libertines in the imperial bureaucracy was elevated during the Julio-Claudian epoch, as compared to the Antonine dynasty.
• Twenty-three equestrian procurators under Augustus.
• Four classes of Officials/Salary; sexagenarii [60,000 sesterces], cententarii [100,000 sesterces], ducenarii [200,000 sesterces]
• , trecenarii [300,000 sesterces] (This classification would remain unchanged until the 4th century.)
• Public finances-Augustus- aerarium Saturni, creation of the aerarium militare. Augustan treasuries prepared by a freedman, the rationibus. > New fisci increasingly come under the control of procurators [Vespasian] > Weakening of the senate.
• “For libertines are everywhere. They provide the majority of the voters, public servants, attendants of officials and priests..”-Tacitus, The Annals, p.296.
• “The vast majority had to make their way without the advantage of being the Emperor’s personal agents”-E.T Salmon, A History Of The Roman World 30BC-AD138’, p.69.
Miltary-
Organisation-
Legion.
• Century=80 men > Six centuries in each cohort [480 men.] (With the exception of the ‘First Cohort’, which generally possessed 800 troops.] > Ten cohorts in each legion. [4800-6000 men.] > Each legion possessed 120 equestrians/cavalry.
• Chief Roman military unit. Primarily distributed within Imperial provinces (With the exception of ‘Africa’.)
• Numbers throughout the ‘Imperial Age’. Twenty-Eight [Augustus] > Twenty-Five [Augustus, 9 CE, following Varus’ defeat.] > Twenty-eight [Nero.]
• Conditions. Term of Service=Twenty years [Five in ‘reserve’.] Pay=225 denarii/year. Commanded by legatus. [Three-four years.] praefectus castrorum
• Frontier mutinies early in the Tiberian principate. [Pannonia, Germany] > These mutinies are recorded in ‘The Annals’ > “Here it was not just a matter of one Percennius, as in the army of Pannonia..This was a massive outbreak”-Pg.51 I, XXXII
Praetorian Guard.
• First organised by Augustus, 28 BCE.
• Recruited exclusively from Italy.
• Division=1000 men > Nine divisions throughout Italy > Three divisions within Rome.
• Conditions- Service=Sixteen years. Pay=750 denarii/year. Led by; Two Praetorian prefects.
Auxilaries.
• Provinical troops.
• From Claudius onward, troops and families given Roman citizenship.
• Served for 25 years, salary is unknown.
• Commanded by praefecti cohortis. (Roman equite
• Means of 'Romanization'.
• Occupied an increasingly large portion of the army.
• Organised into cohorts of 500.
Legal System-
• Throughout the Imperial Period, the Senate convened and passed senatus consulta.
• Imperial edicts.
• Decreta. [Imperial judicial verdicts.]
• Multiple courts. > Imperial Court-
• Senatorial Court-
• Princeps functioned as final court of appeal.
• Legal rights were possessed only by citizens.
• Criminal courts=Quaestiones.
• Within provincial regions, criminal cases were heard by local governors. [Citizens possessed right of appeal.]
Urban Population-
Section #3-Social Relationships And Gender Roles.
Social Structure
• Princeps
• Patricians
• Equites
• Libertini
• Plebians
• Slaves
Role of The Family & The pater familas.
• famila/domus. [Family/Household]
• An idealised family was present in much Augustan statuary and monuments. (Eg: Ara Pacis Augustae.) > Linked to moral legislation, and attempts to increase the birthrate/population.
• Lex Papia Poppaea.
• During this period, the power of the pater familas was great. This was legally defined as the right of patria potestas, with all relations legally under the authority of the pater familas. (Although this authority was limited by custom, if not by law.)
• 'Domus' refers to all who lived within the house, including slaves.
• ‘The legal powers of the pater familias, oppressive as they were in theory, did not dominate Roman family experience.’ - Garnsey and Saller
Role of Women
• During this period, the 'ideal' woman was propagated as being a 'matron' in Roman tradition, submissive and dutiful towards the familias. (This can be seen in the ancient sources criticising women who did not follow this 'image', Juvenal etc
• This image, however, was not the reality.
• While many women were educated under the Roman system, this education would typically conclude at the age of 12 or 13, at which many girls would be wed.
• Concept of a 'Guardian'> Women could be freed from this through giving birth to a sufficient number of children. (Freewoman-Three, Freedwoman-4.)
• Increased political rights.
• Juvenal’s Sixth Satire is a scathing attack on women who sought intellectualism: “Wives shouldn't try to be public speakers . . . there ought to be some things women don't understand.” [Damn Juvenal.]
• Women occupied many important occupations, including; tavern-keepers, waitresses, secretaries, woolworkers, entertainers, washerwomen, maids, bird-sellers, or even successful merchants. Female doctors are also attested to in sources and in archaeological evidence.
• The majority of women however, were required to function as the 'Matron'.
• While women were permitted to partake in the majority of social activities (As opposed to Greek women), they were ostensibly forbidden from taking part in political life within the court. [See 'Imperial Women].
Relationship Between Men and Women
• Guardianship was gradually weakened during this period. Augustan legislation modified the law so that women with a 'sufficient' quantity of children were exempt, whilst the practise was abolished during the Claudian principate.
• Women legally independent while married.
• Financial penalty for divorce eliminated.
• The period to pass following a spouse's death [Within which marriage was forbidden] set at ten months.
Rites of Passage
• Naming of children-Girls after eight days, Boys after nine.
• Girls left home to be married from the age of 12.
• Boys presented with an adult toga at 14.
Marriage Customs
• Monogamous.
• Three forms of marriage; 1.Confarreatio-Formal ceremony, patrician. Involved a contract under which the person and property of the wife were given to her husband [Dowry]. > 2.Coemptio-The wife was symbolically purchased. > 3.Usus-After a year of cohabitation, the couple were legally recognised as 'married'.
• Marriage ceremony.- Bride is clothed in the tunica recta, with a garland of flowers > Marriage contract signed by 'parties' > Pronuba joins hands of bride and groom. > Dedications to deities [Jupiter and Juno] > Wedding feast > Torchlight procession accompanied by flute players and fescinne songs > Bride carried over the 'threshold', presented with fire and water. [Symbolic of her new status as 'Mistress Of The House'.]
Moral and Social Legislation
• 19 BCE-Julian Laws- Unmarried and childless persons disadvantaged.
• 9 CE- Lex Papia Poppaea -Marriage protected through the regulation of sexual relations. > Before action could be taken upon suspected adultery, divorce was required. > Severe punishments, involving exile and confiscation of property. > Punishment if a man married a woman known to be adulterous, or subsequently failed to divorce her.
• Marriage encouraged through the imposition of age limits for marriage (25 for men, 20 for women.). > Penalites placed upon unmarried persons (Relating to wills) > Political rewards given to 'family men' (Preferential treatement in relections and provincial allocation.)
• 2 BCE-Fufian Caninian- This legislation reduced the number of slaves that could be emancipated by the will of a single master.
• 4 CE-Aelian Sentian- Futher restrictions placed upon this right.
Role of Imperial Women *Expand Upon*.
• Livia- “she occupied a very exalted station, far above all women of former days… [she] possessed the greatest influence.”-Cassius Dio.
•
• Agrippina-
Section #4-The Roman Economy.
Economic Structure & Organisation.
• Prior to Vespasian's principate', state surpluses were stored within the Aerarium Saturnae.
• Labour organised through laws. eg: Fufian Caninian
• State interventionalism > Economic power increasingly located within the princeps. [Treasury managed by imperial procurators from Vespasian onwards.]
• Bans occasionally placed upon provincial production of wine and oils.
• North Africa=Highly urbanised.
• Three treasuries, public, military and fisci.> Public Aerarium and fisci amalgamated in Claudian principate.
• Reliance upon slave labour. > 1/3 of Rome's populace slaves, "The Romans had more slaves and depended more on them than any other people"-Madden. [Estimated figure of ten million slaves throughout the 1st century CE Empire.]
Agriculture and Grain Supply
• "The economy of the Roman Empire depended overwhelmingly on agriculture"-Freeman, pg.447.
• Amnona-200 000 Romans [2 BCE] provided with free grain supplies, a reduction from the Republic. Organised under the praefectus amnonae 10 CE> Office initially held by C.Turranius.
• Land ownership > Delegation. (Tenement farms lent land by patricians)
• Role of Egypt/North Africa.
• Oats grown in North-Eastern provinces. [Dacia, Thrace etc:]
• Vegetables; beans, turnips, lettuce, cabbage, radishes and asparagus
• Grape vineyards grown in almost all provinces.
Shipping & Trade/Development of Ostia
Shipping
• Majority of Roman shipping occured between May and September. [Ideal weather]
• Most commercial ships were driven by sail.
• Ships ranged from 70-1000 tonnes.
• Ships remained in sight of land where possible> Navigated using stars and landmarks.
Trade
• Extensive trade throughout the Empire and beyond.
• Roman artefacts have been found in regions of India, Afghanistan and China.
• Relative levity of tariffs> lassiez faire.
• Goods exported by the Romans included pottery, currency and produce.
• Goods imported included; Grain, oils, 'luxury' goods such as pepper, silk and lapis lazuli. [3000 tonnes of pepper were demanded of Rome by Alaric in 409 CE.]
• Iberian silver obtained for coinage.
Ostia-
• Second most important harbour in Italy.
• Received Egyptian grain in order to supply the Roman amnona [135 000 tonnes of grain annually received.]
• 'Portus Romae'
• Flourishing commercial centre. [Received luxury goods from Spain, Greece and Phoeneicia]
• horrea.
• Peacetime location of the Roman fleet.
• Lead pipeline constructed under Caligula
• Major construction program under Claudius. New harbour constructed >New pharos built etc: (Program completed under Nero.)
• "a gateway for vital grain supplies for Rome'. [Encyclopedia Of The Roman Empire.]
Industries
• Majority of industries conducted through local tabernae.
• Remnant examples are to be seen in Pompeii, Herculaneum and Ostia.
• Major industries included; Glass-working, bronze-working, textiles, leather-working.
• Commercial towns. Eg: Pompeii>Garum. [Exported throughout Empire.]
Expansion Of The Fora
• Forum Augustum constructed for multiple reasons, propaganda and to resolve overcrowding in Rome's two other forums. (Recorded by Suetonius.)
Taxation
• Direct Taxation- Tributum soli- land/property tax. > Tributum capitis- poll tax, property other than land. Within imperial provinces, these were obtained by an imperial procurator, an equitae independent of the provincial governor.
• Indirect Taxation- Portoria- 5% tariff on goods crossing borders. Nine such 'frontiers' within the Empire. > Slave Tax- 2-4% upon sale of slaves, 5% upon emancipation > Death duty-Paid in provinces. [Nero attempted to abolish indirect taxation throughout the empire.]. Provincial indirect taxes were obtained by scrutinised contractors.
Coinage
• Four types, As [Copper], Sestarius [Bronze], Denarius [Silver], and Aureus [Gold].
• As and Sestarius minted within Italy, under senatorial authority.
• Denarius and Aureus produced under the authority of the princeps, in provincial mints.
• Roman coin hoards found in far-flung locations have consisted solely of Denarius and Aureus, suggesting that these coins were prized for their high content of precious metals. (Debasement would only occur on a large scale in the 3rd century CE. 4% silver content by 270 CE.)
• Coins reflect beliefs of those in power eg: early Neronian coins state "By order of the Senate'. (>62 CE)
Section #5-Religion & Belief Systems.
Beliefs, Practises, Organisations and Buildings.
• Polytheistic.
• Deities often paralleled Greek pantheon (Eg: Hercules=Atlas, Neptune=Posiedon
• Perceived decline of religion in the Late Republic, many temples neglected throughout the Civil Wars that ushered in the Imperial Age. ["Though guiltless, Romans, you will pay for the sins of your ancestors, until you rebuild the temples and the crumbling shrines of the gods, and their statues foul with black smoke"-Suetonius, Augustus, pg.42]
• Augustus attempts to revive religion through the restoration of many temples and propagation within imperial art. [Livia as Lares.].
• Restores eighty-two temples within a year. ['I re-built eighty-two temples of the gods in the city by the authority of the senate, omitting nothing"]
• New temples constructed, including The Temples of Mars, Jupiter, Apollo, and Minerva.
• Two religious 'colleges'; Pontiffs [Responsible for administration] > Augurs [Interpret signs so that imperial actions are theologically approved]
• Augustus becomes Pontiff Maximus in 12 BCE.
• Sybilline Books.
• Worship of Lares [Household deities..Guardians of crossroads and of households.] encouraged under Augustan principate.
Imperial Cult
• Each vici within Rome provided with a shrine to Lares and Augustus. 12-7 BCE.
• Examples of the Augustan 'Imperial Cult'=Herculaneum-Collegium Augustalium. Ostia-College of Augustales. Pompeii-The Temple Of Fortuna Augusta.
• This notion reached it's height under Gaius, who had himself deitified whilst in power.
• Statues within the Forum Augustum.
• Glorification of the Julio-Claudian clan.
• Augustus and Claudius are recorded as 'deitified' in Suetonius' 'The Twelve Caesars'.
Foreign Cults and 'Mysteries'
• Religious tolerance varied from princeps to princeps.
• These religions spread following imperial conquests.
Isis- Originated in Egypt > Worshipped in conjuction with Serapis > Throughout the Late Republic and Imperial Period, this cult became increasingly popular [Sulla > Nero.] > Pompeiian Temple Of Isis rebuilt immediately following 63 CE earthquake (Importance) > Statues of Isis, Osiris and Horus.
Mithras- Originated in Persia > Appears in the West c.70 BCE. > Popular amongst legionaries. >Battle of light and darkness > Bore several distinct resemblances to Christianity > 16 Mithraea within Ostia eg: Mithraeum of the Seven Sphere. > Seven phases passed in order to attain 'Truth'. Rooted in Zoroastrianism.
• Nero used the radiating crown as a symbol of sovereignity, inspired by Mithras.
Dionysus/Bacchus- Originated in Greece > God of fertility and wine > Female cult.
Funerary Customs
• Cremation [Urns.]
• Necropoleis [Built outside city walls.. Note: Area that would eventually become the Forum was originally a cemetary.]
• Marble Sarcophagi
• Illustrations of former activity.
• ‘Adapted’ in provinces (As seen in sarcophagi from Aegyptus, which had a portrait of the deceased upon the sarcophgus.)
Section #6-Cultural Life.
Art & Architecture
• Role as propaganda. “A great representational art now came into existence, whose function was to enforce the lessons of Empire, and to glorify the doings of it’s rulers and it’s people”Cambridge Ancient History X, pg.545
• Staturary [Imperial portraiture]
• Ara Pacis Augustae. [Glorification of the princeps > Imperial Cult, Elevation of the familas etc:]
• ‘Naturalistic’.
• Fresco/Mosaic.
Literature
Horace-
• Lived from 65 to 8 BCE.
• Son of a wealthy libertini > Given a prestigious education, studying philosophy in Athens.
• Following the suicide of Brutus at Philippi [43 BCE], Horace's farm was confiscated > Moves to Rome.
• 'Patronised' by Maecenas.
• Composed texts such as 'The Satires', 'The Epistles', and 'The Odes'
• Composed the Carmen Saeculare, the opening chorus of the 17 BCE Secular Games.
• While 'The Satires' were criticial of Roman society, his later works supported Augustinian legislation and reforms, glorifying the Empire and the familia Augusta.
Virgil-
• Lived from 76 to 19 BCE.
• Born in Mantua > Loses land following Philippi > Provided with estate in Naples by Augustus > Influenced by Stoicism.
• Glorified county-life in the 'Eclogues'
• 'The Aeneid' served as the Roman equivalent to the Homeric works, an epic poem serving as a 'foundation myth' for the Roman populace, and the Julio-Claudian dynasty. ('This is the man who will first found our city on laws" > Roots of Rome lay in Troy > Aeneas.
• "It is your task Roman, to rule nations with your power; these will be your arts; to enforce the maintenance of peace, to spare those who will submit, and crush with war the proud"-Aeneid, VI:851-3
Ovid-
• Lived from 43 BCE to 17 CE.
• Equestrian background > Educated in Rome and Athens > No need for patronage.
• Exiled to Tomi [Black Sea] in 9 CE, following an unknown scandal.
• ‘Of his brilliant poetic talent there can be no question”- Scullard, p.241.
• Majority of his poems written in hexameter.
• Many of Ovid’s poems focused upon love and the means of obtaining it. (erotic.) These works, including the Amores, Remedia Amoris and Ars Amatoria were implicitly and explicitly critical of Augustinian moral legislation.
• The Metamorphoses would survive into the Renaissance as a exemplar of ‘Classical’ poetry, a series of many poems linked thematically through the theme of transformations, ranging from humanity (‘First came the golden age’) to animals. Within this work, Ovid prophesised a divine future for Augustus. (‘Deified’)
Imperial Building Programs *Expand Upon*.
• Many new public buildings were constructed during the Augustan principate.
• These included the Forum Augustum and the Theatre of Marcellus.
• Res Gestae proclaims that Augustus restored 82 temples in a year.
• However, this building program was not merely religious; “He did not indeed confine himself to religious architecture, but he executed many works of public utility, such as docks, granaries, shopping centres, aqueducts and the like”-Salmon, p.29.
• ‘I found Rome a city of Brick, and left it a city of Marble”-Augustus.
• These programs served multiple functions, serving as a means of propaganda, stimulating the economy, and functioning within provinces as a means of Romanization.
• Perhaps the most famous building constructed during the ‘Imperial Age’ was the Amphitheatrum Flavium, founded by Titus. (Constructed under Vespasian.)
• The programs of this epoch also consisted of boosting economic infrastructures. This is particularly apparent in the Claudian building program at Ostia.
Section #7-People's Lives [Plutarch]
Daily Life and Leisure Activities
• Thermae [Divided into two sections > Eighteen thermae within Ostia > Pompeii-The Forum Baths > Calidarium, tepidarium, frigidarium.]
• Palestra
• Theatres [Pantomime, Mime etc:]
• Amphitheatres [Eg:Amphitheatrum Flavium.. Gladitorial games, naval re-enactments etc:]
• Sports
• Circus Maximus [Capacity of 160 000? > Races between Blues & Greens (See Marcus Aurelius)
• Indoor games
• Festivals
• Taverns
Occupations
• Baker, Potter, Poet, Lawyer, Silversmith, Legionary, Glass-Maker, Historian, Senator, Official, Fisherman, Merchant, Sculptor, Farmer, Trader Priest, etc:
Food
• Patricians/Equites- Lavish dinner parties, including such delicacies as honey-roasted dormice and flamingo tongue, lasting six-seven courses. See ‘The Satyricon’
• Plebians- Wheat was the staple foodstuff (Provided for 200 000 citizens through the amnona), usually eaten as a form of porridge. Other foodstuffs included vegetables, herbs, olives, cheese, milk, fish etc:
• Breakfast-Rentculum > Lunch-Prandium > Dinner-Cena
Housing & Furniture
• Domus.- Usually single-storied > Decorated with mosaics and/or frescoes > Furniture built into structure.
• Rooms- Atrium (Living room/reception), Tablinium (Master’s office), Triclinium (Dining room..Wealthier villas would have four.), Impluvium (basin), caetae (Outdoor recreational rooms), Cubiculae (Bedroom), Tabernae (Shops) etc:
• Artisan’s Houses. Built above workshops.
• Insulae. Tenement blocks > Housing for majority of Roman population > Rent decreased each storey > Poorly constructed, vulnerable to collapse or fire > Height restricted to seventy feet > New building code introduced following Great Fire. [Sanitary facilities on ground floor.]
• Furniture- Tables, chairs, braziers, lamps, couches, beds, cabinets etc:
Health & Medicine
• Despite attempts to improve public hygene (Aqueducts), many endemic diseases were rife, flourishing in periodic 'plagues'. An example of this is seen in the prevalence of malaria within Italy in this period. Disease has been viewed by some historians (Eg:---) as a key factor in the eventual decline of the Roman Empire.
• Food and water was often polluted. (Lead poisoning etc
• The majority of doctors were Greeks, and used various medical techniques.
• Surgery in this period included advanced operations such as amputations and the removal of small tumours [House Of The Surgeon].
• Dentistry was comparitively advanced > Included the production of dentures [Although this was pioneered by the Etruscans.] > Tooth picks used.
• Medicine was a profession open to both genders, although women usually served as midwives.
Role of Building Programs in People's Lives.
• Propaganda. Grandiose building programs symbolised the new pax romana and presented a message of a prosperous peace. Additionally, further construction was implied, therefore encouraging support for the princeps on multiple levels.
• Religion-The widespread reconstruction of many temples indicated a return to 'traditional' beliefs and values, again creating stability.
• Pleasure-A majority of these constructions were designated for the public's use > Important for leisure activities > Generate support. ('Bread and circuses'-Juvenal) Eg: Flavium Amphitheatrum.
• Pride-Enhanced Rome's status as 'World City' ('All roads lead to Rome'), generating pride and nationalism.
• Justification for imperial policies eg: Ara pacis augustae > moral legislation.
• Economic-Creation of infrastructures throughout the empire > Beneficial to trade and other economic activities > Increases effiency of transport > Flow of goods both essential and luxury goods. Examples of these are to be seen in the roads constructred within Iberia and North Africa following Roman annexation. (Urbanization > 'Africa', 200 + towns, within 10km of one another.)
Living Conditions
• Water Supply: Aqueducts > Central water tower > lead pipes > Largely underground
• By the 'Imperial Period', Rome alone had ten aqueducts.
• A further two aqueducts were constructed under the Claudian principate.
• For those not connected to this water supply (The plebs), public fountains served as a means of delivering water to the populace.
• Sewage systems within some villas > Much waste thrown onto streets > Waste flowed into the Tiber. [The construction of sewers was undertaken by slaves.]
• As in all historical societies, living conditions varied according to social strata, ranging dramatically between patrician and plebian classes. [The life expectancy during this period was thirty-five years.]
Significance of The Forum and Other Major Structures.
• The Forum-Political, religious, economic and social centre of Rome.
• Amphitheatres, Theatres, Circus Maximus-Large-scale structures for public entertainment, occupied the leisure of much of the populace. [Although outside the immediate period, the great popularity of the chariot races is stated in 'The Meditations'.]
• Reduced liklihood of revolt >Maintained stability.
• Employment.
• Their reproduction through provincial 'colonies' was a key aspect of the Romanization process.
Main Features of The Layout Of Rome
• Tiber flows along the city's western side.
• City walls expanded throughout the Republican period.
• Circus Maximus located between the Palatine and Aventine.
• Flavium Amphitheatrum at bottom of Esquline.
• Tenements located upon lower ground.
• Religious structures located throughout city.
• Divided into 265 vici [Each possessed it's own 'Genius Of Augustus']
• Public parks located upon outskirts.
Section #8-Relevant Archaeological and/or Written Evidence [Primary and Secondary].
Ancient.
• ‘’Their obtaining so large a dominion hath been the acquisition of their valour, and not the bare gift of fortune”-Joesephus
• “Tiberius’ words indicated the exact opposite of his real purpose..He thought it bad policy for the sovereign to reveal his thoughts”-Dio Cassius.
• “Doing away with the pretence that he was merely the chief executive of a republic”-Suetonius [Describing Gaius.]
• “A period rich in disasters, frightful in it’s wars, torn by civil strife , and even in peace, full of horrors”-Tacitus, The Histories. [The Year Of Four Emperors.]
• “Nero fabricated scapegoats- and punished with every refinement the notoriously depraved Christians”-Tacitus, The Annals.
• “Most of the island is level, and covered in forests. It produces coin, cattle, gold and excellent hunting”-Strabo [Britain.]
• “The senate is to preserve its ancient functions”-Nero
• “I rebuilt eighty-two temples of the gods in the city by the authority of the senate, omitting nothing”-Augustus, Res Gestae.
• “I found Rome a city of brick and left it a city of marble”-Augustus.
Rome: Society From Augustus To Titus.
Section #1-Geography.
Location-
• 'Italia'
• Western Rome is located along the River Tiber (Legendary date of founding-April 21st, 753 BCE)
• Prior to 'Unification' by Rome, Italy existed as a centre for several tribes, notably the Etruscans. This 'unification' occured in the fourth century BCE. (334)
Geography-
• 'Seven Hills'-Capitoline, Palatine, Caelian, Aventine, Esquiline, Quirinal, Viminal.
• Palatine-Location of palaces. Fora at bottom.
• Temperate climate. [’Mediterrean’]
• Presence of swamps> Majority of population live in vicinity of hills > Swamps eventually drained. [Artificial manipulation of ‘geography’.
Topography-
• Villas located upon hills.
• Tenement housing on lower ground. (Social stratification reflected through topography.)
Resources-
• As a political/administrative centre, Rome faced shortages of staple crops such as wheat. This would be reflected in the utilisation of Aegyptus as the Empire's 'Bread-Basket' in allocating the amnona.
• However, Rome/Italy was a centre for olives and vineyards, among other goods.
Section #2-Elites, Groups, Value And Society, lend me your ears.
Key Terms And Concepts-
• Princeps-
• Pater Familas-
• Pietas
• Virtutes-
• Auctoritas - influence and status
• Civilis - unassuming
• Clementia - mercy or forgiving others their faults
• Concordia - all parts of the state acting with harmony - Levick suggests that to proclaim concordia acknowledges that opposition existed
• Constantia - steadfastness and moral courage
• Iustitia - fair-dealing, righteousness or discharge of duty
• Levitas - adaptability
• Liberalitas - generosity
• Moderatio - restraint and moderation
• Pietas - duty and loyalty (esp. to one’s ancestors)
• Potestas - legal powers as a result of rank
• Providentia - foresight and prudence
• Virtus - courage and valour - refers to military
• Virtutes - mertits
Features & Structures of Government.-
The Princeps and The Senate.-
• Number of senators reduced from 1000 to 600. [Senatorial rolls.]
• Qualification of 1 000 000 sesterces in wealth and/or property required.
• Fines for non-attendance increased. [17 BCE, again in 9BCE.]
• Senatorial sessions reduced to two/month.
• Counsulship reduced to six months (5 BCE)- Consules Ordinarii Asuffecti.
• Publication of senatorial minutes ceased.
• Senators forbade to leave Italy without the permission of the princeps.
• Treasuries > Senatorial treasuries minted copper and bronze coins, while 'Imperial' treasuries minted silver and gold coins.
• 'carefully hidden autocracy'-Michael Grant.
• Senators administrated peaceful provinces.
• Role and/or Importance of the senate dependent upon princeps.
• Tiberius- Required senatorial support > Attempted to treat the Senate with dignity ['the most important public business- was transacted in the senate-Tacitus] > Refused titles such as 'imperator'. > Widespread sycophancy. > Maiestas.
• Gaius- Prior to his 37 CE illness, empowered the senate. > However, this attitude would soon be lost, and replaced with disdain > Insisted upon deification > Held multiple counsulships > Encouraged informants > Abolished the senate's minting within Rome.
• Claudius- Respected the senate > Allowed provincial senators, extending senatorial rights to the Aedui (Criticised for this practise) > Allowed Achaea and Macedonia to again become imperial provinces >Growth of imperial bureaucracy weakened the role of the senate > fisci released from senatorial administration.
• Nero- Initially elevated the senate. (Coin inscriptions, > "The senate is to preserve it's ancient functions" > Refused pater patriciae > Treason laws revived 62 CE > By 65 CE, opposed by the Senate [Eg: Conspiracy of Piso.] > Presence of informants "Often he hinted broadly that it was not his intention to spare the remaining senators, but would one day wipe out the entire Senatorial Order"-Suetonius.
Growth Of Imperial Bureaucracy and The Role Of Freedmen-
• The Princeps required a bureaucracy, in order to conduct the administration of the state. (This concept had been foreign to Republican Rome, and this contributed to the instability of the period.
• ‘As control of the princeps over administration widened at the expense of the Senate, imperial officials took over an ever-increasing share of government..”-Sinnigen, A History Of Rome To AD 565, p.337.
• During the Augustan principate, equestrian procuratorships and prefectures had been created.
• Gradually, the quantity of these posts would increase.
• The increase was spurred by the increasingly heightened powers of the princeps.
• Secretaryships were converted into ministries under Claudius.
• The role of libertines in the imperial bureaucracy was elevated during the Julio-Claudian epoch, as compared to the Antonine dynasty.
• Twenty-three equestrian procurators under Augustus.
• Four classes of Officials/Salary; sexagenarii [60,000 sesterces], cententarii [100,000 sesterces], ducenarii [200,000 sesterces]
• , trecenarii [300,000 sesterces] (This classification would remain unchanged until the 4th century.)
• Public finances-Augustus- aerarium Saturni, creation of the aerarium militare. Augustan treasuries prepared by a freedman, the rationibus. > New fisci increasingly come under the control of procurators [Vespasian] > Weakening of the senate.
• “For libertines are everywhere. They provide the majority of the voters, public servants, attendants of officials and priests..”-Tacitus, The Annals, p.296.
• “The vast majority had to make their way without the advantage of being the Emperor’s personal agents”-E.T Salmon, A History Of The Roman World 30BC-AD138’, p.69.
Miltary-
Organisation-
Legion.
• Century=80 men > Six centuries in each cohort [480 men.] (With the exception of the ‘First Cohort’, which generally possessed 800 troops.] > Ten cohorts in each legion. [4800-6000 men.] > Each legion possessed 120 equestrians/cavalry.
• Chief Roman military unit. Primarily distributed within Imperial provinces (With the exception of ‘Africa’.)
• Numbers throughout the ‘Imperial Age’. Twenty-Eight [Augustus] > Twenty-Five [Augustus, 9 CE, following Varus’ defeat.] > Twenty-eight [Nero.]
• Conditions. Term of Service=Twenty years [Five in ‘reserve’.] Pay=225 denarii/year. Commanded by legatus. [Three-four years.] praefectus castrorum
• Frontier mutinies early in the Tiberian principate. [Pannonia, Germany] > These mutinies are recorded in ‘The Annals’ > “Here it was not just a matter of one Percennius, as in the army of Pannonia..This was a massive outbreak”-Pg.51 I, XXXII
Praetorian Guard.
• First organised by Augustus, 28 BCE.
• Recruited exclusively from Italy.
• Division=1000 men > Nine divisions throughout Italy > Three divisions within Rome.
• Conditions- Service=Sixteen years. Pay=750 denarii/year. Led by; Two Praetorian prefects.
Auxilaries.
• Provinical troops.
• From Claudius onward, troops and families given Roman citizenship.
• Served for 25 years, salary is unknown.
• Commanded by praefecti cohortis. (Roman equite
• Means of 'Romanization'.
• Occupied an increasingly large portion of the army.
• Organised into cohorts of 500.
Legal System-
• Throughout the Imperial Period, the Senate convened and passed senatus consulta.
• Imperial edicts.
• Decreta. [Imperial judicial verdicts.]
• Multiple courts. > Imperial Court-
• Senatorial Court-
• Princeps functioned as final court of appeal.
• Legal rights were possessed only by citizens.
• Criminal courts=Quaestiones.
• Within provincial regions, criminal cases were heard by local governors. [Citizens possessed right of appeal.]
Urban Population-
Section #3-Social Relationships And Gender Roles.
Social Structure
• Princeps
• Patricians
• Equites
• Libertini
• Plebians
• Slaves
Role of The Family & The pater familas.
• famila/domus. [Family/Household]
• An idealised family was present in much Augustan statuary and monuments. (Eg: Ara Pacis Augustae.) > Linked to moral legislation, and attempts to increase the birthrate/population.
• Lex Papia Poppaea.
• During this period, the power of the pater familas was great. This was legally defined as the right of patria potestas, with all relations legally under the authority of the pater familas. (Although this authority was limited by custom, if not by law.)
• 'Domus' refers to all who lived within the house, including slaves.
• ‘The legal powers of the pater familias, oppressive as they were in theory, did not dominate Roman family experience.’ - Garnsey and Saller
Role of Women
• During this period, the 'ideal' woman was propagated as being a 'matron' in Roman tradition, submissive and dutiful towards the familias. (This can be seen in the ancient sources criticising women who did not follow this 'image', Juvenal etc
• This image, however, was not the reality.
• While many women were educated under the Roman system, this education would typically conclude at the age of 12 or 13, at which many girls would be wed.
• Concept of a 'Guardian'> Women could be freed from this through giving birth to a sufficient number of children. (Freewoman-Three, Freedwoman-4.)
• Increased political rights.
• Juvenal’s Sixth Satire is a scathing attack on women who sought intellectualism: “Wives shouldn't try to be public speakers . . . there ought to be some things women don't understand.” [Damn Juvenal.]
• Women occupied many important occupations, including; tavern-keepers, waitresses, secretaries, woolworkers, entertainers, washerwomen, maids, bird-sellers, or even successful merchants. Female doctors are also attested to in sources and in archaeological evidence.
• The majority of women however, were required to function as the 'Matron'.
• While women were permitted to partake in the majority of social activities (As opposed to Greek women), they were ostensibly forbidden from taking part in political life within the court. [See 'Imperial Women].
Relationship Between Men and Women
• Guardianship was gradually weakened during this period. Augustan legislation modified the law so that women with a 'sufficient' quantity of children were exempt, whilst the practise was abolished during the Claudian principate.
• Women legally independent while married.
• Financial penalty for divorce eliminated.
• The period to pass following a spouse's death [Within which marriage was forbidden] set at ten months.
Rites of Passage
• Naming of children-Girls after eight days, Boys after nine.
• Girls left home to be married from the age of 12.
• Boys presented with an adult toga at 14.
Marriage Customs
• Monogamous.
• Three forms of marriage; 1.Confarreatio-Formal ceremony, patrician. Involved a contract under which the person and property of the wife were given to her husband [Dowry]. > 2.Coemptio-The wife was symbolically purchased. > 3.Usus-After a year of cohabitation, the couple were legally recognised as 'married'.
• Marriage ceremony.- Bride is clothed in the tunica recta, with a garland of flowers > Marriage contract signed by 'parties' > Pronuba joins hands of bride and groom. > Dedications to deities [Jupiter and Juno] > Wedding feast > Torchlight procession accompanied by flute players and fescinne songs > Bride carried over the 'threshold', presented with fire and water. [Symbolic of her new status as 'Mistress Of The House'.]
Moral and Social Legislation
• 19 BCE-Julian Laws- Unmarried and childless persons disadvantaged.
• 9 CE- Lex Papia Poppaea -Marriage protected through the regulation of sexual relations. > Before action could be taken upon suspected adultery, divorce was required. > Severe punishments, involving exile and confiscation of property. > Punishment if a man married a woman known to be adulterous, or subsequently failed to divorce her.
• Marriage encouraged through the imposition of age limits for marriage (25 for men, 20 for women.). > Penalites placed upon unmarried persons (Relating to wills) > Political rewards given to 'family men' (Preferential treatement in relections and provincial allocation.)
• 2 BCE-Fufian Caninian- This legislation reduced the number of slaves that could be emancipated by the will of a single master.
• 4 CE-Aelian Sentian- Futher restrictions placed upon this right.
Role of Imperial Women *Expand Upon*.
• Livia- “she occupied a very exalted station, far above all women of former days… [she] possessed the greatest influence.”-Cassius Dio.
•
• Agrippina-
Section #4-The Roman Economy.
Economic Structure & Organisation.
• Prior to Vespasian's principate', state surpluses were stored within the Aerarium Saturnae.
• Labour organised through laws. eg: Fufian Caninian
• State interventionalism > Economic power increasingly located within the princeps. [Treasury managed by imperial procurators from Vespasian onwards.]
• Bans occasionally placed upon provincial production of wine and oils.
• North Africa=Highly urbanised.
• Three treasuries, public, military and fisci.> Public Aerarium and fisci amalgamated in Claudian principate.
• Reliance upon slave labour. > 1/3 of Rome's populace slaves, "The Romans had more slaves and depended more on them than any other people"-Madden. [Estimated figure of ten million slaves throughout the 1st century CE Empire.]
Agriculture and Grain Supply
• "The economy of the Roman Empire depended overwhelmingly on agriculture"-Freeman, pg.447.
• Amnona-200 000 Romans [2 BCE] provided with free grain supplies, a reduction from the Republic. Organised under the praefectus amnonae 10 CE> Office initially held by C.Turranius.
• Land ownership > Delegation. (Tenement farms lent land by patricians)
• Role of Egypt/North Africa.
• Oats grown in North-Eastern provinces. [Dacia, Thrace etc:]
• Vegetables; beans, turnips, lettuce, cabbage, radishes and asparagus
• Grape vineyards grown in almost all provinces.
Shipping & Trade/Development of Ostia
Shipping
• Majority of Roman shipping occured between May and September. [Ideal weather]
• Most commercial ships were driven by sail.
• Ships ranged from 70-1000 tonnes.
• Ships remained in sight of land where possible> Navigated using stars and landmarks.
Trade
• Extensive trade throughout the Empire and beyond.
• Roman artefacts have been found in regions of India, Afghanistan and China.
• Relative levity of tariffs> lassiez faire.
• Goods exported by the Romans included pottery, currency and produce.
• Goods imported included; Grain, oils, 'luxury' goods such as pepper, silk and lapis lazuli. [3000 tonnes of pepper were demanded of Rome by Alaric in 409 CE.]
• Iberian silver obtained for coinage.
Ostia-
• Second most important harbour in Italy.
• Received Egyptian grain in order to supply the Roman amnona [135 000 tonnes of grain annually received.]
• 'Portus Romae'
• Flourishing commercial centre. [Received luxury goods from Spain, Greece and Phoeneicia]
• horrea.
• Peacetime location of the Roman fleet.
• Lead pipeline constructed under Caligula
• Major construction program under Claudius. New harbour constructed >New pharos built etc: (Program completed under Nero.)
• "a gateway for vital grain supplies for Rome'. [Encyclopedia Of The Roman Empire.]
Industries
• Majority of industries conducted through local tabernae.
• Remnant examples are to be seen in Pompeii, Herculaneum and Ostia.
• Major industries included; Glass-working, bronze-working, textiles, leather-working.
• Commercial towns. Eg: Pompeii>Garum. [Exported throughout Empire.]
Expansion Of The Fora
• Forum Augustum constructed for multiple reasons, propaganda and to resolve overcrowding in Rome's two other forums. (Recorded by Suetonius.)
Taxation
• Direct Taxation- Tributum soli- land/property tax. > Tributum capitis- poll tax, property other than land. Within imperial provinces, these were obtained by an imperial procurator, an equitae independent of the provincial governor.
• Indirect Taxation- Portoria- 5% tariff on goods crossing borders. Nine such 'frontiers' within the Empire. > Slave Tax- 2-4% upon sale of slaves, 5% upon emancipation > Death duty-Paid in provinces. [Nero attempted to abolish indirect taxation throughout the empire.]. Provincial indirect taxes were obtained by scrutinised contractors.
Coinage
• Four types, As [Copper], Sestarius [Bronze], Denarius [Silver], and Aureus [Gold].
• As and Sestarius minted within Italy, under senatorial authority.
• Denarius and Aureus produced under the authority of the princeps, in provincial mints.
• Roman coin hoards found in far-flung locations have consisted solely of Denarius and Aureus, suggesting that these coins were prized for their high content of precious metals. (Debasement would only occur on a large scale in the 3rd century CE. 4% silver content by 270 CE.)
• Coins reflect beliefs of those in power eg: early Neronian coins state "By order of the Senate'. (>62 CE)
Section #5-Religion & Belief Systems.
Beliefs, Practises, Organisations and Buildings.
• Polytheistic.
• Deities often paralleled Greek pantheon (Eg: Hercules=Atlas, Neptune=Posiedon
• Perceived decline of religion in the Late Republic, many temples neglected throughout the Civil Wars that ushered in the Imperial Age. ["Though guiltless, Romans, you will pay for the sins of your ancestors, until you rebuild the temples and the crumbling shrines of the gods, and their statues foul with black smoke"-Suetonius, Augustus, pg.42]
• Augustus attempts to revive religion through the restoration of many temples and propagation within imperial art. [Livia as Lares.].
• Restores eighty-two temples within a year. ['I re-built eighty-two temples of the gods in the city by the authority of the senate, omitting nothing"]
• New temples constructed, including The Temples of Mars, Jupiter, Apollo, and Minerva.
• Two religious 'colleges'; Pontiffs [Responsible for administration] > Augurs [Interpret signs so that imperial actions are theologically approved]
• Augustus becomes Pontiff Maximus in 12 BCE.
• Sybilline Books.
• Worship of Lares [Household deities..Guardians of crossroads and of households.] encouraged under Augustan principate.
Imperial Cult
• Each vici within Rome provided with a shrine to Lares and Augustus. 12-7 BCE.
• Examples of the Augustan 'Imperial Cult'=Herculaneum-Collegium Augustalium. Ostia-College of Augustales. Pompeii-The Temple Of Fortuna Augusta.
• This notion reached it's height under Gaius, who had himself deitified whilst in power.
• Statues within the Forum Augustum.
• Glorification of the Julio-Claudian clan.
• Augustus and Claudius are recorded as 'deitified' in Suetonius' 'The Twelve Caesars'.
Foreign Cults and 'Mysteries'
• Religious tolerance varied from princeps to princeps.
• These religions spread following imperial conquests.
Isis- Originated in Egypt > Worshipped in conjuction with Serapis > Throughout the Late Republic and Imperial Period, this cult became increasingly popular [Sulla > Nero.] > Pompeiian Temple Of Isis rebuilt immediately following 63 CE earthquake (Importance) > Statues of Isis, Osiris and Horus.
Mithras- Originated in Persia > Appears in the West c.70 BCE. > Popular amongst legionaries. >Battle of light and darkness > Bore several distinct resemblances to Christianity > 16 Mithraea within Ostia eg: Mithraeum of the Seven Sphere. > Seven phases passed in order to attain 'Truth'. Rooted in Zoroastrianism.
• Nero used the radiating crown as a symbol of sovereignity, inspired by Mithras.
Dionysus/Bacchus- Originated in Greece > God of fertility and wine > Female cult.
Funerary Customs
• Cremation [Urns.]
• Necropoleis [Built outside city walls.. Note: Area that would eventually become the Forum was originally a cemetary.]
• Marble Sarcophagi
• Illustrations of former activity.
• ‘Adapted’ in provinces (As seen in sarcophagi from Aegyptus, which had a portrait of the deceased upon the sarcophgus.)
Section #6-Cultural Life.
Art & Architecture
• Role as propaganda. “A great representational art now came into existence, whose function was to enforce the lessons of Empire, and to glorify the doings of it’s rulers and it’s people”Cambridge Ancient History X, pg.545
• Staturary [Imperial portraiture]
• Ara Pacis Augustae. [Glorification of the princeps > Imperial Cult, Elevation of the familas etc:]
• ‘Naturalistic’.
• Fresco/Mosaic.
Literature
Horace-
• Lived from 65 to 8 BCE.
• Son of a wealthy libertini > Given a prestigious education, studying philosophy in Athens.
• Following the suicide of Brutus at Philippi [43 BCE], Horace's farm was confiscated > Moves to Rome.
• 'Patronised' by Maecenas.
• Composed texts such as 'The Satires', 'The Epistles', and 'The Odes'
• Composed the Carmen Saeculare, the opening chorus of the 17 BCE Secular Games.
• While 'The Satires' were criticial of Roman society, his later works supported Augustinian legislation and reforms, glorifying the Empire and the familia Augusta.
Virgil-
• Lived from 76 to 19 BCE.
• Born in Mantua > Loses land following Philippi > Provided with estate in Naples by Augustus > Influenced by Stoicism.
• Glorified county-life in the 'Eclogues'
• 'The Aeneid' served as the Roman equivalent to the Homeric works, an epic poem serving as a 'foundation myth' for the Roman populace, and the Julio-Claudian dynasty. ('This is the man who will first found our city on laws" > Roots of Rome lay in Troy > Aeneas.
• "It is your task Roman, to rule nations with your power; these will be your arts; to enforce the maintenance of peace, to spare those who will submit, and crush with war the proud"-Aeneid, VI:851-3
Ovid-
• Lived from 43 BCE to 17 CE.
• Equestrian background > Educated in Rome and Athens > No need for patronage.
• Exiled to Tomi [Black Sea] in 9 CE, following an unknown scandal.
• ‘Of his brilliant poetic talent there can be no question”- Scullard, p.241.
• Majority of his poems written in hexameter.
• Many of Ovid’s poems focused upon love and the means of obtaining it. (erotic.) These works, including the Amores, Remedia Amoris and Ars Amatoria were implicitly and explicitly critical of Augustinian moral legislation.
• The Metamorphoses would survive into the Renaissance as a exemplar of ‘Classical’ poetry, a series of many poems linked thematically through the theme of transformations, ranging from humanity (‘First came the golden age’) to animals. Within this work, Ovid prophesised a divine future for Augustus. (‘Deified’)
Imperial Building Programs *Expand Upon*.
• Many new public buildings were constructed during the Augustan principate.
• These included the Forum Augustum and the Theatre of Marcellus.
• Res Gestae proclaims that Augustus restored 82 temples in a year.
• However, this building program was not merely religious; “He did not indeed confine himself to religious architecture, but he executed many works of public utility, such as docks, granaries, shopping centres, aqueducts and the like”-Salmon, p.29.
• ‘I found Rome a city of Brick, and left it a city of Marble”-Augustus.
• These programs served multiple functions, serving as a means of propaganda, stimulating the economy, and functioning within provinces as a means of Romanization.
• Perhaps the most famous building constructed during the ‘Imperial Age’ was the Amphitheatrum Flavium, founded by Titus. (Constructed under Vespasian.)
• The programs of this epoch also consisted of boosting economic infrastructures. This is particularly apparent in the Claudian building program at Ostia.
Section #7-People's Lives [Plutarch]
Daily Life and Leisure Activities
• Thermae [Divided into two sections > Eighteen thermae within Ostia > Pompeii-The Forum Baths > Calidarium, tepidarium, frigidarium.]
• Palestra
• Theatres [Pantomime, Mime etc:]
• Amphitheatres [Eg:Amphitheatrum Flavium.. Gladitorial games, naval re-enactments etc:]
• Sports
• Circus Maximus [Capacity of 160 000? > Races between Blues & Greens (See Marcus Aurelius)
• Indoor games
• Festivals
• Taverns
Occupations
• Baker, Potter, Poet, Lawyer, Silversmith, Legionary, Glass-Maker, Historian, Senator, Official, Fisherman, Merchant, Sculptor, Farmer, Trader Priest, etc:
Food
• Patricians/Equites- Lavish dinner parties, including such delicacies as honey-roasted dormice and flamingo tongue, lasting six-seven courses. See ‘The Satyricon’
• Plebians- Wheat was the staple foodstuff (Provided for 200 000 citizens through the amnona), usually eaten as a form of porridge. Other foodstuffs included vegetables, herbs, olives, cheese, milk, fish etc:
• Breakfast-Rentculum > Lunch-Prandium > Dinner-Cena
Housing & Furniture
• Domus.- Usually single-storied > Decorated with mosaics and/or frescoes > Furniture built into structure.
• Rooms- Atrium (Living room/reception), Tablinium (Master’s office), Triclinium (Dining room..Wealthier villas would have four.), Impluvium (basin), caetae (Outdoor recreational rooms), Cubiculae (Bedroom), Tabernae (Shops) etc:
• Artisan’s Houses. Built above workshops.
• Insulae. Tenement blocks > Housing for majority of Roman population > Rent decreased each storey > Poorly constructed, vulnerable to collapse or fire > Height restricted to seventy feet > New building code introduced following Great Fire. [Sanitary facilities on ground floor.]
• Furniture- Tables, chairs, braziers, lamps, couches, beds, cabinets etc:
Health & Medicine
• Despite attempts to improve public hygene (Aqueducts), many endemic diseases were rife, flourishing in periodic 'plagues'. An example of this is seen in the prevalence of malaria within Italy in this period. Disease has been viewed by some historians (Eg:---) as a key factor in the eventual decline of the Roman Empire.
• Food and water was often polluted. (Lead poisoning etc
• The majority of doctors were Greeks, and used various medical techniques.
• Surgery in this period included advanced operations such as amputations and the removal of small tumours [House Of The Surgeon].
• Dentistry was comparitively advanced > Included the production of dentures [Although this was pioneered by the Etruscans.] > Tooth picks used.
• Medicine was a profession open to both genders, although women usually served as midwives.
Role of Building Programs in People's Lives.
• Propaganda. Grandiose building programs symbolised the new pax romana and presented a message of a prosperous peace. Additionally, further construction was implied, therefore encouraging support for the princeps on multiple levels.
• Religion-The widespread reconstruction of many temples indicated a return to 'traditional' beliefs and values, again creating stability.
• Pleasure-A majority of these constructions were designated for the public's use > Important for leisure activities > Generate support. ('Bread and circuses'-Juvenal) Eg: Flavium Amphitheatrum.
• Pride-Enhanced Rome's status as 'World City' ('All roads lead to Rome'), generating pride and nationalism.
• Justification for imperial policies eg: Ara pacis augustae > moral legislation.
• Economic-Creation of infrastructures throughout the empire > Beneficial to trade and other economic activities > Increases effiency of transport > Flow of goods both essential and luxury goods. Examples of these are to be seen in the roads constructred within Iberia and North Africa following Roman annexation. (Urbanization > 'Africa', 200 + towns, within 10km of one another.)
Living Conditions
• Water Supply: Aqueducts > Central water tower > lead pipes > Largely underground
• By the 'Imperial Period', Rome alone had ten aqueducts.
• A further two aqueducts were constructed under the Claudian principate.
• For those not connected to this water supply (The plebs), public fountains served as a means of delivering water to the populace.
• Sewage systems within some villas > Much waste thrown onto streets > Waste flowed into the Tiber. [The construction of sewers was undertaken by slaves.]
• As in all historical societies, living conditions varied according to social strata, ranging dramatically between patrician and plebian classes. [The life expectancy during this period was thirty-five years.]
Significance of The Forum and Other Major Structures.
• The Forum-Political, religious, economic and social centre of Rome.
• Amphitheatres, Theatres, Circus Maximus-Large-scale structures for public entertainment, occupied the leisure of much of the populace. [Although outside the immediate period, the great popularity of the chariot races is stated in 'The Meditations'.]
• Reduced liklihood of revolt >Maintained stability.
• Employment.
• Their reproduction through provincial 'colonies' was a key aspect of the Romanization process.
Main Features of The Layout Of Rome
• Tiber flows along the city's western side.
• City walls expanded throughout the Republican period.
• Circus Maximus located between the Palatine and Aventine.
• Flavium Amphitheatrum at bottom of Esquline.
• Tenements located upon lower ground.
• Religious structures located throughout city.
• Divided into 265 vici [Each possessed it's own 'Genius Of Augustus']
• Public parks located upon outskirts.
Section #8-Relevant Archaeological and/or Written Evidence [Primary and Secondary].
Ancient.
• ‘’Their obtaining so large a dominion hath been the acquisition of their valour, and not the bare gift of fortune”-Joesephus
• “Tiberius’ words indicated the exact opposite of his real purpose..He thought it bad policy for the sovereign to reveal his thoughts”-Dio Cassius.
• “Doing away with the pretence that he was merely the chief executive of a republic”-Suetonius [Describing Gaius.]
• “A period rich in disasters, frightful in it’s wars, torn by civil strife , and even in peace, full of horrors”-Tacitus, The Histories. [The Year Of Four Emperors.]
• “Nero fabricated scapegoats- and punished with every refinement the notoriously depraved Christians”-Tacitus, The Annals.
• “Most of the island is level, and covered in forests. It produces coin, cattle, gold and excellent hunting”-Strabo [Britain.]
• “The senate is to preserve its ancient functions”-Nero
• “I rebuilt eighty-two temples of the gods in the city by the authority of the senate, omitting nothing”-Augustus, Res Gestae.
• “I found Rome a city of brick and left it a city of marble”-Augustus.
