Mike
February 14, 2002
LA/SS
Life in Ancient Rome
Did you know that baths in Rome were public and they were not only used for getting clean? Rome was an ancient civilization in Italy that was highly advanced for its time. Their daily life included many interesting and complex aspects such as work, government, entertainment and much more.
People who lived in Rome had different kinds of home lives depending on how much money they had. In the city poor people would not live in the street but their houses were small and dirty. They didn’t live in the streets because the streets were filled with broken bottles and half-eaten food. The rich were treated a lot better. They lived in big houses, sometimes
even mansions.There was a big difference between what the poor did for work and what the rich did for work. Some rich people were patricians. The others were equites. They owned property. The rich also had more quality things then the poor did like, jewelry, clothes, homes and food. Some slaves worked on farms and got treated badly. Some slaves were house slaves, and they were treated better than other slaves, but not much better. Children from rich families were not allowed to be romantic together. The parents arranged most marriages in the upper classes.
Rome had a great government. The forum was the in the middle of the town . It was the most important public area. The forum was where town's people gathered to discuss town affairs and to listen to speeches by the Roman governor and his officials.
Roman food was similar to the food we eat today. The food they mainly ate was porridge. Some other food they ate was fried chicken, fish, roasted meat and many kinds of fruits and vegetables. Also no meal was complete with out olives and olive oil.
Although their food was like the food we have today their clothing was not. Woman wore a tunica, which was a long shirt. Over the tunica they wore a stola, which went from neck to ankles. Clothes were to keep them warm. Men wore tunica also but over them they wore a toga and a cloth at night. Children wore a tunica with sleeves. The different classes wore different tunicas.
The Romans had many things to do for entertainment. One thing they did was go to public baths. They went to talk with friends, exercise in the gymnasium and to enjoy themselves. On holidays people liked a visit the circus. At the circus they liked to watch plays and watch gladiators fight with animals and each other. There were also chariot racers. The Coloseum was the greatest circus ever in Rome. The Coloseum is where the emperor would sit and watch the shows and that was his greatest pleasure.
In conclusion, Rome was a very interesting and sophisticated place. It was one of the greatest cities for its time.