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Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2023 with funding from Kahle/Austin Foundation
https://archive.org/details/romanlifebymaryjOO00mary
Roman Life was prepared under the supervision of Eleanore H. Cooper, Directing Editor of the Scott-Foresman Latin Program
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ROMAN LIFE
Successor to Private Life of the Romans
MARY JOHNSTON
Q
A SCOTT, FORESMAN AND COMPANY Nw
‘8S
Chicago Atlanta Dallas Palo Alto Fair Lawn, N_J.
Copyright © 1957 by
Scott, Foresman and Company
J.
H.B
HLW.J., E.HLS..
—
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CONTENTS
Terra Mater
CHIP NS) (O)s FRCS VOM OCENE sam belcdbo on bm OG OO Coes Gh Ooo nao Maples acl acdinlo on-cioto bio.
Purpose of Archaeology »* Remains Everywhere * Modern Methods + Different Excavations + Sources of Information
LOVES) TUN PAU GUID MP ARCOM. io G aon Hida O ato OM ED OR GUO HOO nS .0s BOOED EGO GID oe Ao Molt oles
City Streets + Hours of the Day * Costume +» Shops » Aqueducts »* Government ° Early Rising + Business + Entertainments + Relaxation » Poor Romans
SIE ROMANIWIAYRORY LEE crete coer creo) sh os) eae see IS OG ges cI ORI) yee used to Ren ear Mes cea
The Early Romans + Class Divisions in Roman Society »* Occupations and Careers of Nobles *« Noblemen in Agriculture + Politics As a Career + Profits from Politics Law As a Career « The Army As a Career * The Army As a Gold Mine + Knights and Their Careers * Commerce and Industry *« The Common People »* Common Men in the Army + Freedmen + Small Tradesmen +» Roman Guilds + Social Life in Guilds +» Government Office Workers + Professions and Trades +« Physicians and Surgeons + Life of Free Workmen
PPE UNSER ONEAING LO WINS ae erie inet ancy eer inn 205 oscar sie tener os. 'e bub at ceili eaten cen tone iain Neem
Roman Towns « Town Officials + Town Councils +» Knights « Augustales + Plebs and Poor Freedmen «+ Public Buildings and Private Benefactors « Schools + Town Life Versus City Life » Great Men of the Towns
MENA COUN DRY Prsctanccs scersie o cions 5906 eho sey ear 506 dhs, ospeeewe tals suelsi's avalos, =) cus albedo sales
Agriculture * Geographic and Climatic Conditions + An Ideal Farm + Small Farms + Fewer Small Farms « The Farm Manager + Duties of the Owner « Farmer's Almanac + Drainage and Fencing + Plowing and Manuring +» Farmers As Husband- men « Parts of a Farm « Raising Wheat + Vine-Growing and Vineyards + Wine Grapes Grew Everywhere » Wine-Making + Olive Groves + Olive Oil * Fruit Or- chards » Farm Gardens + Useful Trees * Stock, Poultry, and Game * Farm Buildings » Other Rural Industries »* Landed Proprietors and Their Estates + Pleasure Gardens + Daily Life in the Country
IROIMIANN TRKOLUISTE S35 sa: Sean ud SIRO ORO OPO Decent ES UUM NNG CHEE EEG PCPS HORT ETERS vaicychiey eliza. Cacia ee coe
Early Houses » Larger Houses + Later Houses * Development of the Atrium + Change in the Atrium + Alae + Tablinum + Rooms Used for Business + Vestibulum + Door- ways « Peristyle + Kitchens + Dining Rooms « Sleeping Rooms + Libraries »* Other Rooms + House of Pansa * House of the Surgeon » Newport Villa +» Heating + Water Supply + Building Materials + Concrete Walls * Wall Facings + Floors and Ceilings +» Roofs of Houses + House Doors + Windows + Apartments + City Streets
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INTERTOR: DECORATION irc ajar noo a1) ories O19) ellos os ose) ces arene ate eve al kolo elt ee Reade oe aa ene a2
Wall Decoration +» Decorated Ceilings » Carved Doors and Mosaic Floors + Roman Furniture « Couch—both Bed and Sofa « Stools, Benches, and Chairs * A Variety of Tables » Chests and Cabinets + Stoves and Timepieces « Illumination
ROMAN @EAMIEIBS. sich, eae erica is ec nee a ao alte Cora alee aac eee atone eta eavone Senet oat sans Wenes 104
The Household + Other Meanings of Familia +» Patria Potestas » Limitations of Patria Potestas « Termination of Potestas * The Master's Authority » A Husband's Authority Formation of New Households + Agnates + Cognates + Relatives-in-Law + The Family Cult + Adoption + The Clan
RONIANENAIVIES Bearerercnorstotercncicr sletaleloensiictatfel el cle Wellclel ole oh cleloiate erst alee letorserete tel cteien-tetetet tenant 116
The Triple Name + Order of Names + Praenomen » Nomen * Cognomen + Additional Names + Confusion of Names * Names of Women +* Names of Slaves * Names of Freedmen «+ Naturalized Citizens
MARRTAGEVEUSTOMSFAND FROMAN WOMEN iercr-icisl chen sicucds chs naucestoietcneieh itt iene een 126
Early Marriage Customs +» Usus »* Coemptio + Jus Conubii +» Legal Marriages + Betrothal + Dowries + The Essential Consent + Choosing the Wedding Day -+ Preparations for a Wedding + Forms of Wedding Ceremonies + Confarreate Ceremony * Ceremony of Coemptio » Usus and Ceremonies * Wedding Dinner + Bridal Procession Arrival at the New Home *+ A Roman Matron + Changes in Customs
ROMAN: CHILDREN ais. odis aves leveck ad bac oon or eee ee 140
Legal Status of Children + Acknowledging a Child +» Birthdays + Early Days + Bullae + Children’s Nurses +» Toys, Pets, and Games + Home Training + Father and Son + End of Childhood +» Coming-of-Age Ceremonies
EDUCATION
The First Schools + Schoolrooms + Schools and Democracy + Teachers » Paedagogi + School Days and Holidays + Discipline *+ Elementary Schools * Grammar Schools « Schools of Rhetoric * Foreign Study + Professional Training
NS IDAW IRV tea ieee ers caudate es ahisttnve dons enreRons a's, 6 Gene oensycartsine ts ceria tenergee 6s crater sic) Rtshe Me, SODRONEEG leh etcase cile Monee 158
Growth of Slavery * Numbers of Slaves + Sources of Supply « Sales of Slaves + Price of Slaves + Public Slaves + Private Slaves * Industrial Employment + City Slaves Personal Slaves + Slaves of the Highest Class + Legal Status of Slaves + Treatment of Slaves + Food and Clothing + Difficulties of Escape + Slaves’ Property * Punish- ments » Manumission
CEIENTESZAND EOSPBRERES tare acento een ieerac hn TN: eas Diemer a ren al ecko cone 178
Clients—Old and New + Old Clients +» Mutual Obligations «+ New Clients + Duties and Rewards * Hospites and Hospitium + Obligations of Hospitium
CLODHING OFEMENTAND BOYS fs 55 see coed aie et cee) a Sed oer otro eis aee, cote reo NN eRe 186
Roman Clothing + Underwear * No Trousers + Tunics «+ Roman Togas + Early Togas + Togas of Classical Times + Special Kinds of Togas + Cloaks + Sandals + Shoes « Head Coverings + Styles of Hair and Beards + Jewelry » Manufacture and Cleaning of Clothing
CLUOMAING OR WOMEN (AND) GIRS oii. 5 ois eee cyeistore oc suskn olen sestn pO net creas eee 202
Women’s Tunics * Stola and Palla + Girls’ Wearing Apparel + Footwear + Hair- dressing « Accessories + Jewelry * Fabrics + Colors
RONTANSE OOD ro. or. cotscalia as aleaeieuel wissirat be ella coh cole arate) MP emt als ae ase eee Omen Cn AE RMAC Lou eee vATW)
Italy's Soil and Climate +» Foods of Early Days * Fruits * Garden Produce +» Meats the Romans Ate »* Fowl and Game « Fish of All.Kinds + Dairy Products, Honey, and Salt » Cereals + Preparation of Grain + Grinding the Grain +» Porridge to Bread + Breadmaking + Kinds of Bread + The Useful Olive + Roman Beverages
INMATES ZO RSD LIB SAY Gee tercrons co, cue the ratote ae o srsbe sccetrnateecre eile i wi CRUSE ee ow Ue TON hae nan Seale 224
Simple Fare + Luxurious Living + Hours for Meals + Breakfast +» Luncheon + Supper + Formal Dinners +» Dining Couches + Seating Guests + Places of Honor + The Curved Couch + Furniture and Tableware * From Egg to Apples « Bills of Fare +« Late Dinner + Serving the Dinner + Comissatio +» Master of the Revels « Drinking Healths » Banquets of the Vulgar Rich
12
(GAMES, EXERCISE; AND BATHS) oc ci:c3 <sioesn.s's os aereenie oes eee 2406
\/ Sports of the Campus Martius + Ball Games »* Games of Chance * Knucklebones + Dice * Bathing + Public Baths + Management + Essentials of the Bath + Heating the Bathhouse + Caldarium + Frigidarium + Unctorium * Bathing Hours + Accom- modations for Women + Thermae + A Private Bathhouse » The Baths of Diocletian
THEATERS CAND PICA YS 0 ousier cus tere hars heb alstens ahaa coll alatts tlesica tome celeste) surat sileo lelcolees cha) etre es tea eae rato
Public Spectacles + Dramatic Performances « Staging a Play + The Early Theater + The Later Theater « Plan of a Theater
GIRGUSES AND RACES: 24 noo d erin sho et ee ee ee 268
Roman Circuses « Plan of a Circus *+ Arena + Carceres « Stalls + Spina and Metae + Seats in the Circus *+ Racing Companies + Rival Teams + Racing Drivers » Famous Aurigae * Other Shows in the Circus
AMPHETREHBATERS SAND! GEADTATORS ee presn a attsrels ener ein aent enfant 282
Gladiatorial Combats + Popularity of the Combats + Sources of Supply + Schools for Gladiators « Barracks + Places of Exhibition +» Amphitheaters at Rome + The Amphitheater at Pompeii +» The Colosseum + Styles of Fighting * Weapons and Armor * Announcements of Shows « The Fight Itself » The Rewards » Other Shows in the Amphitheater
Chariot racing
MRAVE PeANDECORRESPONDENGE7 repo ceseseee meter lc volt nel meno stron oleate csireiialeelier ome) ) olcertartal ol epeettelia r= 304 Interest in Travel * Correspondence + Travel by Water + Travel by Land + Vehicles
in Rome «+ Litters +» Carriages + Raedae and Cisia + Ancient Inns + Speed of Travel + Sending Letters + Writing Letters » Sealing and Opening of Letters
BOOKSEAND. DIBRAR IE Scotter ass Gerad vend aud bins Auk Pon ORL eT rear 318
Papyrus Rolls + Roman Paper + Pens and Ink +» Making the Roll + Care of Rolls Size of the Rolls +» Making Books at Home * Commercial Publication +» Rapidity and Cost of Publication + Libraries
ROADS wA© OE DUGISMANDESE WAR'S sees eee cree aie ee en ers ee ee ee nsenee net 328
Extent of Roman Highways + Highway Engineering + Water Supply + Drains and Sewers
RONANGRELIGIONE gas aine sis ewntes ths wis tone rota yes 0 el roneN lista) eae Rais oan eee rn Ree trea 340
Early Religion + The Coming of Foreign Gods + The Religion of Numa + Priestly Colleges + Religion of the Family + Family Devotions + The Religion of the State - A Religious Revival + Religion in the Imperial Age
PUESROMANSPAND SE HETR DEAD aes oe 5c eee ee 354
Importance of Ceremonial Rites * Burial and Cremation + Hadrian’s Mausoleum - Places of Burial * Kinds of Tombs +» Middle- and Lower-Class Burials + Potter's Field » Tombs and Their Grounds + The Mausoleum of Augustus + Columbaria + Burial Societies * Funeral Ceremonies + Rites in the Home + The Funeral Procession « The Funeral Oration + At the Tomb + Subsequent Ceremonies
INODRIIGION, ices sip sah Gani, M0. RIC uy SNE Re Rene Nes ery CA ore cP ORs as Ar re RE 374 TES LOG RARELY eee ett e ererhs eye 6! o fsiroy. a) 5. 5 or S16 apes eM eapniss aheme Guage Go mmaPa we exoraye Gr 6 ay alerts Aten 6 376 PERU @ DSO RPEUES I ORYE cps cmatetore, 0 su sccier seeet oie oi culeherens ae-tcei(n) iol olokemer ee Misti Prepanas atitte es wvierene'e, «i 390 (GU OS SAR Meme ee Pete we sear oh nt vodats tose 2: 5 221a 1 ahi go) surssiens tov enema nie recei a) Gi@baleae Sele ash o erste: 392 VOLILAUISIN RANT PUCOIN ISI: J oB 6:0 70:'G 0 Sn 6 G16 51ND OR) OL ONG SRE SPONOREROT Cea aS IS IC a Sasi An OeCieye Wy Cac eee er ace erga rs 400 LINED) Eo Gru ar Om em EMT Mes Tote terre sstel rer eee er er oh eis at 8 ao ipsa seice'dsn-e lasteley ottetobe Tele rsh Wisi 5) ) e gvelien's audh'n or mess wee 454
Aerial view of Rome
GIFTS OF ARCHAEOLOGY
15
A Roman garden—painting from the Villa of Livia
PURPOSE OF ARCHAEOLOGY
How buildings and whole cities fell into ruin, how some vanished from sight and were rediscovered, is part of history. Archaeology, the study of ancient things, interprets what is found and explains, or even rewrites, history. From the places where the Romans lived, worked, wor- shiped, and amused themselves—from their burial places, too—from their art, their inscriptions, and their literature, we build up a picture of the Roman way of life, and people the past with living fig- ures—not merely with stately statues.
Archaeology deals with the discovery and interpretation of ancient sites and ancient objects of art or use. These are Portrait statue of Emperor Trajan
Air view of Roman fields at Zara, Dalmatia
Excavations at Cosa, Italy
sometimes found by accident—remains of Roman London reappeared when sec- tions of the modern city were bombed in the Second World War. Such finds are often made in Rome when space is cleared for a new building. Many edifices in the Roman World—from Asia to Spain, from Britain to Africa—have remained at least partly in sight, but modern methods have made their history and purpose clearer.
REMAINS EVERYWHERE
It is almost impossible to take a casual walk across fields in Italy without finding fragments of brick, terra cotta, and pot- tery on the surface of the ground. Not only throughout Italy, but everywhere the ancient Romans lived, evidences of their way of life are being uncovered. In parts of France and Britain it is said that anywhere, if one digs deep enough, some fragment of Roman work will inevitably be found. The Near East has yielded wonderful pottery and glass now in muse- ums; the shifting sands of North Africa have uncovered and revealed whole cities of the past. One of the largest Roman amphitheaters that has been found is in the great city—now a waste—of Thugga, North Africa.
The most famous Roman remains in the world are in the ancient cities of Pom- peii, Herculaneum, and Ostia. The ruins of Pompeii, buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in A.D. 79, have shown us a middle-class Italian town with paved streets and sidewalks, public buildings, houses whose decorations—and some- times furnishings—have been preserved, shops with equipment where businesses were carried on.
Herculaneum, buried by the same dis- aster, is being cleared. A large part of Ostia, seaport of Rome, abandoned for
Air view of the excavated Roman town of Leptis Magna, on the coast of North Africa—with ruins of the bath in the foreground
Public fountain in a Pompeian street ee I: oS
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A street in Ostia today
Garden of a house in Herculaneum, with modern planting
centuries, has been uncovered and reveals houses and-apartments, shops and public buildings.
The more common an article is, the less likely it is to be described in litera- ture. In the Latin colony of Cosa, on the sea ninety miles above Rome, American excavators since 1948 have uncovered many humble objects like scale weights, counters for games, stili of bone for writing, fibulae (safety pins), table and kitchen utensils. In other parts of Italy excavators frequently find ancient bits.
Thus archaeology fills in gaps left in our reading. Histories that were written on the basis of literary evidence are being revised and amplified in the light of the constantly increasing body of this con- crete evidence.
Silver spoons
19
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Forum of Pompeii, Garden in the House of the Vett
21
MODERN METHODS
There was a time when excavations were carried on like treasure hunts— chiefly in search of objects of art, and whatever seemed uninteresting was swept aside. Now archaeologists recognize that the commonest things are important, and if the history of the site is to be understood and the stones are to be properly read, the precise level at which an object is found must be recorded.
So in modern scientific archaeology even the smallest handful of earth or ashes is carefully sifted to find and preserve not merely tiny objects, but fragments from which articles may be reconstructed. Whenever possible—if they are not so valuable or so perishable that they must be put in museums for safekeeping— articles are left where they are found.
One of the most useful too!s of modern archaeology, developed within the last twenty years, is the air photograph. In a dry season pictures taken of a site from
At Herculaneum every spoonful of earth was sifted before being hauled away in the little cars
In Winchester, England, citizens help uncover a Roman pavement pr : = ag sr
22
the air in an oblique light will show crop marks revealing the disturbance of the soil in ancient times for ditches or founda- tions. Such sites, localized on a map, can save much hit-or-miss digging. Air pho- tography, especially during and since the Second World War, has revealed much about Roman town-planning and has shown outlines of fields and roadways that are now invisible at the ground level.
Air view of Pompeii
DIFFERENT EXCAVATIONS
Conditions of excavation vary greatly. Pompeii is easily cleared of the volcanic pumice stone and ash which Vesuvius showered over the city. The work at Herculaneum—buried at the same time— is slow and difficult. Here stone and ashes, mixed with water, flowed over everything and hardened into stone. When Ostia was
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Ruins of Timgad, Africa
A triumph, from Leptis Magna
23
abandoned, silt from the Tiber and sand from the seashore gradually covered streets and buildings. Excavation here is easy—as it is in Roman cities in Africa, where the sands of the desert blew over abandoned settlements.
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
Our sources of information on the life of the Romans, then, are three: their liter- ature, so far as it has survived; inscrip- tions great and small, formal or informal; material objects built, made, or used by the Romans for any purpose—from a great building or highway to kitchen
24
AEE
A mosaic being restored in England after the bombardment of World War II
Roman Forum from the west
SES oe ¥ SS
In this model of ancient Rome. the Tiber is on the right; the Colosseum, at upper left; the Capitol left of
25
center; the Circus Maximus, upper right; the Theater of Pompey, lower left; above it, the Circus Flaminius;
the Theater of Marcellus near the Tiber
utensils or bits of jewelry. In painting, mosaic, or sculpture, Roman art some- times gives us representations of objects in actual use and their users that help our understanding of Roman ways of liv-
ing. All that is found from any source is carefully studied and compared, and from this information, there is built up a picture of the Romans—rich and poor— and the way they lived.
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In this famous cameo, the Gemma Augustea, the feet of Augustus and Roma rest on weapons of conquered peoples, while Orbis Romana, symbol of civilization, crowns the emperor with laurel, and Oceanus and Terra Mater look on. At the left, behind Tiberius as he steps from his chariot, is Victoria; and Germanicus, his aide, is beside him. In the lower panel are Roman soldiers and prisoners
DAYS IN ANCIENT ROME
CITY STREETS
Two thousand years ago Rome was a great and crowded city. It was busy and noisy, smoky and dusty. There were beautiful temples and public buildings. The rich had begun to build large and handsome residences. There were many apartment buildings and shabby tene- ments. Narrow streets mounted the seven hills and wound between them.
Through the streets came dignified senators and other prosperous Romans. Some walked, some were carried in lit- ters—covered and curtained couches on poles borne by sturdy slaves. Each Ro- man gentleman was attended by servants and followed by groups of poor citizens, who were eager to be seen with a great man.
Romans still told proudly of early days, when great men had lived as simply as poor ones; but the traditional simple way of life for all alike was gone forever. The rich were living richly and the poor were living poorly. But even for the poor, life in the great city was not drab. There was always something to see, to tell, and to hear. There were the great State festivals and processions, shows in the theater, races, and fights in the arena—spectacles that all might enjoy.
HOURS OF THE DAY
The Roman day was divided into twelve hours; the hours of night were not counted. Since each hour was one-twelfth of the time between sunrise and sunset, its length varied with the season of the year. On March 20 and September 23, when dark- ness and light were equal, Roman hours were equivalent to ours. On December 22 the day was less than nine of our hours long, and each hour not quite forty-five minutes; while on June 21 a Roman day
TAM
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The seven hills of Rome
Arch of
Titus
27
28
was over fifteen hours long, and each hour about seventy-five minutes. For ordinary purposes we may use an old rhyme.
The English hour you may fix.
If to the Latin you add six. When a Latin hour is above six, it is more convenient to subtract six than to add.
COSTUME
A citizen of Rome was known at once by the heavily draped white woolen toga which only a Roman citizen might wear. For convenience and economy, workmen
wore belted tunics of dark wool. Soldiers strode along in shining armor and heavy hobnailed boots. Varied costumes showed people from all the countries around the Mediterranean Sea. Sometimes a toga covered a naturalized citizen of foreign birth or descent—easily distinguished from the stiff-backed Romans, who re- sented these newcomers, especially if they were of Greek or Oriental origin. Many languages were heard on the streets, as well as every shade of Latin—the cultured language of the educated gentleman—the accents of different provinces, the careless speech of the ignorant.
Corinthian columns in the Forum of Julius Caesar
A Roman in a toga
The Curia, or Senate-House, today
SHOPS
On the ground floor of many buildings small shops lined the streets. These were wide open above the counters during the business day, but closed at night and during the daily siesta. Wares from all the known world were shown in Rome, some cheap, some rare and expensive.
Many articles were made by a crafts- man in a little shop where he worked and sold his goods, and where sometimes he lived. Markets supplied foods, which were often brought into the city before daylight in farm carts—as they still are in italy. Some shops served hot food to be eaten where the customer stood or to be carried home. People wandered along the shopping streets, inspecting or buying.
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AQUEDUCTS
Great aqueducts brought water from the mountains. There were many foun- tains, large or small, along the streets, from which the poor carried water for household use. Women filled their jars, set them on their heads and stepped gracefully away—as one sometimes sees them still doing in Italian towns. Rich men had water piped into their houses.
GOVERNMENT
Down in the Forum from early morning until noon, courts were in session and the Senate met. Court decisions and votes in the Senate often affected the lives of peo- ple far away—and in time perhaps even our own history. Unless the press of business was so heavy that afternoon sessions were necessary, courts and Sen- ate adjourned for lunch, which was usu- ally followed by rest, exercise, and bath.
A shop where cloth was sold
30
EARLY RISING
But before business in the Forum began, the city was awake. Even before daylight, boys were on their way to school, often escorted by elderly slaves. Outside the houses of’ the rich and ‘powerful, clients were waiting for the doors to open. A gentleman of the upper class—the man of whom we read most. often in Roman literature—began his day before sunrise. After a simple breakfast he worked at home on his private affairs, looking over accounts, consulting with his managers, giving directions, and dictating letters to a secretary.
Cicero and Pliny found these early hours best for their literary work. Horace tells of lawyers giving free advice at three in the morning. When his private busi- ness was finished, the master of the house
This mosaic floor shows the labors of Hercules
took his place in the atrium—the great reception room of the house—and the doors were opened for salutatio (the calling hour). Waiting clients were admitted and paid their respects, or asked for the help and advice that it was the master’s duty to give.
All this business of the early morning might be set aside if the gentleman was invited to a wedding, to the naming of a child, or to the coming of age of a friend's son. Such functions took place early in the day. But in any case the Roman later went down to the Forum. Whether he walked or was carried in a litter, he was attended by his clients. At his elbow was his nomenclator (slave who whispered the names of those who spoke to him), since politeness required a person of lower rank to speak first, without waiting for recognition.
BUSINESS
Business in the courts and the Senate began about the third hour of the day— about nine o'clock, as we reckon time— and might go on until the ninth or tenth hour.
Except on extraordinary occasions, a Roman citizen’s morning business was over by eleven, the usual time for lunch. Then came the midday rest, which lasted
31
In this decoration above the right entrance of the Arch of Constantine, the medallions show the emperor hunting and offering sacrifice, while the panel portrays a court
for an hour or more, and was so general that streets were not merely quiet but as deserted as at midnight. One Roman writer chose this period as the proper time for a ghost story.
If necessary, business was taken up again in the afternoon, and might con- tinue until three or four o'clock. Since there was no adequate lighting in public places, sessions of the Senate had to be concluded before dark.
32
ENTERTAINMENTS
On public holidays—as many as 132 days a year in the time of Augustus— there were no sessions of the court nor meetings of the Senate. Time usually given to business might be spent at the theater, the circus, or the games. Some Romans of the upper classes avoided these shows unless they were officially connected with them, and used the time to get away to their country places.
RELAXATION
On ordinary days in the city, after the siesta, a Roman was ready for his daily visit to one of the public bathing estab- lishments, or for exercise on the Campus Martius and a swim in the Tiber. In the great public baths there was space to rest, or to stroll about, meeting friends, hearing the news, consulting business as- sociates, or talking over any of the matters that men now discuss at their clubs.
Token entitling the holder to a loaf of bread
Ze py,
yn oy, iggy iy
Augustus
After this, in the middle of the after- noon, came dinner at home or at the house of a friend. This was followed by conversation or entertainment in the din- ing room until the guests left for home and bed. In the country this program was not greatly changed, and a Roman took with him to the provinces, so far as he could, the customs of his life in Rome.
POOR ROMANS
Much depended on a man’s social position and business, the routine varying with individuals, the time of year, and
33
the day. The poor, whether idle or in- dustrious, have’left no records in litera- ture of their business or personal affairs. Our knowledge of their working places, homes, and tools is based on what archae- ologists have found and the representa- tions in sculpture, mosaic, or fresco of workers at some trades.
The homes of poor people were un- heated, badly lighted tenements, with- out water on the upper floors, jerry-built, scantily furnished, and unsanitary. Poor men, too, used the early hours, rested at midday, and saw the same public shows that the great and wealthy enjoyed.
Statuettes of comic actors
Procession of girls
THE ROMAN WAY OF LIFE
View on the Palatine
Altar on the Palatine to an “unknown god,” dating from about 100 B.c.—copy of a much earlier one
THE EARLY ROMANS
Farmers and shepherds, the Romans believed, had settled on the Palatine Hill in prehistoric times. There they built huts, and thus founded the city of Rome. They were plain and hard-working people, but their sense of law and order, the soli- darity of their family life, their belief in the gods that they worshiped with simple and regular rites, their readiness to unite against their enemies, were qualities that they handed down to make the strength of Rome. They left no written records, but for a long time their way of life was the Roman way.
Legend tells us that seven kings in succession first ruled Rome, which was founded in 753 B.c. by Romulus—the earliest of them. It was the custom of the king to call together, for advice and con- sultation, the heads of families—the fathers (patres). This assembly of older citizens (senes, old men) was named the senate. The members of families of patres
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Denarius of Octavian, showing a curule chair
—patricians—made up the greater part of the citizen body. They were the Roman people—populus Romanus.
When the monarchy ended—tradition- ally with the expulsion of the last king— the government became a republic, with annually elected officers. The senate was then made up of descendants of patri- cian families, men who had held the high governmental offices entitling them to the famous curule chair. They were called nobiles (nobles). Thus the nobility and the senatorial families were practically the same.
When the Republic was established, patricians were the only citizens with full rights, but there was a constantly increasing body of freeborn men who were not full citizens because they were not of patrician descent. As these com- moners—plebeians—became more nu- merous, more prosperous, and more in- sistent on their rights, they were slowly and reluctantly granted full citizenship. After they finally achieved public office,
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they identified their interests with those of the patricians, and thus kept the Roman Republic conservative.
CLASS DIVISIONS IN ROMAN SOCIETY
Under the Republic Romans were di- vided into three great classes—nobles, knights, and commons. The noblemen formed a kind of political aristocracy. The knights (equites) were the businessmen of Rome—bankers, financiers, speculators. In early days citizens of their rank—the equestrian order—were men who could afford the equipment needed to serve in the cavalry. For a long time no hard and fast line was drawn between nobles and knights. A Roman nobleman might class himself with the knights if he had the four hundred thousand sesterces (about $20,000) required for this rank.
After the plebeians had won the political rights once held only by patricians, any freeborn citizen might become a candidate for high office. However, Emperor Augus- tus (27 B.c—a.D. 14), by limiting eligibil- ity for curule offices to men whose an- cestors had held such positions, formed a hereditary nobility, to which each succeeding emperor made additions. The lists of knights were also revised by the emperor, who thus controlled admission to the equestrian order.
OCCUPATIONS AND CAREERS OF NOBLES
From the old patricians, Roman nobles inherited certain aristocratic standards of conduct, which limited their business activities.
Men of the noble class were believed to be above any kind of work for the sake of gain, but agriculture was always con- sidered an honorable occupation, even for senators, as were certain industries
for which the raw material came from the land—quarrying, brickmaking, and the like.
It was in the government and the army that noblemen found their careers, but even there they served without pay. This was well enough in early times when every Roman citizen was a farmer whose small fields yielded enough for his simple wants, and who left his farm only to serve his country—as did the famous dic- tator Cincinnatus when he was called from his plowing to head the State in an emergency (458 B.C.).
NOBLEMEN IN AGRICULTURE
After the nobles grew wealthy from the spoils of foreign conquests, they were no longer content to cultivate a few acres and live simply. Instead, they acquired land until they owned great estates. The devastations of war and competition with slave labor caused many independent farmers to lose their small farms, which came into the possession of rich men. Many noblemen also acquired estates in the provinces; the revenues from these helped them live in luxury at Rome.
The traditional farm life that Cicero described and praised in Cato Major, his “Essay on Old Age” (44 B.c.), would hardly have been recognized by Cato himself, though even in his time (235— 149 B.c.) few farmers were working their own land. Aims and methods of farming had wholly changed. Grain—once an im- portant crop—could be imported by sea more cheaply than it could be grown at home. The rich landowner’s income came from his cattle and sheep, his vineyards and olive groves—sources of the profit- able commodities wine and oil. Sallust (84-34 B.c.) and Horace (65-8 B.c.) com- plained that land for crops was lost by the extension of great private parks.
Model of a ship that carried grain from Rome to Britain
POLITICS AS A CAREER
Aedile giving the signal for a chariot race to begin
During the Republic politics must have been profitable only for those who played the game to the end. This meant holding in succession the offices of quaestor, aedile or tribune, praetor, and consul. Quaestors were attached to the treasury; some served in Rome and some in Italy; one quaestor was sent out with each general or provincial governor as treasurer or paymaster.
The aediles supervised markets, food supplies, streets, and public buildings in Rome, and had charge of some great
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public spectacles. Tribunes were the rep- resentatives of the plebeians. Praetors were judges, and two consuls headed the government. After a term of office at Rome each praetor and consul was sent for at least a year to govern one of the provinces.
Each office was held for one year, and the minimum age for candidates was fixed by law. No salary was attached to any public office, and the indirect profits from a lower office would hardly pay campaign expenses for the next higher. Candidates often spent great amounts of money on public entertainments, in order to win popularity and votes. Even after the right to vote was taken from the com- mon people in the time of the Empire, such expenditure continued to be a heavy obligation.
C. Julius Caesar, consul in 59 B.C.
The political influence of noblemen and senatorial families was so strong that it was difficult for an outsider (novus homo) to be elected to office. Since there were no organized political parties to nominate a man and work for his election, a Roman candidate had to present himself to the voters and conduct his own campaign. Cicero was proud because, without power- ful family backing, he was elected to the highest offices.
PROFITS FROM POLITICS
Profits came from positions in the prov- inces, where honest men might find good investments. A community might ask an honest official to become its patron and look after its interests at Rome. For this help valuable presents were often given. Cicero's justice and moderation as quaes- tor in Sicily were rewarded when the Sicilians made it possible for him, as aedile, in charge of the grain supply at Rome, to import their grain at low prices.
On the other hand, the provinces were gold mines for corrupt officials. Every kind of graft, robbery, and extortion was practiced, and a governor was expected to enrich not only himself but also his staff. The poet Catullus complained bit- terly of the selfishness of Memmius, who prevented his staff from plundering the poor province of Bithynia. The most no- torious profiteer was Verres, governor of Sicily, who cruelly looted that province of its treasures. This story is told in detail in Cicero's orations against Verres. Unlike many corrupt governors, Verres paid the penalty for his crimes; he was prosecuted and went into exile. Although the em- perors did much to reform provincial administration, the salaries paid the gov- ernors did not always save the provincials from official extortion.
LAW AS A CAREER
os
In Roman times, just as today, the practice of law often led to a successful political career. For men like Cicero, with no family influence, the law was the only way to political advancement. There were no requirements for practicing in the courts. There were no public prosecutors and a Roman could bring suit against an- other on any charge. Sometimes a young politician brought a suit solely for pub- licity, even though there were no grounds for the charges.
Lawyers were forbidden by statute to accept fees. In early times a dependent went to his patron for legal advice and protection, which the patron was obli- gated to give. In theory lawyers of later times were at the service of all who sought their advice. Men of high character made it a point of honor to give their legal knowledge freely to fellow citizens, but
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grateful clients could not be prevented from making valuable presents, and gen- erous legacies were often left to successful lawyers.
Cicero had no other way of adding to his private income, so far as we know, although he states that he observed the law about taking fees. Yet he owned a house at Rome on the Palatine Hill, a wealthy quarter in his time, as well as eight country places. Although never con- sidered a rich man, he lived well and spent money freely on books and works of art.
How easily and to what extent the laws against fee-taking were evaded is shown by the fact that the Emperor Claudius (A.D. 41-54) limited the amounts that might be asked. Judges as well as lawyers were of course subject to corruption, but Latin writers say more about bribing of juries. With the profits from a province before him, a praetor did not need to stoop to taking bribes.
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THE ARMY AS A CAREER
Military commands and office-holding were closely connected. A young man of good family might begin his public career by serving on the staff of some general. After returning to Rome, at the proper age (thirty in Cicero’s time) he could run for the quaestorship. He might thus in- crease his military experience, since a quaestor was sent out with each general. As such, he might serve as treasurer and paymaster in the army. Later, as governor of a province, he would be in command of troops stationed there and might often be called on to defend boundaries or quell uprisings. He might even engage in wars of conquest.
There were a number of legitimate ways, according to the usage of the times, in which a profit might be made in the army—plunder from cities taken, ran- soms from cities spared, and returns from the sale of thousands of captives.
THE ARMY AS A GOLD MINE
In theory the spoils of war went to the treasury in Rome, but in fact they first passed through the hands of the com- manding general—who too often kept what he pleased for himself, his staff, and his soldiers and then sent the rest to Rome. Entirely illegitimate were profits made in furnishing supplies to the army at outrageous prices or in diverting sup- plies to private use. Cicero praised Pom- pey for his honesty in such matters. Reconstruction of conquered territory frequently brought rich returns; probably the Haedui paid Caesar a large sum for securing their supremacy in central Gaul after he had defeated the Helvetians.
The civil wars (87-82 B.c.) that cost the best blood of Italy made the victors im- mensely rich. Besides looting the State
treasury, the conquerors confiscated the estates of their opponents and sold them to the highest bidder. Nominally, the pro- ceeds went to the treasury, but the amounts actually sent there were small in comparison with the personal profits to the victors.
While Sulla was dictator in Rome (82-— 79 B.c.), names of friends and foes alike were put on the proscription lists. Only the most powerful influence could save the lives and fortunes of proscribed per- sons. Because no one dared bid against a favorite of the dictator, a freedman of Sulla bought the estate of Roscius of Ameria, valued at three hundred thou- sand dollars, for one hundred dollars.
Settling demobilized soldiers on grants of land made good business for the com- missioners who directed the distribution of land taken from the enemy. The grants were of farm land, and bribes came both from soldiers and from the former owners of the land.
KNIGHTS AND THEIR CAREERS
Long before the time of Cicero the name eques (knight) had lost its original mili- tary significance, and Romans of the equestrian order had become capitalists. They found in business the excitement and profits that nobles found in politics and war. From early times their corpora- tions financed and carried on great public works, bidding for contracts let by gov- ernment officials. Under the Empire cer- tain important administrative positions were opened to knights, many of whom made a regular career of office-holding. But on the whole the equestrian order remained the class engaged in “‘big busi- ness.’ The immense scale of their opera- tions relieved them from the reproach of working for money. x
Though big business never had the
power at Rome that has sometimes been attributed to it; still, in the later years of the Republic, knights, as a class, had considerable political influence. They held the balance of power between the senatorial and popular parties. Generally they used this power only to get legisla- tion favorable to them as a class and to secure as provincial governors men that would not examine too closely their transactions in the provinces. Knights, as well as noblemen, found in the provinces a source of wealth. Their chief business there was collecting revenues on a con- tract basis. For this purpose corporations were formed, which paid into the public treasury a lump sum fixed by the senate. This sum was collected—and profits were made—by squeezing money from the un- happy provincials. So hateful was the sys- tem that the very word publicanus (tax collector) became a synonym for “‘sinner.”
Knights also financed provinces and allied states, advancing money to meet various expenses. Sulla once levied a con- tribution of twenty thousand talents
Treasury, center of Rome's financial activities
4]
(about $20,000,000) in Asia. The money was advanced by a corporation of Roman capitalists, who collected the amount six times over. Then Sulla intervened, lest there should be nothing left for him in case of future need. More than one pre- tender was set on a puppet throne in the East to secure the payment of heavy loans made him by Roman capitalists.
As individuals, knights also carried on extensive and profitable operations. Grain in the provinces, wool, ores, and manu- factured articles could be moved only with the money they advanced. They also engaged in commercial enterprises abroad, from which they were barred at home, buying and selling as well as advancing money to individuals. The usual rate of interest was 12 per cent, but often this rate was exceeded. When Cicero went to Cilicia as governor in 51 p.c., Marcus Brutus was lending money in the province at 48 per cent and trying to collect com- pound interest on it. Brutus expected the governor to enforce payment of loans made at this high rate of interest.
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COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Roman commerce covered all known lands and seas, although Italy itself had little export trade. Pliny the Elder (a.p. 23-79) states that trade with India and China took from Rome more than five million dollars yearly. The West—Gaul, Spain, and Britain—sent more raw mate- rials to Italy than did the East, but fewer finished articles.
Few traces of a factory system can be discovered, although something of the sort seems to have been developed in iron at Puteoli, in fine copper and bronze work and perhaps also in silverware and glass at Capua, in pottery at Arretium, and in brick and tile at Rome. Spinning and weaving were probably done at home by women who sent their work to dealers —perhaps fullers, since cloth went to them for finishing.
Wholesale business was largely in the hands of capitalists, while retail business
Pottery bowl
Silver dish
was carried on by freedmen and foreigners. Furnishing food for Rome employed thou- sands, but as a rule, suppliers seem to have dealt directly with retailers, and there were few middlemen.
Bankers united money-changing with money-lending. Money-changing was necessary in a city to which came coins from all parts of the world. Although money-lending was not considered a re- spectable occupation for a Roman, it could be carried on discreetly in the name of a freedman. Bankers took deposits, paid interest, and made payments on written orders. They helped clients with invest- ments and through their foreign connec- tions supplied travelers with what we call letters of credit.
Building was done on an immense scale and at great cost. Public buildings and many private buildings were erected by contract. Those standing now, and ruins, too, show that though letting contracts for public buildings was profitable for the
Over such a banker's counter passed coins from all parts of the Empire
officials in charge, the construction was well done. Crassus (112—53 B.c.) did an unusual sort of salvage business. When- ever he heard that a building seemed certain to be destroyed by fire, he himself, or an agent, rushed there and bought the property from the lamenting owner— naturally at a low price. Then gangs of trained slaves fought the flames and saved the building. Afterwards, other slaves, acting as architects and builders, repaired the damage.
THE COMMON PEOPLE
Freeborn citizens of Rome below the nobles and the knights may be roughly divided into two classes, soldiers and very poor men. In addition to idle, worth- less men drawn to Rome by the dole of free grain and the excitement of city life, many thrifty, industrious citizens were forced into cities by war and failure to find employment elsewhere. The civil wars drove many small landowners away from their farms or unfitted them in various ways for the labors of farming. Pride of race or the competition of slave labor closed other occupations to them. No close estimate of the number of the dis- placed and unemployed men can be given, but before Caesar's time it is known to have been more than 300,000.
The unemployed were occasionally helped by being moved to newly estab- lished colonies on the frontiers. During his short administration of affairs at Rome (48-44 B.c.), Caesar gave as many as 80,000 men this opportunity of making a living. But only those with some pride and ambition were willing to emigrate, so that the undesirable element was left behind.
Aside from beggary and petty crimes, the only wav such idle men could get money was by selling their votes. This
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made them a real menace in the days of the Republic, but under the Empire their political influence was lost. In addition to a regular dole of food, the government found it necessary to distribute money occasionally to relieve want. Some poor men played client to the upstart rich, but most were content to be fed by the State and amused by free shows and games.
COMMON MEN IN THE ARMY
About 104 s.c. Marius reorganized the army, doing away with the property quali- fication for a soldier. From that time on, the most enterprising young men of the common people turned to the army. They enlisted for a term of twenty years at stated pay, and received certain privileges after an honorable discharge. In the rare times of peace they were employed on public works. The pay was small, perhaps forty or fifty dollars a year in Caesar's time, about as much as a laborer could earn by heavy work. But a soldier had, in- stead of the stigma of humble labor, the exciting prospect of war, as well as hope of presents from his general and loot from plunder.
Many inscriptions have been found describing the life and service of individ- ual soldiers and listing promotions and decorations. After he finished his service, a soldier might, if he chose, return home, but many veterans formed connections where they were stationed and lived there on free grants from the government. These settlers helped greatly in spreading Ro- man civilization and the use of Latin.
FREEDMEN
The practice of manumission of slaves greatly increased the number of free work- men, while the prospect of freedom made slaves ambitious and industrious. In some
a4
respects the effects on society were good. On the other hand, since slaves came from all parts of the world, a constantly in- creasing cosmopolitan population was added to the native citizen body, which had been impoverished and weakened by the civil wars. The Greeks and Orientals were clever and industrious, easily adapt- ing themselves to slavery and also to free- dom. This large infiltration from the East changed the character of the free popula- tion for the worse, since these new citizens did not have the political traditions of the native Italians and neither understood nor cared to understand Roman institutions.
By the end of the Republic the practice of manumission had grown general enough to cause alarm, and Augustus limited it by legislation. Freedmen filled many trades and professions, especially those despised by freeborn Romans. Some were highly trained and educated, while others were masters of a craft or trade learned in slav- ery. Many became wealthy and were generous and useful citizens. Freedmen attained their greatest wealth and power as Officials in the imperial household in the first century A.D., when they held im- portant administrative offices that were transferred later to the knights. But neither a freedman nor his son could attain true social equality with freeborn citizens.
A self-made man who was also vulgar and ostentatious was a favorite target of satirists. Petronius, who died in Nero's reign (A.D. 54-68), has left in’ Trimalchio’s Dinner” a brilliant sketch of a wealthy and vulgar freedman.
SMALL TRADESMEN
From excavations at Pompeii we have some idea of the shops of the time and the business of small tradesmen. These little stores were usually the street-side rooms
of private residences; ordinarily they had no connection with the house itself. Often such a shop was just a small room with a counter across the front, closed with heavy shutters at night but open to the street in the daytime. A shopkeeper often slept in the room where he worked.
Some houses (e.g., the House of Pansa) had shops of several rooms. The bakery had six rooms, four of which opened on the street. In one of them were found several mills for grinding grain. In some cases a stairway led to a room or two on the floor above, where the shopkeeper's family lived.
Goods sold over the counter might be made directly behind it. There the shoe- maker had his bench and case of lasts, and made, sold, and repaired shoes. In some shops there were masonry counters with holes where hot food was kept for sale. In one Pompeian shop change was found scattered on the counter, where it had been dropped as the terrified custom- er and shopkeeper fled when Vesuvius erupted. Locksmiths, goldsmiths, and other craftsmen had their own tools and sold their own goods. There were also shops where men sold goods made else- where on a larger scale—red-glazed pot- tery from Arretium, ironwork from Puteoli, and copper and bronze utensils from Capua.
Shoppers drifted along the streets from counter to counter, buying, bargaining, or “just looking.” The poet Martial (first century A.D.) describes a dandy going from one shop to another in the fashion- able shopping district of Rome. He de- mands that the covers be taken off ex- pensive table tops and that their ivory legs be submitted to his inspection; he criticizes objects of art and has some laid aside ; leaving at last for luncheon, he buys two cups for a penny and carries them home himself!
Festival of a guild of boys
ROMAN GUILDS
In very early times, guilds of various trades were organized at Rome for per- fecting and handing down the technique of their crafts. Most of what we know about the guilds comes from inscriptions of the imperial age. Roman guilds differed from both medieval guilds and modern trade unions; there was no system of apprenticeship and members did not use their organization to demand _ higher wages or better working conditions. Com- petition with slave labor made strikes useless. Workmen were not compelled to join the guilds, and there were no patents or special privileges in the way of work.
Eight of the ancient guilds—tanners, cobblers, carpenters, goldsmiths, copper- smiths, potters, dyers, and, oddly enough, flutists—traced their organization to Numa, second king of Rome. The shops of workmen in the same craft seem to have been located in the same neighbor- hood, just as in our cities similar businesses
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are sometimes grouped together. Cicero speaks of the street of the scythemakers. As knowledge of the arts advanced and as labor was further divided, other guilds were formed. For example, the ancient guild of shoemakers was supplemented by other guilds, each concerned with a special kind of shoe.
In the later Republic the use of the guilds by unscrupulous politicians for political purposes led to the suppression of most of them, and from that time the formation of new ones was carefully limited. There seems to have been no re- striction on the formation of burial soci- eties, also called guilds. Even when not so organized, a guild often maintained its own common burial ground.
SOCIAL LIFE IN GUILDS
Guilds provided workingmen with some opportunity for social life, since they gave freedmen—and occasionally slaves—the right to hold office and manage affairs,
Magistrates in a procession
for they had their magistrates and coun- cilmen, in addition to the regular body of members known as plebs. When there was a distribution of money, members shared in proportion to their rank in the guild.
Each guild had one or more patrons, chosen for wealth and reputation for gen- erosity, and its own patron deity and religious rites. Members had a regular time and place for business and social meetings; and if they were prosperous, or had a generous patron, they might own their own hall. Treasuries were kept up
by initiation fees, dues, and fines. On im- portant holidays guild members proudly marched in processions with banners flying.
GOVERNMENT OFFICE WORKERS
Employees in the offices of various magistrates were mostly freedmen. They were paid by the State, and though ap- pointed nominally for one year, appar- ently held their jobs during good behavior. They owed their long tenure largely to the fact that regular magistrates served short
terms and were rarely reelected. Magis- trates who had no experience in con- ducting their offices needed trained and experienced assistants.
The highest ranking men in civil service were the scribae, whose name gives no idea of the extent and importance of their duties. Work now done by cabinet officers, secretaries, department heads, bureau chiefs, auditors, comptrollers, recorders, accountants, private secretaries, and stenographers was done by scribae. The poet Horace is said to have taken a posi- tion as scriba in the treasury department when he returned to Rome after the Battle of Philippi (42 B.c.). These positions were always in great demand. Below them were others almost as necessary but not equally respected, including those of lictors and messengers. Civil servants were given spe- cial places at theaters and circuses.
PROFESSIONS AND TRADES
In the last years of the Republic, pro- fessions and trades—between which no distinction was made—were largely given over to freedmen and foreigners.
Architecture was considered respect- able, and Cicero put it on a level with medicine. But some occupations were thought undignified; undertakers and auctioneers were disqualified for office by Caesar. Teachers were poorly paid and usually regarded with contempt. Em- peror Vespasian (A.D. 69-79) was the first to endow professorships in liberal arts.
Letter-writing was carried on as a busi- ness by men who collected news and gossip of the city and had copies made by slaves. Persons away from the city who were not receiving personal letters from Rome and were able and willing to pay for this service subscribed to these newsletters. In a way, these ietters were the forerunners of newspapers.
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PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS
For a long period the treatment of the sick, apart from religious rites to gods of health or disease, must have been limited to household remedies and charms such as Cato describes in his work on farming.
Oculist’s stamp
Physician examining a patient
PES as oS
Many of the Romans’ surgical instruments were similar to modern ones
Surgery seems to have developed in early times in connection with the treatment of soldiers’ wounds.
Physicians and surgeons were some- times slaves; more often, freedmen or foreigners, especially Greeks. The first foreign surgeon in Rome was a Greek (219 B.c.). Eventually Caesar gave citi- zenship to Greek physicians who settled in Rome, while Augustus granted them certain privileges. Numerous medical terms in use today bear witness to the Greek influence in the history of medicine.
In knowledge and skill, both in medi- cine and surgery, practitioners at Rome were not far behind those of only two centuries ago. We can judge their medi- cal and surgical methods from such books
as those of Celsus, a Roman who wrote in the first century of our era, and Galen, the great Greek physician, who came to Rome about A.D. 164. Surgical instruments found at Pompeii are easily identified.
Galen wrote that by his time’ surgery and medicine had been carefully distin- guished from each other. There were also oculists, dentists, and other specialists, and occasionally women physicians. In the second century A.D., many cities had salaried medical officers for the treatment of the poor and provided rooms for their offices. By the time of Emperor Trajan (A.D. 98-117), doctors were regularly at- tached to the legions.
There were no medical schools, but physicians took pupils, who accompanied them on their rounds. The poet Martial
complains of the many cold hands that felt his pulse:when a doctor called with his train of pupils.
During the imperial period, physicians in attendance at great houses seem to have been well paid, judging by the es- tates of those attached to the court. Two doctors left a joint estate of a million dollars, while another received from Emperor Claudius a yearly salary of
$25,000.
LIFE OF FREE WORKMEN
In spite of a continual increase in slave labor, there continued to be free work- men—some of them freed slaves—who worked at many trades and at heavy labor in cities and even on farms. Writers tell us little about these workmen, but inscriptions, especially those dealing with the guilds, give some information. Free
Carpenters tools—hammer, square, triangle, plummets, and saws
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workmen were not always as well off as some slaves or freedmen, for they had to depend on their own efforts to find work without any patron to help them.
The wages of independent workmen cannot have been high, but free distribu- tion of grain helped to lower living ex- penses, and vegetables, fruit, and cheese were cheap. Workmen could seldom afford meat, but probably they managed to buy some cheap wine, which they mixed with water. If a man was married, his wife might increase the family income by spinning or weaving. Workers lived in cheap tenements, and in the mild climate there was no fuel problem. They wore coarse woolen tunics and wooden shoes or sandals. Games gave them free amuse- ment on holidays, and public baths were cheap and often free. The guilds afforded social life, and membership in a guild or burial society guaranteed decent burial.
Pont du Gard, a Roman aqueduct which for centuries brought water to Nimes, France
LIFE IN ROMAN TOWNS
ROMAN TOWNS
In the countries bordering on the Mediterranean and in England there are many towns and cities that were once Roman. In some of them signs of Roman life remain—ruined temples, amphithe- aters, baths, aqueducts, or perhaps ancient structures still in use, as the amphitheater at Arles, France, and the famous Pantheon in Rome. Such evi- dences of the past are still being found. In 1954 workmen digging in London un- covered the foundations of a second- century Roman temple on the site of a bombed office building. Archaeologists found that the temple was dedicated to Mithras, god of light, whom many— especially soldiers—worshiped.
When Rome ruled the western world, all these Roman towns and cities were full of bustling activity. People were occupied with family and business con- cerns, just as we are. Citizens were also busy with civic affairs, for most towns in Italy and the provinces were self- governing and had charters of their own, some of which have been found.
TOWN OFFICIALS
Magistrates were elected by popular vote. There was no party system, but election notices painted on walls at Pompeii show that all classes took a lively interest in elections. The spirit of municipalities was not democratic; classes were divided by clearly drawn lines. Candidates for office had to be eligible for membership in the town council (for which there was a property qualification), of good reputation, and not engaged in any disreputable business.
An official received no salary. Each magistrate was expected to pay a fee on election and to make substantial gifts for
1
Fire burned behind this image of Mithras, to show that he was god of light
Election notice on a wall in Pompeii
oy)
the benefit of the citizens and the beau- tifying of the town. These gifts were usually commemorated by inscriptions, many of which have been preserved. During his year of office each city official, like the great magistrates at Rome, wore a purple-bordered toga, sat in a curule chair with its purple cushion, was at- tended by lictors, and had a special seat at all public shows,
Tombstone of centurion stationed in Britain; the vine stick shows his rank
TOWN COUNCILS
A curia (town council) usually con- sisted of one hundred members (decuri- ones), including ex-magistrates. These men had to be at least twenty-five years old, freeborn, and owners of a stipulated amount of property. They were entitled to the best seats at the games; and at any public distribution of money, they re- ceived a larger share than common people. They also seem to have used city water free of charge. On admission to the curia each member probably paid a fee and made a generous gift to the city.
KNIGHTS
Members of the equestrian order made up the aristocracy of the towns, as the nobles composed the upper class at Rome. Conspicuous among them were former army officers—occasionally tribunes, but more often centurions, who were some- times retired with equestrian rank, espe- cially chief centurions of the legions. Al- though some soldiers settled in the provinces where they had served, others came back from the army and became important citizens in their home towns (patriae). Inscriptions survive which give the war records of retired officers, and show their benefactions to towns,
AUGUSTALES
Below the equites and apart from them were rated the wealthy freedmen. Though they were ineligible for office or council, a special distinction and an opportunity for service was given them under the Ikmpire as members of the Augustales, a college of priests in charge of the worship of Augustus and succeeding emperors. Annually the decurions selected a board of six (seviri) to act for that year. At the
Air view of Arles, where a Roman theater and amphitheater
ceremonies of which they took charge, the Augustales were entitled to wear bordered togas and knights’ gold rings. These priests paid a fee on election and provided the required sacrifices. Many inscriptions show that they proudly rivaled the decurions in gifts to the community.
PLEBS AND POOR FREEDMEN
Below these classes were the plebs— citizens who were not entitled to serve in the council—and still lower were the poor freedmen. These were the men who kept small shops or worked in them; they be- longed to the many guilds of which we find traces at Pompeii. Although these people worked hard and ate plain food, their lives were not all drudgery. The
are still in use
magistrates usually saw to it that bread and oil, the two great necessities of life, were abundant and cheap, and that there were free shows in amphitheater and theater, and occasionally free public banquets. Even small towns had their public baths, where fees, always low, were sometimes remitted through the gener- osity of a wealthy citizen.
PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND PRIVATE BENEFACTORS
In the construction of baths, theaters, amphitheaters, forums, streets, bridges, aqueducts, arches, and statues, many towns were modeled on Rome. Though the architecture of private houses varied with the region, public buildings and public works throughout the Empire
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were distinctively Roman. Striking ex- amples are found in Africa, where in the imperial age the Romans maintained thriving towns in regions that are now deserts of drifting sand.
Strong civic pride and rivalry with neighboring towns often caused the con- struction of handsome buildings and public works. It has been said that never in the world were there so many impres- sive towns as in the Roman Empire dur- ing the third century of our era. Yet municipal taxation was not heavy, and revenues from lands and other city property could not possibly pay for all these magnificent works and buildings. Much was expected from the generosity of the official class; much was received. Others, too—women as well as men— gave liberally. Inscriptions regularly com- memorated these gifts. Sometimes in appreciation of his generosity, the curia voted a citizen a statue of honor—and frequently the honored man paid for the statue, too!
The amphitheater at Pompeii was donated by two men who had held high office in the city, and an amphitheater and a temple at Casinum were given by a lively and distinguished old lady, Um- midia Quadratilla. Among the gifts of Pliny the Younger to his native town of Comum was a library, with funds for its maintenance. The dedication of such a building was often celebrated by the giver himself with a banquet for the community, in which the citizens shared according to rank.
SCHOOLS
Roman towns did not boast large and conspicuous school buildings such as we have. There were no school taxes, and until a very late period, education usually remained a private matter. Wealthy
citizens occasionally made endowments for educational purposes, but there were not so many gifts for schools as for other charitable foundations.
With the spread of Roman influence elementary schools must have been started throughout Italy and the prov- inces. When Agricola was governor of Britain in the first century of our era, he found the establishment of schools a use- ful aid in strengthening the Roman hold on the conquered territory. There were more advanced schools in the larger towns and cities. At the beginning of the second century, Pliny the Younger tells of con- tributing generously to a fund for open- ing a school in his native town of Comum, so that boys might not have to go to Mediolanum (Milan). The arguments he uses for educating boys at home are much like those frequently advanced today for establishing junior colleges.
Some boys were sent to Rome, where naturally there were better schools and more famous teachers than country towns could afford. Horace’s father, though not a rich man, took his son from his native Venusia to Rome.
TOWN LIFE VERSUS CITY LIFE
At all times the man who was Roman- born looked down on country towns and people. Satirists contrasted the quiet simplicity of a town with the turmoil and vice of cosmopolitan Rome; but then, as now, many preferred the exciting life of a great city with all its drawbacks to the more comfortable, quiet living that their incomes might permit them to have in a town.
Property was cheaper and rents were lower in small towns. There one could live in a comfortable house on an income which would provide only a cramped lodging in a city apartment house (insula).
Tunic and sandals could be worn with propriety instead of the expensive toga and high shoes that etiquette demanded in Rome. The range of interests in a small town was narrower and often intensely local, but an active and generous citizen might find an outlet for his energies in civic activity and generosity which would never be open to him in Rome. That such outlets were welcome is shown by the keen competition for local honors until a late period of the Empire.
GREAT MEN OF THE TOWNS
Every town was proud of its own great men who had become important in the outside world. When a famous man came home, callers poured in to renew his ac- quaintance. Such a man might be chosen as their patron at Rome, to look after the interests of the town. Much generosity was expected from a patron. Pliny the Younger, who was chosen patron of the small town of Tifernum Tiberinum when he was a young man, later acknowledged
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the compliment by building a temple there. Of course he attended the dedica- tion and paid for the customary banquet. Cicero was patron of the Sabine town of Reate, and when consul in 63 B.c., he called on some of its young men to help arrest the Catilinarian conspirators at the Mulvian Bridge, just north of Rome. The Italian hill-town of Arpino still remem- bers with pride that Marius the general and Cicero the orator were both born there.
Though most of the great Latin writers came from the municipalities of Italy or the provinces, they tell us little about life in the country towns. Much of what we know has been learned from ruins and excavations of cities in Italy—especially Pompeii and Ostia—and others scattered throughout the Roman world. Most of these remains belonged to the imperial period. Besides streets and_ buildings, inscriptions are of great importance, for they tell us much about the lives and careers of citizens whom literature never mentions.
Citizens following o plowed furrow which marks the circumference of the town they will build
In this mosaic picture of a country estate in North Africa, farm work and hunting are shown, including birds being driven into a net
LIFE IN THE COUNTRY
Cart and oxen
AGRICULTURE
Farming was the chief industry of early Italy. One proof of its importance is the great number of rural festivals in the Roman calendar. At all times the leading interests of the Romans were agricultural rather than commercial. Agriculture was the proper occupation of the senatorial class. Writers of all periods looked back with pride to the days when a Roman citizen-farmer tilled his own land with the help of his sons and perhaps a slave or two, and when a dictator was summoned from the plow.
In addition to casual references in liter- ature, our sources of information about Roman farming include writings by the Elder Cato in the second century B.c., by Varro and Vergil at the beginning of our era, by Columella and Pliny the Elder in the first century A.D., and by Palladius in the fourth. Farm implements and activ- ities are shown in some works of art, and hundreds of metal parts of tools have been found in excavations in different parts of the Roman world.
GEOGRAPHIC AND CLIMATIC CONDITIONS
The geographic and climatic conditions of Italy made possible varied production. In the valley of the Po the soil was al- luvial—rich and deep. The volcanic ash forming the plain of Latium gave a sub- soil rich in potash and phosphate, though the surface soil was thin and easily exhausted. Once there had been great forests here, but cutting timber on the hills had caused erosion and rendered much land unproductive—a thing which has happened in this country, too.
Italy stretches from northwest to southeast, but its climate does not depend entirely on latitude. Its weather is mod-
Dip
ified by surrounding seas, mountain ranges, and prevailing winds. These agencies produce such widely different conditions that somewhere in Italy most grains and fruits of the temperate and subtropic zones find a favorable soil and climate.
AN IDEAL FARM
In discussing the purchase of an estate, Cato says that the ideal location was at the foot of a hill facing south. It was im- portant to choose a healthful locality with a plentiful supply of water, and soil that was rich but not too heavy. The land should not be entirely level, for that made drainage difficult. The farm should be in a prosperous neighborhood near a market town, and on a good road if not near ariver or the sea. A farm should have land and buildings in good condition. There should be a local supply of labor that could be hired for the harvest or other times of extra work. His choice was a farm of two hundred forty jugera,
Ancient iron rake and fork
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about one hundred fifty acres, suitable for diversified farming.
Pliny the Younger, discussing land that adjoined his, says, “The farms are pro- ductive, the soil rich, the water supply good; they include pastures, vineyards, and timberland that gives a small but regular return.”’ He speaks of the saving in equipment, supervision, and_ skilled service gained by concentration of hold- ings—a good indication of the rise of great estates as small-scale farming be- came less profitable. On the other hand, Pliny said that to own much land in one neighborhood was to be greatly exposed to the same climatic risks.
SMALL FARMS
Evidence of farm life before 200 B.c. comes chiefly from tradition. Early farms were little—some only two jugera (about an acre and an eighth). Such a holding seems too small to support a family unless the farmer also had rights in community land. Holdings of seven jugera (a little less than five acres) are frequently mentioned. Farms of that size were assigned to in- dividuals when allotments were made of
public lands in 393 B.c. A farm of seven jugera could be worked by the owner with a paid laborer or one or two slaves. Farmhouses were grouped together in villages, from which the men went to the fields each day—as is still done in Euro- pean countries. With hand labor and simple tools, Romans did intensive farm- ing—rather like gardening.
FEWER SMALL FARMS
Various conditions led to a gradual de- crease in the number of small farms and an increase of large estates. The devasta- tion of southern Italy by Hannibal in the Second Punic War (218-202 B.c.) ruined many farms, so that much land had to be abandoned. Loss of life in that war and others brought a great decrease in free labor. Rich men bought or leased large tracts of public land, and worked them with slave labor. Since a small farmer without capital could not do this, he found competition with rich landowners increasingly difficult.
When the importation of grain made wheat-growing in Italy no longer prof- itable, or when the surface soil in Latium
Farm animals with cart, and plow made from the forked branch of a tree
was exhausted, a poor man had to give up the struggle. A wealthy landowner could afford to plant his acres with vines or olives or turn large tracts into pasture, and wait for his investment to become profitable. However, in remote or hilly sections, small farms were worked at all periods.
THE FARM MANAGER
Great estates were operated by slaves under a vilicus, a manager who was him- self a slave. These slaves made up the familia rustica (country household—the term rustica implied that an estate was not the only home of its master). How- ever, free labor on farms did not entirely disappear, for we read that extra hands were hired at times. Tenant farmers are rarely mentioned during the Republic, but increased in number later. Horace had five tenants on part of his Sabine farm; the remaining acres he worked himself through his vilicus.
All work on a farm was supervised by the vilicus. He was proverbially a hard taskmaster because his hope of freedom depended on the amount of profit that he
Tenants bringing produce to the owner of the farm
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could turn over to his owner. His job was not simple, for he had to plan all the work of the estate and supervise the slaves who did it. A good manager kept his men busy; slaves were in turn plowmen and reapers, vinedressers and treaders of the grapes, perhaps even quarrymen and lumbermen, according to season and locality. Farming on a large estate required not only strong men who could do different kinds of hard labor but also many skilled craftsmen. If necessary, a small farmer might hire craftsmen from a richer neighbor.
A vilicus also handled the group that took care of the other slaves. Practically everything needed for a large estate was produced or manufactured on the place unless conditions made only specialized farming profitable. Enough grain to feed family and slaves was raised, ground, and made into bread. Wool was _ sheared, cleaned, carded, spun, and woven into cloth, which was made into clothes by women slaves under the eye of the man- ager’s wife (vilica).
Buildings were erected by slaves, and farm tools and implements were repaired or even made by them. Such labor re- quired the work of carpenters, smiths, and
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masons, though not necessarily highly skilled men. Among the implements were different kinds of hoes and rakes, spades and forks, mattocks, pruning knives, sickles, and scythes. There were carts and wagons and primitive harrows as well as plows. On farms where grapes and olives were grown, presses and storage jars were part of the permanent equipment.
DUTIES OF THE OWNER
Cato listed the duties of the owner of a large estate on his arrival there. After saluting his household gods, he was to go over the farm himself before calling in the manager to give his report. When he had discussed this and given further orders, he was to check the accounts and make plans for selling produce on hand and any superfluous stock. Pliny the Younger la- mented the amount of time he had to give to accounts and the affairs of his tenants, to the hindrance of his literary work.
An owner inspecting work on his estate
FARMER’S ALMANAC
An elementary knowledge of astronomy served farmers as a basis for their cal- endar. The beginning and ending of the seasons was fixed by the positions of stars or constellations and the rising and set- ting of certain stars indicated the seasons even to the day. This knowledge was especially important before 45 B.c., when Caesar reformed the calendar, which was eighty days ahead.
DRAINAGE AND FENCING
Farm land was carefully drained. In heavy soil open ditches were used; in light soil, covered drains. The latter were filled halfway with stones, gravel, or brush, and then with soil to the top. Open furrows were left across fields, so that water could run into the ditches. Careful drainage produced thriving farms in sec- tions that later fell into neglect and be-
One face of an altar on whose four sides an almanac was inscribed gives a list of farm duties and feasts for January, February, and March
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came marshes, where for centuries people could not live or work because of malaria. Now this marshland has been drained again and is productive and habitable, as it was in Roman times.
In North Africa careful conservation of water and the use of aqueducts, dams, and cisterns made land productive where now only ruins of Roman cities lie in sandy wastes. In recent years plans have been proposed to reclaim some of this land by restoring Roman reservoirs and methods there.
Four kinds of fencing were used: hedges; fences of pickets interlaced with brush or of posts pierced with holes for connecting rails; military fences of ditch and bank; walls of stone, brick, or concrete. Trees were often planted along roads, property lines, and fences—sometimes serving as windbreaks.
PLOWING AND MANURING
Cato said that the first and second rules of good farming were to plow well, and that the third was to fertilize well. Plows were small and light, straight or curved, made of iron or wood. (In parts of Italy where the surface soil is light and the ground stony, wooden plows are still used.) Heavy tilling was done with a straight plow. A field was turned over twice; the first time the plow was held straight in the furrow, the second time, at an angle. A modern plow does the same work in one operation. Oxen were used for cultivation, and one hundred twenty Roman feet—the length that a team of oxen were supposed to plow with- out resting—was a traditional measure of land. (A Roman foot was equivalent to 11.64 inches in our measure.)
Plowing was done in close furrows, which were then plowed crosswise. The ground was thus worked over until the
soil was almost as fine as dust. Harrowing to cover the seed was considered by the Romans evidence of poor plowing. Good plowing left no mark of the implement. Pliny the Younger gives an account of land that needed to be turned over nine times.
The Romans understood and practiced contour plowing, which is being slowly adopted in this country. In general. Ro- man farming methods were superior to those of our colonial ancestors and of even later farmers.
Farmyard manure was stored in piles, old and new separately. Ancient writers advised a farmer who did not keep stock to have a compost heap such as is now made for gardening, piling together leaves, weeds, straw, and the like, with ashes from the burning of hedge-clippings and other rubbish that does not decay readily. The Romans understood green manuring, and though without knowledge of nitro- gen-fixing bacteria, they knew how to enrich the soil by planting legumes and plowing them under while still green. Though they did not have litmus paper, they were able to test soil for sourness.
Plowman with oxen
FARMERS AS HUSBANDMEN
Roman farmers understood something of seed selection, and practiced rotation of crops. They followed wheat with rye, barley, or oats. The second or fourth year, beans or peas might be planted, some- times to be plowed under while green, or alfalfa might be sowed. Alfalfa was well established in Italy before the beginning of our era; according to Pliny the Elder, it was brought from Asia to Greece, and thence to Italy. Sometimes a field was left fallow the year before wheat was planted; then it was plowed in the spring and summer as well as in the fall. In other cases the land was left fallow every second or third year.
PARTS OF A FARM
Cato lists the different parts of a farm in order of their importance in his time. He puts vineyard first, then vegetable garden, willow copse, olive grove, mead- ow, grain fields, wood lot, orchard, and oak grove. That he lists grain fields sixth shows how much more important other crops had become. The transportation problem was a factor in decreasing the amount of grain raised. The difficulty and expense of moving grain overland by wagon made it cheaper to import food from the provinces by sea than to grow it at home.
RAISING WHEAT
Wheat sown in the fall matured in the spring or summer according to soil and rainfall. It was ordinarily harvested by hand. Sometimes reapers cut the stalks close to the ground, and after the sheaves were piled in shocks, cut off the heads for threshing. Sometimes the heads were cut first, and the standing straw later. There
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8 oe: ab 8 Ra gee The farm manager is at upper right; below, slaves drive horses and cattle to tread out grain ona threshing floor
was a simple form of header pushed by an ox, but it could be used only on level ground,
Threshing was done with a flail on the threshing floor—as for centuries after- wards—or the grain was trodden out by oxen, or beaten out by a simple machine. Grain was winnowed by being tossed in baskets or shovels, so that the breeze blew the chaff away. Such methods are still used in Italy on hilly land, where modern machinery is not practicable.
VINE-GROWING AND VINEYARDS
When grapes, which meant wine, and olives, which meant oil, became the most important products of the soil, vineyards and olive orchards were planted wherever conditions were suitable.
It is believed that grapevines were not native to Italy, but were introduced in
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very early times, probably from Greece. The first name for Italy known to the Greeks was Oenotria, which may mean Land of the Vine. Ancient legends ascribe to Numa, second of the kings, restrictions on the use of wine. Until the middle of the second century B.C., wine was probably rare and expensive. Although more and more wine was produced as the cultiva- tion of cereals declined and that of grapes increased, the quality long remained in- ferior to the fine wines imported from Greece and the East. By Cicero's time scientific attention was being given to viticulture and wine-making, and by the time of Augustus, Italian vintages could compete with the best imported wines. Pliny the Elder says that of the eighty really choice wines known to the Romans in his time, two thirds were produced in Italy. Italian wines became famous as far away as India.
The sunny side of a hill was the best place for a vineyard. Vines were supported by trellises or poles, or planted at the foot of trees to which they were trained, as they often are still in Italy. The elm was preferred, because it flourished every-
Boat loaded with casks of wine
where, could be closely trimmed without endangering its life, and furnished good fodder when its leaves were picked off to admit sunshine to the vines. Vergil speaks of ‘marrying the vine to the elm,”’ and Horace calls the plane tree a bachelor be- cause its dense foliage made it unfit for the vineyard. The chief labor of the vine- yard was keeping the ground well culti- vated; it was spaded once a month and plowed in the spring. Then, too, vines had to be carefully pruned. One man could care properly for about four acres.
WINE GRAPES GREW EVERYWHERE
Grapes could be grown almost any- where in Italy, but the best wines were made south of Rome in Latium and Cam- pania. The towns of Praeneste, Velitrae, and Formiae were famous for wines from grapes grown on the sunny slopes of the Alban hills. A little farther south, near Terracina, the Caecuban wine was made, which Augustus declared the noblest of all wines. In Campania the Ager Falernus on the southern slope of Mount Massicus produced Falernian wine, even more fa-
Cupids picking grapes
mous than the Caecuban. On the lower slopes of Vesuvius and in the surrounding country, especially near Naples, Pompeii, Cumae, and Sorrento, excellent wine grapes grew. Less noted wines were made in the extreme south and to the east and north of Rome. The wines of Etruria and Gaul were not so good as others.
WINE-MAKING
Usually grapes were gathered and wine made in September, but the season of harvest varied with soil and climate. On the nineteenth of August the vinalia
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rustica was celebrated—a festival prob- ably intended to ensure favorable weather for gathering grapes. After grapes were picked, they were carried to a vat, where they were trodden with men’s bare feet and then crushed in a press. The fresh juice (mustum) that came from the press was often drunk. It could be kept sweet from vintage to vintage if sealed in jars smeared inside and out with pitch and then immersed for several weeks in cold water, or buried in moist sand. Mustum was also preserved by boiling; sometimes it was reduced to a jelly, which was used as a basis for various beverages.
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A restored wine press in a villa outside Pompeii
Olive trees
Fermented wine (vinum) was made by storing the juice in huge jars (amphorae), each of which might hold a hundred gal- lons or more. These jars were lined with pitch. After being filled, they were left uncovered during the process of fermenta- tion, which usually lasted about nine days. They were then tightly sealed, and partially buried in the ground in cellars or vaults. They were opened only when the wine required attention or was to be removed. Spoiled wine was used as vinegar (acetum) or rationed to slaves.
Cheaper wines were served directly from the amphorae, but the finer kinds were drawn off after a year into smaller jars, clarified, and even “doctored” in various ways, and then stored away again. A favorite place for storing wine in the house was a room in the upper story, where it was aged by warm air rising through the house or even by smoke from the hearth. Often jars were marked with the name of the wine they contained, and dated by the names of the consuls for the year when they were filled.
OLIVE GROVES
The olive tree was also brought to Italy from Greece, and as in other Mediter- ranean countries, its fruit became, next to wheat, the chief staff of life. Many different varieties of olives were grown, according to the type of soil and climatic conditions. Although olive trees come slowly into production, they are extremely long-lived, and provide an income for many years.
Olives required much less care than grapevines, but had to be pruned, ma- nured, and cultivated. Budding, layering, and grafting were practiced to increase the number of trees. While the trees were growing, the ground between the rows could be used for other crops. (This is
still done in Italy, as it sometimes is in young orchards in this country.) Cato advised planting olive trees in a sunny location facing southwest, and cultivating and manuring them in the fall. Trees were pruned low, so that the fruit could be easily picked.
OLIVE OIL
Although olives were much eaten as a fruit, they were most important for their oil. Olive oil not only was an indispen- sable article of food but also served as fuel in lamps. It was used to rub the body after bathing—especially by athletes; and it was a base for perfumes.
Olives yielded two fluids when pressed. The first to flow (amurca) was dark, bitter, and unsuitable for food. The second, which required greater pressure, was oil (oleum olivum). The best quality was made from olives not fully ripe, but the largest quantity came from ripe fruit.
Olives used for oil were picked from the trees, for fruit that fell was considered of
A Roman merchant once stored oil in these jars
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lower grade. The olives were first spread on sloping platforms, so that part of the amurca might run out. Here the fruit remained until a slight fermentation took place. Then it was put into a machine that bruised and pressed it to separate the pulp from the stones. The pulp was then crushed in a press, and the oil that flowed out was put into earthenware con- tainers, where amurca and other impu- rities sank to the bottom. The oil was then skimmed off into another container and again left to settle. This process was re- peated (sometimes as many as thirty times), until all impurities were removed.
The best oil was made by first giving the fruit gentle pressure. Then the bruised olives were taken out and the pits re- moved from the pulp, which was pressed again a second or even a third time. The quality of oil became poorer with each pressing. Finally, the oil was placed in jars glazed on the inside with wax or gum to prevent absorption. After the covers were carefully fastened, the jars were stored in vaults.
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FRUIT ORCHARDS
From early times apples, pears, plums, and quinces were cultivated, and by Cicero’s time orchards were numerous. Figs were raised in large quantities. Later on, peaches, apricots, cherries, and other fruits, as well as several varieties of nuts, were introduced from the provinces. Oranges were not grown at all by the Ro- mans, and lemons not until the third century of our era.
FARM GARDENS
A farm garden contained vegetables for home use, herbs for seasoning and home remedies, bee plants, and flowers. Flowers were cultivated mainly for gar- lands to wear at banquets or to deck hearths on festival days when the house- hold gods were honored. Near towns market gardening was profitable, and be- sides vegetables and fruits, flowers were raised for sale. In early days there was a garden behind each house, and excava- tions at Pompeii show occasional traces of small gardens even behind large town houses.
USEFUL TREES
Willows and reeds were planted in damp places. The slender shoots of willow trees were useful for making baskets, for tying vines, and other farm purposes; the wood made a quick, hot fire in the kitchen. Vergil knew the willow as a hedge plant, whose early blossoms were loved by the bees.
The word arbustum, usually translated “orchard” does not refer to what we call an orchard, but to regular rows of trees— elm, poplar, fig, or mulberry—for the training of vines, with grass, alfalfa, or vegetables between rows. They are still
planted thus in Italy. Oak groves, as well as beech and chestnut trees, furnished mast to fatten pigs.
STOCK, POULTRY, AND GAME
Varro advised keeping stock and game on all farms. Cattle and hogs were raised in large numbers—cattle more for draft purposes and dairy products than for beef; hogs, because pork was the favorite meat of the Romans. Oxen were used for plowing. Goats were kept for their milk, although the meat was also eaten. Sheep were valued for their wool as well as for milk and meat. The milk of goats and sheep, like cow's milk, was made into cheese, which was produced in large quantities—all the larger because butter was not eaten. Sheep could be pastured in olive groves where grass grew between the rows of trees. In summer when low- land pastures dried up, flocks and herds were driven to the hills—as they still are in Italy and in some of our western states.
Every estate had a large poultry yard. Cato said that it was the business of the
Mosaic from a Pompeian dining room
vilica to see that there were plenty of eggs. Chickens, geese, ducks, and guinea fowl, pigeons, thrushes, peacocks, and other birds were raised for market. On most estates a great variety of game was bred. Bees were kept for honey, which was the Romans’ only sweetening, and also for wax.
FARM BUILDINGS
The ordinary farmhouse (villa rustica) was part of a group of buildings around a court or courts and was somewhat regular in plan. Remains of villas have been dis- covered near Pompeii, and in other parts of the Roman world. They varied with the size and needs of the farm, its locality, and with the means and taste of the owner. If a working farmer tilled his own land, his farm buildings were small and simple. On large estates the villa naturally included comfortable and even luxurious quarters for the master’s use. Sometimes these were in the second story. Cato recommended that the master’s quarters be comfortable, so that he might spend more time on the farm, and Columella said that they should please the mistress, too.
The manager's room was near the gate, so that he could check on comings and goings. There were quarters for slaves, and barracks—partly underground and heavily barred—to house dangerous slaves, who worked in chains. In the large kitchen the slaves had their breakfast; they might also gather there in the even- ing if there were no servant’s hall such as Varro advised. Vitruvius, writing on architecture in the time of Augustus, says that the bathroom should be near the kitchen, for convenience in heating bath water. Such an arrangement has heen found in a number of villas near Pompeii.
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Press and storage rooms for wine were supposed to face north; similar rooms for making olive oil faced south. There were stables and granaries, toolrooms and wagon sheds; Varro’s comments show that even in Roman times some farmers had to be urged to keep their implements under cover. Water was provided by springs or wells, or rain water was stored in cisterns. In the court there was some- times a pool. If a villa was located on a main-traveled road, its owner might use some of the rooms for a wineshop or tavern.
OTHER RURAL INDUSTRIES
Besides the raising of crops and other activities associated with farming, dis- tinct and separate businesses were car- ried on in the country. Of these perhaps the most important was quarrying. Bricks and tiles were also manufactured, timber was cut and worked into rough lumber, and sand was prepared for builders. The last industry was especially necessary be- cause of the extensive use of concrete in Rome.
For some of this work, intelligence and skill were required—as they are today— but in general, strength and endurance were the qualities most needed, because slaves were used to do rough, heavy work which is now done by machinery. The rude and ungovernable slaves employed in the quarries, who worked in chains by day and slept in dungeons by night, had to be unusually strong to survive at all.
LANDED PROPRIETORS AND THEIR ESTATES
Besides farms operated entirely or chiefly for profit, there were great estates kept up entirely for pleasure. Such a one was called villa urbana instead of villa
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Houses with terraces and balconies, from a Pompeian fresco
rustica. Owners of these estates lived in the city and visited their land only for pleasure. These villas were chosen with great care for their nearness to the city or to fashionable resorts, their healthful location, and the natural beauty of their surroundings. For coolness, some villas
were set in the hills and some near the water. They might even overhang the water, as at Baiae, a fashionable seaside resort, where houses were built on piles, extending from the shore out over the sea.
Cicero did not consider himself a rich man, but he had eight or more villas in different localities. This number is less surprising when one remembers that there were no seaside or mountain hotels, so that it was necessary to stay in a private house—one'’s own or another’s—when leaving the city for change or rest. Cicero's wealthy friend Atticus had no seaside villa, and when his wife, Pilia, needed sea air, Cicero lent her his house near Pompeii, and went to his villa at Cumae.
Naturally an estate was provided with everything considered essential for open- air luxury; pleasure grounds, parks, and game preserves, fish ponds, and artificial lakes or canals. Great numbers of slaves were required to keep such places in order. Many of these were highly skilled, such as landscape gardeners and experts in the culture of fruit or flowers, while others were trained in breeding and keeping birds, game, and fish—a food which the Romans liked especially. These men had assistants of every sort, but all were under the supervision and authority of the vilicus.
The location of the house and the arrangement of rooms and courts varied, according to the owner's wishes. Remains of villas in different styles and plans have been found in many parts of the Roman world, and detailed accounts of some are given in Latin literature. Of special inter- est are the descriptions of two of his villas by Pliny the Younger. The location of the villa on the Sabine farm that Horace loved has been identified.
The architect Vitruvius says that in a country house the peristyle was usually
next to the front door. Then came the atrium, surrounded by colonnades open- ing on the palaestra, a court for games and exercises, and walks. In such houses there were places for all occasions and seasons: baths, libraries, covered walks, gardens— everything was designed for convenience, ease, and comfort. Rooms and colonnades for hot weather faced north; those for winter use caught the sun. Views were considered in planning the arrangement of the rooms and their windows.
PLEASURE GARDENS
Gardens of large estates were carefully planned and tended. We may call them architectural in design, for they were laid out in straight lines and regular curves. The xystus was a parterre of trim flower- beds in geometrical shapes, edged with clipped box or rosemary. Such box-edged beds may be seen at Mount Vernon, in Williamsburg, and in old gardens in England. Favorite flowers of the Romans were roses—cabbage, damask, and a few other varieties—lilies, and violets. Violae seem to have included stocks, wallflowers, and perhaps sweet rocket as well.
Roadways for driving or riding led through the grounds, as did paths for walking or for an airing in a litter. Colon- nades and clipped hedges provided shelter from the sun or wind, as did carefully planted shade trees, of which the plane was very popular. Garden houses com- manded charming views and sometimes included dining rooms. If the water sup- ply permitted, there were pools, fountains, and canals, while terraced hillside gardens gave opportunity for effective use of wa- ter as it fell from level to level. Grapevines were trained on trellises or arbors; ivy, on trellises, walls, and trees. This work was done by a topiarius, who was also an expert in clipping hedges of box, myrtle,
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or cypress, and in trimming box into the symmetrical or fantastic shapes known as topiary work.
If these gardens afforded less color in summer, and less variety of flowers and shrubs in season than ours do, they were probably much more effective the year round with their careful design and use of evergreen foliage, water, and statuary. During the Renaissance, Roman gardens were revived and may be studied today in the grounds of famous old Italian villas.
DAILY LIFE IN THE COUNTRY
Though a busy city man fled to the country to escape the social duties of the city as well as for rest, there was no lack of social life among the villas, and inter- ruptions from this source were sometimes as annoying as the responsibilities of the estate. As in town, exercise, bath, and dinner formed part of the day’s routine. In addition to exercise in the palaestra, the owner might walk, ride, or drive over his property. There were hunting and fish- ing for the sporting landlord and _ his guests. Not only friends of the host, but sometimes other visitors were numerous, for the lack of good inns made hospitality a constant duty of the landowner.
Ancient as well as modern poets have sketched charmingly idyllic pictures of the small farm and life there when people still lived and worked as “in the brave days of old.”’ The average farmer prob- ably labored hard for seven days a week, going to town on market days to sell his produce, see his friends, and hear news and gossip. His wife looked after the house and family, supervising the slaves who did the actual work. Rural festivals added color and enjoyment to a farmer's life, and old religious customs were long- est observed in country regions, where they had begun.
a Seer Garden with pool in the restored House of Castor and Pollux
ROMAN HOUSES
Peristyle and garden in the restored House of the Golden Cupids
Three houses in Rome, from the Marble Plan
EARLY HOUSES
The earliest houses in Italy of which we know were small round huts with thatched roofs. These houses have van- ished, but in prehistoric cemeteries ashes of the dead have been found in pottery urns shaped like the houses where the liv- ing dwelt. Such a house had one room, with a door, sometimes a window, and an opening in the roof from which smoke escaped.
Later there were oval huts, and still later, rectangular ones. The circular shape was always retained in the Temple of Vesta, goddess of the hearth, whose worship had begun at the hearth of the early round huts.
The single room of an early house was called the atrium. In it lived all members of the household—father, mother, chil- dren, and dependents. In this one room simple meals were cooked and eaten, in- door work done, and sacrifices offered to household gods. The space opposite the door seerns to have been reserved for the father and mother. Here was the hearth where the mother cooked, and near it were her implements for spinning and weaving. Here also was the strongbox in which the father kept his valuables. At night the family spread their bedding on the dirt floor.
LARGER HOUSES
We cannot trace the various steps in the development of the early round hut into the enlarged house of historical times, but we can follow further changes in plans, construction, and decoration. There came to be town and city houses, apartment buildings, farmhouses, and country mansions. In Latin literature there are a few descriptions of houses or parts of them, and many casual allu-
V3)
sions to rooms and their decorations and furnishings. In Vitruvius’ book on ar- chitecture, he states his own principles of construction.
Archaeology has given us much more information. In many parts of the Roman world, scholars have found and studied remains of houses belonging to different periods. These are of many types, vary- ing with region and climate, as well as with the finances and tastes of their owners.
Roman houses in Britain or in Africa were not like those in Italy. Since the eruption of Vesuvius buried—and thus preserved—Pompeii and Herculaneum, towns with paved streets, water systems and sewers, and solidly built public and private buildings, we can see and follow changes in the structure of Roman houses for nearly four hundred years.
LATER HOUSES
In larger and later houses the chief room was the atrium. The name originally denoted the whole house, but came to be applied to the characteristic room. It had no windows; light and air came through
Plan of a simple Roman house
Life in the House of Cornelius Rufus, restored by a modern painter
the quadrilateral opening in the center of the roof—called compluvium—because rain entered there. The rain water fell into a space hollowed in the floor—im- pluvium—from which it ran into a cistern, and was used for household purposes. The entrance of a Roman house opened directly on the street. Inside, on the right and left, were small rooms cut off from the atrium. At the end farthest from the entrance, the atrium kept its full width so that there was an open alcove at each side. These alcoves were called alae (wings). Opposite the outside door there was a wide recess—really an open room (tablinum)—which sometimes was fully
open at the rear, and at other times had a wide window in that wall. Behind this was a veranda, looking out on an enclosed garden.
Later houses retained the atrium with tablinum and alae, compluvium and im- pluvium. These are the characteristic features of a Roman dwelling.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE ATRIUM
The most conspicuous features of the atrium were the compluvium and implu- vium. Vitruvius says that there were four styles of atrium, named from the kind of compluvium. In a Tuscan atrium the roof
was supported by two pairs of beams that crossed each other at right angles. The square space enclosed formed the com- pluvium. This style could not be used for very large rooms. The atrium tetrastylon took its Greek name from the. four pillars that supported the roof beams at the cor- ners of the compluvium. The Corinthian room had more than four pillars. In the atrium displuviatum the roof sloped to the outer walls and the water was carried off by gutters on the outside, so that the impluvium collected only water that fell directly into it. We are told that there was also another type of atrium, the testu- dinatum. How this atrium was lighted we do not know, for it was roofed all over, and had no compluvium. It may have had clerestory windows.
CHANGE IN THE ATRIUM
By Cicero's time the atrium was no longer the center of family life, but had become a formal reception room used only for display. Perhaps the rooms at the sides were first used as bedrooms, for greater privacy. When the peristyle was adopted, kitchen and dining room were placed near it, with additional rooms, in- cluding bedrooms. Later, if these rooms were needed for other purposes, sleeping rooms were provided in an upper story. When second stories were first built we do not know, perhaps when city lots be- came small and expensive and when the use of concrete made walls strong enough to support an upper floor. Even little houses in Pompeii show remains of stair- cases.
As wealth and luxury and desire for beautiful surroundings increased, the atrium came to be decorated with all the splendor and magnificence that the owner could afford. The opening in the roof was enlarged to let in more light, and support-
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ing pillars were made of marble or beau- tiful wood. Statues were placed between pillars and along the walls. The implu- vium became a marble basin, often carved or decorated with figures in relief, and sometimes there was a fountain. Floors were of mosaic; ceilings were paneled, carved, and decorated with ivory and gold. Walls were brilliantly painted or paneled with colored marble. In such an atrium the master greeted guests, the patron received clients, and the husband welcomed his bride to her new home. And here his body lay in state after his death.
In spite of the changes, some traditions of earlier times were preserved even in the most elegant atria of Augustus’ time. Though regular sacrifices were now made at a shrine in the peristyle, the altar to
Tetrastyle atrium in the House of the Silver Wedding
Modern curtains and sliding doors show how a portion of a house in Herculaneum could be shut off
Garden of the House of the Menander
the household gods—lares and penates— often remained near the place where the early hearth had been. Even in the finest houses, implements for spinning were kept where the matron in early times had sat working among her maids, as Livy (first century B.c.) described her in the story of Lucretia. The marriage couch still stood opposite the entrance, where in accordance with tradition, it had been placed on the wedding night. It had be- come a mere symbol, for no one slept in the atrium. In the country, however, the atrium continued to be used as in the old days, and poor people everywhere lived as poor men had always lived.
ALAE
The alae were rectangular recesses, or alcoves, on each side of the atrium. They opened on the atrium and formed a part of it. Within these alcoves, there were cabinets containing imagines—wax busts of ancestors who had held curule offices. Cords running from one bust to another and inscriptions under each one showed the relationship of these men. When Roman writers mention these busts as being in the atrium, they really mean in the alae, or wings. Stories of great deeds of their ancestors were proudly told to children, who learned Roman history from their own family.
TABLINUM
The tablinum was the master’s office or study. It may have been so named be- cause his account books (tabulae) and his business and private papers were kept in it. Here, too, was his arca—a heavy chest, sometimes chained to the floor, which served as a safe for money and valuables.
By its position, the tablinum com- manded the whole house, for other rooms
could be entered only from atrium or peristyle, and the tablinum lay between them. By closing folding doors or draw- ing curtains to shut off the peristyle, and using curtains to close the opening into the atrium, the master could secure pri- vacy. But when the tablinum was left open, guests entering the house hada charming view of the entire house, in- cluding peristyle and garden. When the tablinum was closed, there was free pas- sage through the house by a corridor at one side.
ROOMS USED FOR BUSINESS
As business spread from the center of a town to residence districts, owners of houses sometimes converted front rooms into shops. This was easily done, for the rooms of a Roman house opened on the interior. There were few windows in the outer walls, and frequently the only out- side door was the one in front. So, if a house faced a business street, front or side rooms could be used for shops, without disturbing the family’s privacy or cutting off light. A hallway between two outer rooms gave the family access to the front door. If the house stood on a corner, side rooms could also be used for shops or other business purposes. Sometimes there were small apartments or single rooms, as well as shops.
Perhaps such rooms were first planned by an owner for his own business, but even men of position and wealth supple- mented their incomes by renting extra rooms. We know of one house, covering a whole block in Pompeii, which had rented rooms on three sides.
When a business required more space than these small shops, the owner of a private house converted it for the pur- pose, instead of putting up a building planned to meet the need.
Hi
VESTIBULUM
City houses were usually built on the street line. In a small dwelling the entrance door was in the front wall, separated from the street only by the threshold, and opening directly into the atrium. In larger houses, the separation of the atrium from the street by shops made the entrance more imposing. Some- times there was an open court in front of the door, with an ornamental pavement extending from door to street. Such a court was called a vestibulum, but was quite different from the part of a house known today as a vestibule. It was planted with shrubs and flowers and adorned with statues, or even with tro- phies of war if the owner was a rich and successful general. In small houses the name vestibulum was given to the narrow space between the door and the inner edge of the sidewalk.
In the vestibulum wedding processions were assembled. From it a son was escorted to the Forum on the day he laid aside his purple-bordered boy's toga and put on the plain white toga of a Roman citizen. Here clients (free dependents)
A cutler’s shop
Doorway
gathered for morning calls, sometimes arriving before daylight and waiting to be admitted, and here, later in the day, they received their dole of food or money.
DOORWAYS
The term ostium included both the doorway and the door. It also was applied to either, though fores and janua are more precise words for the door itself. Originally the ostium opened directly into the atrium, and in poorer houses, it was right on the street. Later, when a hall- way separated the vestibulum from the atrium, the ostium opened into this hall, and eventually gave its name to it. The street door was set well back, leaving a broad threshold, which often bore in mosaic the greeting Salve (good health)! Sometimes words of good omen were placed over the door, such as Nihil intret mali (may no evil enter), or a charm against fire.
In some houses a doorman (janitor) was kept on duty. His place was behind the door, although sometimes he had a small room. Often a dog was chained in- side the ostium. In some houses a picture of a dog was painted on the wall or worked in mosaic on the floor, with a warning: Cave canem (beware of the dog)! The ostium could be closed off from the atrium with curtains. Otherwise, when the out- side door was open, traffic in the street was visible to anyone in the atrium.
PERISTYLE
The peristylum, an early addition to the Roman house, was apparently adopted from the Greeks. This was an open court at the rear of the tablinum, planted with flowers, trees, and shrubs. It was sur- rounded by rooms in front of which ran a paved corridor or veranda, with a roof
supported by columns. Strictly speaking, these porches or colonnades were the peri- style, but the name came to be applied to this whole section of the house—court, colonnade, and surrounding rooms. Often there was a pool or fountain in the center of the garden. From the atrium the peri- style could be reached through the tabli- num, or by a narrow hallway beside it. Often a passage led to a street, and sometimes there was a small garden behind the peristyle.
The court was usually open to the sun, and here, protected from the wind, many varieties of rare and beautiful plants and shrubs flourished. Often the space was laid out as a small formal garden, in neat geometrical beds edged with bricks. Care-
ful excavation at Pompeii has given an idea of the planting, and in a number of gardens the original beds have been replanted, and water connections for fountains and pools restored. Statuary adorned these gardens, and the colon- nades around them provided cool or sunny walks.
In homes of the upper class, the peri- style became the center of household life, while the atrium was reserved for formal functions. The peristyle then was the more important and often the larger of the two main sections of the house. All the rooms in this part of the dwelling received light and air through doors or latticed windows that opened on the columned and covered peristyle.
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Cooking utensils and stove, underneath which fuel could be stored
The arrangement and uses of the rooms around the peristyle varied. The need of separate rooms for cooking and eating must have been felt as soon as the peri- style was adopted. Bedrooms were added later. According to the means and tastes of the owner, there were kitchen, dining rooms, bedrooms, library, drawing rooms, storerooms, baths, and toilet (latrina), simple quarters for the slaves, and some- times even a stable.
KITCHENS
Of the rooms about the peristyle the kitchen (culina) was most important. An open fireplace, without a chimney, was used for roasting or boiling. There was
also a charcoal stove of masonry, built against the wall, with a place for storing fuel beneath it. Sometimes a portable stove was used. Kitchen utensils, includ- ing spoons, strainers, pots and pans, kettles and pails, were graceful in form and often of beautiful workmanship. In- teresting pastry molds have also been found. Trivets were used to hold pots and pans above the glowing charcoal on the stove, and some pots stood on legs. Sometimes the shrine of the household gods was in the kitchen instead of in the atrium. Near the kitchen there might be a small bakery, with a built-in oven. Bath- room and toilet were also not far from the kitchen, so that the same water and sewer connections might be used. If there was a stable, it also was near the kitchen.
DINING ROOMS
A dining room (triclintum) was not always close to the kitchen. Large num- bers of slaves made it possible to have it in almost any location, for food could be carried quickly, course by course. Some- times there were separate dining rooms for different seasons. One room might be warmed by the sun in winter, and another shaded from the heat of summer. Since the Romans were fond of air and sky, the peristyle, or part of it, was frequently used for dining. There is an outdoor din- ing room in the House of Sallust at Pompeii.
In the House of the Silver Wedding, which is also at Pompeii, couches and a table for dining were built of masonry at one side of the peristyle. In the table a small fountain was set, which played when the table was not in use. Horace gives us a charming picture of a master, attended by a single slave, eating under an arbor, as the poet himself may have dined at his Sabine farm.
SLEEPING ROOMS
ca
Cubicula were small and scantily fur- nished sleeping rooms; often there was an alcove for the bed. Some had anterooms where a slave might wait on call. Bed- rooms used for rest in the daytime (cubi- cula diurna), were placed in the coolest part of the peristyle. Others, cubicula nocturna or dormitoria, were regular sleep- ing rooms located on the west side of the court to catch the morning sunshine. In large houses bedrooms were usually in the second story of the peristyle.
LIBRARIES
In the houses of many educated Romans there was a library (bibliotheca). Collec- tions of books were made not only by booklovers but also by men who cared nothing for their contents but wished to be considered cultured. Books—which were papyrus rolls—were usually kept in cases or cabinets around the walls. In a
Dining room with built-in couches
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library at Herculaneum a rectangular case was found in the middle of a room. Li- braries were decorated with statues of Minerva and the Muses, and with busts and portraits of men of letters. Vitruvius recommends that a library face east, per- haps as a safeguard against dampness.
OTHER ROOMS
There were other rooms besides the ones mentioned, some so rare that we scarcely know their uses. A room with a shrine where images of the gods stood was called a sacrarium. Oeci were rooms for the entertainment of large groups, perhaps banquet halls. Rooms furnished with permanent seats, apparently for lectures, readings, or other entertain- ments, were known as exedrae. A solarium was a sun deck, laid out as a garden with flowers and shrubs, sometimes on a ter- race, often on a flat roof. There were also pantries and storerooms. A few houses even had cellars.
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el
House of Pansa—mod
rior plan
Inte
HOUSE OF PANSA
»
One house at Pompeii is called Pansa’s because that name occurs in an election notice painted on an outer wall. It occu- pied an entire block, facing a little south of east, and most of the rooms on the front and sides had no connection with the rest of the house, but were rented as shops or apartments. In the rear was a garden.
In the plan, the vestibulum is the open space between two shops in front. Behind it, opening into the atrium, is the ostium (A) with a mosaic dog in the floor. The atrium (B) has three rooms (C) on each side, the alae (D) in the usual loca- tion, the impluvium in the middle, and the tablinum (E) opposite the street en- trance, with the passage beside it. The atrium is of the Tuscan type and is paved with concrete, while the tablinum and the passageway have mosaic floors.
Steps lead down into the peristyle (1), which is lower than the atrium. It meas- ures sixty-five by sixty feet, and had a colonnade of sixteen pillars surrounding the basin in the center. This was about two feet deep; its rim was decorated with figures of plants and fish. Next to the atrium are two rooms, one on each side of the tablinum. One (G) has been called the library, because a manuscript was found in it, but its purpose is not certain. The other (H) may have been a dining room. In the peristyle on the side toward the front of the house, there are two exedrae, each seven feet square, much like the alae. From one a passage runs to the street.
The uses of the rooms on the west and of the small room on the east have not been definitely determined. The large room (J) on the east was the main dining room; the remains of dining couches can be seen. The kitchen (M) is at the north-
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west corner, with the stable (N) next to it. Off the kitchen is a paved yard (O) with a gateway from the street by which a cart could enter. East of the kitchen and the yard is a narrow passage con- necting the peristyle with the garden. East of this are two rooms, the larger of which (K) is one of the most imposing rooms in the house. It is thirty-three by twenty-four feet, with a large window guarded by a low balustrade, and opens into the garden. This was probably an oecus, used for entertaining.
At the back of the house is a long ve- randa (L), overlooking the garden, in which vegetables were grown. There are stairs in the rented rooms, but not in the residence itself, suggesting that the upper rooms were not occupied by the family of the owner.
Of the rooms facing the street, the one connected with the atrium was probably used for some business enterprise of the
Entrance to House of Pansa
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owner. The suites on the east side seem to have been apartments used as dwell- ings. The others were shops. The four connected rooms on the west, near the front, were used as a bakery. First was the salesroom, and in the large room opening off it were troughs for kneading dough, a sink with a faucet, a built-in oven, and three stone mills—since bakers ground their own flour.
The middle picture shows the probable appearance of the house if it were cut in half through the middle from front to rear, and shows how the partitions and roof may have been arranged.
HOUSE OF THE SURGEON
One of the oldest dwellings in Pompeii is known as House of the Surgeon. It received this name because some surgical instruments were found in one of the rooms. It is a typical Roman house with
Plan of House of the Surgeon Tee
a Tuscan atrium and surrounding rooms, without the peristyle which came to be an important part of later houses. The original building, shown in the plan by heavy lines, was later enlarged to fill the entire lot on which it stood, except for a tiny garden (K) in one corner. The added parts are shown by double lines.
The ancient house was probably built before 200 B.c. The walls of the atrium are made of large cut blocks of limestone. The inner walls are not so solidly con- structed.
The first house had entrance hall (A), atrium (B), with sleeping rooms (C) and alae (D) adjoining. On each side of the tablinum (E) there was a square room (F). Both these may have been dining rooms. The two rooms (G), one opening on the street, may have been used as shops, perhaps by the owner, since both have doors opening into the atrium. The corner shop (I) is part of the later addi- tion, as are the veranda at the rear (H), the kitchen (J), and adjoining rooms, which were slave quarters and storerooms.
The ceiling of the atrium was about twenty feet high, with no upper floor. Over the back part of the house was a second story reached by stairs leading from the veranda.
Facade of House of the Surgeon today
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NEWPORT VILLA ca WY. Li In outlying provinces of the Empire, g especially in Britain, there were houses j of very different design. One such that y has been excavated and studied is New- Z MM port Villa, on the Isle of Wight. Here, instead of an atrium with rooms around it, the central feature is a corridor (A) over fifty feet long. From it opens the main room of the house (B); other living rooms (E, M) are near. The bath oc- cupied four rooms (F, G, H, I). Under one of these (F) there was a furnace, and Excavating Newport Villa—hypocaust at lower right two of the large rooms (E, N) were also . Se heated by separate furnaces. Room E had also a fireplace—an unusual feature. Rooms C, K, and J were passages; noth- ing remains to show the exact use of rooms C and L. Sleeping rooms were probably on the second floor.
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SSS
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Plan of Newport Villa
HEATING
Even in the mild climate of Italy, houses must often have been too cold for comfort. On chilly days people probably moved into rooms warmed by the sun, or wore wraps or heavier clothing. In severe winter weather, portable stoves were used. These were braziers made of metal Hypocaust, underneath the mosaic floor for holding hot coals.
Wealthy people sometimes had fur- naces with chimneys. The fire was under the house, and warm air circulated in tile pipes or in hollow walls and floors with- out coming directly into the rooms. Such a heating arrangement was called a hypo- caust. Most baths in Italy had hypo- causts, as did some of the great houses. Because of the mild climate in Italy, furnaces were not used so often in private houses as in northern provinces, partic- ularly in Britain, where furnace-heated houses were apparently common in the Roman period.
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Pipes and joints
WATER SUPPLY
Every important town in Italy and many cities throughout the Roman world had abundant supplies of water brought by aqueducts from the mountains, some- times for a long distance. Mains were laid down the middle of the street, and from them water was piped into houses. Often there was a tank in the upper story from which water was distributed. Not many rooms had plumbing, for slaves carried water as needed. There was often a foun- tain in the peristyle and in the garden,
An unusually large brazier
%
and water was piped into the bathroom and the toilet. People who could not afford to have water supplied to their homes carried it from public fountains in the streets, as is still done in Italian towns. From early times there were drains and sewers to carry off rain water and sewage. The Cloaca Maxima (main sewer), said to have been built in the time of the kings, continued to serve Rome until early in the present century.
BUILDING MATERIALS
Building materials used in houses varied with the period, place, and cost of trans- portation. For temporary structures wood was commonly used. From early times, permanent buildings were made of stone and unburned brick. Walls of dressed stone were laid in regular courses as they are today. Tufa, the soft volcanic stone easily available in Latium, was dull and unattractive in color, but could be cov- ered with fine white marble stucco, which gave it a brilliant finish. For ordinary houses, sun-dried bricks—like the adobe of our southwestern states—were largely used until the beginning of the first cen- tury B.c. For protection against the weather, as well as for decoration, these also were covered with stucco.
In classical, times a new material was developed, better than brick or stone, cheaper and more durable, more easily worked and transported. This came to be used almost exclusively for private homes, and generally for public buildings. Walls built of this material were called opus caementicium (cement work).
The materials of the cement wall varied with the place. At Rome lime and vol- canic ash were used, reenforced with pieces of stone the size of a fist. Brickbats were sometimes used instead of stone, and sand for volcanic ash. Broken pottery, crushed fine, was sharper and better than sand. The best concrete was made with pieces of lava, the material of which roads were generally built, for the harder the stones, the better: the concrete. The Romans made a concrete that would harden under water.
Cement was also combined with crushed terra cotta to make a waterproof lining (opus Signinum) for cisterns.
CONCRETE WALLS
Concrete walls were built as they are now. Along the line planned for the wall, upright posts were set about three feet apart. To them were nailed, horizontally, boards ten or twelve inches wide. Cement, with stones, was poured into the space between the boards. After this had hard- ened, the framework was removed and raised, until the wall was built to the desired height. Such walls varied in thick- ness from a seven-inch partition wall in a dwelling house to the eighteen-foot walls of the Pantheon of Agrippa. They were far more durable than stone walls, for the concrete wall was like a single slab of stone throughout its whole extent, and large parts of it might be cut away with- out diminishing the strength of the part remaining.
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Examples of opus incertum, opus reticulatum,
WALL FACINGS
Although concrete walls were weather- proof, they were usually faced with stone or burned bricks. The stone was com- monly soft tufa, though it would not stand weather as well as the concrete it covered. The earliest method was to place bits of stone having one smooth face, but no regular size or shape, with their smooth sides against the framework as fast as the concrete was poured. Such a wall was called opus incertum (irregular work). Later tufa was used in small blocks of uniform size with a square outer face. Such a wall gave the appearance of being covered with a net, and so was called opus reticulatum (network). Bricks used for facing were triangular in shape, set horizontally, with the point in the con- crete. No walls were built of brick alone.
ne. brick facing
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Even thin partition walls had a core of concrete. In any case, the outer face of the wall was usually covered with a fine limestone or marble stucco, which gave a smooth, white, hard finish.
FLOORS AND CEILINGS
In small houses the floor of the first story was made by smoothing the ground in each room, covering it thickly with small pieces of stone, brick, tile, or pot- tery, and pounding all down solidly and smoothly with a heavy rammer. Such a floor was called pavimentum—a name which came to be used for all kinds of floors. In better houses the floor was made of stone slabs fitted smoothly to- gether. More elaborate houses had con- crete floors, often with a mosaic surface. In the upper stories, floors were made of wood, or of concrete poured over a tem- porary flooring of wood, but such a floor was very heavy and required strong walls for support. It made a perfect ceiling for the room below, needing only a finish of stucco. Other ceilings were made much as they are now—of laths nailed on rafters and covered with mortar and stucco.
ROOFS OF HOUSES
Roman roofs were much like ours; some were flat, some sloped in two directions, others in four. The earliest roof was a thatch of straw. Shingles replaced straw, and these gave way to tiles. At first, roof tiles were flat, like our shingles, but later were made with a flange on each side so that the lower part of a tile would slip into the upper part of the one below it on the roof. Tiles were laid side by side, and flanges were covered by semicircular tiles inverted over them. Gutters of tile ran along the eaves to carry rainwater into cisterns.
HOUSE DOORS
A Roman doorway, like our own, had four parts—lintel, two jambs or door- posts, and threshold. The lintel was a single massive piece of stone, to carry the weight of the wall above. The doors were like ours, but lacked hinges. A door was mortised to and supported by a cylinder of hard wood, a little longer and thicker than the door, with a pivot at each end, which turned in sockets in threshold and lintel. (See ill., p. 78.) The weight of both cylinder and door was on the lower pivot. Roman comedies are full of refer- ences to the creaking of street doors.
The outer door of a house was properly called janua, an inner door ostium, but the words were often confused. Double doors were called fores; a back door, posticum. Doors opened inward; outer doors were provided with bolts and bars. Locks and keys were heavy and clumsy, but with a doorkeeper constantly on duty, locks on outer doors were not often needed. Inside private houses, curtains were preferred to doors.
WINDOWS
The principal windows of a city house opened on the peristyle. First-floor rooms used for household purposes rarely had windows on the street. Country houses sometimes had windows in the first story. In the upper floors of both private houses and apartment buildings there were out- side windows in rooms that did not look out on the peristyle.
Some windows were provided with shutters, which slid in a framework on the outer wall. If these were in two parts, so that they moved in opposite directions, they were said to be junctae (joined) when closed. Some windows were lat- ticed, others covered with a fine network
to keep out mice and other animals. Though glass was made during the Em- pire, it was too expensive to use com- monly in windows. Occasionally talc or other translucent material was used to keep out cold.
APARTMENTS
Before the end of the Republic, in Rome and other cities, only wealthy peo- ple could afford to live in private homes. The greater part of the population lived in apartments and tenements. These were called insulae (islands), a name originally applied to city blocks. Apartment build-
ei
Street in Herculaneum, showing house with balcony and, on the right wall, an example of opus incertum
ings were usually built around a court, and were sometimes six or seven stories high. Augustus limited their height to seventy feet; Nero (A.D. 54-68), after the great fire in his reign, set a limit of sixty feet. Often apartment buildings were built poorly and cheaply for speculative purposes. The satirist Juvenal (A.p. 607- 130?) told of the great danger of fire and collapse.
Except for the lack of glass in the win- dows, these buildings must have looked much like modern ones. Outside rooms were lighted by windows, and balconies sometimes overhung the street. These, like windows, could be closed by wooden
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SESE Large insula at Ostia—model
shutters. Inside rooms were lighted from the courts, if at all.
Insulae were sometimes divided into apartments of several rooms, but fre- quently single rooms were rented. Re- mains of insulae have been found at Ostia in which each of the upper apartments had its own stairway. The ground floor was regularly occupied by shops. The insularius, a slave of the owner, looked after the building and collected the rents.
CITY STREETS
In downtown city streets, galleries and balconies of apartment buildings were full of life in warm weather, while flower pots or window boxes gave color to upper windows. But in the residence quarter of an ordinary Roman city or town, streets were plain and monotonous in appear- ance. No lawns or gardens faced the
street. The houses were all of one style, finished in stucco with few windows, mainly in the upper stories. To lend variety or please the eye, there was little except a decorated vestibulum, an occa- sional balcony, or a public fountain. During the day, the open fronts of small shops in business streets, as well as balconies and windows above, gave color and variety. At night, shops were shut- tered and blank. Along the fronts of buildings in Pompeii there were occasion- ally colonnades, which gave shade and shelter to shoppers and passers-by. The protected walls were sometimes decorated with paintings. Advertisements and no- tices of elections were painted on walls. Streets were paved, with sidewalks twelve to eighteen inches higher than the roadway. At Pompeii stepping stones can still be seen. They extend from one walk to the other, and are fixed in the pave-
ment at convenient intervals for crossing. They are usually oval with flat tops, about three feet long and eighteen inches across. Wagons often wore the paving into deep ruts between the stones, and the ruts show that the wheels were set about three feet apart.
In Rome most of the streets were nar- row and crooked. Private carriages were not used in the city; people went on foot
Street in Pompeii with stepping stones
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or were carried in litters. Juvenal gives a vivid description of the discomfort, even danger, in working one’s way through a crowd. At night, conditions were worse because of the lack of street lighting. A rich man in his scarlet cloak with attendants carrying torches passed safely, while a poor man hurrying home alone was in danger from robbers and drunken brawlers.
INTERIOR DECORATION
Frescoes from the House of the Vettii, showing cupids acting as fullers, goldsmiths, and perfumers
WALL DECORATION
o
Until the last century of the Republic, houses were small and simple with little decoration. Although outer walls were usually plain, interiors, even in small houses, were often charming because of the simple use of bright colors. At first stuccoed walls were merely marked off into rectangular panels, colored in deep, rich shades, especially reds and yellows. Later, in the center panel of each wall, a picture with a frame was painted. Still later, large pictures—figures, interiors, or landscapes—were frescoed all over the walls.
After this, walls were decorated with panels of thin marble slabs and had base- boards and cornices. Pieces of marble with different tints were combined—the Ro- mans ransacked the world for strikingly colored marble. Finally, raised figures were used, modeled in stucco, bright with gold leaf, colors, and mosaic work, in which minute pieces of colored glass were set to give a jeweled effect.
Battle of Issus—a mosaic, made of pieces so tiny that it resembles a painting
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DECORATED CEILINGS
Ceilings were vaulted and painted in brilliant colors; or they were divided into deeply sunk panels by heavy wood or marble beams—often carved and gilded. The panels were decorated with raised stucco work, with gold or ivory, or with gilded bronze plates. Such ceilings are sometimes imitated by modern architects.
CARVED DOORS AND MOSAIC FLOORS
Doors were richly paneled and carved, or plated with bronze, or made of solid bronze. Many thresholds were of mosaic. Doorposts were sheathed with marble, beautifully carved. Floors were covered with marble tiles of contrasting colors arranged in geometrical figures, or with mosaic pictures only slightly less beau- tiful than those on the walls. The most famous of these mosaic pictures, ‘Darius at the Battle of Issus,"» measured sixteen feet by eight with about a hundred fifty separate pieces in each square inch.
—
Mosaic floor in which pygmies hunt hippopotami and crocodiles on the Nile
ROMAN FURNITURE
Some articles of furniture made of stone or metal have come down to us; others have been restored from casts made in Pompeii and Herculaneum by pouring plaster into shells of hardened ashes or volcanic mud that were left when their wooden contents decayed. Many articles of furniture are described in Latin literature or shown in wall paintings.
The Romans cared little for luxurious comfort and had few pieces of furniture in their houses, but those were usually of rare and expensive materials, fine work- manship, and graceful form. A few articles of artistic elegance were far more in keep- ing with the richly colored background than our thickly upholstered furniture would have been. Although the great mansions on the Palatine had been en- riched with spoils from Greece and Asia, there probably was not a really comfort- able bed in any of them.
Wealthy men often collected bronze or marble statues to decorate atrium, peri-
The metal parts of this couch are ancient; all wooden parts, restored
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style, or garden. Some who could not afford originals had reproductions—shown by the numerous pieces of sculpture found in excavating ancient cities. Many of our common and useful arti- cles of furniture were entirely unknown to the Romans. No mirrors hung on their walls. There were no desks or writing tables, no chests of drawers, no cabinets with glass doors to display objects of art or other treasures. Even the houses of the rich were furnished chiefly with essential articles: couches, chairs, tables, and lamps. If we add chests, wooden cabinets with doors, an occasional brazier for hot coals, and more rarely a water clock, the list of household furnishings is complete except for tableware and kitchen utensils.
COUCH—BOTH BED AND SOFA
Couches were found everywhere in Roman houses. A couch (lectus) was often a sofa by day, a bed at night. In its sim- plest form a lectus was a wooden frame with straps interwoven across the top, on
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Empress Agrippina seated on a cathedra
Roman bedroom in a museum
which a mattress was laid. There was an arm at one end—sometimes one at each end—and a back. The latter seems to have been a Roman addition to an earlier form of lectus. A couch was always pro- vided with mattress, pillows, and cover- lets. Early mattresses were stuffed with straw; later they were made of wool, and even of feathers. In some bedrooms in Pompeii no remains of a couch were found; perhaps the mattress was laid on a built-in support. Some bed-couches seem to have been larger than those used for sofas; these were so high that stools or small stepladders were needed to climb into them, as with some old-fashioned beds in this country.
In the absence of easy chairs a lectus was used in the library as a sofa for read- ing or writing. In the dining room it had a permanent place and in the atrium the wedding couch kept its honorary position.
A lectus was often an extremely orna- mental piece of furniture. Beautifully grained woods were used for legs and arms, which were carved and sometimes inlaid or plated with tortoise shell, ivory, or precious metals. Even frames of solid silver are mentioned in literature. Couch coverings were of fine fabrics, dyed in brilliant colors and embroidered in gold.
STOOLS, BENCHES, AND CHAIRS
The primitive form of seat among the Romans was a stool or bench with four legs and no back. Some stools, like our campstools, could be folded. A stool was the ordinary seat for one person, used by men and women resting or working, and by children and servants at meals. The famous curule chair, to which only high magistrates were entitled, was a folding stool with curved legs of ivory and a purple cushion. Benches were used in private houses, by jurors in court, by boys in school, and by senators in the curia. There were also footstools to keep the feet from the cold floor.
The first improvement on the stool was the solium, a stiff, straight, high- backed chair with solid arms, so high that a footstool was necessary. The solium looked as if it had been cut from a single block of wood. This was the chair in which a patron sat when he received clients in the atrium. In fact, it was a chair of such dignity that poets repre- sented it as a seat for gods and kings.
After the solium came the cathedra, an armless chair with a curved back, some- times fixed at an easy angle (cathedra supina), the most nearly comfortable chair the Romans knew. At first it was used only by women, for it was regarded as too undignified for men; finally it came into general use. Because teachers in schools of rhetoric sat in cathedrae, ex
Philosopher seated on a stool
cathedra came to mean an authoritative utterance of any kind. The use of this expression by bishops explains the deri- vation of the word cathedral.
Chairs were not upholstered, but cush- ions were used. Like couches, chairs provided opportunity for skillful work- manship and elaborate decoration.
A VARIETY OF TABLES
Tables were not only useful but often very beautiful, and high prices were paid for some kinds. They differed as much in shape and style as our own, many of which are copied from Roman ones. Their
Mensa delphica
Carved base of a table from Pompeii
Chest of wood, covered with iron plates
supports and tops were made of fine ma- terials—stone or wood, solid or veneered, or even covered with thin sheets of pre- cious metal. The most expensive were round tables made from cross sections of citrus wood, the African cedar. This wood was beautifully marked, and single pieces three or four feet in diameter could be sawed out. Cicero paid $40,000 for such a table, and prices ran up to $120,000
In atria at Pompeii we sometimes find carved marble table supports still standing, though the top, probably origi- nally a marble slab, was crushed by the weight of ashes and stones. These tables were between the tablinum and implu- vium, just as a dining table had stood in the atrium in earlier days.
Special names were given to tables of certain styles. The monopodium was a table or stand with one support, used to hold a lamp or toilet articles. The abacus was a rectangular table with a raised rim; it was used as a sideboard to hold dishes. A mensa delphica—of marble or bronze— had three legs. Tables were frequently made with adjustable legs, so that they could be raised or lowered. A table of solid masonry or concrete, with a top of polished stone or mosaic, was often built into the dining room or peristyle. Tables gave an even better opportunity than couches or chairs to display elaborate workmanship, especially in the carving or inlaying of legs and tops.
CHESTS AND CABINETS
Every house was supplied with chests of various sizes for storing clothes and other articles, and for the safekeeping of papers, money, and jewelry. Usually made of wood, chests were often bound with iron and had ornamental hinges and locks of bronze. Small chests, used as jewel cases, were sometimes made of sil-
ver or gold. The head of the family had a strongbox inthe tablinum in which he kept his ready money. Made of metal or of wood reenforced with metal, so that it could not easily be opened by force, it was too heavy to move, and sometimes it was chained to the floor. Such chests were often richly ornamented.
Mosaic showing sea creatures—so realistic that species can be identified
oe)
Cabinets were made of the same mate- rials as chests and were often beautifully decorated. They were frequently divided into compartments, but they had no slid- ing drawers, and their wooden doors were without hinges or locks. The cabinets kept in the library held books, while those in the alae held wax masks of ancestors.
L
A realistic mosaic, delicately made
STOVES AND TIMEPIECES
The Romans’ charcoal stoves, or bra- ziers, were metal boxes which held hot coals. They were raised on legs, so that they would not damage the floors, and provided with handles so that they could be carried from room to room. Frequently design and decoration made such a stove a handsome piece of furniture.
Shakespeare’s famous reference to the striking of the clock in Julius Caesar is an anachronism. In the peristyle or gar- den there was sometimes a sundial, such as we occasionally see now in a park or garden, which measured the hours of the day by the shadow of a stick or pin. The sundial was introduced into Rome from Greece about 268 B.c.
A sundial gives the correct time twice a year if it is calculated for the spot where it stands. As the first ones at Rome were brought from Greek cities, they did not give the exact time. The largest at Rome was set up by Augustus, who used an Egyptian obelisk for the pointer, and had the lines of the dial laid out on a marble pavement.
The water clock (clepsydra) was also borrowed from the Greeks. It was more useful than the sundial, because it marked the hours of night as well as day and could be used indoors. This was a container filled with water, which escaped from it at a fixed rate, the changing level mark- ing the hours on a scale. It could not be accurate because Roman hours varied in length with the season of the year.
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cotmne tin tetiaecettamasetininasesnnmnans I
102
Pottery lamp
Legs of this stand have the form of satyrs; handles make it easily movable
Elaborate bronze lamp
Bronze lamp
Bronze candelabrum
Monopodium
Lamp stand with four hanging lamps, each with two spouts
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ILLUMINATION
A Roman lamp was merely a container for olive oil or melted fat, with loosely twisted threads for a wick, or wicks, drawn out through one or more holes in the cover or the top. Usually there was also a hole through which the lamp was filled. Its light must have been uncertain and dim, for it had no chimney to keep the flame steady. As works of art, how- ever, lamps were often very beautiful. Many made of cheap material were grace- ful in form and proportion, while the skill of craftsmen gave additional value to those made of precious metals and rare stones.
Some lamps had handles so that they might be carried from room to room; some were suspended from the ceiling by chains. Others were kept on stands— monopodia used in bedrooms, or tripods. Some stands were adjustable in height. For lighting public rooms there were also tall stands like those of our floor lamps, from which several lamps could be hung. Such a stand, called candelabrum, must originally have been intended for candles, but they were rarely used; the Romans seem not to have been skillful in candle- making.
A supply of torches (faces) of dry, in- flammable wood, often soaked in pitch or smeared with it, was kept near the outer door for use on the unlighted streets at night.
In a Roman house, light was reflected from polished floors and from water in the impluvium. Brilliant color shone on the walls, and shrubs and flowers deco- rated the peristyle. Furnishings might be scanty, but they were never clumsy or ugly; so that even without the art collec- tions of the wealthy, a house was beau- tiful.
Members of the family of Augustus
ROMAN FAMILIES
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THE HOUSEHOLD
In the sense nearest that of the English word “family,” a Roman familia (house) was made up of all persons under the authority of the head of a house (pater familias). In addition to the head of the house, a familia consisted of his wife, his unmarried daughters, and his sons (by birth or adoption), whether married or not. Wives, sons, and unmarried daugh- ters of his married sons were also included, as were even more remote descendants through the male line. No matter how many of these persons there were, they were considered one familia. The head of such a house was always sui juris (of his own right), that is, independent, while the members of the familia were alieno Juri subjecti (subject to another's author- ity), or dependent.
Our word “family” does not correspond exactly with any of the meanings of the Latin familia. “Household” or “house”’ is the nearest English word. Among the Romans, husband, wife, and children did not necessarily constitute an independent family. Individuals whom we think of as members of a family group did not always belong to the same familia, as for example, married daughters and their children.
OTHER MEANINGS OF FAMILIA
The word familia was sometimes used in a wider sense to include clients, slaves, and all real estate and personal property belonging to the pater familias himself or
Augustus as imperator
106
acquired and used by persons under his authority. Familia was also used of slaves alone, and occasionally of property alone. In the widest sense the word was applied to the gens (clan), which included all those households whose heads were de- scended through males from a common ancestor.
Finally, familia was often applied to a branch of a gens whose members had the same cognomen, the last of a Roman citizen’s three names. For this sense of familia a more accurate word is stirps. A branch, or stirps, might include few or many households, and great clans some- times had both patrician and plebeian branches.
PATRIA POTESTAS
The authority of the pater familias over his descendants was called patria potestas. In theory, the head of the family had
Roman children
absolute power over his children and all other descendants in the male line. He decided whether a newborn child should be reared. If his right to a child was dis- puted, or one of his children was stolen, he used the same legal processes as in recovering a piece of property. If for any reason he wished to transfer one of his children to another person, the transac- tion was effected by the same legal form used in transferring inanimate property. He could punish what he regarded as mis- conduct with penalties as severe as ban- ishment, slavery, or death.
He alone of the household could own or exchange property. In strict legality, those subject to him were his personal property and everything that they earned or acquired was his. This complete author- ity came down from early days, when for safety it was necessary that a family act as a unit, and it was carried to greater length by Romans than by any other
people we know. Jurists boasted that this power was enjoyed by Roman citizens alone.
The Latin language itself testifies to the headship of the father. We speak of our “mother tongue,’ but a Roman ex- pressed this idea by the words sermo patrius. As pater was to filius (son), so patronus (patron) was to cliens (client), patricti (patricians) to plebeii (plebeians), patres (senators) to other citizens, and Juppiter (Jove the Father) to other gods.
LIMITATIONS OF PATRIA POTESTAS
However stern the authority of patria potestas was in theory, it was greatly modified in practice—under the Republic by custom, under the Empire by law. According to legend, Romulus, founder and first king of Rome, ordered that no child should be put to death until its
Pater and mater familias
107
third year, unless it was seriously de- formed, and that all sons and first-born daughters should be reared. This at least secured life for young children, though a father still could decide whether a baby should be admitted to his household with all social and religious privileges, or be disowned and become an outcast. Married sons were protected against being sold into slavery by a decree of Numa, second of the kings, who was said to have for- bidden the sale of a son who had married with the consent of his father.
Of much greater importance than the law was the check established by custom and public opinion on arbitrary and cruel punishments. Custom compelled the head of the house to call a council of relatives and friends when he was considering severe punishment for a child, and public opinion forced him to abide by their ver- dict. In a few cases where the death
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penalty was inflicted, a father, who hap- pened to be in office at the time, either acted as a magistrate, or he anticipated the penalties of the ordinary law, perhaps to avoid the disgrace of a son’s public trial and execution.
The marriage of a son did not make him a pater familias or release him from the authority of his father or the head of his house. His wife and their children also became subject to that head. The pater familias might free (emancipare) his sons—a formal proceeding by which each son became the head of a new house,
Roman husband and wife
even if he was unmarried, had no children, or was himself still a mere child. An un- married daughter might also be emanci- pated, and thus become in her own right an independent familia, or she might be given in marriage to another Roman citizen. In the latter case, she passed into her husband's family, and her father could not count her children in his own familia. Children, if legitimate, were under the same authority as their father, in case he was not independent. An illegiti- mate child was from birth an independent familia.
TERMINATION OF POTESTAS
Patria potestas could be terminated in various ways: first, by death of the pater familias; second, by emancipation of a son or daughter; third, by loss of citizenship of either father or son; fourth, by a son's becoming a priest of Jupiter (Flamen Dialis), or a daughter a vestal virgin (Virgo Vestalis); fifth, by the adoption of either father or child by a third party; sixth, by the marriage of a daughter, through which she passed into the power of her husband or the head of her husband's house; seventh, by a son's be- coming a public magistrate. In the last case, potestas was suspended during his period of office, but after it expired, the father might hold his son accountable for his acts, public and private, during his term of office.
All but the first and third of these con- ditions required the consent of the head of the house, so that with these exceptions, the father’s authority was regularly ter- minated by his own decision.
THE MASTER’S AUTHORITY
The authority of a Roman citizen over his property was called dominica potestas (master’s power). While the master lived and retained his Roman citizenship, he alone could end these powers. He owned his property completely and absolutely, and could dispose of it by gift or sale as freely as one can now. His ownership in- cluded slaves as well as inanimate things, for slaves were mere property in the eyes of the law. Until imperial times there was no court to which a slave could ap- peal; the judgment of his master was final.
Restrictions on ownership of property were not so nard as the letter of the law makes them appear. It was customary for
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a father to assign to his children property (peculium, originally, “cattle of their own’), which they could manage for their own benefit. In theory he held legal title to all their acquisitions, but in prac- tice all property was acquired for and belonged to the family as a whole.
The head of the house was, in effect, little more than a trustee to hold and manage property for the benefit of his family. This is shown by the fact that it was a grave offense against public morals and a blot on his private character for a father to prove untrue to his trust and squander family property. The long continuance of patria potestas is in itself proof that its severity was more apparent than real.
A HUSBAND’S AUTHORITY
A husband's authority over his wife was called manus. By the oldest and most solemn form of marriage a wife passed entirely from her father’s family into her husband's power or hand (manus). If he was not independent, they were both subject to the head of his house. If she had been independent before her marriage, her property passed to her husband's father. Otherwise, the head of her house gave a dowry which met the same fate. In case of divorce, the dowry had to be returned. If a woman acquired any prop- erty while the marriage lasted, it became her husband's, subject to the authority under which he lived. So where property rights were concerned, manus put the wife in the position of a daughter, and on her husband's death she took a daughter's share in his estate.
In matters other than property, the authority of manus was more limited. A husband could get a divorce only for serious offenses. Both by law and custom he was required to refer misconduct of
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his wife to a family council, which was composed partly of her blood relations. Romulus is said to have ordained that a man should lose all his property if he divorced his wife without good cause. Under no circumstances did manus give a husband the right to sell his wife. In short, public opinion and custom pro- tected wives more strongly than they did children. The chief distinction between manus and patria potestas lay in the fact that manus was a legal relationship based on the consent of the weaker party, while the other was a natural relationship in- dependent of law and choice.
FORMATION OF NEW HOUSEHOLDS
A household usually was dissolved only by the death of its head. When he died, as many new households were formed as there were persons directly subject to his authority at the moment of his death: wife, sons, unmarried daughters, widowed daughters-in-law, and children of de- ceased sons. The children of a surviving son merely passed from the authority of their grandfather to that of their father. A son under age or an unmarried daugh- ter was put under the guardianship of someone in the same gens, very often an older brother.
Emancipation of a child by his father was not common, but when it occurred, the son or daughter became independent and constituted a new familia.
The table on this page shows how individual members were affected by the splitting up of a household. The sign = means married; the sign t means deceased.
According to the diagram, Gaius, a widower, had three sons and two daugh- ters. Aulus and Appius had married, and each had two children; Appius was dead. Publius and Terentia were unmarried when their father died. Terentia Minor
uTitus
3Aulus = ®Tullia 127 iberius
13Quintus
4Appius f = %Licinia
1Gaius 14Sextus
ey
7TTerentia = !°Marcus Minor
18Servius
16] Decimus
had married Marcus, and they had two children. Gaius had not emancipated any of his children.
Gaius had ten living descendants (3, 5, 6, 7, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16); his son Appius was dead.
Nine persons. (3; 53.6, 8,°9; Ly i2ad3; 14) were subject to the potestas of Gaius at the time of his death.
Terentia Minor had passed out of her father's potestas by her marriage to Marcus. Therefore, the only descendants of Gaius not subject to him were his daughter's children (15, 16).
At Gaius’ death six independent fa- miliae were formed, one consisting of four persons (3, 8, 11, 12), the others of one person each (5, 6, 9, 13, 14).
Titus and Tiberius merely passed out of the potestas of their grandfather, Gaius, to that of their father, Aulus.
Since Quintus and Sextus were minors, guardians were appointed for them.
AGNATES
All persons related to each other by descent from a common male ancestor through the male line were called agnati (agnates). Agnatio was the closest tie of relationship known to the Romans. In- cluded among agnati were two persons whom the definition would seem to ex-
Titus
127 iberius
3Aulus*= 8Tullia
aera | 183Quintus
4Appius* = °%Licinia
MSextus
| 15Servius 1Terentia = Marcus 1= ——— — Minor 16] Yecimus
clude: a wife, who passed by manus into her husband's family, and an adopted son. On the other hand, a son who had been emancipated (indicated in the table by the sign*) was excluded from agnatio with his father and his father’s agnates. He had no agnates of his own until he married or was adopted into another familia.
Gaius and Gaia had five children (Aulus, Appius, Publius, Terentia, Terentia Minor) and six grandsons (Aulus’ sons, Titus and Tiberius; Appius’ sons, Quintus and Sextus; and Terentia Minor’s sons, Servius and Decimus). Gaius eman- cipated two of his sons, Appius and Publius, and adopted his grandson Ser- vius, who had previously been eman- cipated by his father, Marcus. There are, then, four sets of agnati.
Gaius, his wife, and those whose pater familias he is: Aulus and his wife Tullia, Terentia (unmarried), Titus, Tiberius, and Servius, a son by adoption (1, 2, 3, 6, See 2)
Appius, his wife Licinia, and their two sons (4, 9, 13, 14).
Publius, who is himself a pater familias, but has no agnati at all.
Terentia Minor, her husband Marcus, and their son Decimus (7, 10, 16).
Notice that their other child, Servius (15), who was emancipated by Marcus,
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is no longer agnate to his father, mother, or brother, but has become one of the group of agnati mentioned first.
COGNATES
Cognati were related by blood, regard- less of whether they traced their relation- ship through males or females, and no matter what authority had been over them. Loss of citizenship was the only legal barrier to cognatio and even this was not always regarded. Thus in the table there are five sets of cognates, all related to one another by blood.
Gaius, Aulus, Appius, Publius, Terentia, Terentia Minor, Titus, Tiberius, Quintus, Sextus, Servius, and Decimus.
Gaia and all her descendants—the same as those of her husband, Gaius.
Tullia, Titus, and Tiberius.
Licinia, Quintus, and Sextus.
Marcus, Servius, and Decimus.
Husbands and wives (Gaius and Gaia, Aulus and Tullia, Appius and Licinia, Marcus and Terentia Minor) are not cognates of each other, although marriage made them agnates.
The twenty-second of February was set aside to commemorate the tie of blood (cara cognatio). On this day presents were exchanged and family reunions were prob- ably held. Cognates, however, did not form an organic body in the state as agnates formed the gens, and blood rela- tionship alone gave no legal rights or claims under the Republic.
Public opinion strongly discouraged the marriage of cognates within the sixth degree—later, the fourth degree—of re- lationship. Persons within this degree were said to have jus osculi (right to kiss). The degree was calculated by counting from one of the interested parties through the common kinsman to the other.
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This table shows the male relatives of Marcus on his father’s side. Terms for corresponding female relatives are these.
Column one, tritavia, atavia, abavia, proavia, avia, mater—filia, neptis, pro- neptis, abneptis, atneptis, trineptis.
Column two, abamita, proamita, amita magna, amita, soror.
Column three, filia propatrui
(pro-
amitae), propior sobrina, patruelis, filia fratris (sororis), neptis fratris (sororis), proneptis fratris (sororis), abneptis fra- tris (sororis).
tritavus grandfather of gt.- gt.-grandfather |
:
ie
alavus father of gt.-gt.- grandfather
abavus VI
gt.-gt.-grandfather |
proavus great-grandfather
abpatruus (4) gt.-gt.-granduncle
propatruus (3) gt.-granduncle
For corresponding relatives on the mother’s side the same Latin words as those on the father’s side are used, with these exceptions.
(1) avunculus (uncle), matertera (aunt)
(2) avunculus magnus (great-uncle), ma- tertera magna (great-aunt)
(3) proavunculus (gt.-granduncle), pro- matertera (gt.-grandaunt)
(4) abavunculus (gt.-gt.-granduncle), ab- matertera (gt.-gt.-grandaunt)
(5) consobrinus (male first cousin), conso- brina (female first cousin)
II avus IV patruus magnus (2) VI filius propatrui grandfather great-uncle gt.-granduncle’s son E pater Ill patruus (1) Vv propior sobrino father La uncle great-uncle’s son MARCUS II frater IV patruelis (5) : brother first cousin I filius III filius fratris “ nephew II nepos IV nepos fratris | | eronasen | grandnephew pe pronepos pronepos fratris
great-grandson
abnepos gt.-gt.-grandson
atnepos son of gt.-gt.- grandson
:
trinepos grandson of gt.- gt.-grandson
ia VI abnepos fratris gt.-gt.-grandnephew
Cognates—Roman numerals show the degree to which each cognate is related to Marcus
gt.-grandnephew
Family being carried in a litter
RELATIVES-IN-LAW
Persons connected by marriage only, as a wife with her husband's cognates and he with hers, were called adfines (in-laws). There were no formal degrees of adfinitas, as there were of cognatio. The kinds of adfines for whom distinctive names were in common use were gener, son-in-law; nurus, daughter-in-law; socer, father-in- law; socrus, mother-in-law; privignus, privigna, stepson, stepdaughter; vitricus, stepfather; noverca, stepmother. Com- parison of these names with the awkward compounds used in English as their equiv- alents gives additional proof of the impor- tance attached by the Romans to family ties. Two women who married brothers were called janitrices, a relationship for which we do not have even a compound.
The terms used for blood relations tell the same story. A glance at the table of cognates shows how strong the Latin is here, how weak the English. We have “uncle,” “‘aunt,”’ and “cousin,” but to distinguish between some relationships
we use descriptive phrases as “uncle on my father’s side.’ The Romans had two words for “‘uncle’—avunculus was a mother’s brother, patruus, a father’s; two words for “‘aunt’’—matertera, a mother's sister, and amita, a father’s; two words for “cousin’’—consobrinus and __ patruelis, meaning first cousin on the mother’s side and first cousin on the father’s. For atavus (father of a great-great-grandparent) and tritavus (father of atavus) we use the indefinite ‘forefathers.”
THE FAMILY CULT
The closest tie known to the Romans was agnatio. The importance attached to the agnatic group is largely explained by the Romans’ conception of life after death. They believed that men’s souls continued to exist, though separate from the body, but they did not originally think of the soul as being removed from the earth. They thought that it hovered near the burial place, and for its peace and happi- ness required regular offerings of food and
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drink. If the offerings were discontinued, they believed that a soul would be un- happy, and might even become a spirit of evil, bringing harm to those who had neglected the proper rites. The mainte- nance of these rites and ceremonies fell naturally to the descendants from genera- tion to generation. In return the spirits would guide and guard their descendants. Later, contact with Etruscan and Greek art and mythology developed ideas of a place of torment or of possible happiness such as Vergil describes in the Aeneid.
The head of the house was priest of the household, and those under his authority assisted in prayers and offerings. As long as he lived, a Roman was obligated to perform these acts of affection and piety. He likewise had to provide for their per- formance after his death by perpetuating his line and the family cult. Since a curse was believed to rest on a childless man, marriage was a solemn religious duty. It was entered into only with the approval of the gods as shown by the auspices, taken by the proper rites before a mar- riage ceremony. When he married, a Roman brought his bride home to share his family rites, and thus separated her entirely from her family worship. In the same way, he later surrendered his daugh- ter, on her marriage, and she no longer worshiped at her father’s altar, but at the altar of her husband's family.
If a marriage was childless, or if the head of a family survived his sons, he had to face the prospect of the extinction of his family, with no one to carry on proper rites for his ancestors and himself after his death. Two alternatives were open to him. He might give himself in adoption and pass into another family, or he might adopt a son to perpetuate his own family, He usually preferred the latter course, in order to secure peace for the souls of his ancestors as well as for his own.
ADOPTION
The person adopted was chosen from a family of the same rank as that into which he would pass. Sometimes the adopted son was a pater familias himself. More often he was a filius familias. In the latter case, the Romans used a complicated pro- cedure called adoptio, by which a father conveyed his son to the adopter, trans- ferring him from one family to the other.
The adoption of a pater familias (adro- gatio) was a much more serious matter, for it involved the extinction of one family in order to prevent the end of another. This was an affair of state. It had to be sanctioned by the pontifices (high priests), who probably made sure that the adro- gatus (man being adopted) had brothers to attend to the proper rites for the an- cestors he was abandoning. If the ponti- fices gave their consent, the adrogatio still had to be sanctioned by the old patrician assembly (comitia curiata), since the act might deprive the gens of its succession to the property of aman without children.
If consent was given, the adrogatus sank from the position of head of a house to that of a filius familias in the household of his adoptive father. If he had a wife and children, they passed with him into the new family, as did all his property. His adoptive father had the same authority over him as over a son of his own, and looked on him as his son. We can have only a feeble and inadequate idea of what adoption meant to Romans.
THE CLAN
In the widest sense the term familia was applied to a larger group of related persons, the gens, which consisted of all households whose heads could trace their descent from a common ancestor through the male line. These were, of course,
Husband and wife
agnates, and this remote ancestor, if he could have lived for centuries, would have been the pater familias of all the members of the gens, and they all would have been subject to his authority. Membership in the gens was proved by the possession of the nomen, the name of the gens, the second of a Roman's three names. Theoretically a clan originated as one of the familiae whose union in prehistoric times for political purposes had formed the State. The pater familias of such a clan was supposed to have been one of the heads of houses from whom, in the days of the kings, the patres (Senate) had been chosen. The splitting up of this pre- historic household into separate families, generation after generation, was believed to account for the large number of familiae that in later times bore the names of the
i
great old gentes, claimed connection with them, and through their gentile affilia- tions, wielded great political power in the Republic. There were also clans of later origin that imitated the organization of the older ones.
Little is known of the organization of the gens. It passed resolutions binding on its members. It furnished guardians for minor children, insane persons, and spend- thrifts. When a member died without heirs, his gens succeeded to any property not disposed of by his will, and admin- istered it for the common good of all. The gentiles (clansmen) were obliged to take part in the religious rites of their clan and had a claim to the common property. Those who chose might be buried in the common burial ground if the clan had one.
Gessia Fausta, P. Gessius Romanus, P. Gessius Primus
ROMAN NAMES
Part of a roster of soldiers’ names
pide
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THE TRIPLE NAME
Most of the Romans whom we know from history or literature had _ three names, such as Gaius Julius Caesar, Mar- cus Tullius Cicero, Publius Vergilius Maro. Three nam its own significance—were customary in the great years of the Republic. In earlier times names were simpler, while under the Empire the system ended in utter confusion.
The earliest legends of Rome show sin- gle names: Romulus, Remus, Faustulus; but there were also double names: Numa Pompilius, Ancus Marcius, Tullus Hos- tilius. Possibly single names were the original usage, although in some early in- scriptions two names are found, with the second in the genitive case, representing the father, or head of the house, as Mar- cus Marci, Curtia Rosci. A little later such a genitive was followed by wuxor (wife), or by the letter f for filius or filia, to show the relationship. Later, but still in very early times, a freeborn man had three names—nomen to indicate his clan, cognomen to designate his family, and praenomen to mark him as an individual. The regular order of the three names is praenomen, nomen, cognomen, although exceptions are found.
Great formality required the use of even more than three names. In official documents and in state records it was usual to insert between a man’s nomen and cognomen the praenomina of his father, grandfather, and _ great-grand- father, and sometimes the name of the tribe in which he was registered as a citi- zen. Cicero might have written his name M. Tullius Mf. M.n. M.pr. Cor. Cicero, that is, Marcus Tullius Cicero, son (filius) of Marcus. grandson (nepos) of Marcus, great-grandson (pronepos) of Marcus, of the tribe Cornelia.
Tomb of Caecilia Metella
Ragen Tey
At See gE RN,
! Rha eee a | O-MARCINSO:FONREXPROCOSANDER | DELIGNRIBVSSTOENEIS: “LLNO} ‘DE pe pies aa FOFONME C06. S-EXSARDINIA~
Inscription mentioning three Metelli
118
eae Des pe Inscription in honor of the distinguished general Lucullus—a name now associated with love of
good food
ORDER OF NAMES
Since formal inscriptions give names in full, they are the best sources of informa- tion. In Latin literature shorter forms of names are commonly used.
A man’s full name was too long for everyday use. Children, other relatives, intimate friends, and even his slaves ad- dressed him by his praenomen only. Mere acquaintances used the cognomen, with the praenomen prefixed for emphasis. In earnest appeals the nomen also was used, with the possessive mi or the praenomen sometimes prefixed. When only two of the three names were used in conversation,
the order varied. If the praenomen was one of the two, it usually came first. Some- times the order was reversed by poets for metrical reasons, and a different order is found in prose in a few places where the text is uncertain. The order also varied when the praenomen was omitted. Earlier writers put the cognomen first, as Cicero usually did; as, Ahala Servilius—but con- trast Gaius Servilius Ahala. Caesar put the nomen first, as did Pliny the Younger. Horace, Livy, and Tacitus used both arrangements.
PRAENOMEN
The number of praenomina in general use seems small compared with that of our Christian names, to which they most nearly correspond. There were never many more than thirty, and by Sulla’s time the number had dwindled to eight- een. The following are the ones found fre- quently in authors read in school and college: Appius (APP), Aulus (A), Deci- mus (D), Gaius (C), Gnaeus (CN), Lucius (L), Manius (M’), Marcus (M), Publius (P), Quintus (Q), Servius (SER), Sextus (SEX), Spurius (S), Tiberius (T1), and Titus (7). Abbreviations vary: for Aulus we regularly find A, but also AV and AVL; for Sextus, SEXT and S as well as SEX. Similar variations are found in abbreviated forms of other praenomina. C originally had the value of G and retains it in the abbreviations C and CN for Gaius and Gnaeus. M’ is a modern form. The Romans’ abbreviation for Manius was a five-stroke M that we do not have.
Conservative Roman families found in this short list more than enough names. Great families repeated the same prae- nomina from generation to generation, so that identification of individuals is often very difficult for us. The Aemilii used seven of these praenomina: Gaius, Gnaeus,
Lucius, Manius, Marcus, Quintus, and Tiberius—but added one not found in any other gens—Mamercus (Mam). The Claudii had six: Decimus, Gaius, Lucius, Publius, Quintus, and Tiberius—with the additional name Appius (App), which is of Sabine origin. The Cornelii used seven: Aulus, Gnaeus, Lucius, Marcus, Publius, Servius, and Tiberius. A still smaller number served the Julian gens: Gaius, Lucius. and Sextus—with the praenomen Vopiscus, which was dropped in early times. The use of even these names was limited. The praenomina Decimus and Tiberius were taken by only one branch of the gens Claudia—the Claudii Nerones. Of the seven praenomina used in the gens Cornelia, the branch of the Scipios (Cor- nelii Scipiones) had only three—Gnaeus, Lucius, and Publius. A gens might dis- card a praenomen as the gens Antonia dropped the praenomen Marcus after the downfall of the famous triumvir Marcus Antonius.
From the praenomina used in his fam- ily, a father chose one to give his son on
Woman and man of the Furii family
IDES)
PAEDCV RIT -OTRMILIT ‘COM _ ELVRAOPPIDADESAMNITIBVSCEPIT _ SABINORVMYETTVSCORVMEXERCI “IVMIVD) ACEMFIERFOMTR RRIQ _ RECEPROHIB SRCEISVRAVIANS
Inscription in honor of Appius Claudius, builder of the Appian Way and Aqueduct
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Tombstone of a lady of Britain
the ninth day after his birth—dies lus- tricus (day of purification). As often now, a father usually gave his own praenomen to his first-born son. Cicero's full name shows the praenomen Marcus repeated for four generations.
When a praenomen was first given, it must have been chosen for its original meaning. Lucius (lux) meant “born by day,’ Manius (mane), ‘born in the morn- ing. Quintus, Sextus, Decimus, Postumus
indicated succession in the family. Per- haps Servius was connected with servire (serve), and Gaius with gaudere (rejoice). Others are associated with the name of a divinity—Marcus and Mamercus with Mars; Tiberius with the river god Tiberis. In time the original meanings of names, even when numerals, were forgotten, just as the significance of many of our given names has been lost. Cicero's only brother was called Quintus.
Abbreviation of the praenomen was not a matter of caprice, as is the writing of initials with us, but a fixed custom, per- haps indicating Roman citizenship. The praenomen was written out in full when used alone or when it belonged to a per- son in one of the lower classes of society; when abbreviated it was pronounced in full (as it should be when carried over into English in reading or translating).
NOMEN
The most important name, the nomen, is called more precisely nomen gentile or nomen gentilictum (name of the gens). It was inherited as a surname is now, with no choice in its use. Originally it ended in -ius, -elUuS, -aius, -aeus, or -eus, and patri- cian families sacredly preserved this end- ing. Other endings point to a non-Latin origin of the gens. Names ending in -acus (Avidiacus) are Gallic; in -na (Caecina), Etruscan; -enus or -ienus (Salvidienus) shows that the clan originated in Umbria or Picenum.
By custom the nomen belonged to ple- beian branches of the gens as well as to patrician—to men, women, clients, freed- men, without distinction. Perhaps patri- cian families used a limited number of praenomina to avoid those used by clans- men of lower social standing. Plebeian families who had gained political nobility, and could display in their alae busts of
ancestors holding curule office, showed a similar exclusiveness in choosing prae- nomina for their children.
COGNOMEN
To his individual name and the name of his gens the Roman often added a third name—cognomen—to indicate the branch of the gens to which he belonged. Almost all great gentes were divided in this way—some into numerous branches. The gens Cornelia included the plebeian Dolabellae, Cethegi, Cinnae, and Lentuli, and others, as well as the patrician Scipi- ones, Maluginenses, Rufini, and other branches. In the full official name the cognomen followed the name of the tribe. Because of this, it is believed that even the oldest cognomina came into use after the people were divided into tribes.
Cognomina seem to have been origi- nally nicknames from some personal pe- culiarity or characteristic, sometimes as a compliment, sometimes in derision. Many cognomina were adjectives point- ing to physical traits—Albus, Barbatus, Cincinnatus, Claudius, Longus (White, Bearded, Curly, Lame, Tall). Nouns were also used, as Naso, man with a nose; Capito, man with a head. Some cognomina refer to temperament, as Benignus, Blan- dus, Cato, Serenus, Severus (Kind, Pleas- ant, Smart, Serene, Severe). Such names as Gallus, Ligus, Sabinus, Siculus, Tuscus show the place of the owner's origin.
Since these names descended from fa- ther to son, they gradually lost their appropriateness, until their meanings, like those of the praenomina, were for- gotten. This is true of our own surnames, many of which suggest place of origin, occupation, or personal appearance.
During the Republic most patricians had the third or family name, but there was at least one, Gaius Marcius, who did
121
not. With plebeians the cognomen was not socommon. In the Cornelian, Tullian, and other gentes, the plebeian branches had cognomina, but the great plebeian families of the Marii, Mummii, and Ser- torit had none.
The cognomen came to be prized as an indication of ancient lineage, and indi- viduals whose nobility was new were anxious to acquire cognomina to pass on to their children. Such men often chose their own. Some names were given in mockery; others were conceded by public opinion, as in the case of Gnaeus Pom- peius, who took Magnus as his cognomen. Under the Empire a cognomen was hardly more than an indication of freedom.
ws, 3
MO =
Inscription mentioning Pompey
L. Caecilius Jucundus, a Pompeian banker
122
ADDITIONAL NAMES
Often we find a fourth or fifth name. These additional names were called cog- nomina by a loose extension of the word until in the fourth century of our era grammarians began to call them agno- mina. There were four types. In the first, the division of a clan into branches might be continued, that is, a stirps was often divided. Such a subdivision had no better name than the vague term familia. The gens Cornelia included among others a stirps of Scipiones, and this, in turn, threw off a family, or house, of Nasicae. Thus we find the fourfold name Publius Cor- nelius Scipio Nasica, in which the last name was probably given in much the same way that the third had been be- stowed earlier.
Second, when a man passed from one family to another by adoption, he regu- larly took the three names of his adoptive father and added his own gentile name with the suffix -anus. Lucius Aemilius Paulus, son of Lucius Aemilius Paulus Macedonicus, after his adoption by Pub- lius Cornelius Scipio, was called Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus. When Gaius Octavius Caepias was adopted by Gaius Julius Caesar, he became Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus; hence, he is called Octavius or Octavianus in our histories.
Third, an additional name, sometimes called cognomen ex virtute (surname of merit, title of honor) was often given by acclamation to a great statesman or vic- torious general. It was written after his cognomen. To Publius Cornelius Scipio, the title of Africanus was given after his defeat of Hannibal; his grandson by adoption won an honorary title after he had destroyed Carthage, so that he was called by the full name Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus Africanus. Other ex- amples are Macedonicus, the title given
to Lucius Aemilius Paulus (mentioned above) for his defeat of Perseus, the last king of Macedonia, and the title Augustus, given by the senate to Octavianus in Lies
Fourth, a man who had inherited a nickname from his ancestors as a cog- nomen sometimes received another be- cause of some characteristic of his own. To an early Publius Cornelius the nick- name Scipio (staff) was given, because, as the story goes, he served as a staff to his blind father. This title was taken by all his descendants, and so became a cog- nomen, although the original significance had been lost. Then, for personal reasons, to one descendant another name, Nasica (nasus, nose), was given, which later be- came the name of a whole family. An- other member of the family was called Corculum, so that his full name was Pub- lius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Corculum. This expansion might continue indefi- nitely. Hence it is not always possible to distinguish between a nickname that ap- plied merely to an individual and an additional cognomen that marked one family.
CONFUSION OF NAMES
Such an elaborate system of nomencla- ture was almost sure to be misunderstood or misapplied. In the late Republic and under the Empire, the established order in names was disregarded, and confusion was caused by misuse of praenomina. Sometimes two are found in one name: Publius Aelius Alienus Archelaus Marcus. In very early times, the familiar prae- nomen Gaius must have been a nomen.
Similar irregularities occur in the use of nomina. Two in-a name were not un- common, one of which was sometimes derived from the mother’s family. Occa- sionally three or four nomina were used;
a consul in the year A.D. 169 had four- teen. As a nomen might later become a praenomen, so a praenomen might be- come a nomen. Cicero’s enemy, Lucius Sergius Catilina, had the nomen Sergius, which once had been a praenomen.
The cognomen was similarly abused. It ceased to denote a whole family, and was used to distinguish members of the same family, as the praenomina had originally been. The three sons of Marcus Annaeus Seneca were called Marcus Annaeus Nova- tus, Lucius Annaeus Seneca, and Lucius Annaeus Mela. The arrangement of the parts of a name might vary from time to time. In the consular lists we find the same man called Lucius Lucretius Tricipi- tinus Flavus in one place and Lucius Lu- cretius Flavus Tricipitinus in another.
There is even greater variation in the names of persons who passed from one family to another by adoption. Some formed their additional name from the cognomen, instead of from the nomen. Others used more than one nomen. The Elder Pliny adopted his sister's son, who then was called not C. Plinius Secundus Caecilius, but as we find in inscriptions, C. Plinius Caecilius Secundus.
The confusion increased during the Empire. The Younger Pliny had a friend Pompeius Falco, who in one inscription has thirteen names, while in a later one, his son has thirty-eight.
NAMES OF WOMEN
No definite system was followed in the choice and arrangement of women's names. Praenomina for women were few, and when used were apparently not abbre- viated. More common were the adjectives Maxima and Minor, and the numerals Secunda and Tertia. Unlike the numerals sometimes used as praenomina for men, these seem to have designated accurately
Julia, daughter of Titus
7 P. Cornelius Scipio Africanus Major
Probably Octavia, sister of Augustus
123
124
the individual’s position among a group of sisters. Usually an unmarried woman was called by her father’s nomen in its feminine form. To this was added her father’s cognomen in the genitive case— later followed by the letter f (/ilia) to mark the relationship—as Caecilia Me- telli. Julius Caesar's daughter was called Julia; Marcus Tullius Cicero's, Tullia. Sometimes a woman used her mother’s nomen after her father’s. Originally when a married woman came under her hus- band’s authority by the old patrician ceremony, she took his nomen, just as an adopted son took the name of the family into which he passed. It cannot be proved, however, that this custom was generally observed. In later forms of marriage, a wife retained her maiden name. Under the Empire the threefold name for women was in general use, with the same con- fusion in selection and arrangement as that which appeared in names of men.
NAMES OF SLAVES
Slaves had no more right to names of their own than they had to any property. They took such names as their masters gave them, and these did not descend to their children. In the simple life of early times a slave was called puer (boy). Until late in the Republic a slave was known only by this name, corrupted to por and affixed to the genitive of his master’s praenomen—Marcipor (Marci puer, Mar- cus. slave); Olipor (Auli puer, Aulus’ slave). When slaves became numerous, they were given individual names, which were usually foreign and indicated the slave's nationality. Sometimes, perhaps in mockery, slaves were given high-sound- ing names of Eastern potentates—such as Afer, Eleutheros, Pharnaces. By this time a slave had come to be called servus in- stead of puer.
Marciana, sister of Trajan
Toward the end of the Republic a slave's name consisted of his own name followed by the nomen and praenomen (the order is important) of his master. The last two names were in the genitive case, followed by the word servus: Phar- naces Egnatii Publii servus. When a slave passed from one master to another, he took the nomen of his new master, and added to the cognomen of his old master the suffix -anus. When Anna, the slave of Maecenas, became the property of Livia, she was called Anna Liviae serva Mae- cenatiana.
NAMES OF FREEDMEN
A freedman received the nomen of his master with any praenomen assigned, using his own name as a sort of cognomen. A master’s praenomen was frequently given, especially to a favorite slave. The freedman of a woman took the name of her father, as, Marcus Livius Augustae l
Ismarus. The letter | (libertus, freedman), was inserted in all formal documents.
A master might give a freedman any name he pleased. When Cicero freed Tiro and Dionysius, he called Tiro, according to custom, Marcus Tullius Tiro, but to Dionysius he gave his own praenomen with the nomen of his friend Titus Pom- ponius Atticus, so that the new name was Marcus Pomponius Dionysius. Descend- ants of freedmen, eager to hide traces of servile descent, dropped their individual names.
NATURALIZED CITIZENS
When a foreigner became a Roman citizen, he took a new name, formed on much the same principles as that of a freedman. He chose his own praenomen, and received the nomen of the person—
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always a Roman citizen—to whom he owed his citizenship. His original name was kept as a sort of cognomen. The most familiar example of a naturalized name is that of the Greek poet Archias, whom Cicero defended. When Archias was nat- uralized, his name became Aulus Licinius Archias. Because he had been attached to the family of the Luculli, he took as no- men that of his distinguished patron, Lucius Licinius Lucullus. His reason for selecting the praenomen Aulus is un- known. Gaius Valerius Caburus, a Gaul mentioned by Caesar in the Gallic War, took his name from Gaius Valerius Flac- cus, the governor of Gaul when Caburus became a Roman citizen. This custom of taking names of governors and generals is the reason for the frequent occurrence of the name Julius in Gaul, Pompeius in Spain, and Cornelius in Sicily.
The name on the sarcophagus is Cornelius Lucius Scipio Barbatus