9 myths about ancient Rome

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Nero did not set Rome on fire, and gladiators did not die as often as in the film by Ridley Scott.

1. The Romans wore togas

In the traditional view, a Roman is a person wrapped in a white toga, proudly looking at us from an illustration of a textbook or from a large screen. But in fact, as the British archaeologist Alexandra Croom writes in Roman Clothing and Fashion, the toga was the main item of clothing for “a small number of people in a short period of time in the limited territory of the empire”.

In fact, only citizens had the right to wear a toga made of wool. A narrow stratum of residents of the Eternal City enjoyed the fullness of civil rights in ancient Rome. Its composition changed at different times, and in 212 A. D. NS. the entire free population of the empire received the right of citizenship. - Approx. the author. Rome. A Roman sent into exile lost this right, and a foreigner was generally prohibited from wearing a toga.

A trained slave (or even a few slaves) was needed to put on the toga and keep it in proper shape. Therefore, only wealthy citizens could wear a toga every day. Already during the late republic - early history of Ancient Rome, historians divide into three periods: royal (753-510 BC), republican (509-27 BC) and imperial (28 BC. - 476 A. D.). - Approx. the author of the empire, as we can learn from the lines of Mark Valery Martial. Epigrams. Book. IV. SPb. 1994. Marcial (40–104 AD), the toga was worn only on holidays and on official occasions.

In everyday life, the Romans preferred simple and comfortable clothing. For example, a tunic - a shirt in the form of a bag with holes for the head, arms and body, stretching to the hips (the toga was usually worn over it), as well as a robe or cloak. Women wore a table - a kind of tunic, wider, longer, with folds and tied with a belt.

2. There were a lot of slaves in the Roman Empire, and they lived very poorly

When we talk about Roman slaves, we imagine, first of all, slaves chained in chains, strapped to the oars of Roman warships. But only free people could serve in the Roman army and navy. Therefore, even slaves taken to the navy were freed.

The slaves did more than just the hard and dirty work: they were Burks A. M. Roman Slavery: A Study of Roman Society and Its Dependence on Slaves. 2008. artisans and peasants, accountants and doctors, domestic servants and teachers. At the same time, slaves could serve not only a specific citizen of Rome, but also the entire state.

A slave, according to Roman ideas, did not have a personality, name, or even ancestors, and therefore no civil status. He could be sold (including in gladiatorial arenas and in brothels), chained and tortured. But at the same time, outwardly, the slaves were no different from ordinary citizens. They dressed the same way, and the collars with the names of the owners originally introduced for them were quickly canceled. A slave could receive freedom and even Roman citizenship. He could own the property provided to him by the owner and run a business.

Of course, this situation cannot be called enviable, but it is not very similar to the fate of the slaves from the films.

In addition, as the empire grew, cruelty against slaves began to be fought at the legislative level. Emperor Claudius freed Guy Suetonius Tranquill. The Life of the Twelve Caesars. M. 1993. slaves who were not looked after by the owners during the illness. Later, it was forbidden to poison slaves with wild beasts in gladiatorial arenas. And the emperor Hadrian forbade the unauthorized killing of slaves and their imprisonment, as well as the sale for prostitution and gladiatorial fights.

Despite the uprisings (the peak of which fell on the heyday of slavery in the 2nd – 1st centuries BC), slaves did not play a large role in the social conflicts of Rome. Appian fought in the army of the same Spartacus. Roman wars. SPb. 1994. and free workers. Even in the II-I centuries BC.e., when there were most of the slaves, they accounted for only 35-40% of the population of Roman Italy. If we take the entire empire stretching from the British Isles to Egypt, then of the 50-60 million people who inhabited it, only about five million (8-10%) were slaves.

3. Emperor Caligula made his horse consul

This is a famous plot, which is often cited as an example of the licentiousness and permissiveness of the Roman rulers: as if the emperor Caligula made one of the senators the Senate - one of the main state bodies of ancient Rome. - Approx. the author of his horse Incitatus. But in reality it was not.

This myth takes its origin from the "Roman history" Cassius DK Roman history. Books LI – LXIII. SPb. 2014. Dione Cassius - he lived a century and a half after the reign of Caligula and did not really sympathize with it. But Cassius speaks only of intention, and not of real action:

Dio Cassius

And one of his horses, whom he called Incitatus, Guy invited to dinner, during which he offered him golden barley grains and drank to his health from golden cups. He also swore by the life and fate of this horse, and besides, he even promised to appoint him consul. And he would no doubt have done it if he had lived longer.

In addition, Guy himself was a member of the college of priests of his own cult and appointed his own horse as one of his companions; and every day birds of exquisite and expensive breeds were sacrificed to him.

However, modern research calls into question even the intention of Caligula to make the horse a senator. In 2014, English researcher Frank Woods analyzed this story in an article published in the Journal of Oxford University. He concluded that Caligula's pun-based joke had been taken out of context. Another point of view says that with such antics Caligula wanted to ridicule the senators' passion for wealth, and also to intimidate them.

4. Death of gladiators in the arena - a favorite sight of the Romans

The wounded gladiator falls to the sand. The second warrior raises his sword over him and looks at the stands of the Colosseum. The roaring crowd put their thumbs down. Blood splatters. Such a picture is drawn to us by films about Ancient Rome. But it was not quite like that.

Let's start with the fact that the favorite spectacle of the Romans was not gladiator fights, but horse races. If the Colosseum accommodated Hopkins K. The Colosseum: Emblem of Rome. BBC. "Only" 50 thousand spectators, then, according to modern estimates, about 150 thousand Romans could come to the Circus Maximus hippodrome.

How much the inhabitants of the Eternal City loved chariot racing is evidenced by the fact that the Roman charioteer Guy Appuleius Diocles is considered Struck P. T. Greatest of All Time. Lifestyles of the rich and famous Roman athletes. LAPHAM'S QUARTERLY. highest paid athlete in history. Throughout his life, he earned almost 36 million sesterces, which is approximately equal to 2.6 tons of gold. University of Pennsylvania professor Peter Strack believes that today, Appuleius Diocles could have a fortune of $ 15 billion.

It must also be said that most often in the arena, Goroncharovsky V. A. was killed. Arena and Blood: Roman Gladiators Between Life and Death. SPb. 2009. not people, but animals, including exotic ones: lions, panthers, leopards, lynxes, elephants, rhinos and others. Major battles of gladiators like navmachia Battles on the water with ships. For the navmachia, they sometimes even flooded the arena of the Colosseum. could only be arranged by emperors.

The probability that a gladiator would die in battle was about 1 in 10. The fighters were specially bought and trained for fights, and some of them were completely free people. Gladiators wore good armor, and in the event of injury in the arena, they were most often given mercy.

I must also say that we do not quite correctly imagine the gestures that were used in the arenas. There is no consensus as to whether the outstretched thumb meant death or life. It is known for certain that the fate of the wounded was not decided by the crowd - it was done by the emperor or, in his absence, the organizer of the games. Most likely, mercy meant a clenched fist, symbolizing a sword hidden in a scabbard. But the thumb, regardless of position, apparently meant a death sentence.

5. Nero set fire to Rome

One of the most famous myths in Roman history is that the Great Fire of Rome in 64 AD. NS. occurred through the fault of the emperor Nero (37-68 years AD), - goes back to the Roman historians themselves. Guy Suetonius Tranquill first wrote about this. The Life of the Twelve Caesars. M. 1993. Suetonius (70–122 AD), who spoke about Nero as unflattering as about his predecessor Caligula.

Guy Suetonius Tranquil

But to the people, and to the very walls of the fatherland, he knew no pity. When someone said in a conversation: “When I die, let the earth burn with fire!”; “No, - Nero interrupted him, - As long as I live!”. And this he achieved. As if ugly old houses and narrow crooked alleys disgusted him, he set Rome on fire so openly that many consulars caught his servants with torches and tow in their yards, but did not dare to touch them; and the granaries that stood near the Golden Palace and, according to Nero, taking away too much space from him, were as if first destroyed by military machines, and then set on fire, because their walls were made of stone.

But Suetonius lived a century after the fire, and Tacitus (mid 50s - 120 AD), who caught these events in childhood, writes Cornelius Tacitus. Works in two volumes. Volume I. “Annals. Small works . M. 1993.other:

Publius Cornellius Tacitus

Following this, a terrible disaster struck, accidental or rigged by the princeps' intent - not established (both opinions have support in the sources), but, in any case, the most terrible and merciless of all that this city had to endure from the fury of the flames.

Walking towards the people expelled by the fire and homeless, he opened for him the Champ de Mars, all structures associated with the name of Agrippa, as well as his own gardens, and, in addition, hastily erected buildings to accommodate crowds of dispossessed fire victims. Food was delivered from Ostia and the neighboring municipalities, and the price of grain was reduced to three sesterces.

Historians tend to agree with Tacitus. Rome was then extremely overpopulated, and there were many flammable buildings. There is no direct evidence that the fire was started by Nero (who at that time was not in Rome at all). On the one hand, upon learning of the fire, he helped Cornelius Tacitus. Works in two volumes. Volume I. “Annals. Small works . M. 1993. fire victims and developed a new construction plan to prevent such fires in the future. On the other hand, on the ashes, Nero soon began construction of a huge palace complex, which, even in its unfinished form, amazed seasoned contemporaries.

6. The inhabitants of ancient Rome mired in orgies and feasts

Traditionally, it is customary to portray the life of the Roman rich as idle, filled with feasts and unprecedented gluttony. But that was not quite the case.

The Roman society was Huseynov A. A. Antique ethics. M. 2011. extremely conservative and traditional. Mos maiorum, the “custom of the ancestors,” was of great importance to the Roman, and modesty was one of the Roman virtues.

Since the alcohol content of wine (the main drink of the time) was high, it was diluted with water before drinking. Drinking wine undiluted and in excessive quantities was considered a habit of barbarians and provincials.

Also, the Romans washed their hands before eating and enjoyed the General History of European Culture. Volume IV. Friedlander L. Pictures from the everyday history of Rome in the era from Augustus to the end of the Antonine dynasty. Part I. SPb. 1914. napkins. They ate reclining, mostly with their hands. Bones and other non-food waste were thrown on the floor and then swept away by slaves. The food was rather modest: the basis of the diet of wealthy people was Sergeenko M. Ye. Life of ancient Rome. SPb. 2000. vegetables, berries, game, cereals and poultry. During the feast, guests could entertain themselves with gambling.

However, moderation in food gradually disappeared during the late republic. On the tables of wealthy Romans, such delicacies as peacocks and flamingos appear. At the same time, morals became more rude, and gluttony and drunkenness became the norm. However, this applies only to a narrow stratum of the richest members of Roman society.

On the issue of orgies, everything is also not so simple. Antique ethics otherwise Huseynov AA Antique ethics. M. 2011. looked at sexuality and its manifestations. For example, the image of the phallus was not considered immodest, since it was a symbol of fertility and occupied an important place in the cults of the gods of agriculture.

At the same time, marriage was of great importance for the Romans - this is one of the differences between Rome and Ancient Greece. Roman women had more rights than Greek women, but at the same time they also had more duties and responsibilities (for example, they themselves were responsible for treason).

7. Homosexuality was very widespread in ancient Rome

Traditionally, antiquity is considered the era of open homosexuality. But in reality, it was not quite so.

As in ancient Greece, the Romans did not have Foucault M. The use of pleasures. The history of sexuality. T. 2. SPb. 2004. the concept of heterosexuality or homosexuality. It would be more correct to say that active (patriarchal) and passive (submissive) sexual roles were distinguished in the ancient world. The male citizen in this ratio a priori occupied the first place.

At the same time, the attitude towards homosexuality in Roman society changed at different times and was ambiguous. To enter into a homosexual relationship with a citizen meant to infringe on his civil status, to take away his dominant role and masculinity. However, there were slaves, whose status in the understanding of the Romans was comparable to the status of things.

Accordingly, homosexual relationships with slaves of the same sex were not in any way condemned or persecuted as long as the man took an active role. But due to the fact that sexual intercourse between citizens (men) was actually prohibited, manifestations of homosexuality are characteristic of Rome even less than for Ancient Greece.

8. The Roman Empire was the largest in history

The Romans were from the very beginning a nation of warriors. They conquered most of Europe and made the Mediterranean mare nostrum ("our sea"). At the height of its power, the Roman Empire stretched from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean, but it is not the largest and greatest in history.

In terms of the number of occupied territories, the Roman Empire is not even one of the twenty largest states in history, yielding, for example, to the British, Mongolian and Russian empires.

Moreover, Rome does not fall into the three largest states of antiquity. It is inferior to the Chinese state of Han and the state of the Huns, which simultaneously existed with it, from which the Han people defended themselves with the help of the Great Wall of China. Also, the Roman Empire was smaller than the previously existing Achaemenid (Persian) power and the empire of Alexander the Great.

9. Roman legionaries wore red clothing and weapons

In movies and TV series, Roman soldiers are dressed entirely in red. Indeed, such a uniform could help distinguish between friends and foes in battle, as well as exert psychological pressure on the enemy. But in reality there is no evidence that the Roman legionaries used the same scarlet equipment.

Red and purple in clothing were only available to wealthy Romans and those in high positions. Marcial, for example, wrote Mark Valery Marcial. Epigrams. Book. IV – V. SPb. 1994. that red in clothes was very rare. Therefore, unlike the commanders, an ordinary warrior could hardly wear a bright tunic.

Legionnaires took care of their clothes themselves: they bought or received in parcels from relatives. Typically, Roman soldiers wore the Summer G. Roman Military Dress. History Press. 2009. short tunics, which were made mainly of wool. In the northern provinces, the soldiers of the empire wore a warmer version of the long-sleeved tunic. A cloak (sagum) covered them from bad weather.

Although scarlet is the color of Mars, the god of war, the clothing of the legionnaires was most likely Summer G. Roman Military Dress. History Press. 2009. natural coat color: white, gray, brown or black.