RomeOctober 2, 2013

Government

Imperium – right to command Patricians could run for office, plebeians could

vote Consuls and Praetors – CEOs of Roman

Republic Senate

300 men with life terms Advised magistrates and highly influential

Government

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kRwJJwxGZE&noredirect=1

Julius Caesar appoints himself dictator of Rome in 49 BCE

Augustus founds the Roman Empire (as emperor) in 27 BCE

Family Life

Family structure like a state within a state

Paterfamilias – male head of families Absolute authority over children Arranged marriages of daughters

Usually married at 14 years

“I turned in to the games one mid-day hoping for a little wit and humor there. I was bitterly disappointed. It was really mere butchery. The morning's show was merciful compared to it. Then men were thrown to lions and to bears: but at midday to the audience. There was no escape for them. The slayer was kept fighting until he could be slain. "Kill him! flog him! burn him alive" was the cry: "Why is he such a coward? Why won't he rush on the steel? Why does he fall so meekly? Why won't he die willingly?" Unhappy that I am, how have I deserved that I must look on such a scene as this? Do not, my Lucilius, attend the games, I pray you. Either you will be corrupted by the multitude, or, if you show disgust, be hated by them. So stay away.”

Entertainment Fascination with

violence Gladiator fights at

the Colosseum “I will endure to

be burned, to be bound, to be beaten, and to be killed by the sword”

Theatre

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FI1ylg4GKv8&noredirect=1

Education

Upper-class boys and girls were expected to read

Heavily influenced by Greek Boys studied rhetoric and philosophy

Emergence of professional teachers and secondary school

Girls only needed to be good wives and mothers