Ancient Rome

In this report about ancient Rome I will be talking about a lot of different things. One thing is how ancient Rome was different from ancient Greece, their daily life activities and lifestyles, and also about their religion.

The ancients Romans were very different from the ancient Greek. “The ancient Romans were down-to-earth realists, not idealists.”(Donn2) You can see this in their statues. The Greeks made statues of perfect people. The Romans created real life statues. A good example of this is a Roman emperor statue because his nose will be huge and the ancient Greek would have never done that. The Romans were fierce soldiers and wonderful builders. They built roads all over the empire and all led to Rome. The ancient Greeks had roads, but they were not built nearly as well and the Greek’s roads did not connect in any particular order. Each Greek city-state was its own unit, not like Rome because in ancient Rome, Rome was the heart of the empire.

Two thousand years ago, Rome was a busy place. “It was a crowded, noisy, smoky, and dusty city, with beautiful temples and public building.”(Donn2) The rich had gracious homes, each with an entrance atrium, which was the center of the family life. For those who were not quite as rich, there were apartment buildings and for the poor there were shabby tenements. Some people walked around Rome, others were carried in covered litters, with curtained couches carried on poles by slaves. Soldiers strode through town in chain mail or leather armor. Workmen hurried in belted tunics of dark wool. Before daylight, boys hurried to school. Later in the day, Roman citizens strolled around town in white tunics. Even for the poor, life in the city was lively. There was always something going on, like the Great State festival including shows in the theatres, races, and fights in the arenas.

Lower class Romans or plebeians lived in apartment houses or flats as they were called, above or behind their shops. (Davis132) Their own apartment might be quite roomy, sanitary and pleasant, occasionally with running water. In these apartment houses, an entire family might all be crowded into one room, without running water. They had to get their water from public facilities. A very real threat was fire because people were cooking meals in crowded places, and many of the apartment houses were made of wood.

Upper class Romans or patri...

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...ather instructed his sons in Roman law, history, customs, and physical training, to prepare him for war. “The most important lessons to be taught was reverence for gods, respect for law, obedience to authority, and truthfulness.”(Lee5) Their mother taught the girls. Girls learned to spin, weave, and sew.

Early Romans worshipped nature spirits. “They came to think of these spirits as god and goddesses, while under Etruscan influence.” (McGraw-Hill 157) This god and goddesses were supposed to guide and control the Roman people. Jupiter, Mars, Apollo, Mercury and Neptune were the chief gods. Juno, Vesta, Minerva, Ceres, Diana and Venus were the principal goddesses. The ancient Romans had gods for nearly everything. Every home had a household god, and honoring their gods was a part of ancient Romans everyday life. “A new religion grew steadily in strength by striking a fresh note, with its teaching of mercy, gentleness, loving-kindness and charity towards others, even towards enemies. Festival and rites with which the motley collection of roman gods and goddesses were worshipped and for all of whom its substituted a faith in one god, the Saviour of mankind.”(Cowell193)