Classic Roman Life: Myths, Society, and Customs

Posted on Feb 27, 2025 in Latin

History

Priam was the most handsome boy in the East, and Thisbe the fairest young woman. They lived in a city that Semiramis, queen of Babylon, had surrounded with walls. These young people loved each other and wanted to marry, but their families were opposed. They spoke from a distance using gestures, communicating through a crack in a wall that joined their two houses. After a few months, they decided to flee together and agreed to meet at a mulberry tree near the grave of a king. When Thisbe arrived, a lion suddenly appeared. She ran away, hurting herself, and dropped her veil. Priam arrived, saw the lion with the veil, and thought it was his love. Believing himself to be the culprit, he took his knife and killed himself. Thisbe had fainted, and when she woke up, she went crazy seeing his corpse. She embraced him, blaming herself, and after saying a few phrases of love, took the knife and stabbed herself.

Muses

The Muses are:

  • Clio: History
  • Euterpe: Music of the flute
  • Thalia: Comedy
  • Melpomene: Tragedy
  • Terpsichore: Lyric poetry and dance
  • Erato: Erotic poetry
  • Polyhymnia: The art of mime
  • Urania: Astronomy
  • Calliope: Epic poetry and eloquence

Family

The Roman family structure included:

  • Pater familias: The father with absolute power, including power over the life and death of his wife, children, and slaves.
  • Uxor: Mother or wife, valued for her virtues, domestic work, and marriage.
  • Liberi: Children of the marriage.
  • Servi: Slaves subject to the orders of the pater familias.

Types of Marriage:

  • Conventio Cum Manu:
    1. A civil or religious ceremony formalizing the union of the couple.
    2. Symbolically buying the woman.
  • Conventio Sine Manu:
    1. No ceremony was held; only coexistence and respect between the spouses were considered.
    2. The woman was not subject to the power of the husband but remained under the supervision and authority of her father.
    3. This became the most common Roman practice.

In Roman society, women could marry at 12 years old, and men at 14.

Clothing

  • Roman Man: Wore a toga made of wool, usually put on by a slave. It could be:
    • Pure: without adornment.
    • Praetexta: decorated with a fringe.
    • Picta: embroidered in gold (for emperors, in purple).
  • Woman: A unique long gown of wool, linen, cotton, or silk. A stola of various colors was attached by a belt, and a shawl (palla) was worn on the head.
  • Children: A short tunic with a belt, made of flax or wool. At 17, they put on the toga, and wore a medallion around their neck.

Names

Roman naming conventions:

  1. Praenomen: The given name. The firstborn was often named after his father (e.g., Marcus, Aulus, Cailus).
  2. Nomen: Corresponded to our first name, referring to the gens or family (e.g., Cornelius, Aemilius).
  3. Cognomen: Similar to a middle name, it was a kind of nickname related to a trade or a particular physical or moral characteristic (e.g., Cicero, meaning “chickpea”).

Education

Elementary (7-12 years)

  • Children went to a school that was open for all to see.
  • They were accompanied by a pedagogue, a slave who looked after them morally.
  • A teacher, the magister ludi, taught reading, writing, and calculation. He sat in his cathedra.
  • Students wrote with a stylus on a tablet (tabellae).

Secondary (13-16 years)

  • Only for wealthy families.
  • The grammaticus taught students to read and understand the texts of great authors.
  • They studied literature, grammar, and a little history, Latin, mythology, music, etc.

Superior (17-20 years)

  • Corresponds to modern college.
  • The Rhetor was the teacher who introduced students to public speaking for their future careers.

Exercises

1: What do these words mean?

  • Cannibal: Eats human flesh.
  • Scatophagus: Eats excrement.
  • Ghoul: Eats corpses.
  • Rhizophagous: Eats roots.

What are these phobias?

  • Photophobia: Fear of light.
  • Xenophobia: Fear of foreigners.
  • Hydrophobia: Fear of water.
  • Agoraphobia: Fear of open, sunny spaces.
  • Claustrophobia: Fear of enclosed spaces.
  • Acrophobia: Fear of heights.

Exercise 2

Famous couples in mythology and history:

  • Pyramus and Thisbe
  • Apollo and Daphne
  • Zeus and Hera
  • Penelope and Odysseus
  • Menelaus and Helen
  • Aeneas and Dido
  • Jason and Medea
  • Jocasta and Laius