LLife ife ininAAncient ncient RRomeome

73 B.C.Spartacus leadsrevolt ofenslaved people

c. A.D. 80Colosseumcompleted

ConstantinopleRomeSPAIN

GAUL

BRITAIN

ITALY

GREECE

PALESTINEEGYPT

100 B.C. A.D. 1 A.D. 100100 B.C. A.D. 1 A.D. 100

302 CHAPTER 9 Roman Civilization

c. 10 B.C.Livy writes hisHistory of Rome

What’s the Connection?You have already learned about

Rome’s rise to power. Life in Romewas not easy, but as the empire grew,its people accomplished many thingsin art, science, and engineering.

Focusing on the • In addition to their own developments

in science and engineering, Romanartists and writers borrowed manyideas from the Greeks. (page 303)

• The rich and poor had very differentlives in the Roman Empire, as didmen and women. (page 306)

Meeting PeopleVirgil (VUHR• juhl)Horace (HAWR•uhs)Galen (GAY• luhn)Ptolemy (TAH• luh•mee)Spartacus (SPAHR•tuh•kuhs)

Building Your Vocabularyvault (VAWLT)satire (SA•TYR)ode (OHD)anatomy (uh•NA•tuh•mee)Forum (FOHR•uhm)gladiator (GLA•dee•AY•tuhr)paterfamilias

(PA•tuhr• fuh•MIH• lee•uhs)rhetoric (REH•tuh•rihk)

Reading StrategyCompare and Contrast Use a Venndiagram like the one below to showsimilarities and differences betweenthe rich and the poor in Rome.

RomanRich

RomanPoor

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Roman CultureIn addition to their own developments

in science and engineering, Roman artists and writ-ers borrowed many ideas from the Greeks.

Reading Focus Are there people in your life that you

admire? What have you learned from them? Read to

find out what the Romans learned from the Greeks.

The Romans admired and studied Greekstatues, buildings, and ideas. They copiedthe Greeks in many ways. However, theychanged what they borrowed to suit theirown needs. In one important way, theRomans were very different from theGreeks. The Greeks loved to talk about ideas.To the Romans, ideas were only important ifthey could solve everyday problems.

What Was Roman Art Like? The Romansadmired Greek art and architecture. Theyplaced Greek-style statues in their homesand public buildings. Roman artists, how-ever, carved statues that looked differentfrom those of the Greeks. Greek statueswere made to look perfect. People wereshown young, healthy, and with beautifulbodies. Roman statues were more realistic

and included wrinkles, warts, and otherless attractive features.

In building, the Romans also turned tothe Greeks for ideas. They used Greek-styleporches and rows of columns called colon-nades. But they also added their own fea-tures, such as arches and domes. Romanbuilders were the first to make full use ofthe arch. Arches supported bridges, aque-ducts, and buildings. Rows of arches wereoften built against one another to form avault (VAWLT), or curved ceiling. Using thistechnique, the Romans were able to builddomes from many rings of shaped stone.

The Romans were the first people toinvent and use concrete, a mixture of vol-canic ash, lime, and water. When it dried,this mix was as hard as rock. Concretemade buildings sturdier and allowed themto be built taller.

Rome’s concrete buildings were so wellbuilt that many still stand today. One of themost famous is the Colosseum, completedabout A.D. 80. It was a huge arena that couldseat about 60,000 people. Another famousbuilding is the Pantheon, a temple built tohonor Rome’s gods. The Pantheon’s domedroof was the largest of its time.

This Roman bridge still stands in Spain. In what otherstructures were arches used?

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Roman Literature Roman authors basedmuch of their writing on Greek works. Forexample, the Roman writer Virgil (VUHR •juhl) drew some of his ideas from Homer’sOdyssey. Virgil’s epic poem, the Aeneid (uh •NEE • uhd), describes the adventures of theTrojan prince Aeneas and how he came toItaly. Virgil presents Aeneas as the idealRoman—brave, self-controlled, and loyal tothe gods.

Rome’s other famous writers alsolooked to the Greeks for inspiration. UsingGreek models, the poet Horace (HAWR •uhs)wrote satires (SA • TYRZ). These works pokedfun at human weaknesses. Horace alsocomposed odes (OHDZ), or poems thatexpress strong emotions about life. The

Roman writer Ovid wrote works that werebased on the Greek myths. The poet Catullusalso admired Greek writings. He wrote shortpoems about love, sadness, and envy.

Like the Greeks, Rome’s histori-ans recorded the events of their civi-lization. One of Rome’s most famoushistorians was Livy. He wrote hisHistory of Rome about 10 B.C. In thisbook, Livy describes Rome’s rise topower. Livy greatly admired thedeeds of the early Romans, and hebelieved that history had importantmoral lessons to teach people.

Livy celebrated Rome’s great-ness, but the Roman historian Tacitus

took a darker view. He believed thatRome’s emperors had taken people’s free-dom. Tacitus also thought Romans werelosing the values that made them strong.He accused them of wasting time on sportsand other pleasures.

Also like the Greeks, the Romansenjoyed plays. Roman plays were oftenbased on Greek tragedies and comedies.Playwrights such as the tragedy writerSeneca and the comedy writers Plautus andTerence wrote plays for religious festivals.Romans especially liked plays with humor.

Roman authors influenced later writersin Europe and America, but the language ofthe Romans, Latin, had an even biggerimpact on future generations. Latin becameEurope’s language for government, trade,and learning until about A.D. 1500. Latinbecame the basis of many modernEuropean languages, such as Italian,French, and Spanish, and shaped manyothers. Many of the English words we usetoday come from Latin as well.

Roman Science and Engineering TheRomans also learned from Greek science. AGreek doctor named Galen (GAY • luhn)

304 CHAPTER 9 Roman Civilization

The Book ofEpodes

In this poem excerpt, Horace praises thelifestyle of those who farm their fam-ily’s land.“Happy the man who, far frombusiness and affairs

Like mortals of the earlytimes,

May work his father’s fieldswith oxen of his own,

Exempt [free] from profit,loss, and fee,

Not like the soldier roused bysavage trumpet’s blare,

Not terrified by seas in rage,

Avoiding busy forums and the haughty doors

Of influencial citizens.”—Horace, The Book of Epodes

According to Horace, what kinds of thingsdoes the farmer avoid?

Horace

Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, France, Giraudon/Bridgeman Art Library

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The Colosseum in Rome could hold some 60,000 people.The arena even had a removable canvas awning to protect spectators from the hot Roman sun.What was concrete made from?

305

brought many medical ideas to Rome. Forexample, he emphasized the importance ofanatomy (uh • NA • tuh • mee), the study ofbody structure. To learn about inner organs,Galen cut open dead animals and recordedhis findings. Doctors in the West studiedGalen’s books and drawings for more than1,500 years.

Another important scientist of theRoman Empire was Ptolemy (TAH • luh •mee). Ptolemy lived in Alexandria, in Egypt.He studied the sky and carefully mappedover 1,000 different stars. He also studiedthe motion of planets and stars and createdrules explaining their movements. Eventhough Ptolemy incorrectly placed Earth atthe center of the universe, educated peoplein Europe accepted his ideas for centuries.

While Roman scientists tried to under-stand how the world worked, Roman

engineers built an astonishing system ofroads and bridges to connect the empire.Have you ever heard the saying “All roadslead to Rome”? Roman engineers builtroads from Rome to every part of theempire. These roads were well built, andsome have survived to this day.

The Romans also used advanced engi-neering to supply their cities with fresh-water. Engineers built aqueducts to bringwater from the hills into the cities.Aqueducts were long troughs supported byrows of arches. They carried water over long distances. At one time, 11 greataqueducts fed Rome’s homes, bathhouses,fountains, and public bathrooms. Romancities also had sewers to remove waste.

Explain How was thecharacter Aeneas an ideal Roman?

A system of cages, ropes, andpulleys brought wild animals upto the Colosseum floor fromrooms underground.

The Roman ColosseumThe Roman Colosseum

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Daily Life in RomeThe rich and poor had very different

lives in Rome, as did men and women.

Reading Focus Do you think there is a big difference

in the lives of boys and girls you know today? Why or

why not? Read to learn how the lives of Roman boys

and girls were very different from each other.

What was it like to live in Rome over2,000 years ago? Rome was one of thelargest cities in the ancient world. By thetime of Augustus, over a million peoplelived there. Rome was carefully planned, aswere many Roman cities. It was laid out in asquare with the main roads crossing at rightangles. At its center was the Forum (FOHR•um). This was an open space that served as amarketplace and public square. Templesand public buildings were built around it.

Wealthy Romans lived in large, comfort-able houses. Each home had large rooms,fine furniture, and beautiful gardens. In thecenter was an inner court called an atrium.Wealthy Romans also had homes called vil-las on their country estates.

The city of Rome was crowded, noisy,and dirty. People tossed garbage into thestreets from their apartments, and thievesprowled the streets at night. Most people inRome were poor. They lived in apartmentbuildings made of stone and wood. Highrent forced families to live in one room.

Roman apartments were up to six storieshigh. They often collapsed because they wereso poorly built. Fire was a constant dangerbecause people used torches and lamps forlighting and cooked with oil. Once started, afire could destroy entire blocks of apartments.

To keep the people from rioting, theRoman government provided “bread and cir-cuses,” or free grain and shows. Romans of allclasses flocked to the chariot races and gladi-ator contests. Gladiators (GLA•dee•AY•tuhrz)

Ancient Roman Sports Sports wereimportant to the Romans. Paintings onvases, frescoes [moist plaster], and stoneshow Romans playing ball, including aversion of soccer. Roman girls are shownexercising with handheld weights andthrowing an egg-shaped ball. Balls weremade of different materials such as wool,hair, linen, sponges, and pig bladderswrapped in string.

Some Roman sporting events tookplace in the Colosseum, amphitheaters,and the Circus Maximus. Wild beastfights, battles between ships, andgladiator contests attracted Romanspectators by the thousands. Chariotracing was held in the Circus Maximus,and the drivers wore team colors of red, white, green, and blue.

Scene showing gladiators in battle

Connecting to the Past1. How do we know sports were important to

the Romans?

2. How are today’s sports different fromRoman sports? How are they similar?

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fought animals and each other. Most gladia-tors were enslaved people, criminals, or poorpeople. Gladiators were admired, much likesports heroes are today.

What Was Family Life Like? Family lifewas important to the Romans. Their familieswere large. They included not only parentsand young children but also married chil-dren and their families, other relatives, andenslaved servants. The father was the headof the household. Called the paterfamilias(PA • tuhr• fuh•MIH• lee•uhs), or “father of thefamily,” he had complete control over fam-ily members. For example, he punished chil-dren severely if they disobeyed. He alsoarranged their marriages.

In some cases, the paterfamilias madesure his children were educated. PoorRomans could not afford to send their chil-dren to school. Wealthy Romans, however,hired tutors to teach their young children athome. Some older boys did go to schools,where they learned reading, writing, andrhetoric (REH • tuh • rihk), or public speaking.

Older girls did not go to school. Instead,they studied reading and writing at home.They also learned household duties.

Between the ages of 14 and 16, a Romanboy celebrated becoming a man. He wouldburn his toys as offerings to the householdgods. Then he would put on a toga, a loose-fitting robe that Roman men wore. Once hecame of age, a man might join his family’sbusiness, become a soldier, or begin a career

307

Chariot races were held in an arena called the Circus Maximus,one of the largest arenas ever made. Besides chariot races,what other types of shows attracted Romans?

A Roman teacher and student

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Bedrooms

Library

CourtyardKitchen

In the dining room, family members ate while reclining on couches.

Rainwater from the gutters collected in

the pool below.

Guests and business associates were

entertained in the living room/study.

Some homes had shops or workshops that

opened onto the street.

A Roman HouseA Roman House

in the government. Roman women did notbecome adults until they married. Awoman usually wore a long flowing robewith a cloak called a palla.

Women in Rome Women in early Romehad some rights, but they were not full citi-zens. The paterfamilias looked after his wifeand controlled her affairs. However, heoften sought her advice in private. Womenhad a strong influence on their families, andsome wives of famous men, includingemperors, became well-known themselves.For example, the empress Livia (LIHV • ee •uh), wife of Augustus, had a say in Rome’spolitics. She was later honored as a goddess.

The freedoms a Roman woman enjoyeddepended on her husband’s wealth and

standing. Wealthy women had a great dealof independence. They could own land, runbusinesses, and sell property. They man-aged the household and had enslaved peo-ple do the housework. This left the womenfree to study literature, art, and fashion.Outside the home, they could go to the the-ater or the amphitheater, but in both placesthey had to sit in areas separate from men.

Women with less money had less free-dom. They spent most of their time workingin their houses or helping their husbands infamily-run shops. They were allowed toleave home to shop, visit friends, worship attemples, or go to the baths. A few womendid work independently outside the home.Some served as priestesses, while othersworked as hairdressers and even doctors.

Wealthy Romans often lived in spacious houses with centralcourtyards. The houses had high brick walls without windows.Many of the rooms opened into the courtyard to allow in lightand fresh air. How is a Roman home similar to homes in yourneighborhood? How is it different?

A Roman couple

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CHAPTER 9 Roman Civilization 309

These apartments were built of brickand stone for wealthy Romans. What sort of buildings did poor Romans live in?

How Did Romans Treat Enslaved People?Slavery was a part of Roman life from earlytimes. But the use of slave labor grew asRome took over more territory. Thousandsof prisoners from conquered lands werebrought to Italy. Most spent their lives per-forming slave labor. By 100 B.C., about 40percent of the people in Italy were enslaved.

Enslaved people did many differentjobs. They worked in homes, fields, mines,and workshops. They helped build roads,bridges, and aqueducts. Many enslavedGreeks were well educated. They served asteachers, doctors, and artisans. Enslavedpeople who earned wages usually wereable to buy their freedom.

For most enslaved people, life was miser-able. They were punished severely for poorwork or for running away. To escape theirhardships, enslaved people often rebelled.

In 73 B.C. a slave revolt broke out in Italy.It was led by a gladiator named Spartacus(SPAHR • tuh •kuhs). Under Spartacus, a forceof 70,000 enslaved people defeated several

Roman armies. The revolt was finallycrushed two years later. Spartacus and6,000 of his followers were crucified, or putto death by nailing on a cross.

Roman Religion The ancient Romansworshiped many gods and goddesses. Theyalso believed that spirits lived in naturalthings, such as trees and rivers. Greek godsand goddesses were popular in Rome,although they were given Roman names.For example, Zeus became Jupiter, the skygod, and Aphrodite became Venus, the god-dess of love and beauty. Roman emperorsalso were worshiped. This practicestrengthened support for the government.

Romans honored their gods and god-desses by praying and offering food. EveryRoman home had an altar for their house-hold gods. At these altars, the head of thefamily carried out rituals. Government offi-cials made offerings in temples. There theimportant gods and goddesses of Romewere honored. Some Roman priests lookedfor messages from the gods. They studied

A Roman family atthe dinner table

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Reading SummaryReview the • Roman art, literature, and science

borrowed much from the Greeks.Roman engineers made advances,including the development ofcement, the arch, aqueducts, anddomes.

• Religion and family were impor-tant parts of Roman life. Enslavedpeople carried out many differenttasks in Roman society.

1. What were some of Ptolemy’sscientific achievements?

2. How were the Roman andGreek religions similar?

Critical Thinking3. Compare and Contrast

Draw a chart like the onebelow. Fill in details to com-pare and contrast Roman andGreek art and architecture.

4. Analyze Explain the impor-tance of the language of theRomans.

5. Describe Describe the educa-tion of Roman children.

6. Conclude The Romans bor-rowed ideas from other peo-ples. Do you think our culturetoday borrows ideas fromother peoples? Explain youranswer.

7. Responding andReflecting Look at the artshowing the Roman house onpage 308. Write five things thatcome to mind as you view thispicture.

What Did You Learn?

Homework Helper Need help with the material in this section? Visit jat.glencoe.com

310 CHAPTER 9 Roman Civilization

the insides of dead animals or watched theflight of birds, looking for meaning.

As the empire grew larger, Romanscame into contact with other religions.These religions were allowed, as long asthey did not threaten the government.

Those that did faced severe hardships. Youwill read about one of these religions—Christianity—in the next chapter.

Contrast Describe the free-doms of upper-class women that were not avail-able to women of other classes.

Ares

Roman GodRoman God

Mars

RoleRole

god of war

JunoHera wife of chief god

Zeus Jupiter chief god

Aphrodite Venus goddess of love

Artemis Diana goddess of the hunt

Athena Minerva goddess of wisdom

Hermes Mercury messenger god

Hades Pluto god of the underworld

Poseidon Neptune god of the sea

Hephaestus Vulcan god of fire

Greek GodGreek God

Greek and Roman GodsGreek and Roman Gods

Greek Art Roman Art

Greek Architecture

Roman Architecture

Minerva,goddess ofwisdom

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