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| The '''culture of ancient Rome''' existed throughout the almost 1200-year history of the ] of ]. The term refers to the culture of the ], later the ], which at its peak covered an area from ] and ] to the ]. | |||
| Life in ancient Rome revolved around the city of ], its famed ], and its monumental architecture such as the Flavian Amphitheatre (now called the ]), the ], and the ]. The city also had several ]s, ], and many ]s, ]s, and ]s. Throughout the territory under ancient Rome's control, ] ] ranged from very modest houses to ], and in the ] of Rome, there were imperial residences on the elegant ], from which the word ''palace'' is derived. The vast majority of the population lived in the city center, packed into '']'' (apartment blocks). | |||
| The city of Rome was the largest ] of that time, with a population that may well have exceeded one million people, with a high end estimate of 3.6 million and a low end estimate of 450,000. Historical estimates indicate that around 30% of the population under the city's jurisdiction lived in innumerable urban centers, with population of at least 10,000 and several military settlements, a very high rate of urbanization by pre-industrial standards. The most urbanized part of the Empire was ], which had an estimated rate of urbanization of 32%, the same rate of urbanization of England in 1800. Most Roman towns and cities had a ], temples and the same type of buildings, on a smaller scale, as found in Rome. The large urban population required an endless supply of food which was a complex ] task, including acquiring, transporting, storing and distribution of food for Rome and other urban centers. Italian farms supplied vegetables and fruits, but fish and meat were luxuries. ] were built to bring water to urban centers and ] and oil were imported from ], ] and ]. | |||
| There was a very large amount of commerce between the provinces of the Roman Empire, since its transportation technology was very efficient. The average costs of transport and the technology were comparable with 18th-century Europe. The later city of Rome did not fill the space within its ancient ] until after 1870. | |||
| Eighty percent of the population under the ] of ancient Rome lived in the countryside in settlements with less than 10 thousand inhabitants. Landlords generally resided in cities and their estates were left in the care of farm managers. The plight of rural ] was generally worse than their counterparts working in urban ] households. To stimulate a higher labor productivity most landlords freed a large number of slaves and many received wages. Some records indicate that "as many as 42 people lived in one small farm hut in ], while six families owned a single olive tree." {{Citation needed|date=February 2007}} <!--The villagers were also devoid of certain diversions like games and religious festivals --not true--> Such a rural environment continued to induce migration of population to urban centers until the early 2nd century when the urban population stopped growing and started to decline. | |||
| Starting in the middle of the 2nd century BC, private ] was increasingly in ascendancy, in spite of tirades against the "softening" effects of Hellenized culture from the conservative moralists. By the time of ], cultured Greek household slaves taught the Roman young (sometimes even the girls); chefs, decorators, secretaries, doctors, and hairdressers all came from the ]. Greek sculptures adorned Hellenistic landscape gardening on the Palatine or in the villas, or were imitated in Roman sculpture yards by Greek slaves. The ] preserved in the cookery books ascribed to ] is essentially Greek. Roman writers disdained ] for a cultured Greek style. Only in law and governance was the Italic nature of Rome's accretive culture supreme. | |||
| Against this human background, both the urban and rural setting, one of history's most influential civilizations took shape, leaving behind a cultural legacy that survives in part today. | |||
| ==Social structure== | |||
| {{Main|Social class in ancient Rome}} | |||
| The center of the early social structure, dating from the time of the agricultural tribal city state, was the family, which was not only marked by blood relations but also by the legally constructed relation of ]. The ] was the absolute head of the family; he was the master over his wife (if she was given to him ''sub manu'', otherwise the father of wife retained patria potestas), his children, the wives of his sons (again if married ''sub manu'' which became rarer towards the end of the Republic), the nephews, the slaves and the freedmen (liberated slaves, the first generation still legally inferior to the freeborn), disposing of them and of their goods at will, even having them put to death. | |||
| ] and slaves were part of the social order. The slaves were mostly prisoners of war. There were ]s where they could be bought and sold. Roman law was not consistent about the status of slaves, except that they were considered like any other ] ]. Many slaves were freed by the masters for fine services rendered; some slaves could save money to buy their freedom. Generally ] and ] of slaves was prohibited by legislation,{{citation needed|date=January 2012}} although outrageous cruelty continued. | |||
| Apart from these families (called ''gentes'') and the slaves (legally objects, mancipia i.e. "kept in the hand") there were ] that did not exist from a legal perspective. They had no legal capacity and were not able to make contracts, even though they were not slaves. To deal with this problem, the so-called '']'' was created. By this institution, a plebeian joined the family of a patrician (in a legal sense) and could close contracts by mediation of his patrician ''pater familias''. Everything the plebeian possessed or acquired legally belonged to the ]. He was not allowed to form his own gens. | |||
| The authority of the pater familias was unlimited, be it in civil rights as well as in criminal law. The king's duty was to be head over the military, to deal with foreign politics and also to decide on controversies between the gentes. The patricians were divided into three tribes (Ramnenses, Titientes, Luceres). | |||
| During the time of the ] (founded in 509 BC) ] were allowed to vote. These included ] and ]. Women, slaves, and children were not allowed to vote. | |||
| There were two assemblies, the assembly of centuries (''comitia centuriata'') and the assembly of tribes (''comitia tributa''), which were made up of all the citizens of Rome. In the ''comitia centuriata'' the Romans were divided according to age, wealth and residence. The citizens in each tribe were divided into five classes based on property and then each group was subdivided into two centuries by age. All in all, there were 373 centuries. Like the assembly of tribes, each century had one vote. The ] elected the ]s (judicial magistrates), the ], and the ]. | |||
| The ''comitia tributa'' comprised thirty-five tribes from Rome and the country. Each tribe had a single vote. The ] elected the ] (financial magistrates) and the patrician ]. | |||
| Over time, ] evolved considerably, as well as social views, emancipating (to increasing degrees) family members. Justice greatly increased, as well. The Romans became more efficient at considering laws and punishments. | |||
| Life in the ancient Roman cities revolved around the ], the ], where most of the Romans would go for ], ], ], ], and for participating in festivities and ceremonies. The Forum was also a place where orators would express themselves to mould ], and elicit support for any particular issue of interest to them or others. Before ], children would go to schools or tutoring them at home would commence. Elders would dress, take a breakfast by 11 o'clock, have a nap and in the afternoon or evening would generally go to the Forum. Going to a public bath at least once daily was a habit with most Roman ]s. There were separate baths for men and women. The main difference was that the women's baths were smaller than the men's, and did not have a ''frigidarium'' (cold room) or a ''palaestra'' (exercise area). {{citation needed|date=January 2012}} | |||
| Different types of outdoor and indoor entertainment, free of cost, were available in ancient Rome. Depending on the nature of the events, they were scheduled during daytime, afternoons, evenings, or late nights. Huge crowds gathered at the ] to watch events like ]s, combats between men, or fights between men and wild animals. The ] was used for chariot racing. | |||
| Life in the countryside was slow but lively, with numerous local ]s and social events. Farms were run by the farm managers, but estate owners would sometimes take a retreat to the countryside for rest, enjoying the splendor of nature and the sunshine, including activities like fishing, hunting, and riding. On the other hand, slave labor slogged on continuously, for long hours and all seven days, and ensuring comforts and creating wealth for their masters. The average farm owners were better off, spending evenings in economic and social interactions at the village ]s. The day ended with a meal, generally left over from the noontime preparations. | |||
| ===Clothing=== | |||
| {{Main|Clothing in ancient Rome}} | |||
| ]]] | |||
| In ancient Rome, the cloth and the dress distinguished one class of people from the other class. The tunic worn by ] (common people) like shepherds was made from coarse and dark material, whereas the ] worn by ] was of linen or white wool. A magistrate would wear the ''tunica angusticlavi''; senators wore tunics with purple stripes (''clavi''), called ''tunica laticlavi''. Military tunics were shorter than the ones worn by civilians. | |||
| The many types of togas were also named. Boys, up until the festival of ], wore the ''toga praetexta'', which was a toga with a crimson or purple border, also worn by magistrates in office. The ''toga virilis'', (or ''toga pura'') or man's toga was worn by men over the age of 16 to signify their citizenship in Rome. The ''toga picta'' was worn by triumphant generals and had embroidery of their skill on the battlefield. The ''toga pulla'' was worn when in mourning. | |||
| Even ] indicated a person’s social status. Patricians wore red and orange ], senators had brown footwear, consuls had white shoes, and soldiers wore heavy boots. Women wore closed shoes of colors such as white, yellow, or green. | |||
| The ] was a ]-like amulet worn by children. When about to marry, the woman would donate her bulla(sometimes called partha) to the household gods, along with her toys, to signify maturity and womanhood. {{citation needed|date= January 2012}} | |||
| Men typically wore a ], and women wore a ]. | |||
| The woman's ''stola'' was a dress worn over a tunic, and was usually brightly colored. A ''fibula'' (or brooch) would be used as ornamentation or to hold the stola in place. A ''palla'', or shawl, was often worn with the ''stola''. | |||
| ===Food=== | |||
| {{Main|Ancient Roman cuisine|Grain supply to the city of Rome}} | |||
| Since the beginning of the Republic until 200 BC, ancient Romans had very simple food habits. Simple food was generally consumed at around 11 o’clock, and consisted of bread, salad, olives, cheese, fruits, nuts, and cold meat left over from the dinner the night before. Breakfast was called ''ientaculum'', lunch was ''prandium'', and dinner was called ''cena''. Appetizers were called ''gustatio'', and dessert was called ''secunda mensa (or second table)''. Usually, a nap or rest followed this. | |||
| The family ate together, sitting on ]s around a ]. Later on, a separate dining room with dining couches was designed, called a ''triclinium''. Fingers were used to take foods which were prepared beforehand and brought to the diners to be handled with fingers. ]s were used for soups. | |||
| ], Pompeii)]] | |||
| Wine was considered a staple drink, consumed at all meals and occasions by all classes and was quite cheap; however, it was always mixed with water.{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}} | |||
| This was the case even during explicit evening drinking events (''comissatio'') where an important part of the festivity was choosing an ''arbiter bibendi'' (Judge of Drinking) who was, among other things, responsible for deciding the ratio of wine to water in the drinking wine. Wine to water ratios of 1:2, 1:3, or 1:4 were commonly used. Many types of drinks involving grapes and honey were consumed, as well. ''Mulsum'' was honeyed wine, ''mustum'' was grape juice, ''mulsa'' was honeyed water. The per-person-consumption of wine per day in the city of Rome has been estimated at 0.8 to 1.1 gallons for males, and about 0.5 gallons for females. Even the notoriously strict ] recommended distributing a daily ration of low quality wine of more than 0.5 gallons among the slaves forced to work on farms. {{Citation needed|date=September 2008}} | |||
| Drinking non-watered wine on an empty stomach was regarded as boorish and a sure sign of ] whose debilitating physical and psychological effects were already recognized in ancient Rome. An accurate accusation of being an alcoholic—in the gossip-crazy society of the city bound to come to light and easily verified—was a favorite and damaging way to discredit political rivals employed by some of Rome's greatest orators like ] and ]. Prominent Roman alcoholics include ], Cicero's own son Marcus (]) and the emperor ] whose soldiers gave him the unflattering nickname Biberius Caldius Mero (lit. boozer of pure wine, Sueton Tib. 42,1). ] was also known as a heavy drinker, frequently found stumbling home disoriented and the worse for wear in the early hours of morning by fellow citizens. | |||
| During the Imperial period, ] of the lower class Romans (plebeians) was vegetable ] and ], and occasionally ], ], ]s and ]s. Sometimes, subsidized or free foods were distributed in cities. The patrician's aristocracy had elaborate dinners, with parties and wines and a variety of comestibles. Sometimes, dancing girls would entertain the diners. Women and children ate separately, but in the later Empire period, with permissiveness creeping in, even decent women would attend such dinner parties. | |||
| ===Education=== | |||
| {{Main|Roman school}} | |||
| Schooling in a more formal sense was begun around 200 BC. Education began at the age of around six, and in the next six to seven years, boys and girls were expected to learn the basics of ], ] and ]. By the age of twelve, they would be learning ], ], ] and ], followed by training for ]. ] was an art to be practiced and learnt and good orators commanded respect; to become an effective orator was one of the objectives of ] and ]. Poor children could not afford education. In some cases, services of gifted slaves were utilized for imparting education. | |||
| ==Language== | |||
| {{Main|Latin}} | |||
| ] from ]; Latin was the language of the military throughout the Empire]] | |||
| The native language of the Romans was ], an ] in the ]. Several forms of Latin existed, and the language evolved considerably over time, eventually becoming the ] spoken today. Silver Age Latin was the most popular. | |||
| Initially a highly ]al and ], older forms of Latin rely little on ], conveying meaning through a system of ]es attached to ]s. Like other Indo-European languages, Latin gradually became much more analytic over time and acquired conventionalized word orders as it lost more and more of its ] and associated inflections. Its alphabet, the ], is based on the ], which is in turn derived from the ]. The Latin alphabet is still used today to write most European and many other languages. | |||
| Although surviving ] consists almost entirely of ], an artificial and highly stylized and polished ] from the 1st century BC, the actual spoken language of the Roman Empire was ], which significantly differed from Classical Latin in grammar, vocabulary, and eventually pronunciation. Also, although Latin remained the main written language of the Roman Empire, ] came to be the language spoken by the well-educated elite, as most of the literature studied by Romans was written in Greek. In the eastern half of the Roman Empire, which became the ]; Greek was the main lingua franca as it had been since the time of ], while Latin was mostly used by the Roman administration and its soldiers. Eventually Greek would supplant Latin as both the official written and spoken language of the ], while the various dialects of Vulgar Latin used in the ] evolved into the modern ] still used today. | |||
| The expansion of the Roman Empire spread Latin throughout Europe, and over time Vulgar Latin evolved and ]ized in different locations, gradually shifting into a number of distinct ]s beginning in around the 9th century. Many of these languages, including ], ], ], ], and ], flourished, the differences between them growing greater over time. | |||
| Although ] is ] rather than Romanic in origin—] was a ], but the Roman presence in Britain had effectively disappeared by the time of the ] invasions—English today borrows heavily from Latin and Latin-derived words. ] borrowings were relatively sparse and drew mainly from ecclesiastical usage after the Christianization of England. When ] invaded England from ] in 1066, he brought with him a considerable number of retainers who spoke ], a Romance language derived from Latin. Anglo-Norman French remained the language of the English upper classes for centuries, and the number of Latinate words in English increased immensely through borrowing during this ] period. More recently, during the ] period, the revival of interest in classical culture during the ] led to a great deal of conscious adaptation of words from Classical Latin authors into English. | |||
| Although Latin is an ] with very few remaining fluent speakers, it remains in use in many ways. In particular, Latin has survived through ], the traditional language of the ] and one of the official languages of the ]. Although distinct from both Classical and Vulgar Latin in a number of ways, Ecclesiastical Latin was more stable than typical ]. More Classical sensibilities eventually re-emerged in the ] with ]. Due to both the prevalence of ] and the enduring influence of the Roman civilization, Latin became western Europe's '']'', a language used to cross international borders, such as for academic and diplomatic usage. A deep knowledge of classical Latin was a standard part of the educational curriculum in many western countries until well into the 20th century, and is still taught in many schools today. Although it was eventually supplanted in this respect by French in the 19th century and English in the 20th, Latin continues to see heavy use in religious, legal, and scientific terminology, and in ] in general. | |||
| ==The Arts== | |||
| ===Literature=== | |||
| {{Main|Roman literature}} | |||
| ] | |||
| Roman literature was from its very inception influenced heavily by Greek authors. Some of the earliest works we possess are of historical epics telling the early military history of Rome. As the Republic expanded, authors began to produce poetry, comedy, history, and tragedy. | |||
| During the reign of the early emperors of Rome there was a golden age of historical literature. Works such as the ']' of ], the ']' by ] and ']' by ] have been passed down to us. Unfortunately, in the case of Livy, much of the script has been lost and we are left with a few specific areas: the founding of the city, the war with ], and its aftermath. | |||
| ] represents the pinnacle of Roman epic poetry. His '']'' was produced at the request of ] and tells the story of flight of Aeneas from ] and his settlement of the city that would become Rome. ], in his '']'', attempted to explicate ] in an epic poem. Some of his science seems remarkably modern, but other ideas, especially his theory of light, are no longer accepted. Later ] produced his '']'', written in ] verse, the meter of epic, attempting a complete mythology from the creation of the earth to his own time. He unifies his subject matter through the theme of metamorphosis. It was noted in classical times that Ovid's work lacked the '']'' possessed by traditional epic poetry. | |||
| ] and the associated group of neoteric poets produced poetry following the Alexandrian model, which experimented with poetic forms challenging tradition. Catullus was also the first Roman poet to produce love poetry, seemingly autobiographical, which depicts an affair with a woman called Lesbia. Under the reign of the Emperor ], ] continued the tradition of shorter poems, with his Odes and Epodes. ], writing under the Emperor ], was a famed author of ]s, poems which were often abusive and censured public figures. | |||
| The genre of satire was traditionally regarded as a Roman innovation, and satires were written by, among others, ] and ]. Some of the most popular plays of the early Republic were comedies, especially those of ], a freed Roman slave captured during the ]. | |||
| A great deal of the literary work produced by Roman authors in the early Republic was political or satirical in nature. The ]al works of ], a self-distinguished linguist, translator, and philosopher, in particular, were popular. In addition, Cicero's personal letters are considered to be one of the best bodies of correspondence recorded in antiquity. | |||
| ===Visual art=== | |||
| {{Main|Roman art}} | |||
| {{Expand section|date=June 2008}} | |||
| Most early Roman painting styles show ] influences, particularly in the practice of political painting. In the 3rd century BCE, Greek art taken as booty from wars became popular, and many Roman homes were decorated with landscapes by Greek artists. Evidence from the remains at Pompeii shows diverse influence from cultures spanning the Roman world. | |||
| ]'', perhaps the ]]] | |||
| An early Roman style of note was "Incrustation", in which the interior walls of houses were painted to resemble colored marble. Another style consisted of painting interiors as open landscapes, with highly detailed scenes of plants, animals, and buildings. | |||
| Portrait sculpture during the period utilized youthful and classical proportions, evolving later into a mixture of realism and idealism. During the Antonine and Severan periods, more ornate hair and bearding became prevalent, created with deeper cutting and drilling. Advancements were also made in relief sculptures, usually depicting Roman victories. | |||
| ===Music=== | |||
| {{Main|Music of ancient Rome}} | |||
| Music was a major part everyday life in ancient Rome. Many private and public events were accompanied by music, ranging from nightly dining to military parades and manoeuvres. In a discussion of any ancient music, however, non-specialists and even many musicians have to be reminded that much of what makes our modern music familiar to us is the result of developments only within the last 1000 years; thus, our ideas of melody, scales, harmony, and even the instruments we use would not be familiar to Romans who made and listened to music many centuries earlier. | |||
| Some of the instruments used in Roman music are the Tuba, Cornu, Aulos, Askaules, Flute, Panpipes, Lyre, Lute, Cithara, Timpani, Aulos, Auloi, Drums, Hydraulis and the Sistrum. | |||
| ===Architecture=== | |||
| {{Main|Roman architecture}} | |||
| ] in Rome]] | |||
| In the initial stages of death, the ancient Roman architecture reflected elements of architectural styles of the Etruscans and the Greeks. Over a period of time, the style was modified in tune with their urban requirements, and the ] and ] ] ] became developed and refined. The Roman ] has remained a riddle,<ref>, By David Moore, P.E., 1995, Retired Professional Engineer, Bureau of Reclamation (This article first appeared in "The Spillway" a newsletter of the US Dept. of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Upper Colorado Region, February, 1993)</ref> and even after more than two thousand years some of ancient Roman structures still stand magnificently, like the ] (with one of the largest single span domes in the world) located in the business district of today’s Rome. | |||
| The architectural style of the capital city of ancient Rome was emulated by other urban centers under Roman control and influence,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://harpy.uccs.edu/roman/html/ |title=Roman Art and Architecture |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20060908065349/http://harpy.uccs.edu/roman/html/ |archivedate=September 8, 2006 |website=UCCS.edu |accessdate=July 14, 2013}}</ref> like the ], ], ]; ], ], ]; ], ], ]; a ], ]; and at several other locations, for example, ], located in Libya.<ref> - Window on the Roman World in North Africa</ref> Roman cities were well planned, efficiently managed and neatly maintained. ]s, private ]s and ]s, were elaborately designed and ] was comprehensive with provisions for different activities by the urban resident population, and for countless migratory population of travelers, traders and visitors passing through their cities. | |||
| ], a 1st-century BCE Roman architect’s treatise “],” with various sections, dealing with urban planning, building materials, temple construction, public and private buildings, and ], remained a classic text until the ]. | |||
| ==Sports and entertainment== | |||
| The ancient city of Rome had a place called the Campus, a sort of drill ground for Roman soldiers, which was located near the ]. Later, the Campus became Rome’s track and field playground, which even Julius Caesar and ] were said to have frequented. Imitating the Campus in Rome, similar grounds were developed in several other urban centers and military settlements. | |||
| In the campus, the youth assembled to play, exercise, and perform inappropriate acts, which included ], ], ] and ]. ], ], and ] were also preferred physical activities. In the countryside, ]s also included ] and ]. Females did not participate in these activities. Ball playing was a popular sport and ancient Romans had several ]s, which included Handball (Expulsim Ludere), field hockey, catch, and some form of Football. | |||
| ]s played in ancient Rome included dice (Tesserae or ]), Roman chess (]), Roman ] (Calculi), ] (Terni Lapilli), and ] and ], predecessors of backgammon. | |||
| There were several other activities to keep people engaged like chariot races, musical and theatrical performances, public ]s and ]ial combat. In the ], Rome’s ], 60,000 persons could be accommodated. There are also accounts of the Colosseum’s floor being flooded to hold mock naval battles for the public to watch. | |||
| ==Religion== | |||
| {{Main|Religion in ancient Rome}} | |||
| {{Ancient Roman religion}} | |||
| The Romans thought of themselves as highly religious, and attributed their success as a world power to their collective piety ''(])'' in maintaining ]. According to ], most of Rome's religious institutions could be traced to its ], particularly ], the ] second ], who negotiated directly with the gods. This archaic religion was the foundation of the '']'', "the way of the ancestors" or simply "tradition", viewed as central to Roman identity. | |||
| The priesthoods of public religion were held by members of the ]. There was no principle analogous to "]" in ancient Rome. During the ] (509 BC–27 BC), the same men who were ] served as ]s and ]. Priests married, raised families, and led politically active lives. ] became ] before he was elected ]. The augurs read the will of the gods and supervised the marking of boundaries as a reflection of universal order, thus sanctioning Roman ] as a matter of divine destiny. The ] was at its core a religious procession in which the victorious general displayed his piety and his willingness to serve the public good by dedicating a portion of his spoils to the gods, especially ], who embodied just rule. As a result of the ] (264–146 BC), when Rome struggled to establish itself as a dominant power, many new ] were built by magistrates in ] to a deity for assuring their military success. | |||
| Roman religion was thus practical and contractual, based on the principle of '']'', "I give that you might give." Religion depended on knowledge and the ] of prayer, ritual, and sacrifice, not on faith or dogma, although ] preserves learned speculation on the nature of the divine and its relation to human affairs. Even the most skeptical among Rome's intellectual elite such as ], who was an augur, saw religion as a source of social order. | |||
| For ordinary Romans, religion was a part of daily life.<ref>], "Roman Religion – Religions of Rome," in ''A Companion to Roman Religion'' (Blackwell, 2007), p. 4.</ref> Each home had a household shrine at which prayers and ]s to the family's domestic deities were offered. Neighborhood shrines and sacred places such as springs and groves dotted the city. The ] was structured around religious observances. In the ], as many as 135 days of the year were devoted to ] and games (''])''.<ref>Matthew Bunson, ''A Dictionary of the Roman Empire'' (Oxford University Press, 1995), p. 246.</ref> ], ], and children all participated in a range of religious activities. Some public rituals could be conducted only by women, and women formed what is perhaps Rome's most famous priesthood, the state-supported ], who tended Rome's sacred hearth for centuries, until disbanded under Christian domination. | |||
| The Romans are known for the ] they honored. The presence of ] from the beginning of the historical period influenced Roman culture, introducing some religious practices that became as fundamental as the cult of ]. The Romans looked for common ground between their major gods and those of the Greeks, adapting ] and iconography for Latin literature and Roman art. ] was also a major influence, particularly on the practice of augury, since Rome had once been ruled by Etruscan kings. | |||
| Imported ], which offered initiates salvation in the afterlife, were a matter of personal choice for an individual, practiced in addition to carrying on one's ] and participating in public religion. The mysteries, however, involved exclusive oaths and secrecy, conditions that conservative Romans viewed with suspicion as characteristic of "]", conspiracy (''coniuratio''), and subversive activity. Sporadic and sometimes brutal attempts were made to suppress religionists who seemed to threaten traditional morality and unity, as with the ]'s efforts to ] in 186 BC. | |||
| As the Romans extended their dominance throughout the Mediterranean world, their policy in general was to absorb the deities and cults of other peoples rather than try to eradicate them,<ref>"This mentality," notes John T. Koch, "lay at the core of the genius of cultural assimilation which made the Roman Empire possible"; entry on "Interpretatio romana," in ''Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia'' (ABC-Clio, 2006), p. 974.</ref> since they believed that preserving tradition promoted social stability.<ref>Rüpke, "Roman Religion – Religions of Rome," p. 4; Benjamin H. Isaac, ''The Invention of Racism in Classical Antiquity'' (Princeton University Press, 2004, 2006), p. 449; W.H.C. Frend, ''Martyrdom and Persecution in the Early Church: A Study of Conflict from the Maccabees to Donatus'' (Doubleday, 1967), p. 106.</ref> One way that Rome incorporated diverse peoples was by supporting their religious heritage, building temples to local deities that framed their theology within the hierarchy of Roman religion. Inscriptions throughout the Empire record the side-by-side worship of local and Roman deities, including dedications made by Romans to local gods.<ref>Janet Huskinson, ''Experiencing Rome: Culture, Identity and Power in the Roman Empire'' (Routledge, 2000), p. 261.</ref> By the height of the Empire, numerous ] were cultivated at Rome and had been carried to even the most remote ], among them ], ], ], and gods of ] such as ] and ], found as far north as ]. Because Romans had never been obligated to cultivate one god or one cult only, ] was not an issue in the sense that it is for competing ] systems.<ref>A classic essay on this topic is ], "The Disadvantages of Monotheism for a Universal State," ''Classical Philology'' 81.4 (1986) 285–297.</ref> The monotheistic rigor of ] posed difficulties for Roman policy that led at times to compromise and the granting of special exemptions, but sometimes to intractable conflict. | |||
| In the wake of the ], state religion had adapted to support the new ]. ], the first Roman emperor, justified the novelty of one-man rule with a vast program of religious revivalism and reform. ] formerly made for the security of the republic now were directed at the wellbeing of the emperor. So-called "emperor worship" expanded on a grand scale the traditional Roman ] and of the '']'', the divine ] of every individual. ] became one of the major ways Rome advertised its presence in the provinces and cultivated shared cultural identity and loyalty throughout the Empire. Rejection of the state religion was tantamount to treason. This was the context for Rome's conflict with ], which Romans variously regarded as a form of atheism and novel '']''. | |||
| From the 2nd century onward, the ] began to condemn the diverse religions practiced throughout the Empire collectively as "pagan."<ref>See Peter Brown, in Bowersock ''et al'', ''Late antiquity: a guide to the postclassical world'', Harvard University Press, (1999), for "pagan" as a mark of socio-religious inferiority in Latin Christian polemic: </ref> In the early 4th century, ] became the first emperor to ], launching the era of Christian ]. The emperor ] made a short-lived attempt to revive traditional and ] and to affirm the special status of Judaism, but in 391 under ] ] Christianity became the official ], to the exclusion of all others. Pleas for religious tolerance from traditionalists such as the senator ] (d. 402) were rejected, and Christian monotheism became a feature of imperial domination. ] as well as non-Christians were subject to exclusion from public life or persecution, but Rome's original religious hierarchy and many aspects of its ritual influenced Christian forms,<ref>Stefan Heid, "The Romanness of Roman Christianity," in ''A Companion to Roman Religion'' (Blackwell, 2007), pp. 406–426; on vocabulary in particular, Robert Schilling, "The Decline and Survival of Roman Religion", ''Roman and European Mythologies'' (University of Chicago Press, 1992, from the French edition of 1981), p. 110.</ref> and many pre-Christian beliefs and practices survived in Christian festivals and local traditions. | |||
| ==Philosophy== | |||
| ] from ] depicting the ] of ]]] | |||
| Two major philosophical schools of thought that derived from Greek religion and philosophy that became prominent in ] in the 1st and 2nd century AD was ]ism and ] which, according to Cora Lutz were “fairly well merged” in the early years of the ]. ]ism taught that civilization was corrupt and people needed to break away from it and its trappings and ] taught that one must give up all earthly goods by remaining detached from civilization and help others. Because of their negative views on civilization and of their way of life, in where many of them just wore a dirty cloak, carried a staff, and a coin purse, and slept outdoors, they were the targets of the Roman aristocracy and of the emperor and many were persecuted by the Roman government for being "subversive". The philosopher ] attacked the Cynics in his book "The Philosophies for Sale" in which he mocked the Cynics by stating "First...stripping you of your luxury...I will put a cloak on you...Next I will compel you to undergo pains and hardships, sleeping on the ground, drinking nothing but water...Leading this life you will say that your are happier than the Great King...Frequent the most crowded market place...and in desire to be solitary and uncommunicative..." | |||
| ==See also== | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| ==References== | |||
| <references/> | |||
| ==Bibliography== | |||
| * Elizabeth S. Cohen, ''Honor and Gender in the Streets of Early Modern Rome'', ''], Vol. 22, No. 4 (Spring, 1992), pp. 597-625 | |||
| *], '']'' | |||
| *Tom Holland, ''The Last Years of the Roman Republic'' ISBN 0-385-50313-X | |||
| *], 2000. ''Romanization in the Time of Augustus'' (Yale University Press) | |||
| *], editor, 1992. ''A History of Private Life: I From Pagan Rome to Byzantium'' (Belknap Press of Harvard University Press) | |||
| *Karl Wilhelm Weeber, 2008. ''Nachtleben im Alten Rom'' (Primusverlag) | |||
| *Karl Wilhelm Weeber, 2005. ''Die Weinkultur der Römer'' | |||
| *J.H. D'Arms, 1995. ''Heavy drinking and drunkenness in the Roman world'', in O.Murray ''In Vino Veritas'' | |||
| ==External links== | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| {{Ancient Rome topics}} | |||
| {{DEFAULTSORT:Culture Of Ancient Rome}} | |||
| ] | |||
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