Very Important Part Of Ancient Roman example essay topic

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 Greek, 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".

(Donn 2) 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". (Donn 2) 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. (Davis 132) 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 patricians lived in singles family homes, which in ancient Rome meant the great grandparents, parents, and kids of one family lived in a home together. Not like the plebeians their house were made quite often of brick with red tile roofs, with room arranged around a central courtyard. The windows and balconies faced the courtyard, not the street, to keep their home safe from burglars. Real wealthy Romans might have a house with front door, bedrooms, an office, a kitchen, a dinning room, a garden, a temple, an atrium, a toilet, and a private bath.

(Davis 132) The ancient Romans started their day with breakfast. The lower class Romans or plebeians might have a breakfast of dry bread or dipped in wine, and water. Sometimes olives, cheese or raisins were sprinkled on the bread. "It became a custom to distribute bread daily to the unemployed". (Donn 3) Workmen, on their way to work, grabbed some bread, and ate it on the way.

The upper class Romans or patricians enjoyed fresh meat, fish, fruits, vegetables, bread, and used honey to sweeten food because sugar was unknown. They had slaves to cook and clean. Slaves cut their food for them, as they didn't use forks or knives, but ate with their fingers. A wet towel was brought by slaves to clean and wash up after a meal. Early in the morning kids who went to school, on the run, often stopped at a bakery for a quick meal, or to buy a pancake to eat on their way to school. (Lee 3) Then, they got dressed to go out.

The very early Romans wore a toga that looked like a white sheet 9 yards long. Togas were arranged very carefully, in a stylish way. But togas fell out of style early because the toga was inconvenient, and people felt the cold when they wore it. Then the Romans switched to comfortable tunics, which looked like a long tee shirt. They were far more practical or useful. Tunics were made of cool linen, for summer wear and warm wool, for winter.

(Cowell 68) "The Roman men wore rings, the only jewelry worn by a Roman citizen man, only one ring dictated god manners". (Cowell 69) Some man did not follow good taste, and wore as many as sixteen rings. Hairstyles and beards varied with the time. In early Roman times, men wore long hair and full beards. For a while they were clean- with short hair.

Then they started to style their hair and wear beards again". The Roman women loved ornate necklaces, pins, earrings, bracelets and friendship rings". (Cowell 69) Pearls were their favorites. Women often dyed their hair, usually golden-red.

They used false hairpieces to make their hair thicker or longer. Sometimes, Roman women wore their hair up in carefully arranged styles held with jeweled hairpins. Sometimes they wore it down, curled in ringlets. Women might carry fans made of peacock feathers, wood or stretched linen. Women's street shoes were made of leather, like the men's'.

In the house, most Romans (men and women) wore sandals. Women's sandals were brightly colored; some were even decorated with pearls. The Roman Boys wore a tunic down to their knees. It was white, with a crimson border. Once a boy became a man, they put aside their childish clothes and wore an all white tunic. A boy became a citizen at age 16 or 17.

"The year was selected by choosing the date, which came closest to March 17th". (Donn 4) On a boy's 16 or 17 birthday, the boy dressed himself in a white tunic, which his father adjusted. The day ended with a dinner party, given by the father, in honor of the new Roman citizen. The Romans girls wore a simple tunic with a belt at the waist. When they went outside, they wore a second tunic that reached their feet. Both the boys and girls wore a special locket around their neck, given to them at birth called a bulla.

It contained an amulet as a protection against evil and was worn on a chain, cord, or strap. Girls wore their bulla until the eve of their wedding day, when their bulla was set aside with the other childhood things, like her toys. Boys wore their bulla until the day they became a citizen. A boy bulla was put aside and carefully saved. The owner could wear a boy's bulla again if he won a special honor. For example, if he became a successful general, and won the honor of triumph, he would wear his bulla in ceremonial parades, to protect himself from the evil jealously of other men or gods.

(Lee 4) The next stop was the bath. The ancient Romans might go to the baths first, and then wander down to the Forum, although many prefer to get they " re shopping done early. There were separate hours for men and women, unless they went to the largest baths. The public baths were the most popular. Roman women and men tried to visit the baths at least once every day. The bath had hot and cool pools, towels, slaves to wait on them, steam rooms, saunas, exercise rooms, and hair cutting salons.

(Davis 361-362) The bath even had reading rooms and libraries, and the majority of Romans could read. They also had stores, selling all kinds of things like fast food. The people loved them. A trip to the bath was a very important part of ancient Roman daily life.

Once they got out of the baths, adults might wander down to the forum, to do their shopping and banking. The forum was a square created at the center of the city, which became the seat of Roman government. The Forum was also the main marketplace and business center, where the ancient Romans went to do their banking, trading, shopping, and marketing. It was also a place for public speaking. "The ancient Romans were great orators (public speaker) they loved to talk. The jobs of their orators were not to argue, but to argue persuasively".

(Lee 3) People going to the Forum would stop and listen, then wander away to do they " re shopping and maybe leave a gift at a temple for one of their gods. The forum was also used for Festival and religious ceremonies. It was a very busy place. While the adults wandered down the Forum doing their shopping and banking the kids went to school. The goal of education in ancient Rome was to be an effective speaker. For the kids the school day began before sunrise, as all the work in Rome did.

Kids brought candles to use until daybreak. The only rest they had was for lunch and the afternoon siesta, and then they went back to school until late afternoon. Back then no one knew how long school years actually were. Except one thing and that is that school began each year on the 24th of March. In early Romans days, a Roman boy was educated at home. If his father could read and write, he taught his son to do the same.

The father 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". (Lee 5) 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". (Cowell 193).