149-744: In ancient Roman religion , the Epulum Jovis (also Epulum Iovis ) was a sumptuous ritual feast offered to Jove on the Ides of September (September 13) and a smaller feast on the Ides of November (November 13). It was celebrated during the Ludi Romani ("Roman Games") and the Ludi Plebeii ("Plebeian Games"). The gods were formally invited, and attended in the form of statues. These were arranged on luxurious couches ( pulvinaria ) placed at
298-505: A piaculum before entering their sacred grove with an iron implement, which was forbidden, as well as after. The pig was a common victim for a piaculum . The same divine agencies who caused disease or harm also had the power to avert it, and so might be placated in advance. Divine consideration might be sought to avoid the inconvenient delays of a journey, or encounters with banditry, piracy and shipwreck, with due gratitude to be rendered on safe arrival or return. In times of great crisis,
447-528: A "virile spirit", and thereafter she was called "the Androgyne ". Maesia's ability to present a case "methodically and vigorously" suggests that while women did not plead regularly in open court, they had experience in private declamation and family court. Afrania , the wife of a senator during the time of Sulla , appeared so frequently before the praetor who presided over the court, even though she had male advocates who could have spoken for her, that she
596-493: A Roman matron needed to run a household required training, and mothers probably passed on their knowledge to their daughters in a manner appropriate to their station in life, given the emphasis in Roman society on traditionalism. Virginity and sexual purity were culturally valued qualities considered vital for the stability of both family and state. The rape of an unmarried girl posed a threat to her reputation and marriageability, and
745-421: A broad, inclusive and flexible network of lawful cults. At different times and in different places, the sphere of influence, character and functions of a divine being could expand, overlap with those of others, and be redefined as Roman. Change was embedded within existing traditions. Several versions of a semi-official, structured pantheon were developed during the political, social and religious instability of
894-419: A citizen and a person who held Latin rights , and in the later Imperial period and with official permission, soldier-citizens and non-citizens. In a free marriage a bride brought a dowry to the husband: if the marriage ended with no cause of adultery he returned most of it. The law's separation of property was so total that gifts between spouses were not recognized as such. If a couple divorced or even separated,
1043-590: A divorcée ought to feel shame. But while the circumstances of divorce might be shameful or embarrassing, and remaining married to the same person for life was ideal, there was no general disapproval of remarriage; on the contrary, marriage was considered the right and desirable condition of adult life for both men and women. Cato the Younger , who presented himself as a paragon modeled after his moral namesake , allowed his pregnant wife Marcia to divorce him and marry Hortensius , declining to offer his young daughter to
1192-455: A husband any rights over his wife or cause any significant change to a newly-married woman's status. During the classical era of Roman law , marriage required no ceremony, but only a mutual will and agreement to live together in harmony. Marriage ceremonies, contracts, and other formalities were meant only to prove that a couple had, in fact, married. Under early or archaic Roman law , marriages were of three kinds: confarreatio , symbolized by
1341-400: A husband for his daughter, and first marriages were normally arranged. Technically, the couple had to be old enough to consent, but the age of consent was 12 for girls and 14 for boys. However, in practice boys seem to have been on average five years older. Among the elite, 14 was the age of transition from childhood to adolescence, but a betrothal might be arranged for political reasons when
1490-536: A husband to his wife, However, as with any other crime, laws against domestic abuse do not necessarily prevent it. Cato the Elder said, according to his biographer Plutarch , "that the man who struck his wife or child laid violent hands on the holiest of holy things." A man of status during the Roman Republic was expected to behave moderately toward his wife and to define himself as a good husband. Wife beating
1639-426: A lawful oath ( sacramentum ) and breaking a sworn oath carried much the same penalty: both repudiated the fundamental bonds between the human and divine. A votum or vow was a promise made to a deity, usually an offer of sacrifices or a votive offering in exchange for benefits received. In Latin, the word sacrificium means the performance of an act that renders something sacer , sacred. Sacrifice reinforced
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#17327723224281788-428: A list of female artists and their paintings. Most Romans lived in insulae (apartment buildings), and those housing the poorer plebeian and non-citizen families usually lacked kitchens. The need to buy prepared food meant that takeaway food was a thriving business. Most of the Roman poor, whether male or female, young or old, earned a living through their own labour. Women had limited engagement with politics in
1937-399: A long-form poem covering Roman holidays from January to June, Ovid presents a unique look at Roman antiquarian lore, popular customs, and religious practice that is by turns imaginative, entertaining, high-minded, and scurrilous; not a priestly account, despite the speaker's pose as a vates or inspired poet-prophet, but a work of description, imagination and poetic etymology that reflects
2086-422: A man not her husband. There was no dishonor in being a concubine or living with a concubine, and a concubine could become a wife. Gifts could be exchanged between the partners in concubinage, in contrast to marriage, which maintained a more defined separation of property. Couples usually resorted to concubinage when inequality of social rank was an obstacle to marriage. For instance, a man of senatorial rank and
2235-477: A miscarriage or childbirth, and that the story was exaggerated to vilify Nero. The despised Commodus may have killed his wife and his sister. Roman wives were expected to bear children, but the women of the aristocracy, accustomed to a degree of independence, showed a growing disinclination to devote themselves to traditional motherhood. By the 1st century CE , most elite women avoided breast-feeding their infants themselves and thus hired wet-nurses. This practice
2384-608: A period of thirty years, the Vestals devoted themselves to the study and correct observance of rituals which were deemed necessary for the security and survival of Rome but which could not be performed by the male colleges of priests. Childhood and upbringing in ancient Rome were determined by social status. Roman children played a number of games, and their toys are known from archaeology and literary sources. Animal figures were popular, and some children kept live animals and birds as pets. In Roman art , girls are shown playing many of
2533-446: A pig on behalf of the community. Their supposed underworld relatives, the malicious and vagrant Lemures , might be placated with midnight offerings of black beans and spring water. The most potent offering was animal sacrifice , typically of domesticated animals such as cattle, sheep and pigs. Each was the best specimen of its kind, cleansed, clad in sacrificial regalia and garlanded; the horns of oxen might be gilded. Sacrifice sought
2682-453: A priest on behalf of the community. Public religious ritual had to be enacted by specialists and professionals faultlessly; a mistake might require that the action, or even the entire festival, be repeated from the start. The historian Livy reports an occasion when the presiding magistrate at the Latin festival forgot to include the "Roman people" among the list of beneficiaries in his prayer;
2831-781: A provincial Roman citizen who made the long journey from Bordeaux to Italy to consult the Sibyl at Tibur did not neglect his devotion to his own goddess from home: I wander, never ceasing to pass through the whole world, but I am first and foremost a faithful worshiper of Onuava . I am at the ends of the earth, but the distance cannot tempt me to make my vows to another goddess. Love of the truth brought me to Tibur, but Onuava's favourable powers came with me. Thus, divine mother, far from my home-land, exiled in Italy, I address my vows and prayers to you no less. Roman calendars show roughly forty annual religious festivals. Some lasted several days, others
2980-415: A sacred duty and privilege of office. Additional festivals and games celebrated Imperial accessions and anniversaries. Others, such as the traditional Republican Secular Games to mark a new era ( saeculum ), became imperially funded to maintain traditional values and a common Roman identity. That the spectacles retained something of their sacral aura even in late antiquity is indicated by the admonitions of
3129-459: A series of miraculous events. Romulus and Remus regained their grandfather's throne and set out to build a new city, consulting with the gods through augury , a characteristic religious institution of Rome that is portrayed as existing from earliest times. The brothers quarrel while building the city walls, and Romulus kills Remus, an act that is sometimes seen as sacrificial. Fratricide thus became an integral part of Rome's founding myth. Romulus
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#17327723224283278-524: A single day or less: sacred days ( dies fasti ) outnumbered "non-sacred" days ( dies nefasti ). A comparison of surviving Roman religious calendars suggests that official festivals were organized according to broad seasonal groups that allowed for different local traditions. Some of the most ancient and popular festivals incorporated ludi ("games", such as chariot races and theatrical performances ), with examples including those held at Palestrina in honour of Fortuna Primigenia during Compitalia , and
3427-503: A small altar for incense or libations . It might also display art works looted in war and rededicated to the gods. It is not clear how accessible the interiors of temples were to the general public. The Latin word templum originally referred not to the temple building itself, but to a sacred space surveyed and plotted ritually through augury: "The architecture of the ancient Romans was, from first to last, an art of shaping space around ritual." The Roman architect Vitruvius always uses
3576-418: A temple or shrine, where a ritual object might be stored and brought out for use, or where an offering would be deposited. Sacrifices , chiefly of animals , would take place at an open-air altar within the templum or precinct, often to the side of the steps leading up to the raised portico. The main room (cella) inside a temple housed the cult image of the deity to whom the temple was dedicated, and often
3725-466: A wet nurse. Licinia, the wife of Cato the Elder (d. 149 BCE), is reported to have nursed not only her son, but sometimes the infants of her slaves, to encourage "brotherly affection" among them. By the time of Tacitus (d. 117 CE), breastfeeding by elite matrons was idealized as a practice of the virtuous old days. Large families were not the norm among the elite even by the Late Republic ;
3874-462: A white cow); Jupiter a white, castrated ox ( bos mas ) for the annual oath-taking by the consuls . Di superi with strong connections to the earth, such as Mars, Janus, Neptune and various genii – including the Emperor's – were offered fertile victims. After the sacrifice, a banquet was held; in state cults, the images of honoured deities took pride of place on banqueting couches and by means of
4023-483: A widow or divorcée with assets in these areas faced few obstacles to remarrying. She was far more likely to be legally emancipated than a first-time bride, and to have a say in the choice of husband. The marriages of Fulvia , who commanded troops during the last civil war of the Republic and who was the first Roman woman to have her face on a coin, are thought to indicate her own political sympathies and ambitions. Fulvia
4172-574: A will. The extent to which Roman women might expect their husbands to participate in the rearing of very young children seems to vary and is hard to determine. Traditionalists such as Cato appear to have taken an interest, as Cato liked to be present when his wife bathed and swaddled their child. Roman women were not only valued for the number of children that they produced, but also for their part in raising and educating children to become good citizens. To rear children for successful lives, an exemplary Roman mother needed to be well-educated herself. One of
4321-442: A woman sui iuris could marry as she pleased. A woman also had certain avenues of recourse if she wished to replace an obstructive tutor. Under Augustus , a woman who had gained the ius liberorum , the legal right to certain privileges after bearing three children, was also released from guardianship, and the emperor Claudius banned agnatic guardianship. The role of guardianship as a legal institution gradually diminished, and by
4470-403: A woman remained under her father's authority by law even when she moved into her husband's home. This arrangement was one of the factors in the independence Roman women enjoyed relative to those of many other ancient cultures and up to the modern period: So-called "free" marriage caused no change in personal status for either the wife or the husband. Free marriage usually involved two citizens, or
4619-481: A woman who was a social inferior, such as a freedwoman or one who had a questionable background of poverty or prostitution, might enter into concubinage. Two partners who lacked the right to legal marriage, or conubium , might also do so. Concubinage differed from marriage chiefly in the status of children born from the relationship. Children had their mother's social rank, and not, as was customary, their father's. Classical Roman law did not allow domestic abuse by
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4768-510: A woman would be wet nurse , actress , dancer or acrobat, prostitute , and midwife —not all of equal respectability. Prostitutes and performers such as actresses were stigmatized as infames , people who had recourse to few legal protections even if they were free. Inscriptions indicate that a woman who was a wet nurse ( nutrix ) would be quite proud of her occupation. Women could be scribes and secretaries, including "girls trained for beautiful writing", that is, calligraphers . Pliny gives
4917-487: A woman's purity and on her role as a faithful wife and dutiful mother in the family increased during the reign of Augustus. This general campaign to improve family dynamics began in 18–17 BC. Augustus' new laws targeted both men and women between the ages of 20 and 55, who were rewarded for being in healthy relationships, and punished if unmarried or childless. Additionally, Augustus enforced the divorce and punishment of adulterous wives. Women under his rule could be punished in
5066-403: A woman's virginity. Pudicitia (chastity) was a goddess of feminine purity, and was worshipped by Roman women. Only those who were virgins were allowed to enter the temple. A woman's sexual life began with the consummation of her marriage in her husband's cubiculum (private room), where slaves did not enter. In Roman houses, it was common for men and women to each have their own cubicula, allowing
5215-419: Is exceptionally detailed. All due care would be taken of the animals. If any died or were stolen before the scheduled sacrifice, they would count as already sacrificed, since they had already been consecrated. Normally, if the gods failed to keep their side of the bargain, the offered sacrifice would be withheld. In the imperial period, sacrifice was withheld following Trajan 's death because the gods had not kept
5364-405: Is identified by her origin in the town of Sentinum , and not, as was customary , by her relation to a man. The independent Maesia spoke in her own defense, and was acquitted almost unanimously after only a short trial because she spoke with such strength and effectiveness. Since these characteristics were considered masculine, however, the historian opined that under her feminine appearance, she had
5513-472: The Laudatio Turiae preserves a husband's eulogy for his wife, who during the civil war following the death of Julius Caesar endangered her own life and relinquished her jewelry to send support to her husband in exile. Both survived the turbulence of the time to enjoy a long marriage. Porcia , the daughter of Cato the Younger and wife of Brutus the assassin , came to a less fortunate but (in
5662-494: The spolia opima , the prime spoils taken in war, in the celebration of the first Roman triumph . Spared a mortal's death, Romulus was mysteriously spirited away and deified. His Sabine successor Numa was pious and peaceable, and credited with numerous political and religious foundations, including the first Roman calendar ; the priesthoods of the Salii , flamines , and Vestals; the cults of Jupiter , Mars, and Quirinus ; and
5811-582: The First Jewish–Roman War and the Bar Kokhba revolt . In the wake of the Republic's collapse , state religion had adapted to support the new regime of the emperors . Augustus , the first Roman emperor, justified the novelty of one-man rule with a vast program of religious revivalism and reform. Public vows formerly made for the security of the republic now were directed at the well-being of
5960-604: The Gracchi , and Fulvia , who commanded an army and issued coins bearing her image; women of the Julio-Claudian dynasty , most prominently Livia (58 BC – AD 29) and Agrippina the Younger (15–59 AD), who contributed to the formation of Imperial mores ; and the empress Helena ( c. 250–330 AD), a driving force in promoting Christianity. As is the case with male members of society , elite women and their politically significant deeds eclipse those of lower status in
6109-594: The Greek Olympians , and promoted a sense that the two cultures had a shared heritage. The impressive, costly, and centralised rites to the deities of the Roman state were vastly outnumbered in everyday life by commonplace religious observances pertaining to an individual's domestic and personal deities, the patron divinities of Rome's various neighbourhoods and communities, and the often idiosyncratic blends of official, unofficial, local and personal cults that characterised lawful Roman religion. In this spirit,
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6258-526: The Ludi Romani in honour of Liber . Other festivals may have required only the presence and rites of their priests and acolytes, or particular groups, such as women at the Bona Dea rites. Other public festivals were not required by the calendar, but occasioned by events. The triumph of a Roman general was celebrated as the fulfillment of religious vows , though these tended to be overshadowed by
6407-576: The Palladium , Lares and Penates from Troy to Italy. These objects were believed in historical times to remain in the keeping of the Vestals , Rome's female priesthood. Aeneas, according to classical authors, had been given refuge by King Evander , a Greek exile from Arcadia , to whom were attributed other religious foundations: he established the Ara Maxima , "Greatest Altar", to Hercules at
6556-555: The Secular Games of 17 BC, the Carmen Saeculare was sung by a choir of girls and boys. Children were made into virtuous adults through scholastic means, with curriculum, language, literature, and philosophy teaching moral precepts. Children of the elite were taught Greek as well as Latin from an early age. Among the upper classes, women seem to have been well-educated, some highly so, and were sometimes praised by
6705-572: The Senate 's efforts to restrict the Bacchanals in 186 BC. Because Romans had never been obligated to cultivate one god or one cult only, religious tolerance was not an issue in the sense that it is for monotheistic systems. The monotheistic rigor of Judaism posed difficulties for Roman policy that led at times to compromise and the granting of special exemptions, but sometimes to intractable conflict. For example, religious disputes helped cause
6854-692: The druids as a positive consequence of the conquest of Gaul and Britain. Despite an empire-wide ban under Hadrian , human sacrifice may have continued covertly in North Africa and elsewhere. The mos maiorum established the dynastic authority and obligations of the citizen- paterfamilias ("the father of the family" or the "owner of the family estate"). He had priestly duties to his lares , domestic penates , ancestral Genius and any other deities with whom he or his family held an interdependent relationship. His own dependents, who included his slaves and freedmen, owed cult to his Genius . Genius
7003-430: The early Republic , the bride became subject to her husband's potestas , but to a lesser degree than their children. By the early Empire, however, a daughter's legal relationship to her father remained unchanged when she married, even though she moved into her husband's home. This arrangement was one of the factors in the degree of independence Roman women enjoyed relative to those of many other ancient cultures and up to
7152-544: The fetial priests. The first "outsider" Etruscan king, Lucius Tarquinius Priscus , founded a Capitoline temple to the triad Jupiter, Juno and Minerva which served as the model for the highest official cult throughout the Roman world. The benevolent, divinely fathered Servius Tullius established the Latin League , its Aventine Temple to Diana , and the Compitalia to mark his social reforms. Servius Tullius
7301-421: The harmonisation of the earthly and divine , so the victim must seem willing to offer its own life on behalf of the community; it must remain calm and be quickly and cleanly dispatched. Sacrifice to deities of the heavens ( di superi , "gods above") was performed in daylight, and under the public gaze. Deities of the upper heavens required white, infertile victims of their own sex: Juno a white heifer (possibly
7450-660: The province of Asia . Inscriptions record her generosity in funding the renovation of the Sardis gymnasium. Because women had the right to own property, they might engage in the same business transactions and management practices as any landowner. As with their male counterparts, their management of slaves appears to have varied from relative care to negligence and outright abuse. During the First Servile War , Megallis and her husband Damophilus were both killed by their slaves on account of their brutality, but their daughter
7599-512: The public sphere ; among the elite, moralists extolled female domesticity. Rome's political system involved citizen men exclusively—as politicians, representatives, magistrates, executives or voters. Many women had citizen rights but none had the vote, regardless of their wealth or their position in Roman society. though some elite women could manipulate or persuade their husbands and through them exercise political influence and in some cases, control. Ronald Syme notes, with reference to politics in
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#17327723224287748-564: The 2nd century CE the jurist Gaius said he saw no reason for it. The Christianization of the Empire, beginning with the conversion of the Emperor Constantine in the early 4th century, eventually had consequences for the legal status of women. Family tomb inscriptions of respectable Romans suggest that the ideal Roman marriage was one of mutual loyalty, in which husband and wife shared interests, activities, and property. In
7897-452: The 5th century BC, Roman women could own land, write their own wills, and appear in court. The historian Valerius Maximus devotes a section of his work On Memorable Deeds and Speeches to women who conducted cases on their own behalf, or on behalf of others. These women got to show their ability as orators in the courtroom at a time when oratory was considered a defining pursuit of the most ambitious Roman men. One of these, Maesia Sentinas ,
8046-415: The 60-year-old orator instead. After the widowed Marcia inherited considerable wealth, Cato married her again, in a ceremony lacking many of the formalities. Women might be mocked, however, for marrying too often or capriciously, particularly if it could be implied that sexual appetites or vanity were motives. A concubine was defined by Roman law as a woman living in a permanent monogamous relationship with
8195-495: The Church Fathers that Christians should not take part. The meaning and origin of many archaic festivals baffled even Rome's intellectual elite, but the more obscure they were, the greater the opportunity for reinvention and reinterpretation – a fact lost neither on Augustus in his program of religious reform, which often cloaked autocratic innovation, nor on his only rival as mythmaker of the era, Ovid . In his Fasti ,
8344-554: The Compitalia shrines, were thought a symbolic replacement for child-sacrifice to Mania, as Mother of the Lares . The Junii took credit for its abolition by their ancestor L. Junius Brutus , traditionally Rome's Republican founder and first consul. Political or military executions were sometimes conducted in such a way that they evoked human sacrifice, whether deliberately or in the perception of witnesses; Marcus Marius Gratidianus
8493-513: The Elder declared that "a sacrifice without prayer is thought to be useless and not a proper consultation of the gods." Prayer by itself, however, had independent power. The spoken word was thus the single most potent religious action, and knowledge of the correct verbal formulas the key to efficacy. Accurate naming was vital for tapping into the desired powers of the deity invoked, hence the proliferation of cult epithets among Roman deities. Public prayers ( prex ) were offered loudly and clearly by
8642-660: The Emperor safe for the stipulated period. In Pompeii , the Genius of the living emperor was offered a bull: presumably a standard practise in Imperial cult, though minor offerings (incense and wine) were also made. The exta were the entrails of a sacrificed animal , comprising in Cicero 's enumeration the gall bladder ( fel ), liver ( iecur ), heart ( cor ), and lungs ( pulmones ). The exta were exposed for litatio (divine approval) as part of Roman liturgy, but were "read" in
8791-560: The Late Republic and Principate , including dictating legal strategy to their advocate behind the scenes. An emancipated woman legally became sui iuris , or her own person, and could own property and dispose of it as she saw fit. If a pater familias died intestate , the law required the equal division of his estate amongst his children, regardless of their age and sex. A will that did otherwise, or emancipated any family member without due process of law, could be challenged. From
8940-539: The Late Republic, that "the daughters of the nobilitas could not be cheated of the real and secret power that comes from influence. They count for more than does the average senator ..." Livy's account of the framing and repeal of the sumptuary Lex Oppia , passed during the crisis of the Punic Wars , has the arch-traditionalist Cato the Censor (234–149) describe Rome's matrons, who collectively protested against
9089-607: The Late Republican era. Jupiter , the most powerful of all gods and "the fount of the auspices upon which the relationship of the city with the gods rested", consistently personified the divine authority of Rome's highest offices, internal organization and external relations. During the archaic and early Republican eras, he shared his temple , some aspects of cult and several divine characteristics with Mars and Quirinus , who were later replaced by Juno and Minerva . A conceptual tendency toward triads may be indicated by
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#17327723224289238-600: The Roman women most famous for their strength and influence as a mother was Cornelia , the mother of the Gracchi . Julius Caesar , whose father died when he was only a young teen, had a close relationship with his mother, Aurelia . Aurelia's political clout was essential in preventing the execution of her 18-year-old son during the proscriptions of Sulla . Aristocratic women managed a large and complex household. Since wealthy couples often owned multiple homes and country estates with dozens or even hundreds of slaves -- some of whom were educated and highly skilled -- this could be
9387-612: The Senate could decree collective public rites, in which Rome's citizens, including women and children, moved in procession from one temple to the next, supplicating the gods. Extraordinary circumstances called for extraordinary sacrifice: in one of the many crises of the Second Punic War , Jupiter Capitolinus was promised every animal born that spring (see ver sacrum ), to be rendered after five more years of protection from Hannibal and his allies. The "contract" with Jupiter
9536-492: The Senate for moral turpitude. Elsewhere, however, it is claimed that the first divorce took place only in 230 BCE, at which time Dionysius of Halicarnassus notes that " Spurius Carvilius , a man of distinction, was the first to divorce his wife" on grounds of infertility. This was most likely the Spurius Carvilius Maximus Ruga who was consul in 234 and 228 BCE. The evidence is confused. During
9685-512: The Temple of Janus , whose doors stayed open in times of war but in Numa's time remained closed. After Numa's death, the doors to the Temple of Janus were supposed to have remained open until the reign of Augustus. Each of Rome's legendary or semi-legendary kings was associated with one or more religious institutions still known to the later Republic. Tullus Hostilius and Ancus Marcius instituted
9834-506: The afterlife, were a matter of personal choice for an individual, practiced in addition to carrying on one's family rites and participating in public religion. The mysteries, however, involved exclusive oaths and secrecy, conditions that conservative Romans viewed with suspicion as characteristic of " magic ", conspiratorial ( coniuratio ), or subversive activity. Sporadic and sometimes brutal attempts were made to suppress religionists who seemed to threaten traditional morality and unity, as with
9983-486: The aristocracy, women as well as men lent money to their peers to avoid resorting to a moneylender. When Pliny was considering buying an estate, he factored in a loan from his mother-in-law as a guarantee rather than an option. Women also joined in funding public works, as is frequently documented by inscriptions during the Imperial period. The "lawless" Politta, who appears in the Martyrdom of Pionius , owned estates in
10132-489: The broad humor and burlesque spirit of such venerable festivals as the Saturnalia , Consualia , and feast of Anna Perenna on the Ides of March , where Ovid treats the assassination of the newly deified Julius Caesar as utterly incidental to the festivities among the Roman people. But official calendars preserved from different times and places also show a flexibility in omitting or expanding events, indicating that there
10281-506: The child's social status and inheritance -- arose. No law prohibited pregnant women from marrying, and there are well-known instances: Augustus married Livia when she was carrying her former husband's child, and the College of Pontiffs ruled that it was permissible as long as the child's father was determined first. Livia's previous husband even attended the wedding. Because elite marriages often occurred for reasons of politics or property,
10430-407: The classical period of Roman law (late Republic and Principate ), a man or woman could end a marriage simply because he or she wanted to, and for no other reason. Unless the wife could prove the spouse was worthless, he kept the children. Because property had been kept separate during the marriage, divorce from a "free" marriage was a very easy procedure. The frequency of remarriage among the elite
10579-465: The context of the disciplina Etrusca . As a product of Roman sacrifice, the exta and blood are reserved for the gods, while the meat (viscera) is shared among human beings in a communal meal. The exta of bovine victims were usually stewed in a pot ( olla or aula ), while those of sheep or pigs were grilled on skewers. When the deity's portion was cooked, it was sprinkled with mola salsa (ritually prepared salted flour) and wine, then placed in
10728-422: The couple were too young to marry. In general, noble women married younger than women of the lower classes. Most Roman women would have married in their late teens to early twenties. An aristocratic girl was expected to be a virgin when she married, as her young age might indicate. A daughter could legitimately refuse a match made by her parents only by showing that the proposed husband was of bad character. In
10877-402: The courts for adultery and banished. A woman's private relationships now became a publicly regulated matter. The palace was secured and driven by the idea that women would be returned to their proper places as chaste wives and mothers, and thus household order would be restored. Augustus went so far as to punish and exile his own daughter, Julia, for engaging in extramarital affairs. There never
11026-481: The daughter of a centurion would be in school. Alternatively, Epictetus and other historians and philosophers suggest that the educational system was preoccupied with the development of masculine virtue, with male teenagers performing school exercises in public speaking about Roman values . Children of both genders learned to behave socially by attending dinner parties or other, less elitist events. Both genders participated in religious festivals ; for example, at
11175-493: The deities and cults of other peoples rather than try to eradicate them, since they believed that preserving tradition promoted social stability. One way that Rome incorporated diverse peoples was by supporting their religious heritage, building temples to local deities that framed their theology within the hierarchy of Roman religion. Inscriptions throughout the Empire record the side-by-side worship of local and Roman deities, including dedications made by Romans to local gods. By
11324-510: The earliest period of the Roman Republic , a bride passed from her father's control into the "hand" (manus) of her husband. She then became subject to her husband's potestas , though to a lesser degree than their children. In the earliest periods of Roman history, Manus marriage meant that a married woman would be subjugated by her husband. That custom had died out by the 1st century BCE in favor of free marriage, which did not grant
11473-548: The early Roman period, the spinning of wool was a central domestic occupation and indicated a family's self-sufficiency, since the wool would be produced on their estates. Even in an urban setting, wool was often a symbol of a wife's duties, and equipment for spinning might appear on the funeral monument of a woman to show that she was a good and honorable matron. Even women of the upper classes were expected to be able to spin and weave in virtuous emulation of their rustic ancestors—a practice ostentatiously observed by Livia . "One of
11622-517: The early modern period. Although a Roman woman had to answer to her father legally, she did not conduct her daily life under his direct scrutiny, and her husband had no legal power over her. A daughter was expected to be deferential toward her father and to remain loyal to him, even if it meant having to disagree with her husband's actions. For some, "deference" was not always absolute. After arranging his daughter's first two marriages, Cicero disapproved—rightly, as it turned out—of her choice to marry
11771-451: The emperor. So-called "emperor worship" expanded on a grand scale the traditional Roman veneration of the ancestral dead and of the Genius , the divine tutelary of every individual. The Imperial cult became one of the major ways in which Rome advertised its presence in the provinces and cultivated shared cultural identity and loyalty throughout the Empire. Rejection of the state religion
11920-403: The equivalent of running a small corporation. In addition to the sociopolitically important responsibilities of entertaining guests , clients , and visiting dignitaries from abroad, the husband held his morning business meetings ( salutatio ) at home. The home ( domus ) was also the center of the family's social identity, with ancestral portraits displayed in the entrance hall ( atrium ). Since
12069-409: The eyes of her time) heroic end: she killed herself as the Republic collapsed, just as her father did. The rise of Augustus to sole power in the last decades of the 1st century BCE diminished the power of political officeholders and the traditional oligarchy , but did nothing to diminish and arguably increased the opportunities for women, as well as slaves and freedmen , to exercise influence behind
12218-506: The family of Clodius Pulcher , who had at least three sisters and two brothers, was considered unusual. The birth rate among the aristocracy declined to such an extent that the first Roman emperor Augustus (reigned 27 BCE–14 CE) passed a series of laws intended to increase it. These laws provided special honors for women who bore at least three children (the ius trium liberorum ) . Women who were unmarried, divorced, widowed, or barren were prohibited from inheriting property unless named in
12367-399: The family's domestic deities were offered. Neighbourhood shrines and sacred places such as springs and groves dotted the city. The Roman calendar was structured around religious observances. Women , slaves , and children all participated in a range of religious activities. Some public rituals could be conducted only by women, and women formed what is perhaps Rome's most famous priesthood,
12516-404: The festival had to be started over. Even private prayer by an individual was formulaic, a recitation rather than a personal expression, though selected by the individual for a particular purpose or occasion. Oaths—sworn for the purposes of business, clientage and service, patronage and protection , state office, treaty and loyalty—appealed to the witness and sanction of deities. Refusal to swear
12665-523: The fire on the altar for the offering; the technical verb for this action was porricere . Human sacrifice in ancient Rome was rare but documented. After the Roman defeat at Cannae two Gauls and two Greeks were buried under the Forum Boarium , in a stone chamber "which had on a previous occasion [228 BC] also been polluted by human victims, a practice most repulsive to Roman feelings". Livy avoids
12814-458: The form of a holocaust or burnt offering, and there was no shared banquet, as "the living cannot share a meal with the dead". Ceres and other underworld goddesses of fruitfulness were sometimes offered pregnant female animals; Tellus was given a pregnant cow at the Fordicidia festival. Color had a general symbolic value for sacrifices. Demigods and heroes, who belonged to the heavens and
12963-487: The foundation and rise of the city. These narratives focus on human actors, with only occasional intervention from deities but a pervasive sense of divinely ordered destiny. For Rome's earliest period, history and myth are difficult to distinguish. According to mythology, Rome had a semi-divine ancestor in the Trojan refugee Aeneas , son of Venus , who was said to have established the basis of Roman religion when he brought
13112-589: The founding of the Latin League under Servius Tullius. Many temples in the Republican era were built as the fulfillment of a vow made by a general in exchange for a victory: Rome's first known temple to Venus was vowed by the consul Q. Fabius Gurges in the heat of battle against the Samnites , and dedicated in 295 BC. All sacrifices and offerings required an accompanying prayer to be effective. Pliny
13261-437: The gilder was married to Dionysius the helmet maker, as indicated by a curse tablet asking for the destruction of their household, workshop, work, and livelihood. The status of ordinary women who owned a business seems to have been regarded as exceptional. Laws during the Imperial period aimed at punishing women for adultery exempted those "who have charge of any business or shop" from prosecution. Some typical occupations for
13410-523: The giver could reclaim the gift. Divorce was a legal but relatively informal affair which mainly involved a wife leaving her husband’s house and taking back her dowry. According to the historian Valerius Maximus , divorces were taking place by 604 BCE or earlier, and the law code as embodied in the mid-5th century BCE by the Twelve Tables provides for divorce. Divorce was socially acceptable if carried out within social norms ( mos maiorum ). By
13559-514: The gods, especially Jupiter , who embodied just rule. As a result of the Punic Wars (264–146 BC), when Rome struggled to establish itself as a dominant power, many new temples were built by magistrates in fulfillment of a vow to a deity for assuring their military success. As the Romans extended their dominance throughout the Mediterranean world, their policy in general was to absorb
13708-475: The height of the Empire, numerous international deities were cultivated at Rome and had been carried to even the most remote provinces , among them Cybele , Isis , Epona , and gods of solar monism such as Mithras and Sol Invictus , found as far north as Roman Britain . Foreign religions increasingly attracted devotees among Romans, who increasingly had ancestry from elsewhere in the Empire. Imported mystery religions , which offered initiates salvation in
13857-540: The historical period influenced Roman culture , introducing some religious practices that became fundamental, such as the cultus of Apollo . The Romans looked for common ground between their major gods and those of the Greeks ( interpretatio graeca ), adapting Greek myths and iconography for Latin literature and Roman art , as the Etruscans had. Etruscan religion was also a major influence, particularly on
14006-687: The historical record. Inscriptions and especially epitaphs document the names of a wide range of women throughout the Roman Empire, but often tell little else about them. Some vivid snapshots of daily life are preserved in Latin literary genres such as comedy , satire , and poetry, particularly the poems of Catullus and Ovid , which offer glimpses of women in Roman dining rooms and boudoirs, at sporting and theatrical events, shopping, putting on makeup , practicing magic , worrying about pregnancy—all, however, through male eyes . The published letters of Cicero , for instance, reveal informally how
14155-403: The histories of Rome's leading families , and oral and ritual traditions. According to Cicero, the Romans considered themselves the most religious of all peoples, and their rise to dominance was proof they received divine favor in return. Rome offers no native creation myth , and little mythography to explain the character of its deities, their mutual relationships or their interactions with
14304-438: The human world, but Roman theology acknowledged that di immortales (immortal gods) ruled all realms of the heavens and earth. There were gods of the upper heavens, gods of the underworld and a myriad of lesser deities between. Some evidently favoured Rome because Rome honoured them, but none were intrinsically, irredeemably foreign or alien. The political, cultural and religious coherence of an emergent Roman super-state required
14453-413: The late Republic onward, a woman who inherited a share equal with her brothers would have been independent of agnatic control. As in the case of minors, an emancipated woman had a legal guardian ( tutor ) appointed to her. She retained her powers of administration, however, and the guardian's main if not sole purpose was to give formal consent to actions. The guardian had no say in her private life, and
14602-567: The later agricultural or plebeian triad of Ceres , Liber and Libera , and by some of the complementary threefold deity-groupings of Imperial cult. Other major and minor deities could be single, coupled, or linked retrospectively through myths of divine marriage and sexual adventure. These later Roman pantheistic hierarchies are part literary and mythographic, part philosophical creations, and often Greek in origin. The Hellenization of Latin literature and culture supplied literary and artistic models for reinterpreting Roman deities in light of
14751-439: The law on the streets of Rome, as an "army of women" seeking to undermine the authority of his own gender and class, even the very existence of Rome, in their pursuit of unrestrained licence to spend money—which he describes as a particularly female disease that could never be cured, only suppressed. During the civil wars that ended the Republic, Appian reports the heroism of wives who saved their husbands. An epitaph known as
14900-575: The law with regards to minimum age (12) and consent to marriage was designed to leave families, primarily fathers, with much freedom to propel girls into marriage whenever and with whomever they saw fit. Marriage facilitated a partnership between the father and prospective husbands, and enabled the formation of a mutually beneficial alliance with both political and economic incentives at heart. The girls would leave their own families and join their husbands. The social regime, geared towards early marriage and implemented through children's education and upbringing,
15049-470: The lower classes were more likely to marry slightly further into their teenage years. (Boys, however, had to be at least 14.) An example of the marriage age of noble females can be seen with Cicero 's lifelong friend Atticus, who married his daughter Caecilia Attica to Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa when she was 14. Girls were expected to safeguard their chastity, modesty and reputation, in preparation for eventual marriage. The light regulation of marriage by
15198-459: The male historians for their learning and cultivation. Some women became socially prominent, and even relatively independent. Cornelia Metella , the young wife of Pompey the Great at the time of his death, was distinguished for her musicianship and her knowledge of geometry, literature, and philosophy. This degree of learning indicates formal preparation; however, among the lower classes education
15347-456: The most ambitious aristocratic men were frequently away from home on military campaign or administrative duty in the provinces , sometimes for years at a time, the maintenance of the family's property and business decisions were often left to the wives. For instance, while Julius Caesar was away from Rome throughout the 50s BCE, his wife Calpurnia was responsible for taking care of his assets. When Ovid , regarded as Rome's greatest living poet,
15496-548: The most curious characteristics of that age," observed French classical scholar Gaston Boissier , "was that the women appear as much engaged in business and as interested in speculations as the men. Money is their first care. They work their estates, invest their funds, lend and borrow. We find one among Cicero's creditors, and two among his debtors." Although Roman society did not allow women to gain official political power, it did allow them to enter business. Even women of wealth were not supposed to be idle ladies of leisure. Among
15645-502: The most honorable part of the table. Fine food was served, as if they were able to eat. The priests designated as epulones , or masters of the feast, organized and carried out the ritual, and acted as "gastronomic proxies" in eating the food. This Ancient Rome –related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Religion in ancient Rome Religion in ancient Rome consisted of varying imperial and provincial religious practices, which were followed both by
15794-567: The penalty of death was sometimes imposed on the unchaste daughter. The Emperor Augustus introduced marriage legislation, the Lex Papia Poppaea , which rewarded marriage and childbearing. The legislation also imposed penalties on young persons who failed to marry and on those who committed adultery. Therefore, marriage and childbearing was made law between the ages of twenty-five and sixty for men, and twenty and fifty for women. Both daughters and sons were subject to patria potestas ,
15943-463: The people of Rome as well as those who were brought under its rule. The Romans thought of themselves as highly religious, and attributed their success as a world power to their collective piety ( pietas ) in maintaining good relations with the gods . Their polytheistic religion is known for having honoured many deities . The presence of Greeks on the Italian peninsula from the beginning of
16092-466: The political and social significance of the event. During the late Republic, the political elite competed to outdo each other in public display, and the ludi attendant on a triumph were expanded to include gladiator contests. Under the Principate , all such spectacular displays came under Imperial control: the most lavish were subsidised by emperors, and lesser events were provided by magistrates as
16241-622: The potential for them to carry on separate sex lives. While it was expected that women should only have sexual relations with their husbands, it was common for a man to have many sexual partners throughout his life. After marriage, women were scrutinized in the household to prevent any adulterous behavior. For example, Julius Caesar's second wife, Pompeia , attempted to have private relations with Publius Clodius . Julius Caesar's mother, Aurelia, who monitored Pompeia's actions, prevented their private meetings. The mere possibility of Pompeia committing adultery caused Caesar to divorce her. The focus on
16390-401: The power wielded by their father as head of household ( familia ). A Roman household was considered a collective ( corpus , a "body") over which the pater familias had mastery ( dominium ). Slaves, who had no legal standing, were part of the household as property. In the early Empire, the legal standing of daughters differed little if at all from that of sons. If the father died without a will,
16539-431: The powers and attributes of divine beings, and inclined them to render benefits in return (the principle of do ut des ). Offerings to household deities were part of daily life. Lares might be offered spelt wheat and grain-garlands, grapes and first fruits in due season, honey cakes and honeycombs, wine and incense, food that fell to the floor during any family meal, or at their Compitalia festival, honey-cakes and
16688-502: The practice of augury , used by the state to seek the will of the gods. According to legends , most of Rome's religious institutions could be traced to its founders , particularly Numa Pompilius , the Sabine second king of Rome , who negotiated directly with the gods . This archaic religion was the foundation of the mos maiorum , "the way of the ancestors" or simply "tradition", viewed as central to Roman identity. Roman religion
16837-409: The right of a daughter to share in the family property was equal to that of a son, though legislation in the 2nd century BCE had attempted to limit this right. Even apart from legal status, daughters seem no less esteemed within the Roman family than sons, though sons were expected to ensure family standing by following their fathers into public life. The pater familias had the right and duty to find
16986-431: The sacrificial fire consumed their proper portion ( exta , the innards). Rome's officials and priests reclined in order of precedence alongside and ate the meat; lesser citizens may have had to provide their own. Chthonic gods such as Dis pater , the di inferi ("gods below"), and the collective shades of the departed ( di Manes ) were given dark, fertile victims in nighttime rituals. Animal sacrifice usually took
17135-550: The same games as boys, such as ball, hoop-rolling , and knucklebones . Dolls are sometimes found in the tombs of those who died before adulthood. The figures are typically 15–16 cm (5.9–6.3 in) tall, with jointed limbs, and made of materials such as wood, terracotta , and especially bone and ivory . Girls coming of age dedicated their dolls to Diana , the goddess most concerned with girlhood, or to Venus when they were preparing for marriage. Noble girls were known to marry as young as 12 years of age, whereas females in
17284-589: The scenes. Augustus' wife, Livia Drusilla Augusta (58 BCE – CE 29), was the most powerful woman in the early Roman Empire , acting several times as regent and consistently as a faithful advisor. Several women of the Imperial family, such as Livia's great-granddaughter and Caligula's sister Agrippina the Younger , gained political influence as well as public prominence. Women also participated in efforts to overthrow emperors, predominantly for personal gain. Shortly after Caligula 's sister Drusilla died, her widower Marcus Aemilius Lepidus and her sisters Agrippina
17433-402: The self-proclaimed great man interacted on the domestic front with his wife Terentia and daughter Tullia , as his speeches demonstrate through disparagement the various ways Roman women could enjoy a free-spirited sexual and social life. The one major public role reserved solely for women was in the sphere of religion : the priestly office of the Vestals . Forbidden from marriage or sex for
17582-533: The sharing of bread ( panis farreus ); coemptio , "by purchase"; and usus , "by mutual cohabitation". Patricians always married by confarreatio , while plebeians married by the latter two types. In marriage by usus , if a woman was absent for three consecutive nights at least once a year, she would avoid her husband establishing legal control over her. This differed from the Athenian custom of arranged marriage and sequestration, which did not allow wives to walk
17731-623: The site that would become the Forum Boarium , and, so the legend went, he was the first to celebrate the Lupercalia , an archaic festival in February that was celebrated as late as the 5th century of the Christian era. The myth of a Trojan founding with Greek influence was reconciled through an elaborate genealogy (the Latin kings of Alba Longa ) with the well-known legend of Rome's founding by Romulus and Remus . The most common version of
17880-551: The state-supported Vestals , who tended Rome's sacred hearth for centuries, until disbanded under Christian domination. The priesthoods of most state religions were held by members of the elite classes . There was no principle analogous to separation of church and state in ancient Rome. During the Roman Republic (509–27 BC), the same men who were elected public officials might also serve as augurs and pontiffs . Priests married, raised families, and led politically active lives. Julius Caesar became pontifex maximus before he
18029-440: The streets unescorted. The form of marriage known as manus was the norm in the early Republic , but became less frequent thereafter. The bride's dowry , any inheritance rights transferred through her marriage, and any subsequently-acquired property belonged to her husband. Husbands could divorce their wives on grounds of adultery, and a few cases of divorce on the grounds of a wife's infertility are recorded. Manus marriage
18178-450: The time of Cicero and Julius Caesar , divorce was relatively common and "shame-free", the subject of gossip rather than a social disgrace. Valerius says that Lucius Annius was disapproved of because he divorced his wife without consulting his friends; that is, he undertook the action for his own purposes and without considering its effects on his social network ( amicitia and clientela ). The censors of 307 BCE thus expelled him from
18327-407: The twins' story displays several aspects of hero myth. Their mother, Rhea Silvia , had been ordered by her uncle the king to remain a virgin, in order to preserve the throne he had usurped from her father. Through divine intervention, the rightful line was restored when Rhea Silvia was impregnated by the god Mars . She gave birth to twins, who were duly exposed by order of the king but saved through
18476-555: The underworld, were sometimes given black-and-white victims. Robigo (or Robigus ) was given red dogs and libations of red wine at the Robigalia for the protection of crops from blight and red mildew. A sacrifice might be made in thanksgiving or as an expiation of a sacrilege or potential sacrilege ( piaculum ); a piaculum might also be offered as a sort of advance payment; the Arval Brethren , for instance, offered
18625-412: The unreliable Dolabella , but found himself unable to prevent it. A daughter kept her own family name ( nomen ) for life, not assuming that of her husband. Children usually took the father's name. In the Imperial period, however, children might sometimes make their mother's family name part of theirs, or even adopt it instead. From the start of the Roman Republic, there was a high emphasis placed on
18774-461: The upper classes are documented as owning and running shipping corporations. Trade and manufacturing are not well represented in Roman literature, which was produced for and largely by the elite, but funerary inscriptions sometimes record the profession of the deceased, including women. Women are known to have owned and operated brick factories . A woman might develop skills to complement her husband's trade, or manage aspects of his business. Artemis
18923-470: The word templum to refer to this sacred precinct, and the more common Latin words aedes , delubrum , or fanum for a temple or shrine as a building. The ruins of temples are among the most visible monuments of ancient Roman culture. Temple buildings and shrines within the city commemorated significant political settlements in its development: the Aventine Temple of Diana supposedly marked
19072-510: The word "sacrifice" in connection with this bloodless human life-offering; Plutarch does not. The rite was apparently repeated in 113 BC, preparatory to an invasion of Gaul. Its religious dimensions and purpose remain uncertain. In the early stages of the First Punic War (264 BC) the first known Roman gladiatorial munus was held, described as a funeral blood-rite to the manes of a Roman military aristocrat. The gladiator munus
19221-424: Was a case in court in which the quarrel was not started by a woman. If Manilia is not a defendant, she'll be the plaintiff; she will herself frame and adjust the pleadings; she will be ready to instruct Celsus himself how to open his case, and how to urge his points. Although the rights and status of women in the earliest period of Roman history were more restricted than in the late Republic and Empire, as early as
19370-492: Was a gruesome example. Officially, human sacrifice was obnoxious "to the laws of gods and men". The practice was a mark of the barbarians , attributed to Rome's traditional enemies such as the Carthaginians and Gauls. Rome banned it on several occasions under extreme penalty. A law passed in 81 BC characterised human sacrifice as murder committed for magical purposes. Pliny saw the ending of human sacrifice conducted by
19519-600: Was accused of calumnia , malicious prosecution . An edict was consequently enacted that prohibited women from bringing claims on behalf of others, on the grounds that it jeopardized their pudicitia , the modesty appropriate to one's station. It has been noted that while women were often impugned for their feeblemindedness and ignorance of the law, and thus in need of protection by male advocates, in reality actions were taken to restrict their influence and effectiveness. Despite this specific restriction, there are numerous examples of women taking informed actions in legal matters in
19668-490: Was an augur, saw religion as a source of social order. As the Roman Empire expanded, migrants to the capital brought their local cults , many of which became popular among Italians. Christianity was eventually the most successful of these beliefs, and in 380 became the official state religion . For ordinary Romans, religion was a part of daily life. Each home had a household shrine at which prayers and libations to
19817-408: Was an unequal relationship; it changed a woman’s intestate heirs from her siblings to her children, not because she was their mother but because her legal status was the same as that of a daughter to her husband. Under manus , women were expected to obey their husbands in almost all aspects of their lives. This archaic form of manus marriage was largely abandoned by the time of Julius Caesar , when
19966-559: Was credited with several religious institutions. He founded the Consualia festival, inviting the neighbouring Sabines to participate; the ensuing rape of the Sabine women by Romulus's men further embedded both violence and cultural assimilation in Rome's myth of origins. As a successful general, Romulus is also supposed to have founded Rome's first temple to Jupiter Feretrius and offered
20115-421: Was elected consul . The augurs read the will of the gods and supervised the marking of boundaries as a reflection of universal order, thus sanctioning Roman expansionism and foreign wars as a matter of divine destiny. The Roman triumph was at its core a religious procession in which the victorious general displayed his piety and his willingness to serve the public good by dedicating a portion of his spoils to
20264-428: Was exiled by Augustus in 8 CE, his wife exploited social connections and legal maneuvers to hold on to the family's property, on which their livelihood depended. Ovid expresses his love and admiration for her lavishly in the poetry he wrote during his exile. Frugality, parsimony, and austerity were characteristics of the virtuous matron. One of the most important tasks for women was to oversee clothing production. In
20413-465: Was high. Speedy remarriage was not unusual, and perhaps even customary, for aristocratic Romans after the death of a spouse. While no formal waiting period was dictated for a widower, it was customary for a woman to remain in mourning for ten months before remarrying. The duration may have allowed for pregnancy: if a woman had become pregnant just before her husband's death, the period of ten months ensured that no question of paternity -- which might affect
20562-724: Was limited and strongly geared towards the course of marriage, and performing the tasks of the female within the household. Elite families poured money into their daughters' literary and virtue training to equip them with skills that would appeal to prospective husbands. Epictetus suggests that at the age of 14, girls were considered to be on the brink of womanhood and beginning to understand the inevitability of their future role as wives. They learned modesty through explicit instruction and upbringing. The lives of boys and girls began to diverge dramatically after they formally came of age, and memorials to women recognize their domestic qualities far more often than intellectual achievements. The skills
20711-432: Was married first to the popularist champion Clodius Pulcher , who was murdered after a long feud with Cicero; then to Scribonius Curio ; and finally to Mark Antony , the last opponent to the republican oligarchs and to Rome's future first emperor. The Greek observer Plutarch indicates that a second wedding among Romans was likely to be a quieter affair, as a widow would still feel the absence of her dead husband, and
20860-434: Was murdered and succeeded by the arrogant Tarquinius Superbus , whose expulsion marked the end of Roman kingship and the beginning of the Roman republic, governed by elected magistrates . Roman historians regarded the essentials of Republican religion as complete by the end of Numa's reign, and confirmed as right and lawful by the Senate and people of Rome : the sacred topography of the city , its monuments and temples,
21009-527: Was never explicitly acknowledged as a human sacrifice, probably because death was not its inevitable outcome or purpose. Even so, the gladiators swore their lives to the gods, and the combat was dedicated as an offering to the Di Manes or the revered souls of deceased human beings. The event was therefore a sacrificium in the strict sense of the term, and Christian writers later condemned it as human sacrifice. The small woollen dolls called Maniae , hung on
21158-457: Was no single static and authoritative calendar of required observances. In the later Empire under Christian rule, the new Christian festivals were incorporated into the existing framework of the Roman calendar, alongside at least some of the traditional festivals. Public religious ceremonies of the official Roman religion took place outdoors, and not within the temple building. Some ceremonies were processions that started at, visited, or ended with
21307-550: Was not uncommon as early as the 2nd century BCE , when the comic playwright Plautus mentions wet-nurses. Since a mother's milk was considered best for the baby, aristocratic women might still choose to breast-feed unless physical reasons prevented it. If a woman did choose not to nurse her own child, she could visit the Columna Lactaria ("Milk Column"), where poor parents could obtain milk for their infants as charity from wet nurses and more affluent parents could hire
21456-491: Was particularly restrictive for girls. Some, perhaps many, girls went to a public primary school ; however, there is some evidence to suggest that girls’ education was limited to this elementary school level. It has been inferred that individual school tutoring of girls at home was led by concerns about threats to girls’ modesty in coeducational classrooms. Ovid and Martial imply that boys and girls were educated either together or similarly, and Livy takes it for granted that
21605-416: Was practical and contractual, based on the principle of do ut des , "I give that you might give". Religion depended on knowledge and the correct practice of prayer, rite, and sacrifice, not on faith or dogma, although Latin literature preserves learned speculation on the nature of the divine and its relation to human affairs. Even the most skeptical among Rome's intellectual elite such as Cicero , who
21754-437: Was spared because of her kindness and granted safe passage out of Sicily, along with an armed escort. Unlike landholding, industry was not considered an honorable profession for those of senatorial rank. Cicero suggested that in order to gain respectability a merchant should buy land. Attitudes changed during the Empire, however, and Claudius created legislation to encourage the upper classes to engage in shipping. Women of
21903-495: Was sufficient grounds for divorce or other legal action against the husband. Domestic abuse enters the historical record mainly when it involves the egregious excesses of the elite. The Emperor Nero was alleged to have had his first wife (and stepsister) Claudia Octavia murdered after subjecting her to torture and imprisonment. Nero then married his pregnant mistress Poppaea Sabina , whom he kicked to death for criticizing him. Some modern historians believe that Poppaea died from
22052-459: Was tantamount to treason. This was the context for Rome's conflict with Christianity , which Romans variously regarded as a form of atheism and novel superstitio , while Christians considered Roman religion to be paganism . Ultimately, Roman polytheism was brought to an end with the adoption of Christianity as the official religion of the empire. The Roman mythological tradition is particularly rich in historical myths, or legends , concerning
22201-1055: Was the essential spirit and generative power – depicted as a serpent or as a perennial youth, often winged – within an individual and their clan ( gens (pl. gentes ). A paterfamilias could confer his name, a measure of his genius and a role in his household rites, obligations and honours upon those he fathered or adopted. His freed slaves owed him similar obligations. Women in Ancient Rome Freeborn women in ancient Rome were citizens ( cives ), but could not vote or hold political office . Because of their limited public role, women are named less frequently than men by Roman historians . But while Roman women held no direct political power, those from wealthy or powerful families could and did exert influence through private negotiations. Exceptional women who left an undeniable mark on history include Lucretia and Claudia Quinta , whose stories took on mythic significance ; fierce Republican-era women such as Cornelia , mother of
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