Roman Culture in the Imperial Period

Rome

• the place to live unless you were poor

• 50 million people

Pax Romania

“Roman Peace”—didn’t come about naturally; through violent conquest, brutality, and cruelty

Romanization

influence of Roman civilization on non-Romans

Cato and Jews

who resented Romanization

Provincialization

influence of non-Roman culture on the Romans

cities

center of roman government and provincialization

cosmopolitan

people came from all over into Rome

Triumphal Arches

• very stable and unique, built as monument for victory or triumph

Temples

various gods and goddesses; very similar to Greeks

polytheistic and ritualistic

religious and social gathering

patriotic function—loyalty to Rome

Bathhouses

public baths, like a modern spa, social function

Circuses

venue for chariot racing

chariot races

competing for glory and money

circus maximus

greatest circus/venue of them all

Amphitheaters

real draw, large stadium

Gladiators

what people really came to watch; carefully trained in Roman fighting techniques, fought till death or left up to crowd

Colosseum

• towers over all the others

• effectively held up to 50,000 people

• public executions and wild animal hunts

Aqueducts

• water supply system

• emperors built them

Appian way

• 312 B.C.

• Southern Italy, vital system

Silk road

trade route that connected Roman Empire with China for luxuries such as silk

Slavery

• lots of them in Rome

mining, punishment, born

bad treatment of slaves

businesses and professions

good treatment of slaves

d.c. AD 17

when did Livy die

Livy

Augustus told him to write glorifying Rome

d. 19 bc

when did Virgil die

Virgil

poet that wrote Aeneid

Aeneid

tells legendary origin of the Romans

d.c. ad 17

when did Ovid die

Ovid

love poetry wrote Metamorphoses

Metamorphoses

• most lasting relates stories about gods and goddesses

• “magical transformations”

• story of Apollo and Daphne

161-180

when did Marcus Aurelius reign

Marcus Aurelius

• stoic philosopher

• wrote Meditations