Roman Culture. What did it mean for the various people of the time to be 'Roman' in the Roman Empire?

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1 What did it mean for the various people of the time to be 'Roman' in the Roman Empire? Is it actually possible to speak of a single unique Roman culture imposed or maintained through imperial power? How were culture, identity and power shaped in particular by social factors such as religion, gender, the economy, and status in the various regions of the vast empire? Was there such a society that had shared values? Is it possible to recognize a pattern of learned and shared behavior among the people of the Roman Empire? Latin was the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. It gained great importance as the formal language of the Roman Empire. All Romance languages descend from a Latin parent, and many words based on Latin are found in other modern languages such as English. Roman Architecture The Romans were famous for their advancement in architecture and engineering. Before the Romans, the most commonly used building style was the post and lintel. This method of building was limited by the weight it could carry and the span between the supports. Roman Architecture changed and advanced by introducing new methods of architecture: Columns and Arches. With these methods the Romans were able to construct bigger temples and buildings than ever before. The Romans used three types of columns throughout their long history. The first and most basic type was called the Doric Style. Its plain features were not as attractive as its future forms, but it served a great purpose: to hold up huge and heavy buildings. The Ionic Style, with its more decorative base and top, was the next type to be used. It still had the same purpose as the Doric style, but it further increased the awe-power of the building with which it was used. The Cornithian Style was the King of all Columns. Its fine detail and size made the other two styles look rather ordinary. Arches were not only used for their immense support capabilities, but for their power to amaze and glorify as well. The extension of the arch idea led to the development of domes. The largest dome built for 18 centuries was the Pantheon. The idea of the arch was further extended in the Middle Ages with the barrel vault and other types of vaults, which became the central theme of the Romanesque and Gothic Cathedrals. Cement was used to supplement arch construction, which again allowed the Romans to expand buildings. For example, the Coliseum used the arch system, along with concrete, to build a four-story high stadium to seat over 50,000 spectators. In addition, the Romans developed over 500 KM of aqueduct to bring fresh water into the capital city. This, along with over 50,000 miles of roads, shows the size and strength of the Empire's architecture. Following the establishment e of the Roman Republic in the 5th cent. B.C., Roman architects began to absorb and synthesize influences from both the Etruscans and the Greeks, adapting earlier building types to their specialized urban needs. Mr. Noble 1

2 I. Amphitheatres There are more than 200 large and countless small amphitheatres, of which almost half are situated in Italy. The name amphitheatre means, "having seats on all sides". This word, however, does not occur before the Augustan era, and was at first applied to the e circus too. II. Aqueducts The great and highly advanced Roman waterway system known as the Aqueducts, are among the greatest achievements in the ancient world. The running water, indoor plumbing and sewer system carrying away disease from the population within the Empire wasn t surpassed in capability until very modern times. The Aqueducts, being the most visible and glorious piece of the ancient water system, stand as a testament to Roman engineering. Some of these ancient structures are still in use today in various capacities. The aqueducts were built from a combination of stone, brick and the special volcanic cement pozzuolana. While their visible remains leave a definite impression, the great bulk of the Roman waterway system ran below ground. Channels bored through rock, or dug below the surface carried water where it was convenient and possible. Of the approximately 260 miles in the aqueduct system, only 30 miles consisted of the visible, mammoth arched structures. The aqueducts were built only to carry the flow of water in areas where digging, burrowing, or surface grades presented problems, such as valleys. The entire system relied upon various gradients and the use of gravity to maintain a continuous flow; and the engineering at the time was remarkable. Without the aqueducts it would ve been impossible to maintain the flow of water at the proper grades required. When water reached Rome it flowed into enormous cisterns (castella) maintained on the highest ground. These large reservoirs held the water supply for the city and were connected to a vast network of lead pipes. Everything from public fountains, baths and private villas could tap into the network, sometimes provided a fee was paid. The water system was as politically motivated as any other massive public works project. Providing additional sources of incoming flow, feeding the baths or simply providing water access to more of the populace could grant great prestige. Maintenance of the water system was a continuous task, and the Romans assigned a Curator Aquarum to oversee this undertaking. Paid laborers, slaves and the legions all had parts in building parts of the water system. The Curator Aquarum maintained the aqueducts of Rome, while similar curators oversaw those in the provinces. The legions however, when building new colonies or forts, were responsible for providing their own water supply. Just as they were the great road builders of the Empire, they most assuredly took part in the aqueduct construction of outlying areas. 11 separate aqueducts supplied the city of Rome and were built over a span of 500 years. The first, the Aqua Appia, was built in conjunction with the great southern road the Via Appia in 312 BC. Aqua Novus stretched the farthest from the city, reaching approximately 59 miles away. At its largest extant, nearly 200 cities within the empire were supplied buy aqueducts, far surpassing the capability of any civilization before or after for nearly another 2 millenia. The last Roman aqueduct built was the Aqua Alexandrina built in 226 AD. In the waning days of the western empire, invading Germanic tribes cut the supply of water into Rome and only the Aqua Virgo, which ran completely underground, continued to deliver water. During the middle ages, a couple of the lines were restored, but full access to running water wasn t re-established until the Renaissance. At the height of the ancient city s population of approximately 1,000,000 inhabitants, the water system was capable of delivering up to 1 cubic meter of water per person in the city, more than what is commonly available in most cities today. The first thing the Romans did upon entering a new region, after winning the war that gained them their new territory, was construct roads, bridges and water supply. That was the quickest way to "Romanize" the new areas. Mr. Noble 2

3 III. The Colosseum The Colosseum, (the Flavian Amphitheatre) is one of Rome's most famous buildings and enduring monuments to the culture of the ancient Romans. Construction was initiated by the Emperor Vespasian around 72 AD. His son Titus reigned over its completion and the official opening ceremonies, about 8 years later, in 80 AD. It was built near the site of Nero s Domus Aurea Golden House. This is significant in that his successor, Vespasian wanted to erase the memory of Nero s extravagant reign from the minds of Romans. It got its popular name, the Colosseum, because of Nero s colossus (120 ft. high) statue of himself, which was nearby. The huge theater was originally built encompassing four floors. The first three had arched entrances, while the fourth floor utilized rectangular doorways. The floors each measured between 10,5-13,9 meters (32-42 feet) in height. The total height of the construction was approximately 48 meters (144 feet). The arena measured 79 x 45 meters ( feet), and consisted of wood and sand. (The word "arena" is derived from the Latin arena, which means, "sand.") Nets along the sides protected the audience. The Colosseum had a total spectator capacity of 45, ,000,000. The Amphitheater is built of travertine outside, and of tufa and brick in the interior. The main pedestals were built of marble blocks weighing 5 metric tons (11,000 pounds.) Initially the huge marble blocks were held together by metalpins. However, the pins were soon carried off by thieves, and had to be replaced by mortar. The total amount of marble needed for the construction measured approximately 100,000 cubic meters. It was carried by 200 ox-pulled carts, which supplied a sufficient flow of needed materials. There were no less than 76 numbered entrances and 4 additional entrances reserved for the Emperor, other VIP s and the gladiators. The Colosseum was designed for easy crowd dispersal; the entire audience could exit the building in five minutes tes. The interior was divided into three parts: the arena, the podium, and the cavea. Now more than two-thirds of the original building has been removed and the rows of the seats in the cavea are missing. It is very similar to other amphitheaters except this one is much bigger. The audience, upon entering, climbed sloping ramps to their seats, according to gender and social class. Obviously, the higher one s social status, the better their seating arrangement would be. For example, women (excepting spouses and perhaps imperial family) and the poor stood or sat on wooden benches in the fourth tier. For inclement or very hot weather conditions, an enormous, colored awning (velarium) could be stretched overhead to protect the crowd. A wooden floor covered subterranean chambers where the gladiators and animals were kept waiting to perform. There is some debate over the idea that the Colosseum was occasionally flooded for mock naval battles. There were canals in place that could have been used for this purpose but the brick used in construction was not the same type of material that they normally used in water resistant materials. The Colosseum was the Empire s primary stage for gladiatorial combat for nearly 4 centuries. In a show of Rome's wealth and extravagance, during the opening ceremonies in 80 AD, 100 days of the games were held. A secret passage was recently uncovered under the Roman Coliseum, elaborately decorated with mosaics and plaster carvings, that was built to let Emperor Commodus ( ) 192) run away from angry mobs Mr. Noble 3

4 IV. Housing The principal parts of a Roman house were the Vestibulum, Ostium, Atrium, Alae, Tablínum, Fauces, and Peristylium. The Vestibulum (modern Vestibule) was a court surrounded by the house on three sides, and open on the fourth to the street. The Ostium corresponded in general to the modern front hallway. From it a door opened into the atrium, which was a large room with an opening in the center of its roof, through which the rainwater was carried into a cistern placed in the floor under the opening. To the right and left of the atrium were side rooms called the alae (just like the Cavalry Alae units were used on the flanks), and the tablinum was a balcony attached to it. The passages from the atrium to the interior of the house were called fauces. The Peristylium, towards which these passages ran, was an open court surrounded by columns, decorated with flowers and shrubs. It was somewhat larger than the atrium. The floors were covered with stone, marble, or mosaics. The walls were lined with marble slabs, or frescoed, while the ceilings were either bare, exposing the beams, or, in the finer houses, covered with ivory, gold, and frescoes. The main rooms were lighted from above; the side rooms received their light from these, and not through windows looking into the street. The windows of rooms in upper stories were not supplied with glass until the time of the Empire. They were merely openings in the wall, covered with latticework. To heat a room, portable stoves were generally used, in which charcoal was burned. There were no chimneys, and the smoke passed out through the windows or the openings in the roofs. However, the wealthiest Romans used heated water supplies from natural springs or through the sewer system. The rooms of the wealthy were furnished with great splendor. The walls were frescoed with scenes from Greek mythology, landscapes, etc. In the vestibules were fine sculptures, costly marble walls, and doors ornamented with gold, silver, and rare shells. There were expensive rugs from the East, and, in fact, everything that could be obtained likely to add to the attractiveness of the room. Candles were used in early times, but later the wealthy used lamps, which were made of terra cotta or bronze. They were mostly oval, flat on the top, often with figures in relief. In them were one or more round holes to admit the wick. They either rested on tables, or were suspended by chains from the ceiling. The common classes lived in apartment like buildings called the insula. These buildings were situated to cover an entire city block, with residential homes in the interior and commercial shops, restaurants, markets or various organized clubs around the street sides. Frescoes were a historical painting technique in which pigment was applied to wet plaster. Mr. Noble 4

5 V. Roads Roman Culture The engineers of ancient Rome built an unparalleled network of roads in the ancient world. Nearly 47,000 square miles (76,000 sq. km) of roads spanned the Roman Empire, spreading its legions, culture and immense influence throughout the known world. The old saying all roads lead to Rome," simply couldn t have been truer. Rome was the hub of commerce, trade, politics, culture and military might in the Mediterranean, and the grand achievement of her road network all led directly to the city and back out to her many territories. Despite the grand spectacle that the road network really was, the original functionality of Roman roads was mainly designed for military exploitation. on. Starting with local roads, Rome was connected first to Latium, Ostia and surrounding areas. By the mid 4th century BC, as they pushed south, with longer highways developed to give the legion an advantage over Rome s adversaries. The Via Appia, built between was the first, and most famous, of these. Begun in 312 BC by Appius Claudius Caecus, it ran southwest out of Rome, to Capua, then to Tarentum and later was pushed across to Brundusium (Brindisi) on the Adriatic eventually stretching all the way to the Straits of Messina. Like most major Roman fortifications and public works, Roman roads were primarily built by the legions themselves, as they stretched the frontiers. Engineers were regular members of the Roman army and their expertise in roads, forts and bridge building was an invaluable asset unmatched by any other culture for 2 millenia. Estimating the cost of road building varies dramatically depending on the era and terrain, but there is no question regarding the cost effectiveness. As the empire expanded the cost responsibility for building and maintaining the roads were borne by local populations and tribes rather than by the Roman treasury itself. As the Roman legates pushed the frontiers outward legions in tow, they were expected to provide road construction out of their own resources. However, with complete authority in any given jurisdiction, those resources turned out to be that collected from locals, in coin, raw materials and additional labor. Essentially for 7 centuries, Roman road building continued and was well maintained, until economic decline and external pressure began to give way. By the fall of the west in 476 AD, the condition of the roadways paralleled the circumstances of the empire, and many roads would fall into disuse, disrepair and ruin throughout the medieval age. Outside of the speed and accessibility provided to the Roman legions, the roads also provided an opportunity for trade, travel and communication unknown to the rest of the world. While travel of any considerable length was limited to the extremely wealthy, theoretically one could travel from Spain to Greece without ever stepping off a road. While having obvious advantages for trade, once again, the roads were never a primary source of commerce. Most trade and transportation ation occurring on the roadways was limited to short routes, as sea traffic was by far the more attractive alternative. Road routes allowed the convenience of moving goods from the source, directly to a nearby port, or legionary supplies by sea could be moved their final distance by road. The heaviest traveled roads were those connecting inland towns to nearby ports in the provinces and from ports, such as Ostia, to Rome in Italy. A sort of ancient pony express was also developed along with a vast network of postal way stations along the road routes. Both horse driven carts and ridden horses were used for fast delivery of correspondence to distant places. For the first time in history, it was possible to receive a letter in Rome, from as far away as northern Gaul, in as little as a few days. While military couriers were a considerably more common occurrence, dispatching letters between commanders, the Senate, the Emperor or various installations, the civilian mail service was a booming business as well. Did you y know? Roman roads were so effective that in the later empire they actually became a liability because invading forces could travel along them just as quickly as the Roman armies. Hipposandals (Roman horseshoes) were tied to the horses' feet, rather than being nailed. It is thought that they were used to protect injured feet, rather than be used constantly, as experiments have shown that they come off at more than walking pace. They may also have been used for cattle. Mr. Noble 5