The Ancient Roman Way of Life Essay

The story of ancient Rome is a tale of how a small community of shepherds in the central Italy grew to become one of the greatest empires in history, and then collapsed. According to Roman legend. Rome was founded in 753 B.C. By 275 B.C., it controlled most of the Italian Peninsula. In the A.D. 100’s, the Roman Empire covered about half of Europe, much of the Middle East, and the northern coast of Africa. The empire then began to crumble, party because it was too big for Rome to govern.

Religion played a significant role in the Roman civilization but, “many people believe that Rome was not a religious place. What they probably mean is that it was not a moral place.” (Burrell, 65) The Romans had innumerable gods that they worshiped which included giving gifts and sacrificing for their gods. Sacrificing animals was common for ancient Roman civilization. The idea of sacrificing came from the people before the Roman Empire was built. Religion primarily used sacrificing as a means of showing appreciation to the gods but later became a way to get things from the gods. The increases in the expansion of Rome lead to an increasing number of sacrifices. Roman sacrifice was done in many different ways and there were numerous

The Roman Empire was one of the greatest and longest lasting empires to date, but by A.D. 476 the empire was divided in two and its downfall was inevitable. There are many reasons for the downfall of the Western Roman Empire, some political some economical, but the four biggest factors were religion, war, size, and the decline of the Military. The problems that brought about the downfall of the Western Roman Empire were not unsolvable, but the leaders lacked the will and organization to fix them and the people lacked faith in government and stopped participating in the community. If the Roman people and leaders had just stuck with their traditional values and not let themselves become corrupted, than their empire may have even lasted until

The civilization of Rome is one that is remembered today as “the most powerful world state in ancient history” (Fiero 139). From their superior culture to an army of 300,000 men who behaved as if “they had been born with weapons in their hands”, the Roman culture was unparalleled (Fiero 139). The location of Rome on the Italian peninsula put them in a prime location to encounter rich cultures such as the Greeks. Roman culture would not have been the same if it had not been for the Greeks, because they incorporated multiple aspects of the culture into their everyday life. The Romans were heavily influenced by Greek philosophy, theology, literature, art, and architecture.

There are three types of meals in ancient Rome Ientaculum (which means breakfast) started with a glass of water and the ientaculum which at this

The Roman scutum was a large body shield used in battles, sieges, and gladiator fights. The scutum was used from the early Roman Republic until the third century CE and helped to define many of the Roman battle tactics that made them so successful. The curved, semi-cylindrical design provided full-body protection and was especially used in the testudo formation during sieges. The Roman Scutum is a perfect example of the military genius of the Roman Legion.

Once The Roman Empire embarked on its’ upward mobility to success, the Empire would rise stronger than any other Empire at the time. As the Empire reached its’ prosperity, most of its’ surroundings, cities, and religious aspects were at peace. Hence the empire’s army had reached great potentials, although the Western Empire would never truly recover, the Eastern Empire could survive threats which lead to about 500 years of success. With great leadership, a strong army, imperial administration, and religion set, the Roman Empire would reach its zenith for years. As then Empire’s success continued, the Romans were safe from defeat and could live their lives as they wished. There continued to be slaves and wealthy people, but they were all apart

Early on in Rome the Romans picked up culture from the surrounding neighbors, such as the Greeks and Etruscans, however, the Romans added individuality to the cultures they borrowed from. The Roman Empire soon then spread their far spread their culture, as we still see today in modern history through Roman architecture. Part of Roman cultural was religion, in their religion were hundreds of god and goddesses chiefly named from the Olympians of ancient Greece. The Romans also gave their deities Latin names, but some also have a shared Greek meaning. The city of Rome was mainly an urban city with an urban culture with a populace of one million people. The places people lived differed depending on social class. For example, extremely wealthy

Despite the fact that Christianity has not become the official religion of the Roman Empire under the reign of Constantine, there were some of the short term impacts on Roman culture after he made Christianity an accepted religion in his lands. It all has started from construction of the Christian churches throughout the empire. Naturally, the Christian communities have spread alongside with rapid growth of the new religion. Consequently, new view of life conquered minds of numerous Romans, which has reflected in 50 percent of rural followers of Christianity. The latter’s sacraments have shifted an emphasis of the Roman idea of religion as a public one to private spaces. What is more, some Romans’ vision of civil service has changed, since

The romans loved every type of entertainment, they loved sports, chariot races, gladiator battles, and the live theatre. They normally had plays for religious ceremonies, and they had over 200 religious days meaning they had a lot of plays in the live theatre. The theaters would either be outdoors made out of wood, or indoors made out of stone.

Food and drinks played an essential role in the life of a wealthy Roman citizen. Unlike other periods of time food had an important social impact during Ancient Rome and the daily life of Ceaser. However in many cultures breakfast, lunch and dinner were the three main courses of the day. A wealthy citizens breakfast consisted of bread with olives or cheese and lunch was usually quick with bread, cheese, and fruit (Ermatinger 1). Dinner was their main affair, and the largest meal of the day (Ermatinger 1). It contained bread, vegetables, olive oil, cheese and meat (Ermatinger 1). Banquets and feasts were also another elaborate way people would celebrate and enjoy their food (Moulton 27). How the poor ate was quite unlike the wealthy. They had the duty of finding and preparing their dishes in order for their families to eat. Wine was the favorite drink for both social classes and consumed with most meals. The knowledge and responsibility of women in ancient history pertained mainly to the preparation of food.

The Roman nuclear family, composed of parents and children, shared lives intimately and influenced each other in ways outsiders did not. Livy, in a quote debating the legal status of children between patricians and plebeians, stated “Of course, the children follow the father.” In Roman society, fathers were considered the most powerful. Romans believed in a theoretical concept of a father’s absolute control, but in reality, all family had power and fathers could be challenged.

How a person chooses to live his life could be based on many factors; most often it is cultural or societal norms that dictate a person’s actions and their path in life. For others it is the people around them such as their children or spouses. For the ancient Romans it was a specific set of ideals and values that were adhered to as closely as possible. These ideals were: “pietas, conduct toward parents, relatives, ancestors, gods, and country; gravitas, a serious attitude toward life, including decision-making through sober reasoning as well as the acceptance of responsibilities; simplicitas, plainness of speech and lifestyle, singleness of purpose, directness, and honesty; virtus, physical courage and moral virtue; and dignitas, personal

Romans were very interesting people from a long time ago. So today i will talk about the way that they lived. So romas had kinda weird buildings and so lets talks talk about them Houses in the medieval times we kinda weird. First off the main rooms we decorated with coloured plaster walls and, if they could be given mosaics. Mosaics was a decorated floor that showed signs of your wealth and importance. The grander mosaics were done by experts that were expensive. Though mosaics could be spectacular furniture. The homes of the wealthy tended to be basic stools were as opposites then chairs. Roman houses for wealthy people at the beginning of the roman republic, were a lot like the houses of the Etruscans. Hold on just a minute let's just talk about the Etruscan people. Etruscans lived in a fully

What virtues and attainments defined the Roman aristocrat in the Republic? How, if at all, did this conception of the aristocrat change during the empire? Select one biography, by either Suetonius or Plutarch: discuss its subject’s successes and failures in realizing the appropriate aristocratic ideal. Include in your essay some consideration of the importance placed on this matter by the biography’s author (that is, is the matter of aristocratic excellence relevant to the biography, and, if so, in what ways? If not, why not?)