Hello and welcome to the first episode of a history of the Roman World in 200 objects here at the Royal Ontario Museum. I your host today, Rahman Salehi, will take you on a journey 2000 years back in time, in which the Roman Empire was one of the greatest powers of the Ancient world. The Roman Empire was a very heterogeneous society with various ethnic groups such as the Latin’s, Etruscans, Greeks, Phoenicians, Italians, Carthaginians and so forth. However, they all had one thing in common. That is, religion played a very important role in the daily lives of individuals of Rome. Romans believed that gods controlled their lives and, hence, spent a great deal amount of time worshiping deities.
Martin, Malachi. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Church. New York: Putnam, 1981. Print.
Shelton, J.-A. (1998). As the romans did: A sourcebook in roman social history (2nd ed.). New
“Christianity is a religion of sacrifice and duty, even more than the stoics teach. In the end, Christianity will help the Roman Empire because it is making people better on the inside, where it counts.” “Christianity is the only real friend that Rome has.”
Although Rome’s government was rooted in religion, traditions were broken, as well as the hypocritical
The Romans, originally called the Latins after the volcanic plain were they lived, were founded around 753BCE after the battle across the seven hills on the Tiber. The battle was fought between twin brothers Romulus and Remus, ending in the defeat of Remus (Duiker). Religion played a huge role in the daily life of Rome, the state religion lasting between 200BCE-250CE (“Roman Religion”). Temples to worship the gods were built throughout the Roman Empire and family houses would also have a small altar and shrine. The Roman religion was a mixture of fragmented rituals, taboos, superstitions, and traditions that they collected over the years from a number of sources. The Roman gods and goddess were a blend of several religious influences. Many of the gods and goddess were introduced through the Greek colonies of southern Italy; others had roots in old religions of the Etruscans or Latin tribes (“Roman Religion”). Roman authorities were generally tolerant of the dietes and religious practices of Empire subjects and tried to foster loyalty to the empire by merging these gods and goddess into the Roman Pantheon (Overfield). Normally all the Romans would require was that the various cults not threaten public order or morality. Cults like Bacchism, Celts Druid and Christianity were seen as violating all norms of social behavior and threatened the stability of Roman rule (Overfield). It was not until the rule of Constantine that Christianity was accepted. This Essay will explore the two religious practices, Vestal Virgins and Roman devotees of the cult of Isis, describing their religious life before Constantine’s conversion.
Many social factors are part of the fall of Rome such as the effects of Constantinople legalizing Christianity. In an excerpt from The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon, the authors describes some of the influencing social elements
The Roman Empire was unparalleled in the ancient world. With strong a military, technological development, and widespread infrastructure, Rome easily became the undisputed superpower of the Mediterranean. Lurking underneath this greatness was a deadly secret that caused the eventual collapse of the empire. The secret that eroded Rome, as outlined by Francis Schaffer in How Should We Then Live?, was the civilization’s understanding of God.
The Roman Empire began as a small colony, in the city of Rome, and eventually, became one of the largest empires that the world has ever known before its ultimate demise. Because of the vast size of their territory, and the number of cultures they consumed throughout their existence, the Romans were heavily influenced by the Greeks and other Hellenistic civilizations. Two different groups of professors argue this point. Professors Matthews, Platt, and Noble argue this influence is reflected by Roman music, philosophy, literature, architecture, art, culture/government, and technology and science; and Professor Weber argues this is reflected in the areas of government/law, the influence and effects of conquests, culture, religion, architecture and art, and philosophy. Both parties make compelling arguments as to why the Romans were heirs to Greek and Hellenistic civilization however, it will be demonstrated that Matthews et al. provide a more thorough argument than Weber.
What was life like in Rome during Caesar’s time? Imagine what it would be like to be related to a dictator? How would it feel if there were no equal rights as there are today? Maybe feel as if there were no point in living life at all. Family and gender roles were different in Caesar’s time than they are today.
During the transition of the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire there were many events that occurred, which halted the empire’s development. Due to these multiple events, people often refer to the saying, “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” when talking about Rome’s expansion. However, out of all the events that occurred many of them were negative, as well as positive, causing Rome to be affected in various ways. One negative occurrence during the empire’s progression was the division of social class within Rome. In fact, there were only two major classes within the Roman community, known as the patricians and the plebeians.
There has been much debate over the extent to which Roman Emperor’s utilized religion as a means to unify their people and garner political support. Historians argue whether Saint Constantine, the Roman Emperor from 306 to 337 AD
Supporting the economic system is a key part to the common good and ancient Rome should get a B in this category. Farmers were the people who made most of Rome’s money and most of the people in Rome were farmers. The farmers grew wheat, barley, olives, grapes, apples, pears, figs, onion, celery and mostly everything they grew was sold in the markets. Farmers also had to pay taxes in either money or food. With the money that they earned, they bought clothes, furniture, and tools. The rich people of Rome owned businesses and the poor people taught schools, were doctors, ran bakeries, carried water or begged. The woman worked in stores, were waitresses, begged, or worked at home. In the trading industry, ancient Rome did fairly well
Shelton, J.A. (1998). As the Romans Did: A Sourcebook in Roman Social History. (2nd ed.) New York: Oxford University Press.
Bainton, Roland H. "The Christian Roman Empire." The Horizon History of Christianity. New York: American Heritage Publishing Co. Inc., 1964. 100-106.