Geography
Rome started out in Italy, and then spread throughout Europe and the Mediterranean area. The volcano Mt. Vesuvius wiped out Pompeii, but conserved it because of the ashes mixing with some other things making a concrete like substance. This gives us a good idea of what Roman daily life looked like. They existed for a very long time, and their fall began the Dark Ages (Middle Ages).
Religion and Beliefs
At the start the Roman Empire was polytheistic. They worshipped many gods and goddesses, and took theirs from other cultures that they conquered (Greece, Etruscan). They had a temple called the Pantheon and it was used as a place of worship to all of their gods. They persecuted Christians, but later on they converted their entire empire to Christianity. When they were polytheistic they also worshipped their leader as a god.
Government
The Romans had 3 social classes; Patricians, Plebians, and slaves. The Patricians were the upper class, and they had life well, with some slaves, a villa to live in (fancy house). They could also vote in elections, or run for office. The Plebians were the middle class and lived in an apartment building. They had life o.k., but not as grand as the Patricians. They were the working class of Rome. They could only vote for somebody in the election, and couldn’t run for office. The slaves were the lowest class in the Roman society. They were forced to work and Romans relied on them for a lot of labor. They couldn’t vote or run for office. They also had no rights, but could be released it their Plebian owner wanted to. They could have a life that was just decent, or completely horrid. Men were more important than women in the Roman society. The oldest male in a family was the paterfamilias, and had a lot of power in that family. Women couldn’t vote in elections. They had a monarchy in their earlier stages, but turned into a republic after a bad experience with a horrible king. They had a senate which was elected by the people to help choose 2 consuls. The consuls controlled what happened in Rome for 1 year. Their government was military based, and they had 500,000 soldiers at their height. This huge army was split into smaller sections called legions each with 4000-6000 soldiers in it. These were split up into centuries of 100 soldiers, and each century was commanded by a centurion. They borrowed their military formation, the phalanx, from the Greeks. Later on they improved it to be more effective. Their capitol was the Forum and it was very big and great. They had 12 tablets of law that were written down so that the Patricians couldn’t change the laws whenever it benefited them. The Romans learned most of what they knew from the Etruscans.
Architecture
An atrium is a large central space that is open to the sky (courtyard). Most rooms would surround an atrium. The Romans had public baths that everyone (even slaves) could go to. They had aqueducts that carried over 80 million gallons of water to Rome daily. They had slaves do most of the building. The Coliseum evolved into the modern day stadiums.
Technology and Inventions
The Romans were very brilliant. They had ropes and pulleys. They also had a heating system for their homes that could heat air and water. They also made boats that could carry 1000 tons of grain (2,000,000 pounds)
Communication
The Romans wrote and spoke Latin. This language, with Greek, evolved into many modern languages.
Daily Life
They had dinner served at 3 P.M. They ate bread, meat, and fish for food. The husband was usually older than the wife. They had pets. About 30% of the people in Rome were slaves. The Roman capitol had 1,000,000 people when the Coliseum was built.
