Latin Culture

Among the most popular entertainments in all parts of the Roman world were shows in which gladiators fought each other. These contests were usually held in an amphitheatre. This was a large oval building, without a roof, in which rising tiers of seats surrounded an arena. Canvas awnings, supported by ropes and pulleys, were spread over part of the seating area to give shelter from the sun. The amphitheatre at Pompeii was large enough to contain the whole population as well as many visitors from nearby towns. Spectators paid no admission fee, as the shows were given by wealthy individuals at their own expense.

Among the many advertisements for gladiatorial shows that are to be seen painted on the walls of buildings is this one:

Twenty pairs of gladiators, given by Lucretius Satrius Valens, priest of Nero, and ten pairs of gladiators provided by his son will fight at Pompeii from 8 to 12 April.There will also be an animal hunt. Awnings will be provided.

Soon after dawn on the day of a show, the spectators would begin to take their places. A trumpet blared and priests came out to perform the religious ceremony with which the games began. Then the gladiators entered in procession, paraded round the arena and saluted the sponsor of the show. The gladiators were then paired off to fight each other and the contests began.

The gladiators were slaves, condemned criminals, prisoners of war or free volunteers; they lived and trained in a 'school' or barracks under the supervision of a professional trainer.

The fight ended with the death or surrender of one of the gladiators. The illustrations below, based on a relief from the tomb of a wealthy Pompeian, show the defeated gladiator appealing to the spectators; the victor stands by ready to kill him if they decide that he deserves to die. Notice the arm raised in appeal. The spectators indicated their wishes by turning their thumbs up or down: probably turning the thumb up towards the chest meant 'kill him', while turning it down meant 'let him live'. The final decision for death or mercy was made by the sponsor of the show. It was not unusual for the life of the loser to be spared, especially if he were a well-known gladiator with a good number of victories to his credit. The most successful gladiators were great favourites with the crowd and received gifts of money from their admirers.

Gladiators armour

Gladiators were not all armed in the same way. Some, who were known as Samnites, carried an oblong shield and a short sword; others, known as Thracians, had a round shield and a curved sword or dagger. Another type of gladiator armed with sword and shield wore a helmet with a crest shaped like a fish; the Greek name for the fish was 'mormillos' and the gladiator was known as a murmillō. The murmillones were often matched against the retiării who were armed with retia (nets) and three- pronged tridents.

Other types of gladiator fought with spears, on horseback, or from chariots. Occasionally women gladiators were used, bringing additional variety to the show.

Many shows also offered a venätiö, a hunt of wild animals. The bestiae (wild beasts) were released from cages into the arena, where they were hunted by specially trained beast-fighters called bestiarii. In the drawing on the right, taken from the same tomb, you can see a wolf, a wild boar, a bull, hares and a lion.

The hunters, who wore light clothing, relied only upon a thrusting spear and their agility to avoid injury. By the end of the hunt all the animals and occasionally a few hunters had been killed, and their bodies were dragged out from the sandy floor of the arena to be disposed of.

About the middle of the afternoon, Caecilius would make his way, with a group of friends, to the public baths. The great majority of Pompeians did not have bathrooms in their houses, so they went regularly to the public baths to keep themselves clean. As in a leisure centre today, they could also take exercise, meet friends, and have a snack. Let us imagine that Caecilius decides to visit the baths situated just to the north of the forum, and let us follow him through the various rooms and activities. At one of the entrances, he pays a small admission fee to the doorkeeper and then goes to the palaestra (exercise area). This is an open space surrounded by a colonnade, rather like a large peristylium. Here he spends a little time greeting other friends and taking part in some of the popular exercises, which included throwing a large ball from one to another, wrestling, and fencing with wooden swords. These games were not taken too seriously but were a pleasant preparation for the bath which followed.

From the palaestra, Caecilius and his friends walk along a passage into a large hall known as the apodyterium (changing- room). Here they undress and hand their clothes to one of the slave attendants who places them in recesses arranged in rows along the wall.

Leaving the apodyterium, they pass through an arched doorway into the tepidarium (warm room) and spend a little time sitting on benches round the wall in a warm, steamy atmosphere, perspiring gently and preparing for the higher temperatures in the next room.

This is the caldărium (hot room). At one end of the caldarium there was a large marble bath, rectangular in shape, and stretching across the full width of the room. This bath was filled with hot water in which the bathers sat or wallowed. The Romans did not have soap, but used olive oil instead. After soaking in the bath, Caecilius summons a slave to rub him down with the oil that he has brought with him in a little pot. For this rubbing down, Caecilius lies on a marble slab while the slave works the oil into his skin, and then gently removes it and the dirt with a blunt metal scraper known as a strigil. Next comes the masseur to massage skin and muscles. Refreshed by this treatment, Caecilius then goes to the large stone basin at the other end of the caldarium for a rinse down with cold water.

Before dressing again he might well visit the frigidarium cold room) and there take a plunge in a deep circular pool of unheated water, followed by a brisk rub down with his towel. Caecilius' visit to the baths was a leisurely social occasion. He enjoyed a noisy, relaxed time in the company of his friends.

Heating the baths

The Romans were not the first people to build public baths. This was one of the many things they learned from the Greeks. But with their engineering skill the Romans greatly improved the methods of heating them. The previous method had been to heat the water in tanks over a furnace and to stand braziers (portable metal containers in which wood was burnt) in the tepidarium and the caldarium to keep up the air temperature. The braziers were not very efficient and they failed to heat the floor.

In the first century BC, a Roman invented the first central heating system. The furnace was placed below the floor level; the floor was supported on small brick piles leaving space through which hot air from the furnace could circulate. In this way, the floor was warmed from below. The hot bath was placed near the furnace and a steady temperature was maintained by the hot air passing immediately below. Later, flues (channels) were built into the walls and warm air from beneath the floor was drawn up through them. This ingenious heating system was known as a hypocaust. It was used not only in baths but also in private houses, particularly in the colder parts of the Roman empire. Many examples have been found in Britain. Wood was the fuel most commonly burnt in the furnaces.

Schools

The first stage of education

Quintus would have first gone to school when he was about seven years old. Like other Roman schools, the one that Quintus attended would have been small and consisted of about thirty pupils and a teacher known as the lūdi magister. All the teaching would take place in a rented room or perhaps in a public colonnade or square, where there would be constant noise and distractions.

Parents were not obliged by law to send their children to school, and those who wanted education for their children had to pay for it. The charges were not high and the advantages of being able to read and write were so widely appreciated that many people were prepared to pay for their sons to go to school at least for a few years.

Sometimes girls were sent to school too, but generally they would stay at home and pick up a knowledge of reading and writing from their parents or brothers. Most of their time would be spent learning the skills of a good housewife: cooking, cleaning, childcare and perhaps spinning and weaving. Girls from wealthy families would have to be trained to organise a household of slaves. By the time they were fourteen they were usually married.

On the journey between home and school, pupils were normally escorted by a slave known as a paedagogus who was responsible for their behaviour and protection. Another slave carried their books and writing materials.

At the school of the ludi magister Quintus would have learnt only to read and write Latin and Greek and perhaps to do some simple arithmetic. Like most Roman boys he would already be able to speak some Greek, which he would have picked up from Greek slaves at home or friends like Alexander in the story.

Writing materials

The materials that Quintus used for writing were rather different from ours. Frequently he wrote on tabulae (wooden tablets) coated with a thin film of wax; and he inscribed the letters on the wax surface with a thin stick of metal, bone or ivory. This stick was called a stilus. The end opposite the writing point was flat so that it could be used to rub out mistakes and make the wax smooth again. Several tablets were strung together to make a little writing-book. At other times he wrote with ink on papyrus, a material that looked rather like modern paper but was rougher in texture. It was manufactured from the fibres of the papyrus reed that grew along the banks of the River Nile in Egypt. For writing on papyrus he used either a reed or a goose-quill sharpened and split at one end like the modern pen- nib. Ink was made from soot and resin or other gummy substances, forming a paste that was thinned by adding water.

The second stage

Many children would have finished their schooling at the age of eleven, but a boy like Quintus, from a wealthy family, would have moved to a more advanced school run by a grammaticus. The grammaticus introduced his pupils to the work of famous Greek and Roman writers, beginning with the Iliad and Odyssey of Homer. Then the pupils moved on to the famous Greek tragedies which had been first performed in Athens in the fifth century BC. The Roman poets most frequently read at schools were Virgil and Horace. Besides reading works of literature aloud, the pupils had to analyse the grammar and learn long passages by heart; many educated people could remember these passages in later life and quote or recite them. The pupils were also taught a little history and geography, mainly in order to understand references to famous people and places mentioned in the literature.

When he left the grammaticus at the age of fifteen or sixteen, Quintus would have a very good knowledge of Greek as well as Latin. This knowledge of Greek not only introduced the pupils to a culture which the Romans greatly admired and which had inspired much of their own civilisation, but was also very useful in later life because Greek was widely spoken in the countries of the eastern Mediterranean where Roman merchants and government officials frequently travelled on business.

The third stage

A few students then proceeded to the school of a rhetor, like Theodorus in our story. This teacher, who was often a highly educated Greek, gave more advanced lessons in literature and trained his students in the art of public speaking. This was a very important skill for young men who expected to take part in public life. For example, they needed it to present cases in the law courts, to express their opinions in council meetings, and to address the people at election time. The rhetor taught the rules for making different kinds of speeches and made his students practise arguing for and against a point of view. Students also learned how to vary their tone of voice and emphasise their words with gestures.

Science and technical subjects

We have not so far mentioned the teaching of science and technical subjects in Roman schools. It is true that the Greeks had made important discoveries in mathematics and some aspects of physics; it is also true that the Romans were experienced in such things as the methods of surveying and the use of concrete in building. But these things played little part in school work. The purpose of ordinary Roman schools was to teach those things which were thought to be most necessary for civilised living: the ability to read and write, a knowledge of simple arithmetic, the appreciation of fine literature and the ability to speak and argue convincingly. Science and advanced mathematics were taught to only a few students whose parents were interested and wealthy enough to pay the fees of a specialist teacher, nearly always a Greek. Technical skills were learnt by becoming an apprentice in a trade or business.

Local government and elections

The Pompeians took local politics seriously, and the annual elections, which were held at the end of March, were very lively. As soon as the names of candidates were published, election fever gripped the town. Slogans appeared on the walls, groups of supporters held processions through the streets and the candidates spoke at public meetings in the forum.

Every year, two pairs of officials were elected by the people. The senior pair, called duoviri, were responsible for hearing evidence and giving judgement in the law court. The other pair, called aedilēs, had the task of supervising the public markets, the police force, the baths, places of public entertainment, the water supply and sewers. It was their duty to see that the public services were efficiently run and the local taxes spent wisely.

In addition to these four officials, there was a town council of one hundred leading citizens, most of whom had already served as duoviri or aediles. New members were chosen not by the people but by the council itself.

The candidates wore a toga, specially whitened with chalk, in order to be easily recognised. The word candidātus is connected with candidus which means 'dazzling white'. As they walked around attended by their clients and greeting voters, their agents praised their qualities, made promises on their behalf, and distributed bribes in the form of money. This financial bribery was illegal but was widely practised. Legal forms of persuasion included promises of games and entertainments if the candidate won. In fact, it was expected that those who were elected would show their gratitude to the voters by putting on splendid shows in the theatre and amphitheatre at their own expense.

A successful candidate would also be expected to contribute from his own wealth to the construction or repair of public buildings. The family of the Holconii, whose names often appear in the lists of Pompeian duoviri and aediles, were connected with the building of the large theatre, and another wealthy family, the Flacci, helped to pay for other civic buildings. The Flacci also had a reputation for putting on first-class entertainments.

This tradition of public service was encouraged by the emperors and was an important part of Roman public life. It made it possible for a small town like Pompeii to enjoy benefits which could not have been paid for by local taxes alone. It also meant that men who wanted to take part in the government of their town had to be wealthy. They came from two groups: a small core of wealthy families, like the Holconii, whose members were regularly elected to the most important offices, and a larger, less powerful group which changed frequently. Although public service was unpaid and was not a means of making money, it gave a man a position of importance in his town. The wide seats in the front row of the theatre, which gave a close-up view of the chorus and actors, were reserved for him; he also had a special place close to the arena in the amphitheatre.. In due course the town council might erect a statue to him and The would have his name inscribed on any building to whose construction or repair he had contributed. The Romans were not modest people. They were eager for honour and fame amongst their fellow citizens. There was therefore no shortage of candidates to compete for these rewards at election time. Caecilius does not seem to have stood as a candidate, although in many ways he was an outstanding citizen and had made a considerable fortune. Perhaps he preferred to concentrate on his business activities and was content to support candidates from the great political families like the Holconii. Pompeii was free to run its own affairs. But if the local officials were unable to preserve law and order, the central government at Rome might take over and run the town. This actually happened after the famous riot in AD 59 described in Stage 8, when the people of nearby Nuceria quarrelled with the Pompeians at a gladiatorial show given by Livineius Regulus, and many were killed or wounded. The Nucerians complained Eo the Emperor Nero; Regulus himself was sent into exile and games in Pompeii were banned for ten years.

Election notices

Many of the thousands of graffiti found in Pompeii refer to the elections held there in March, AD 79. Here are two of them:

Casellius for aedile.

We want Tiberius Claudius Verus for duovir.

Political supporters represented all kinds of people and interests. Sometimes they were groups of neighbours who lived in the same area as the candidate. They would certainly include the candidate's personal friends and his clients. Sometimes, however, appeals were made to particular trade groups.

Others are addressed to barbers, mule-drivers, pack- carriers, bakers and fishermen. It is thought that most of the slogans were organised by the agents of the candidates and groups of their supporters rather than by private individuals.

This method of electioneering by wall slogans naturally invited replies by rival supporters. One candidate, Vatia, was made to look ridiculous by this comment:

All the people who are fast asleep vote for Vatia.

Pompeian women did not have the right to vote. Only adult male citizens were allowed to cast votes in the voting hall on election day. Nevertheless, women certainly took a lively interest in local politics and supported the various candidates vigorously. There are, for example, several slogans written by the girls who worked in a bar belonging to a woman called Asellina.

The destruction and excavation of Pompeii

On the night of 23-4 August, AD 79, it rained hard; a strong wind blew and earth tremors were felt. During the following morning, Vesuvius, which had been an inactive volcano for many centuries, erupted with enormous violence, devastating much of the surrounding area. A huge mass of mud poured down the mountainside and swallowed the town of

Herculaneum; hot stones and ash descended in vast quantities on Pompeii, burying everything to a depth of four-and-a-half to six metres (15-20 feet). Most people, with vivid memories of the earthquake of seventeen years before, fled into the open countryside carrying a few possessions, but others remained behind, hoping that the storm would pass. They died, buried in the ruins of their homes or suffocated by sulphur fumes.

The next day, the whole of Pompeii was a desert of white ash. Here and there the tops of buildings could be seen, and little groups of survivors struggled back to salvage what they could. They dug tunnels to get down to their homes and rescue money, furniture and other valuables. But nothing could be done to excavate and rebuild the town itself. The site was abandoned; thousands of refugees made new homes in Naples and other Campanian towns. Gradually the ruins collapsed, a new layer of soil covered the site and Pompeii disappeared from view.

During the Middle Ages, nobody knew exactly where the town lay. Only a vague memory survived in the name 'cività' by which the local people still called the low hill. But what city it was or whether there really was a city buried there, they neither knew nor cared.

The rediscovery of Pompeii and Herculaneum

The first remains of Pompeii were found in 1594, when an Italian architect called Fontana was constructing a water channel from the River Sarno to a nearby town. He discovered the remains of buildings and an inscription. But these were misunderstood as i was thought that a villa belonging to the famous Roman politician, Pompeius, had been discovered. Nothing much was done for another 150 years, until in 1748, Charles III, King of Naples, began to excavate the site in search of treasure. In 1763, the treasure seekers realised they were exploring the lost city of Pompeii. At Herculaneum the excavations were much more difficult because the volcanic mud had turned to hard rock and the town lay up to twelve metres (forty feet) below the new ground level. Tunnelling down was slow and dangerous work. In the early days of excavation, no effort was made to uncover the sites in an orderly way; the methods of modern archaeology were unknown. The excavators were not interested in uncovering towns in order to learn about the people who had lived there, but were looking for jewellery, Statues and other works of art, which were then taken away to decorate the palaces of kings and rich men.



At the beginning of the nineteenth century, however, the looting was stopped and systematic excavation began. Section by section, the soil and rubble were cleared. The most fragile and precious objects were taken to the National Museum in Naples, but everything else was kept where it was found. As buildings were uncovered, they were partly reconstructed with original materials to preserve them and make them safe for visitors.

From time to time, archaeologists found a hollow space in the solidified ash where an object of wood or other organic material perished. To find out what it was they poured liquid plaster into the hole, and when it hardened they carefully removed the sur- rounding ash, and were left with a perfect image of the original object. This work still continues, but now resin is used instead of plaster. In this way, many wooden doors and shutters have been discovered, and also bodies of human beings and animals.



At Herculaneum, where the town was hermetically sealed by the solidified mud, perishable objects have survived intact, for example, wooden doors and stairs, woven material, fishermen's nets and wax tablets.

The work is not yet finished. Only about three-fifths of Pompeii have so far been uncovered and less of Herculaneum. Whenever a new house is opened up, the archaeologists find it just as it was abandoned. They may discover the remains of a meal, pots on the stove, coins in the tablinum, lampstands in various rooms, wall-paintings (often only slightly damaged), the lead pipes which supplied water to the fountains in the garden, brooches, needles, jars of cosmetics, shoes and toys; in fact all the hundreds of small things that went to make up a Roman home. If they are lucky, they may also discover the name of the family that lived there.

Thus, through the efforts of archaeologists, a remarkably detailed picture of the life of this ordinary Roman town has emerged from the disaster which destroyed it 2,000 years ago.