The Roman Way of Life

The Roman Way of Life

Lesson 1

Daily Life

Rome was one of the largest and most carefully planned cities in the ancient world. More than a million people lived in Rome by about a.d. 1. It had a public square called the Forum. Romans shopped, conducted business, played games, and visited with friends in this area.

Wealthy people lived in big houses built around courtyards. Most Romans were poor and did unskilled labor. They lived in apartment buildings. Those neighborhoods were crowded, noisy, and dirty.

Politicians offered free food and entertainment to gain the support of the poor. People watched chariot races. They also watched gladiators fight each other or even wild animals to entertain the crowds.

Daily Life Cont....

Roman families were large. Fathers had control over their families. They could even sell their children into slavery. Children of wealthy families received an education. Sons went to school to learn reading, writing, math, and rhetoric, or public speaking. Children of poor families could not afford to go to school. Poor people learned just enough reading, writing, and math to help them conduct business.

Wives of wealthy, powerful men had more freedom than those with less money. They could own land. They could hire enslaved people to do their housework, so they had free time to study art and literature, and go out for entertainment. Women with little money generally worked in the family business and took care of their households.

Open Ended

What did politicians do to make people like them?

Open Ended

Why did the wives of wealthy men have time for study and

entertainment?

Daily Life Cont...

The use of enslaved persons in Rome became more common as the empire grew larger. Most enslaved people were prisoners of war. They worked in homes and on farms. They also helped build roads, bridges, and buildings.

Romans believed that gods and spirits controlled all parts of life. Greek gods and goddesses were popular in Rome, but the Romans gave them new names. The Roman Senate declared that the emperors were gods. The Romans worshiped their gods by praying and offering food to them.

Daily Life Cont...

Romans borrowed ideas such as Stoicism from the Greeks and changed them to fit their culture. For Greeks, Stoicism meant finding happiness through reason. For the Romans, it meant living in a practical way. Roman Stoics urged people to do their civic duty and participate in government. These ideas are still important to us today.

Open Ended

Why was the family important in Roman life?

Open Ended

How have the roles of women changed?

Open Ended

How do the roles of men in Rome compare to the roles of men today?

Science and Art

The Romans used many features of Greek writing, art, and architecture, but changed them to fit Roman style. Like the Greeks, Roman artists created statues. Greek statues showed perfect and beautiful people. Roman statues, on the other hand, showed people that looked more realistic.

Some Roman writers based their work on Greek models. The poet Horace based his satires and odes on Greek works. Satires poke fun at human weakness, like comedians do today. Odes are poems that express strong emotions about life. Other Romans wrote plays. Unlike the Greeks, however, Romans wrote comedies about their gods as well as plays that honored them.

Open Ended

How were satires different from odes?

Science and Art Cont..

Romans added new ideas to architecture. Architecture is the art of making structures, such as buildings. Romans built with concrete. They added arches. By putting many arches together, they could form a vault, or curved ceiling. Curved ceilings created beautiful domes. Using domes, the Romans were able to build large, open rooms.

Open Ended

Describe an improvement Romans made to Greek architecture.

Science and Art Cont....

Romans also learned science from the Greeks. They studied the work of a Greek doctor named Galen. Galen studied anatomy to learn about the body’s structure.

Roman engineers built practical things such as bridges, buildings, and roads. Roads connected the city of Rome to every part of the empire. This allowed soldiers to travel quickly. Traders used the roads so trade grew. The Romans also built aqueducts that carried fresh water into the cities.

Science and Art Cont...

The Romans influenced future generations. Concrete and other elements of Roman architecture are still used today. Until about a.d.

1500, Latin, the language of the Romans, was the official language of European government, trade, and learning. Latin is the basis of many modern languages, such as Italian, French, and Spanish.

Open Ended

Name a way engineers changed and improved the lives of people throughout the empire?

Open Ended

Why was Latin such and important language?