NAMES MATRIC NO. DEPARTMENT 1) Jeje Oluwaseun joy 190468. Religious studies 2) Ayegbusi Olaitan Samuel 190354. Classics 3) Akinsipe Abimbola Omotola 190305. Religious studies 4) Folorunso Segun 190440. Classics 5) Ebute Abraham 190403. Classics 6) Oyeleye Esther 190650. Religious studies 7) Oyeleye Oluwatobi David 190651. Religious studies 8) Adediran Olafimihan Ayoola 190206. Classics 9) Ado Sukurat 190261. Classics 10) Adewole Ifedapo 190249. Classics 11) Oghorada Promise 190526. Religious studies 12) Fapohunda Bolanle Busola. 193372. Classics
Group leader : Jeje Oluwaseun Joy
Introduction "Tell me, all you who have journeyed through many lands, have you seen a more richly farmed land than Italy? ". This is a quote from a Roman writer in the first century named Varro, and he was right. The area where Ancient Rome was built began attracting settlers early on because its fertile land and mild climate were perfect for growing crops. The size of the farms in the Ancient Rome depended on who owned them. Wealthy Roman citizens ran large farms with many employees, while poor farmers ran smaller farms and worked the field themselves. Most of the large farms were run by servants, and the field work done by slaves while the owners collected profits. In the 5th century BC, farms in Rome were small and family owned. The Greeks of this period, however, had started using crop rotation and had large estates. Rome agriculture reached it's height in productivity and efficiency during the late Republic and early Empire.
Agriculture in ancient Rome was not only a necessity, but was idealized among the social elite as a way of life. Cicero considered farming the best of all Roman occupations. In his treatise On Duties, he declared that "of all the occupations by which gain is secured, none is better than agriculture, none more profitable, none more delightful, none more becoming to a free man." When one of his clients was derided in court for preferring a rural lifestyle, Cicero defended country life as "the teacher of economy, of industry, and of justice". crops included wheat, emmer, spelt, and barley, all of them used among other things for bread, the mainstay of every Roman table. In his treatise De agricultura ("On Farming", 2nd century BC), Cato wrote that the best farm was a vineyard, followed by an irrigated garden, willow plantation, olive orchard, meadow, grain land, forest trees, vineyard traineE trees, and lastly acorn woodlands.Though Rome relied on resources from its many provinces acquired through conquest and warfare, wealthy Romans developed the land in Italy to produce a variety of crops. "The people living in the city of Rome constituted a huge market for the purchase of food produced on Italian farms."
Farming practices
Roman hoe blade, from the Field Museum in Chicago In the 5th century BC, farms in Rome were small and family-owned. The Greeks of this period, however, had started using crop rotation and had large estates. Rome's contact with Carthage, Greece, and the Hellenistic East in the 3rd and 2nd centuries improved Rome's agricultural methods. Roman agriculture reached its height in productivity and efficiency during the late Republic and early Empire.
Farm sizes in Rome can be divided into three categories. Small farms were from 18–108 iugera. (One iugerum was equal to about 0.65 acres or a quarter of a hectare). Medium-sized farms were from 80–500 iugera. Large estates (called latifundia) were over 500 iugera.
In the late Republican era, the number of latifundia increased. Wealthy Romans bought land from peasant farmers who could no longer make a living. Starting in 200 BC, the Punic Wars called peasant farmers away to fight for longer periods of time.
Cows provided milk, and oxen and mules did the heavy work on the farm. Sheep and goats were cheese producers, and were prized for their hides. Horses were not widely used in farming, but were raised by the rich for racing or war. Sugar production centered on beekeeping, and some Romans raised snails as luxury food.
The Romans had four systems of farm management: direct work by owner and his family; tenant farming or sharecropping in which the owner and a tenant divide up a farm's produce; forced labour by slaves owned by aristocrats and supervised by slave managers; and other arrangements in which a farm was leased to a tenant.
Aristocrats and common people could acquire land for a farm in one of three ways. The most common way to gain land was to purchase the land. Though some lower class citizens did own small pieces of land, they often found it too difficult and expensive to maintain. Because of the many difficulties of owning land, they would sell it to someone in the aristocracy who had the financial backing to support a farm. Though there were some public lands available to the common person for use, aristocrats also tended to purchase those pieces of land, which caused a great deal of tension between the two classes. “Mass eviction of the poor by the rich underlay the political tensions and civil wars of the last century of the Roman Republic.”Another way to acquire land was as a reward for going to war. High ranking soldiers returning from war would often be given small pieces of public land or land in provinces as a way of paying them for their services. The last way to obtain land was through inheritance. A father could leave his land to his family, usually to his son, in the event of his death. Wills were drawn out that specified who would receive the land as a way of ensuring that other citizens did not try to take the land from the family of the deceased.
Running a farm in ancient Rome
While the aristocracy owned most of the land in Rome, they often were not present at the farms. With obligations as senators, generals, and soldiers at war, many of the actual landowners spent very little time working on their farms. The farms instead were maintained by slaves and freedmen paid to oversee those slaves.[18] The overseer of the farm had many responsibilities that coincided with maintaining the land. He was responsible for ensuring that the slaves were kept busy and for resolving conflicts between them. An overseer had to be dependable and trustworthy in that the land owner had to know that the person he hired to run the farm was not going to try to steal any of the produce from the farm. Overseers were also responsible for ensuring that both servants and slaves were properly fed and housed, and that they were assigned work fairly and efficiently. They had to ensure that any orders given by the owner of the land were followed diligently and that everyone on the farm honored the gods completely and respectfully, which Romans believed was necessary to ensure a bountiful harvest.
The majority of the work was done by servants and slaves. Slaves were the main source of labor. In Roman society, there were three main ways to obtain a slave. The first and possibly most common way to gain a slave was to buy one on the market. Slaves were purchased at auctions and slaves markets from dealers or were traded between individual slave owners. Another way slaves were acquired was through conquest in warfare. As Keith Hopkins explains in his writings, many landowners would go to war and bring back captives. These captives were then taken back to Roman territory and either sold to another citizen or made to work on the capturer's farm. The final way a slave could be obtained was through birth: if a female slave gave birth to a child, that child became property of the slave's owner. Extramarital relations with women who were not citizens was not considered to be adultery under Roman law (and Roman wives were expected to tolerate such behavior), so there was no legal or moral impediment to having children being fathered by a slave's owner or overseer.
Slaves were relatively cheap to use because they were property; their treatment depended on the humanity of their owners, who met the needs of their slaves on what they cared to spend, not what they had to. Overseers motivated slaves by imposing punishments and by giving rewards. "If the overseer sets his face against wrongdoing, they will not do it; if he allows it, the master must not let him go unpunished." Although outright cruelty to slaves was considered a mark of bad character in Roman culture, there were few limits on the punishments an overseer or slave-owner could inflict.
Social life in the Ancient Roman society
The Romans were a very special set of people. They were social beings who did not consider themselves human unless they belonged to some form of society. Each Roman belonged to different societies; family, village or district, administrative tribe, 'collegium', or professional guild, religious body, or the provincial town of his birth, which Cicero referred to as one's "little fatherland. To remain human, people needed both bread and free - that is, regulated - commerce with their fellows. No Roman could live a life of solitude, at the very least, a civilized man required a family or a group or companions. In fact, they had to be social. Part of the duties of the nobles involved a tangible social life. A noble, in his free time had to attend splendid banquets, travel from time to time to Rome if he was not living in the city, and he had to attend meetings. To achieve their goals in life, fulfil their high ambitions, Roman had to have a good connection with a lot of people. To make their friendships stronger, they had to arrange banquets, splendid dinners and successful drinking parties. Also, in Rome, friendship was a complex relationship between two people, based on affection and self-interest. It was set of reciprocal obligations of assistance and non-agression. It was often hand in hand with kinship, and marriage might place the seal on a friendship. To share children was for the Romans a means of strengthening bonds of friendship.
Agriculture and sociocultural life in ancient Roman society
In ancient Roman society, agriculture was a very important aspect of their lives. As interaction with fellow humans was very important to them, so was interaction with the soil. The Roman citizens believed that the best possible relationship that a man could have with the soil was that enjoyed by the ploughman. In Latin, the term "colonus", an occupant-farmer indicating that his work on the land was one of numerous activities that contributed to cultivated life. Culture ultimately derived from a Latin word "Colo " covers a lot of activities such as religious cults, the setting up of a fixed dwelling, the taking care of one's body, the education of the mind, the art of cookery and (if one follows the ancients' etymology of 'culina', kitchen, which, though no doubt mistaken, none the less indicates the kinship that they felt existed between Colo and culina); and lastly, agriculture. Peasants who observed both technical and ritual farming procedures of which the legitimacy and hence the efficacy was guaranteed by the gods - experienced their labour as a way of taking cultural possession of the soil. Romans even argued that arable farming was a form of religious observance. Agriculture was part of their cultural and religious life, there was a god who looked after their agricultural life. Traditionally, any man who failed to cultivate his land was disgraced by the censor. Laziness was not encouraged toward agriculture. No matter how poor or rich, Agriculture is a practice that must be done by every or any Roman to avoid public disgrace. If anyone allowed his land to run to waste and was not giving it sufficient attention, if he had neither ploughed nor weeded it, or if anyone had neglected his orchard or vineyard, such conduct did not go unpunished, but was taken up by the censor who reduced such man down the ladder of hierarchy to the lowest class of citizens. Negligence towards agriculture is therefore not condoned. The Roman valued highly anything their soil produced over foreign market. To the Roman, poverty, agriculture and culture cannot be separated. Anything produced by the soil, at least by Roman soil, was of scant market value and it's consumption was always therefore blameless. This is why sumptuary laws designed to curb luxury, always exempted from their restrictions anything grown on Italian soil. Life in the country remained a moral ideal until the end of the republic. The good life was rooted in a rural small holding that one could obtain the bulk of one's food.
CONCLUSION Agriculture in the ancient Roman society was really important and essential as it relates to the daily life of a Roman as the expressions used to describe uncultivated fields were used to speak of a man who was slovenly, a man devoid of his dignity as a civilized being. This means that a man who is able to take care of his farm is also capable of behaving properly in the society Also, it's produce are also used to symbolize fertility especially during marriage rites and festivals in the state.
References 1) The Daily Life of a Roman by Florence Dupont 2) Study. Com "Farming in Ancient Rome" 3) Wikipedia - Roman Agriculture. 4) www. Oxfordreference. Com"Roman agriculture" 5)When in Rome: Social Life in Ancient Rome ,By Paul Chrystal 6) www. Roman empire.net
TABLE OF CONTENT INTRODUCTION GEORAPHICAL LOCATION OF ANCIENT ROME TERRITORIES ACQUIRED BY THE ROMANS ECONOMIC STRENGTH IN ANCIENT ROME ROMAN CULTURE, VALUES AND HEALTH ROMAN POLITICS, HIERARCHY AND ARMY PROFESSIONS IN ANCIENT ROME ROMAN RELIGION AND FESTIVALS SEXUALITY ROMAN ARCHITECTURE AND HOUSING Introduction Ancient Rome refers to the city of Rome, which was located in central Italy; and also to the empire it came to rule, which covered the entire Mediterranean basin and much of Western Europe. Rome’s location in central Italy placed it squarely within the Mediterranean cluster of civilizations. The most famous of these was that of the Ancient Greeks, but others included those of the Phoenicians, the Carthaginians and the Etruscans, plus several lesser-known peoples such as the Lycians. The civilization of Ancient Rome was rooted, directly or indirectly, in all these earlier culture. In its early centuries Rome was particularly influenced by the powerful Etruscan civilization to its north, from which it acquired many aspects of its culture. As Rome’s reach expanded, it came into direct contact with the Greeks. From then on Greek influence would become an increasingly important element within Roman life. However, the Romans would give Greek culture their own slant, giving it a new grandeur which can be seen in Roman remains throughout the empire. Organizing the Roman space does not just include the geographical setting of that period, but also the duration and time intervals. Indeed one cannot organize the Roman space without talking about the city itself, its values, culture, architecture, economy and day to day activities of the people who gave birth to one of the most powerful civilization ever known to man. For the Romans, cities were communities which ran their own affairs, and constituted the main building-blocks of the empire. Every free person in the empire belonged to a city – which may not necessarily have been where he or she was living at any given time, but was his or her “home town”.
Economic Strength of Ancient Rome Ancient Rome commanded a vast area of land, with tremendous natural and human resources. As such, Rome's economy remained focused on farming and trade. Roman trade was the engine that drove the Roman economy. The language and the legions were supported by trade while being at the same time part of its backbone. Romans were businessmen and the longevity of their empire was due to their commercial trade. Members of the Roman Senate and their families were prohibited from engaging in trade, the members of the Equestrian order were involved in businesses, despite their upper class values that laid the emphasis on military pursuits and leisure activities. Plebeians and freedmen held shop or manned stalls at markets while vast quantities of slaves did most of the hard work. The slaves were themselves also the subject of commercial transactions. Agriculture and trade dominated Roman economic fortunes, only supplemented by small scale industrial production. The staple crops of Roman farmers in Italy were various grains, olives, and grapes. Olive oil and wine, outside of direct food stuffs, were among the most important products in the ancient civilized world and led Italy's exports. Citizens grew dependent on these grain doles and the large volume of trade that ensued. Trade Goods and Manufacturing Whilst the archaeological evidence of trade can sometimes be patchy and misrepresentative, a combination of literary sources, coinage and such unique records as shipwrecks helps to create a clearer picture of just what the Romans traded, in what quantity, and where. Trade involved foodstuffs (e.g. olives, fish, meat, cereals, salt, prepared foods such as fish sauce, olive oil, wine and beer), animal products (e.g. leather and hides), objects made from wood, glass, or metals, textiles, pottery, and materials for manufacturing and construction such as glass, marble, wood, wool, bricks, gold, silver, copper, and tin. Finally, there was, of course, also the substantial trade in slaves. The fact that many goods were produced as regional specialties in often very large estates, such large estates could produce a massive surplus for trade is evidenced at archaeological sites across the empire: wine producers in southern Roman Culture and Health Culture and lifestyle of ancient Rome The culture of ancient Rome existed throughout the almost 1200-year history of the civilization of Ancient Rome. The term refers to the culture of the Roman Republic, later the Roman Empire, which at its peak covered an area from Lowland Scotland and Morocco to the Euphrates. Life in ancient Rome revolved around the city of Rome, its famed seven hills, and its monumental architecture such as the Colosseum, Trajan's Forum, and the Pantheon. The city also had several theatres, gymnasia, and many taverns, baths, and brothels. Throughout the territory under ancient Rome's control, residential architecture ranged from very modest houses to country villas, and in the capital city of Rome, there were imperial residences on the elegant Palatine Hill, from which the word palace is derived. The vast majority of the population lived in the city centre, packed into insulae (apartment blocks). Family and Social Lifestyle The centre of the early social structure, dating from the time of the agricultural tribal city state, was the family, which was not only marked by blood relations but also by the legally constructed relation of patria potestas. The Pater familias was the absolute head of the family; he was the master over his wife (if she was given to him cum manu, otherwise the father of the wife retained patria potestas), his children, the wives of his sons (again if married cum manu which became rarer towards the end of the Republic), the nephews, the slaves and the freedmen (liberated slaves, the first generation still legally inferior to the freeborn), disposing of them and of their goods at will, even having them put to death.
Clothing In ancient Rome, the cloth and the dress distinguished one class of people from the other class. The tunic worn by plebeians (common people) like shepherds was made from coarse and dark material, whereas the tunic worn by patricians was of linen or white wool. A magistrate would wear the tunica angusticlavi; senators wore tunics with purple stripes (clavi), called tunica laticlavi. Military tunics were shorter than the ones worn by civilians. Men typically wore a toga, and women wore a stola. Even footwear indicated a person’s social status. Patricians wore red and orange sandals, senators had brown footwear, consuls had white shoes, and soldiers wore heavy boots. Women wore closed shoes of colors such as white, yellow, or green. Food Ancient Romans had very simple food habits. Simple food was generally consumed at around 11 o’clock, and consisted of bread, salad, olives, cheese, fruits, nuts, and cold meat left over from the dinner the night before. Breakfast was called ientaculum, lunch was prandium, and dinner was called cena. Appetizers were called gustatio, and dessert was called secunda mensa (or second table). Usually, a nap or rest followed this. The family ate together, sitting on stools around a table. Later on, a separate dining room with dining couches was designed, called a triclinium. Fingers were used to take foods which were prepared beforehand and brought to the diners. Spoons were used for soups. Wine in Rome did not become common or mass-produced until around 250 B.C. Wine was considered a staple drink, consumed at all meals and occasions by all classes and was quite cheap; however, it was always mixed with water. Staple food of the lower class Romans (plebeians) was vegetable porridge and bread, and occasionally fish, meat, olives and fruits. Sometimes, subsidized or free foods were distributed in cities. The patrician's aristocracy had elaborate dinners, with parties and wines and a variety of comestibles. Sometimes, dancing girls would entertain the diners. Women and children ate separately. Education Schooling in a more formal sense was begun around 200 BC. Education began at the age of around seven, and in the next six to seven years, boys and girls were expected to learn the basics of reading, writing and counting. By the age of twelve, they would be learning Latin, Greek, grammar and literature, followed by training for public speaking. Oratory was an art to be practiced and learnt and good orators commanded respect; to become an effective orator was one of the objectives of education and learning. Poor children could not afford education. In some cases, services of gifted slaves were utilized for imparting education. School was mostly for boys, however some wealthy girls were tutored at home, but could still go to school sometimes. Language The native language of the Romans was Latin, an Italic language in the Indo-European family. Several forms of Latin existed, and the language evolved considerably over time, eventually becoming the Romance languages spoken today. The arts Literature Roman literature was from its very inception influenced heavily by Greek authors. Some of the earliest works currently discovered are of historical epics telling the early military history of Rome. As the Republic expanded, authors began to produce poetry, comedy, history, and tragedy. A great deal of the literary work produced by Roman authors in the early Republic was political or satirical in nature. The rhetorical works of Cicero, a self-distinguished linguist, translator, and philosopher, in particular, were popular. In addition, Cicero's personal letters are considered to be one of the best bodies of correspondence recorded in antiquity.
Roman Politics and Hierarchy Roman Politics: The conduct of political affairs was heavily dominated by the senatorial class, particularly by a small number of noble families. The upper classes generally followed one of two informal political factions: Populares (“the party of the people”): The power base of this faction was the Assembly of the Tribes and the tribunes. Though also composed of Senators and nobles, this faction appealed to the interests of the commons. Today, we might call this faction “left-wing.” Optimates (“the party of the best men” or of the aristocrats): Their power base was the Senate. This faction promoted conservative policies that supported the interests of the wealthy and the old noble families. Today, we might call this faction “right-wing.” Campaigning: Personal wealth was essential for political office, since no salaries were paid and the process of campaigning was very expensive; showmanship was essential. A candidate for office wore an artificially whitened toga and so was candidatus (“made shining white”). The social institution of patronage (clientela) was essential in politics, and one of the key duties of clients was to accompany their patron on official business and all kinds of campaigning, and of course to vote with him on all issues. Powerful families supported each other through informal alliances (amicitia) often cemented through arranged marriages; the functioning of government was greatly influenced by “backroom politics.” During the last century of the Republic, bribery was not at all uncommon: indirect: provision of free grain, free entertainment (baths, shows, chariot races and gladiatorial games), even huge outdoor banquets direct: actually paying off officials or giving the commoners money directly in return for votes During this same period, intimidation was also a campaign strategy. Candidates sometimes incited riots, or hired thugs or gladiators to rough people up. Those who were generals occasionally used the threat of their loyal soldiers to pressure the state. Commoners’ only way to influence politics was through their sheer numbers—by votes, and especially by riots. Voting: Adult Roman male citizens voted for candidates in elections and for proposed legislation, the Assembly of the Centuries and the Assembly of the Tribes. Citizens voted in groups (centuries or tribes), entering a roped-off area and preceding single file over raised gangways (pontes, “bridges”). An attendant handed each voter a small wooden tablet covered with wax on which he inscribed his vote: V (for uti rogas, “as you propose” to support a bill), A (for antiquo, “I vote against,” to oppose a bill), or the candidate's name in an election. He then dropped the tablet into a tall urn (cista). This was a time-consuming process requiring large spaces, so most voting was conducted in the Campus Martius. Julius Caesar began a large building for the electoral process in this area, the Saepta Julia, which was completed by Marcus Agrippa in 26 BCE during the reign of Augustus. Women: Women were excluded by law from any political role; they could not vote or hold office. Upper-class women, however, had the possibility of behind-the-scenes influence, because they could possess and control wealth, could move about in public freely without losing respectability, and could represent their birth families in various ways, especially by cementing family alliances through marriage.
GROUP FOUR
ReplyDeleteGroup members
NAMES MATRIC NO. DEPARTMENT
1) Jeje Oluwaseun joy 190468. Religious studies
2) Ayegbusi Olaitan Samuel 190354. Classics
3) Akinsipe Abimbola Omotola 190305. Religious studies
4) Folorunso Segun 190440. Classics
5) Ebute Abraham 190403. Classics
6) Oyeleye Esther 190650. Religious studies
7) Oyeleye Oluwatobi David 190651. Religious studies
8) Adediran Olafimihan Ayoola 190206. Classics
9) Ado Sukurat 190261. Classics
10) Adewole Ifedapo 190249. Classics
11) Oghorada Promise 190526. Religious studies
12) Fapohunda Bolanle Busola. 193372. Classics
Group leader : Jeje Oluwaseun Joy
Introduction
"Tell me, all you who have journeyed through many lands, have you seen a more richly farmed land than Italy? ". This is a quote from a Roman writer in the first century named Varro, and he was right. The area where Ancient Rome was built began attracting settlers early on because its fertile land and mild climate were perfect for growing crops.
The size of the farms in the Ancient Rome depended on who owned them. Wealthy Roman citizens ran large farms with many employees, while poor farmers ran smaller farms and worked the field themselves. Most of the large farms were run by servants, and the field work done by slaves while the owners collected profits.
In the 5th century BC, farms in Rome were small and family owned. The Greeks of this period, however, had started using crop rotation and had large estates. Rome agriculture reached it's height in productivity and efficiency during the late Republic and early Empire.
Agriculture in Ancient Roman Society
ReplyDeleteAgriculture in ancient Rome was not only a necessity, but was idealized among the social elite as a way of life. Cicero considered farming the best of all Roman occupations. In his treatise On Duties, he declared that "of all the occupations by which gain is secured, none is better than agriculture, none more profitable, none more delightful, none more becoming to a free man." When one of his clients was derided in court for preferring a rural lifestyle, Cicero defended country life as "the teacher of economy, of industry, and of justice".
crops included wheat, emmer, spelt, and barley, all of them used among other things for bread, the mainstay of every Roman table. In his treatise De agricultura ("On Farming", 2nd century BC), Cato wrote that the best farm was a vineyard, followed by an irrigated garden, willow plantation, olive orchard, meadow, grain land, forest trees, vineyard traineE trees, and lastly acorn woodlands.Though Rome relied on resources from its many provinces acquired through conquest and warfare, wealthy Romans developed the land in Italy to produce a variety of crops. "The people living in the city of Rome constituted a huge market for the purchase of food produced on Italian farms."
Farming practices
Roman hoe blade, from the Field Museum in Chicago
In the 5th century BC, farms in Rome were small and family-owned. The Greeks of this period, however, had started using crop rotation and had large estates. Rome's contact with Carthage, Greece, and the Hellenistic East in the 3rd and 2nd centuries improved Rome's agricultural methods. Roman agriculture reached its height in productivity and efficiency during the late Republic and early Empire.
Farm sizes in Rome can be divided into three categories. Small farms were from 18–108 iugera. (One iugerum was equal to about 0.65 acres or a quarter of a hectare). Medium-sized farms were from 80–500 iugera. Large estates (called latifundia) were over 500 iugera.
In the late Republican era, the number of latifundia increased. Wealthy Romans bought land from peasant farmers who could no longer make a living. Starting in 200 BC, the Punic Wars called peasant farmers away to fight for longer periods of time.
Cows provided milk, and oxen and mules did the heavy work on the farm. Sheep and goats were cheese producers, and were prized for their hides. Horses were not widely used in farming, but were raised by the rich for racing or war. Sugar production centered on beekeeping, and some Romans raised snails as luxury food.
The Romans had four systems of farm management: direct work by owner and his family; tenant farming or sharecropping in which the owner and a tenant divide up a farm's produce; forced labour by slaves owned by aristocrats and supervised by slave managers; and other arrangements in which a farm was leased to a tenant.
How to acquire a land
ReplyDeleteAristocrats and common people could acquire land for a farm in one of three ways. The most common way to gain land was to purchase the land. Though some lower class citizens did own small pieces of land, they often found it too difficult and expensive to maintain. Because of the many difficulties of owning land, they would sell it to someone in the aristocracy who had the financial backing to support a farm. Though there were some public lands available to the common person for use, aristocrats also tended to purchase those pieces of land, which caused a great deal of tension between the two classes. “Mass eviction of the poor by the rich underlay the political tensions and civil wars of the last century of the Roman Republic.”Another way to acquire land was as a reward for going to war. High ranking soldiers returning from war would often be given small pieces of public land or land in provinces as a way of paying them for their services. The last way to obtain land was through inheritance. A father could leave his land to his family, usually to his son, in the event of his death. Wills were drawn out that specified who would receive the land as a way of ensuring that other citizens did not try to take the land from the family of the deceased.
Running a farm in ancient Rome
While the aristocracy owned most of the land in Rome, they often were not present at the farms. With obligations as senators, generals, and soldiers at war, many of the actual landowners spent very little time working on their farms. The farms instead were maintained by slaves and freedmen paid to oversee those slaves.[18] The overseer of the farm had many responsibilities that coincided with maintaining the land. He was responsible for ensuring that the slaves were kept busy and for resolving conflicts between them. An overseer had to be dependable and trustworthy in that the land owner had to know that the person he hired to run the farm was not going to try to steal any of the produce from the farm. Overseers were also responsible for ensuring that both servants and slaves were properly fed and housed, and that they were assigned work fairly and efficiently. They had to ensure that any orders given by the owner of the land were followed diligently and that everyone on the farm honored the gods completely and respectfully, which Romans believed was necessary to ensure a bountiful harvest.
The majority of the work was done by servants and slaves. Slaves were the main source of labor. In Roman society, there were three main ways to obtain a slave. The first and possibly most common way to gain a slave was to buy one on the market. Slaves were purchased at auctions and slaves markets from dealers or were traded between individual slave owners. Another way slaves were acquired was through conquest in warfare. As Keith Hopkins explains in his writings, many landowners would go to war and bring back captives. These captives were then taken back to Roman territory and either sold to another citizen or made to work on the capturer's farm. The final way a slave could be obtained was through birth: if a female slave gave birth to a child, that child became property of the slave's owner. Extramarital relations with women who were not citizens was not considered to be adultery under Roman law (and Roman wives were expected to tolerate such behavior), so there was no legal or moral impediment to having children being fathered by a slave's owner or overseer.
Slaves were relatively cheap to use because they were property; their treatment depended on the humanity of their owners, who met the needs of their slaves on what they cared to spend, not what they had to. Overseers motivated slaves by imposing punishments and by giving rewards. "If the overseer sets his face against wrongdoing, they will not do it; if he allows it, the master must not let him go unpunished." Although outright cruelty to slaves was considered a mark of bad character in Roman culture, there were few limits on the punishments an overseer or slave-owner could inflict.
ReplyDeleteSocial life in the Ancient Roman society
The Romans were a very special set of people. They were social beings who did not consider themselves human unless they belonged to some form of society. Each Roman belonged to different societies; family, village or district, administrative tribe, 'collegium', or professional guild, religious body, or the provincial town of his birth, which Cicero referred to as one's "little fatherland. To remain human, people needed both bread and free - that is, regulated - commerce with their fellows. No Roman could live a life of solitude, at the very least, a civilized man required a family or a group or companions. In fact, they had to be social. Part of the duties of the nobles involved a tangible social life.
A noble, in his free time had to attend splendid banquets, travel from time to time to Rome if he was not living in the city, and he had to attend meetings. To achieve their goals in life, fulfil their high ambitions, Roman had to have a good connection with a lot of people. To make their friendships stronger, they had to arrange banquets, splendid dinners and successful drinking parties. Also, in Rome, friendship was a complex relationship between two people, based on affection and self-interest. It was set of reciprocal obligations of assistance and non-agression. It was often hand in hand with kinship, and marriage might place the seal on a friendship. To share children was for the Romans a means of strengthening bonds of friendship.
Agriculture and sociocultural life in ancient Roman society
ReplyDeleteIn ancient Roman society, agriculture was a very important aspect of their lives. As interaction with fellow humans was very important to them, so was interaction with the soil. The Roman citizens believed that the best possible relationship that a man could have with the soil was that enjoyed by the ploughman.
In Latin, the term "colonus", an occupant-farmer indicating that his work on the land was one of numerous activities that contributed to cultivated life. Culture ultimately derived from a Latin word "Colo " covers a lot of activities such as religious cults, the setting up of a fixed dwelling, the taking care of one's body, the education of the mind, the art of cookery and (if one follows the ancients' etymology of 'culina', kitchen, which, though no doubt mistaken, none the less indicates the kinship that they felt existed between Colo and culina); and lastly, agriculture. Peasants who observed both technical and ritual farming procedures of which the legitimacy and hence the efficacy was guaranteed by the gods - experienced their labour as a way of taking cultural possession of the soil. Romans even argued that arable farming was a form of religious observance.
Agriculture was part of their cultural and religious life, there was a god who looked after their agricultural life. Traditionally, any man who failed to cultivate his land was disgraced by the censor. Laziness was not encouraged toward agriculture. No matter how poor or rich, Agriculture is a practice that must be done by every or any Roman to avoid public disgrace. If anyone allowed his land to run to waste and was not giving it sufficient attention, if he had neither ploughed nor weeded it, or if anyone had neglected his orchard or vineyard, such conduct did not go unpunished, but was taken up by the censor who reduced such man down the ladder of hierarchy to the lowest class of citizens. Negligence towards agriculture is therefore not condoned. The Roman valued highly anything their soil produced over foreign market. To the Roman, poverty, agriculture and culture cannot be separated. Anything produced by the soil, at least by Roman soil, was of scant market value and it's consumption was always therefore blameless. This is why sumptuary laws designed to curb luxury, always exempted from their restrictions anything grown on Italian soil. Life in the country remained a moral ideal until the end of the republic. The good life was rooted in a rural small holding that one could obtain the bulk of one's food.
ReplyDeleteCONCLUSION
Agriculture in the ancient Roman society was really important and essential as it relates to the daily life of a Roman as the expressions used to describe uncultivated fields were used to speak of a man who was slovenly, a man devoid of his dignity as a civilized being. This means that a man who is able to take care of his farm is also capable of behaving properly in the society
Also, it's produce are also used to symbolize fertility especially during marriage rites and festivals in the state.
References
1) The Daily Life of a Roman by Florence Dupont
2) Study. Com "Farming in Ancient Rome"
3) Wikipedia - Roman Agriculture.
4) www. Oxfordreference. Com"Roman agriculture"
5)When in Rome: Social Life in Ancient Rome ,By Paul Chrystal
6) www. Roman empire.net
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ReplyDeleteGROUP 5
ReplyDeleteNames Matrix Number
ADEKOYA RICHARD 190215
AKPAN DAVID 193358
OMOLAJA IBUKUN MARY 190616
NWOKOLO PRISCILLIA 193387
OLAKANMI AYOBAMI 190576
OLUWAGBEMIGUN MORADEYO 190608
ODUGBO ALAPA PETERS 190520
ENWERE ESTHER 190417
OLADIPO PRAISE 190568
OLORUNYOMI IWALEWA 190601
ADENIJI PRAISE 193345
ATASIE KELECHI 190348
OLATAYO ABIGAIL 190589
AKINBISEHIN OLUWANIFEMI 190296
OLUWAKEYE MARVELLOUS 190609
TABLE OF CONTENT
INTRODUCTION
GEORAPHICAL LOCATION OF ANCIENT ROME
TERRITORIES ACQUIRED BY THE ROMANS
ECONOMIC STRENGTH IN ANCIENT ROME
ROMAN CULTURE, VALUES AND HEALTH
ROMAN POLITICS, HIERARCHY AND ARMY
PROFESSIONS IN ANCIENT ROME
ROMAN RELIGION AND FESTIVALS
SEXUALITY
ROMAN ARCHITECTURE AND HOUSING
Introduction
Ancient Rome refers to the city of Rome, which was located in central Italy; and also to the empire it came to rule, which covered the entire Mediterranean basin and much of Western Europe.
Rome’s location in central Italy placed it squarely within the Mediterranean cluster of civilizations. The most famous of these was that of the Ancient Greeks, but others included those of the Phoenicians, the Carthaginians and the Etruscans, plus several lesser-known peoples such as the Lycians. The civilization of Ancient Rome was rooted, directly or indirectly, in all these earlier culture.
In its early centuries Rome was particularly influenced by the powerful Etruscan civilization to its north, from which it acquired many aspects of its culture. As Rome’s reach expanded, it came into direct contact with the Greeks. From then on Greek influence would become an increasingly important element within Roman life. However, the Romans would give Greek culture their own slant, giving it a new grandeur which can be seen in Roman remains throughout the empire.
Organizing the Roman space does not just include the geographical setting of that period, but also the duration and time intervals. Indeed one cannot organize the Roman space without talking about the city itself, its values, culture, architecture, economy and day to day activities of the people who gave birth to one of the most powerful civilization ever known to man.
For the Romans, cities were communities which ran their own affairs, and constituted the main building-blocks of the empire. Every free person in the empire belonged to a city – which may not necessarily have been where he or she was living at any given time, but was his or her “home town”.
Economic Strength of Ancient Rome
ReplyDeleteAncient Rome commanded a vast area of land, with tremendous natural and human resources. As such, Rome's economy remained focused on farming and trade. Roman trade was the engine that drove the Roman economy. The language and the legions were supported by trade while being at the same time part of its backbone. Romans were businessmen and the longevity of their empire was due to their commercial trade. Members of the Roman Senate and their families were prohibited from engaging in trade, the members of the Equestrian order were involved in businesses, despite their upper class values that laid the emphasis on military pursuits and leisure activities. Plebeians and freedmen held shop or manned stalls at markets while vast quantities of slaves did most of the hard work. The slaves were themselves also the subject of commercial transactions. Agriculture and trade dominated Roman economic fortunes, only supplemented by small scale industrial production. The staple crops of Roman farmers in Italy were various grains, olives, and grapes. Olive oil and wine, outside of direct food stuffs, were among the most important products in the ancient civilized world and led Italy's exports. Citizens grew dependent on these grain doles and the large volume of trade that ensued.
Trade Goods and Manufacturing
Whilst the archaeological evidence of trade can sometimes be patchy and misrepresentative, a combination of literary sources, coinage and such unique records as shipwrecks helps to create a clearer picture of just what the Romans traded, in what quantity, and where. Trade involved foodstuffs (e.g. olives, fish, meat, cereals, salt, prepared foods such as fish sauce, olive oil, wine and beer), animal products (e.g. leather and hides), objects made from wood, glass, or metals, textiles, pottery, and materials for manufacturing and construction such as glass, marble, wood, wool, bricks, gold, silver, copper, and tin. Finally, there was, of course, also the substantial trade in slaves. The fact that many goods were produced as regional specialties in often very large estates, such large estates could produce a massive surplus for trade is evidenced at archaeological sites across the empire: wine producers in southern
Roman Culture and Health
Culture and lifestyle of ancient Rome
The culture of ancient Rome existed throughout the almost 1200-year history of the civilization of Ancient Rome. The term refers to the culture of the Roman Republic, later the Roman Empire, which at its peak covered an area from Lowland Scotland and Morocco to the Euphrates.
Life in ancient Rome revolved around the city of Rome, its famed seven hills, and its monumental architecture such as the Colosseum, Trajan's Forum, and the Pantheon. The city also had several theatres, gymnasia, and many taverns, baths, and brothels. Throughout the territory under ancient Rome's control, residential architecture ranged from very modest houses to country villas, and in the capital city of Rome, there were imperial residences on the elegant Palatine Hill, from which the word palace is derived. The vast majority of the population lived in the city centre, packed into insulae (apartment blocks).
Family and Social Lifestyle
The centre of the early social structure, dating from the time of the agricultural tribal city state, was the family, which was not only marked by blood relations but also by the legally constructed relation of patria potestas. The Pater familias was the absolute head of the family; he was the master over his wife (if she was given to him cum manu, otherwise the father of the wife retained patria potestas), his children, the wives of his sons (again if married cum manu which became rarer towards the end of the Republic), the nephews, the slaves and the freedmen (liberated slaves, the first generation still legally inferior to the freeborn), disposing of them and of their goods at will, even having them put to death.
Clothing
ReplyDeleteIn ancient Rome, the cloth and the dress distinguished one class of people from the other class. The tunic worn by plebeians (common people) like shepherds was made from coarse and dark material, whereas the tunic worn by patricians was of linen or white wool. A magistrate would wear the tunica angusticlavi; senators wore tunics with purple stripes (clavi), called tunica laticlavi. Military tunics were shorter than the ones worn by civilians.
Men typically wore a toga, and women wore a stola.
Even footwear indicated a person’s social status. Patricians wore red and orange sandals, senators had brown footwear, consuls had white shoes, and soldiers wore heavy boots. Women wore closed shoes of colors such as white, yellow, or green.
Food
Ancient Romans had very simple food habits. Simple food was generally consumed at around 11 o’clock, and consisted of bread, salad, olives, cheese, fruits, nuts, and cold meat left over from the dinner the night before. Breakfast was called ientaculum, lunch was prandium, and dinner was called cena. Appetizers were called gustatio, and dessert was called secunda mensa (or second table). Usually, a nap or rest followed this. The family ate together, sitting on stools around a table. Later on, a separate dining room with dining couches was designed, called a triclinium. Fingers were used to take foods which were prepared beforehand and brought to the diners. Spoons were used for soups. Wine in Rome did not become common or mass-produced until around 250 B.C. Wine was considered a staple drink, consumed at all meals and occasions by all classes and was quite cheap; however, it was always mixed with water. Staple food of the lower class Romans (plebeians) was vegetable porridge and bread, and occasionally fish, meat, olives and fruits. Sometimes, subsidized or free foods were distributed in cities. The patrician's aristocracy had elaborate dinners, with parties and wines and a variety of comestibles. Sometimes, dancing girls would entertain the diners. Women and children ate separately.
Education
Schooling in a more formal sense was begun around 200 BC. Education began at the age of around seven, and in the next six to seven years, boys and girls were expected to learn the basics of reading, writing and counting. By the age of twelve, they would be learning Latin, Greek, grammar and literature, followed by training for public speaking. Oratory was an art to be practiced and learnt and good orators commanded respect; to become an effective orator was one of the objectives of education and learning. Poor children could not afford education. In some cases, services of gifted slaves were utilized for imparting education. School was mostly for boys, however some wealthy girls were tutored at home, but could still go to school sometimes.
Language
The native language of the Romans was Latin, an Italic language in the Indo-European family. Several forms of Latin existed, and the language evolved considerably over time, eventually becoming the Romance languages spoken today.
The arts
Literature
Roman literature was from its very inception influenced heavily by Greek authors. Some of the earliest works currently discovered are of historical epics telling the early military history of Rome. As the Republic expanded, authors began to produce poetry, comedy, history, and tragedy. A great deal of the literary work produced by Roman authors in the early Republic was political or satirical in nature. The rhetorical works of Cicero, a self-distinguished linguist, translator, and philosopher, in particular, were popular. In addition, Cicero's personal letters are considered to be one of the best bodies of correspondence recorded in antiquity.
Roman Politics and Hierarchy
ReplyDeleteRoman Politics:
The conduct of political affairs was heavily dominated by the senatorial class, particularly by a small number of noble families. The upper classes generally followed one of two informal political factions:
Populares (“the party of the people”): The power base of this faction was the Assembly of the Tribes and the tribunes. Though also composed of Senators and nobles, this faction appealed to the interests of the commons. Today, we might call this faction “left-wing.”
Optimates (“the party of the best men” or of the aristocrats): Their power base was the Senate. This faction promoted conservative policies that supported the interests of the wealthy and the old noble families. Today, we might call this faction “right-wing.”
Campaigning: Personal wealth was essential for political office, since no salaries were paid and the process of campaigning was very expensive; showmanship was essential.
A candidate for office wore an artificially whitened toga and so was candidatus (“made shining white”).
The social institution of patronage (clientela) was essential in politics, and one of the key duties of clients was to accompany their patron on official business and all kinds of campaigning, and of course to vote with him on all issues.
Powerful families supported each other through informal alliances (amicitia) often cemented through arranged marriages; the functioning of government was greatly influenced by “backroom politics.”
During the last century of the Republic, bribery was not at all uncommon:
indirect: provision of free grain, free entertainment (baths, shows, chariot races and gladiatorial games), even huge outdoor banquets
direct: actually paying off officials or giving the commoners money directly in return for votes
During this same period, intimidation was also a campaign strategy. Candidates sometimes incited riots, or hired thugs or gladiators to rough people up. Those who were generals occasionally used the threat of their loyal soldiers to pressure the state.
Commoners’ only way to influence politics was through their sheer numbers—by votes, and especially by riots.
Voting: Adult Roman male citizens voted for candidates in elections and for proposed legislation, the Assembly of the Centuries and the Assembly of the Tribes. Citizens voted in groups (centuries or tribes), entering a roped-off area and preceding single file over raised gangways (pontes, “bridges”). An attendant handed each voter a small wooden tablet covered with wax on which he inscribed his vote: V (for uti rogas, “as you propose” to support a bill), A (for antiquo, “I vote against,” to oppose a bill), or the candidate's name in an election. He then dropped the tablet into a tall urn (cista). This was a time-consuming process requiring large spaces, so most voting was conducted in the Campus Martius. Julius Caesar began a large building for the electoral process in this area, the Saepta Julia, which was completed by Marcus Agrippa in 26 BCE during the reign of Augustus.
Women: Women were excluded by law from any political role; they could not vote or hold office. Upper-class women, however, had the possibility of behind-the-scenes influence, because they could possess and control wealth, could move about in public freely without losing respectability, and could represent their birth families in various ways, especially by cementing family alliances through marriage.
Names Matrix Number
ReplyDeleteADEKOYA RICHARD 190215
AKPAN DAVID 193358
OMOLAJA IBUKUN MARY 190616
NWOKOLO PRISCILLIA 193387
OLAKANMI AYOBAMI 190576
OLUWAGBEMIGUN MORADEYO 190608
ODUGBO ALAPA PETERS 190520
ENWERE ESTHER 190417
OLADIPO PRAISE 190568
OLORUNYOMI IWALEWA 190601
ADENIJI PRAISE 193345
ATASIE KELECHI 190348
OLATAYO ABIGAIL 190589
AKINBISEHIN OLUWANIFEMI 190296
OLATUNBOSUN ESTHER 190590
KANWAI FRANCIS PEDRO 190476
INEGBESE MIRACLE 190458
OLUWAKEYE MARVELLOUS 190609