Ancient Rome
Morgan, Imani, Rebekah, Rebecca
Culture and Lifestyle- Morgan
- The city included many baths, theatres, brothels, and gymnasiums.
- Residency included country villas, to very modest houses.
- Most of the population lived in the city center, packed into insulae (apartment blocks).
- The city of Rome was very large and well exceeded 1,000,000 people
- The most urbanized part of Rome was Italy.
Map- Rebecca
Religions and Beliefs- Imani
Roman religion was centered around gods and explanations for events usually involved the gods in some way or another.
The Romans believed that gods controlled their lives and, as a result, spent a great deal of their time worshiping them.
Each god had a special festival day which was usually a public holiday. This holiday gave people the opportunity to visit the temple for whichever god was being celebrated.
At this temple, priests would sacrifice animals and offer them to the god.
Mars
God of War
Mercury
The messenger of the gods
Neptune
God of the Sea
Janus
God of the Doorway
Diana
Goddess of Hunting
Vesta
Goddess of the Hearth
Minerva
Goddess of Healing and Wisdom
Venus
Goddess of Love
Government and Political Structure- Rebecca
- Early Rome was governed by Kings (emperors) and was democratic
- They elected their officials, judges, tax collectors, and magistrates
- There senate was made up of 600 men, who are in favor of the rich
- Their senate was not democratic
- From 509 BC-27 BC Rome was governed as a republic
Julius Caesar wanted to control all of Rome and its empire. When making a speech in the Senate to support his belief in a one-man rule, Caesar was murdered by Brutus who wanted to keep the old way going. Caesar’s supporters started a civil war to try to force their wishes onto Rome. Many Romans began supporting Augustus, Caesar’s nephew. To many people he seemed to be the obvious choice to end the chaos Rome had descended into. Augustus was seen as a strong ruler and he became emperor in 27 BC, bringing to an end the republic of Rome.
Unique Features- Morgan
- The Romans built the Pantheon which was used and dedicated to honor the Gods and other victorious leaders.
- Purple clothing could only be worn by roman emperors and if you were dressed in only purple would lead to treason.
- Hair dying was popular through women, blonde and red being the most popular colors, and dye was made from various ingredients including goat fat, beech wood ashes, henna, saffron, and bleach.
- While romans were extremely hygienic, they did not use soap. Instead, they would apply perfumed oils on their skin and then scrape it off with an object known as a strigil.
Influences of the United States- Rebekah
- Creation of law, development of democratic government practices, influences in language, literature, art, infrastructure, city planning and the spread of christianity are things from the romans.
- “innocent before proven guilty”
- The purpose of written law as a way to protect individuals from one another and the power of state is inherited from the romans.
- In our goverment including many other countries our goverment requires that all laws go through two legislative bodies, which came from the republican rome.