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Ambition in the Roman Republic – A guest post by A. David Singh

Salvete Romanophiles!

We have a special guest post on Writing the Past this week!

Author, A David Singh is here to talk to us about the idea of ambition in Roman society. We may not be surprised by the fact that Romans were ambitious – one doesn’t build an empire without ambition – but ambition took different forms for people at all levels of Roman society. David has done an excellent job of outlining this, so be sure to keep reading!

If you haven’t read David’s previous guest post about slavery in ancient Rome, then you should also read that by clicking HERE.

For now, it’s time to learn all about Roman ambition!

Ambition in the Roman Republic

By A. David Singh

As some of history’s pre-eminent over-achievers, ancient Romans championed a quality that transformed their city-state to the foremost civilization of antiquity: ambition!   

At its core lay the desire for wealth, power, and prestige. In that respect it was no different from ambition as seen in today’s world. 

Let’s start by looking at this need to create a better life among those at the lowest rung of the Roman strata.

Slaves

Slaves were not citizens of Rome. Not only were they denied statehood, they were also stripped of personhood. Roman society considered them as mere objects or possessions—with no more agency than a piece of furniture or cattle.

Given these circumstances, one might be tempted to imagine slaves as men and women devoid of ambition, with no hope for rising above their lot in life. But that was hardly the case.

Most slaves harboured one viable ambition—to break free from the shackles of slavery and become Roman citizens. 

The Slave Market – oil painting by Gustave Boulanger, 1886 (Wikimedia Commons)

If a slave showed the “right” attitude toward his servitude and discharged his duties satisfactorily—these attributes being open to interpretation by the masters—the slave could be set free by appearing before a magistrate. Once the magistrate had confirmed that the slave was a freedman, the master would slap the slave as a final insult before he started his new life.

Quite often, masters bequeathed freedom to their slaves in their wills. Rarely, slaves could earn their own freedom if they were able to raise enough coin to buy themselves out of slavery. 

The process of becoming freedmen and freedwomen was called manumission.

Because house slaves worked in direct contact with their masters, they could endear themselves to those who held power over them. As a result, house slaves had a better chance of getting manumitted compared to those working on country estates and in mines.

Once manumitted, the slaves transitioned into freedmen/freedwomen, and became citizens of the great city of Rome. Now they were deemed human, and not objects anymore—a significant upgrade in their station.

Freedmen and freedwomen

As citizens, freedmen and freedwomen were entitled to all the civil rights in Rome. However, they were not entirely free of their former masters. Those masters exercised some degree of hold over them by becoming their patrons. 

As patrons, the former masters helped them make strides within the Roman society—by opening doors and helping them both financially and professionally. In return, the clients (freedmen and freedwomen) had to provide services to their patrons, most of which involved either making the patrons wealthier, or by extending their patrons’ prestige further into Roman society. 

Freedmen could not hold political office. So they endeavoured to make a better life for themselves through other means. The easiest avenue was to acquire wealth from business ventures.  

Rome was filled with waves of such newly manumitted freedmen eager to make their mark. Blacksmiths, butchers, barbers, cloth-merchants, and tradesmen dotted the over-populated city, with a singular goal in their minds: make more coin! 

Some even amassed their own slaves—the more slaves a man had, the more prestigious he was considered. This was their way to prove their “equality” to the society that had once enslaved them.

Over time, rich freedmen started marrying into traditional but impoverished Roman families. This became a cultural norm, as it proved to be of mutual benefit—the old Roman families became richer, thanks to the nouveau riche, while the freedmen elevated their prestige and circle of influence.

Even though the freedmen and freedwomen (or children born to them before manumission) could not hold political office, that was not the case for children born to them after they’d gained freedom. Many freedmen and freedwomen encouraged these children to hold political office, thereby vicariously fulfilling their own ambition through their children.

Lastly, the option to join the Roman legions was readily available. Rome was an ever-expanding war machine, eager to recruit men younger than forty-five years. As a legionary, a young freedman could travel the Roman world, earn coin, and even rise to become a centurion. All in all, that was a good plan, unless one was unlucky enough to feel the pointy end of a barbarian’s sword.

The Roman legions

Legionaries—or the foot-soldiers—were the lowest rank in the Roman legion. They fell into several categories, although these categories did not have official standing. 

If a legionary held a modicum of ambition, he’d aspire to become an immunis—or a legionary with special skills, like carpentry or weapon-making. It was even better if he could read and write. He could then become a clerk and be responsible for communications and record-keeping. 

Becoming an immunis allowed one to leave the common herd behind, along with all the menial tasks like latrine duty and heavy-lifting. Though this was only a minor step-up in prestige, it was not an unattractive one by any standard. 

A legionary with no aptitude for special skills aspired to become a principalis. Examples include a tesserarius, who was responsible for sentry duty, and an optio—who was the second-in-command of a century.

Though the salary of a legionary did not increase with these step-ups, any legionary mindful of his dignity and prestige aimed to climb this unofficial hierarchy. His reputation and influence within the legion played a critical role in his ascent. 

Roman legionaries marching in uniform, re-enactment (courtesy Pixabay)

The first official non-legionary rank was a centurion. Principales stood the best chance of becoming centurions. 

Centurions were the backbone of the legion. They were responsible for the day-to-day activities of their legionaries, escorting prisoners, and conducting diplomatic missions. During battle, centurions led the charge alongside their men.

Interestingly enough, not all centurions in a legion were equal (or, to borrow from Animal Farm, some were more equal than others). The centurion of the 1st century, 1st cohort (Primus Pilus) was the senior-most, while the centurion of the 6th century, 10th cohort ranked the lowest. Among other privileges, this gradation determined who got the best seat in a tavern, and who was the last to conduct a fatigue party in the rain. 

That’s prestige on raw display, isn’t it?

The annual salary of a legionary was 1,200 sesterces, and a centurion’s was 20,000 sesterces. The Primus Pilus commanded a whopping 100,000 sesterces (during the 1st & 2nd centuries CE).

While a legionary—upon becoming a centurion—might feel satisfied with his progress up the ladder, that was likely to be the last stop in his career. The ranks above a centurion were populated by men of senatorial classes.

The only exception was the Camp Prefect, or Praefectus castrorum, who outranked the military tribunes (we’ll meet them shortly). The camp prefect was chosen from long-standing centurions of a legion, and would have likely been a Primus Pilus in the past. As the third senior-most officer in a legion—outranked only by the Legatus and Tribunus laticlavius—he was responsible for training and equipment, and held the command of his legion in his superiors’ absence.

And that brings us to the senatorial classes.

Senators and the Path of Honours

During the early republican period, senators were a group of unelected men who advised the magistrates. From the 3rd century BCE onwards, the senate increased its power, and virtually functioned as the government of Rome by exercising control over the assemblies and the magistrates.

Education in rhetoric and experience in law were considered essential preparations for political life. And boys from prominent families were groomed from an early age in these disciplines.

Young men harbouring senatorial aspirations might even join the legions as military tribunes. They were responsible for the administrative duties of their legions. Military tribunes outranked the centurions, but were below the camp prefect.

Their military competence varied (some may have had prior experience in auxiliary units), but what remained constant was their shark-like determination to ascend the Path of Honours.

The Path of Honours (Cursus Honorum) as in the time of Julius Caesar – 1st century BCE (courtesy C. K. Ruppelt – Wikimedia Commons)

Elected officials in the republic were called magistrates. Once a man was elected to his first magistracy, he was automatically admitted to the Senate. 

Quaestores were the lowest magistrates, responsible for the state and military treasuries. They were stationed in Rome and its provinces, and were also embedded in the legions. 

On the next rung were aediles, who supervised public works—repair of temples, streets, sewers, public buildings, and aqueducts. They were in charge of markets (weights and measures, and distribution of grain). Lastly, the aediles organized festivals and public games. Ambitious aediles spent prodigious amounts of coin to attract publicity and vote-catching, to advance their political careers even further.

Tribune of the Plebs: This office was formed in the early republican days to protect plebeians from patricians, when patricians held all public offices. As the title suggests, only plebeians could hold this office. Though technically not magistrates, they functioned very much like the magistrates of the Roman state; they could propose legislation and summon the senate. An important function of the plebeian tribunes was to veto decisions by the consuls and other magistrates, thus protecting the interests of the plebeians.

Praetors were magistrates responsible for the Roman judiciary. They acted as chief judges and at times as deputies to the Consuls. By 80 BCE, Sulla increased the number of Praetors to eight: two were responsible for civil matters, and six for criminal.

Two consuls were elected each year. They were the joint heads of the Roman state and commanders-in-chief of the legions. Consuls presided over Senate meetings and implemented its decisions. Both plebeians (from 367 BCE onwards) and patricians could become consuls. Interestingly, years were named after the Consuls, e.g. what we call 63 BCE was known as the “Year of the Consulship of Cicero and Hybrida”.

In times of crisis, a Dictator could be appointed. His term could be no longer than six months. But during his time in office, he possessed supreme military and judicial authority. An exception was Julius Caesar, who was proclaimed Dictator for life.

Partial view of the Roman Forum. The Curia Julia (or Senate House) is seen in the centre (courtesy Pixabay).

Governors of the Roman Provinces were selected from former praetors and consuls. Accordingly, they were named pro-praetors, or pro-consuls. They also held military command when directed by the Senate.

Governorship of the provinces gave these men free rein over the provinces, and this position was vastly abused to accumulate enormous amounts of wealth. However, most governors considered this their right, since they were not paid a salary during their decades as senators.

The ascent from military tribune to consul (and beyond) brought incremental prestige and influence to the men. No wonder, the senatorial classes aggressively engaged in the pursuit of political power for themselves, and for their family and friends. 

Volatile alliances, political factions, bribery, corruption, one-upmanship, and even marriages and divorces formed the backdrop against which the lives of senators unfolded.

In the Roman republic, senatorship and the Path of Honours remained the sole domain of men. Women could not vote, become senators, or hold any political office. 

So, what did women do to quench their ambition in a male-dominated Rome?

Women and ambition

Roman women lived under the guardianship of the primary male member of their family—the paterfamilias. Fathers played this role during their childhood, and the responsibility was handed over to husbands at marriage. Thus, the social identity of women was defined by being someone’s daughter, and later, by being someone’s wife.

Although there was no shortage of loving marriages in Rome, by today’s standards those women lived in relative submission and obscurity. Therefore, their avenues of ambition have to be understood within the context of their societal limitations.

Trades were open to free born women and freedwomen—both married and unmarried. Plebeians took on vocations like midwifery, hair-dressing, basket-weaving, and cooking, among others. Even patrician women were expected to sew and weave.

On the home front, wives of prominent families would co-host banquets with their husbands and preside over religious activities of the household. Many were well read in Greek and Latin literature.

The last decades of the republic saw the emergence of independent women—especially among the patrician families—who were unwilling to live within the sphere of traditional female virtues like modesty, devotion, and frugality. 

Although women could not vote in elections or hold office, the political milieu of the 1st century BCE was not impervious to women’s influence. 

Graffiti found on the walls in Pompeii indicate that women frequently endorsed candidates for political office. It is quite likely that women attended rallies and canvassed for their candidates.

Some even played a robust role in Roman politics, e.g. Servilia, who—because of her proximity to Julius Caesar—was a figure to reckon with.

Rome was steeped in religion. Priesthood conferred prestige and special privileges upon women, that others did not enjoy. 

Vestal priestesses belonging to the cult of goddess Vesta were considered fundamental to the continuance and security of Rome. 

They could free slaves and criminals by touching them; they had a reserved place of honour to watch games and spectacles; they could own property, and give evidence without anyone doubting their word, and were even entrusted with the safe-keeping of important wills and state documents. 

Vestal priestesses fulfilled their duties for a period of thirty years, after which they would command marital alliances in prestigious Roman families. 

Although Roman ambition came in many flavours, the core drive was to excel and elevate as a collective whole. That ancient model still shines a light for today’s world, nudging us to strive for a better tomorrow. Thank you for your kind attention.    

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BCE) – Roman senator, lawyer, scholar, and consul (63 BCE) (courtesy Pixabay).

Author Bio

A neurosurgeon by profession, A. David Singh operated on brains invaded by tumors, aneurysms, and other vile maladies. Funnily, after turning a couple (or more) gray hairs, a rather strange affliction invaded his own brain. Characters from a parallel universe besieged his brain cells and refused to leave, unless David transcribed their lives onto paper. At first, he resisted the assault on his cerebral faculties, but these denizens of the Magical Rome Universe kept prodding his gray cells with their antics, forcing him to write their story.

You can enter the Magical Rome Universe through the novel Dead Boy’s Game and the Broken Vow. 

In Magical Rome, three Romans strive to become senators—each to satisfy their unique and diverse ambitions. Villius is a senator’s apprentice, Julius is a victorious centurion, and Calpurnia…well, Calpurnia is a woman living in a man’s world.

To read this story, please visit   https://MagicalRome.com 

I’d like to thank David for writing such an interesting post about ambition. It’s fascinating how ambition plays a part at every level of society. 

Be sure to check out David’s website and his new book in the Magical Rome Universe.

And if you have any questions about ambition in Roman society, be sure to ask your questions in the comments below so that David can answer them.

Thank you again to A. David Singh, and thank you to all of you for reading!

 

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Happy Holidays from Eagles and Dragons Publishing!

Adam and the team at Eagles and Dragons Publishing would like to wish all of our patrons, readers, subscribers and fellow-history lovers a wonderful holiday season filled with love, laughter and joy.

We all need it this year!

So, wether you celebrate Saturnalia, the Solstice, Christmas or some other ancient holiday with its roots in history, we hope that you and your families enjoy, whether you are in isolation or safely gathered.

May 2021 be a much better year for all of us.

In the meantime, stay safe and healthy, and thank you for following us along on this amazing journey!

Some great releases and blogs are coming in 2021, so get ready for more adventures with Eagles and Dragons Publishing.

Cheers!

Adam and the Eagles and Dragons Publishing Team

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An Introduction to the Republican Roman Legion

Greetings history-lovers!

Welcome back to the blog. I hope that you are all keeping well and safe during the continuing pandemic, wherever you are.

Today is Remembrance Day in Canada, the UK, and Australia, and Veteran’s Day in the United States, so I thought that it would be fitting to post something something on a military theme in honour of our men and women in service.

This week on the blog, we’re going to be taking a brief look at the foundation and organization of the Republican Roman legion.

Many readers will already be familiar with the organization of the Imperial Roman Legion, but perhaps not the formation of Rome’s early army? How did a little village on the Tiber develop into such a dominant military force in the Mediterranean world? What did the early Roman army look like, and how was it organized?

Servius Tullius, sixth king of Rome (580-530 B.C.)

In the early days, of course, Rome was ruled by kings. From 753 – 509 B.C., beginning with Romulus and ending with Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, Rome’s army was the king’s army. The king had direct command of the military.

However, as Rome conquered more neighbours in the Italian peninsula, its army grew bigger, and so a hierarchy of command was needed.

This early Roman army under the king, was made up of approximately three thousand men from the three tribes of Rome: the Ramnenses (named after Romulus himself), the Titiensies (named after Titus Tatius), and the Lucerenses (name origin unknown). The men from these tribes formed one, big army, a citizen army.

At this time, the army was commanded by a tribunus, or ‘tribal officer’, beneath the king. Other than this, however, little else is known about the chain of command in the army before the fourth century B.C.

What we do know is that Servius Tullius (580-530 B.C.), the sixth king of Rome, divided the people into classes with his constitution, and these divisions had both political and military purposes. There were financial groupings or ‘centuries’ that meant men of military age were divided according to their ability to provide their own arms and equipment for military service.

Equites were the richest, and the rest of the population, which formed the infantry, were divided into five classes with descending degrees of weapons and armour.

Below these five classes were the capite censi, or landless men.

Basically, the Servian reforms created a sort of hoplite army, based on the phalanx used in the classical Greek and Hellenistic world.

Depiction of a Greek hoplite battle

In 509 B.C. when Lucius Junius Brutus and other noblemen expelled the last king, Tarquinius Superbus, and the Roman Republic was born, the king was replaced by two consuls, also known as praetors. These men were elected every year and they held supreme civil and military power.

By 311 B.C. the army was divided into four legions, and the command of these legions was divided between the two consuls.

Each legion had six military tribunes that were elected by the comitia centuriata. 

The first detailed account of the military hierarchy of the Republican Roman army comes down to us from Polybius (200-118 B.C.) who was a Greek historian during the Hellenistic period, and an eyewitness of the sack of Carthage in the third Punic War as well as the Roman annexation of mainland Greece, both in 146 B.C.

This army of the middle Republic (c. 290-88 B.C.) has come to be known as the ‘Polybian’ army, and this army was divided not into cohorts and centuries, but rather maniples.

Stele depicting Polybius (200-118 B.C.)

The total force of the Roman army at this time was four legions with a total of sixteen to twenty thousand infantry and fifteen-hundred to twenty-five hundred cavalry. Allied forces could also be called upon, and mercenaries hired, if Rome needed to bolster its forces.

At this time, praetors, who were lesser magistrates beneath the commanding consuls, could also command a legion, and in times of crisis, a dictator was appointed for a six month period, taking over full command of the army from both consuls. The dictator could himself, appoint a second-in-command known as the magister equitum, or ‘master of horse’. During the dictatorships of Julius Caesar, both Marcus Antonius and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus served as magister equitum, appointed by Caesar himself.

Apart from overall command by the dictator, from about 190 B.C., the army was still under the control of the consuls or praetors, but forces could also be commanded by legati, or ‘legates’ who were senior senators. One or more legati went with a governor or magistrate when he took control of a new province, and so they had both civil and military duties.

But what were the other officer ranks in the manipular army?

Rome’s four legions included twenty-four tribunes at this time. These were equestrian class men. Senior tribunes could also command extra legions that needed to be raised beyond the standard four.

Each tribune in the legions could select ten centurions who chose their own seconds. The most senior centurion was known as the centurio primi pili, or ‘first spear’. Centurions themselves were able to appoint an optio as a rear-guard officer, and two standard bearers, or signiferi. 

Republican Roman army formation from 1960 film, Spartcus.

Each legion was divided into maniples which were composed of two centuries each. The primus pilus centurion normally commanded the right hand maniple.

When it comes to cavalry, the legion’s force of horsemen was divided into ten turmae of thirty cavalrymen. Each turmae had three decurions who led ten men.

With all of these titles and ranks, one might think that the Republican army was actually quite similar to the imperial Roman army we are so familiar with. However, when you look at it more closely, the manipular army was quite different. Here, Polybius explains:

The tribunes in Rome, after administering the oath, fix for each legion a day and place at which the men are to present themselves without arms and then dismiss them. When they come to the meeting place, they choose the youngest and poorest to form the velites; the next to them are made hastati; those in the prime of life principes; and the oldest of all triarii, these being the names among the Romans of the four classes in each legion distinct in age and equipment. They divide them so that the senior men known as triarii number six hundred, the principes twelve hundred, the hastati twelve hundred, the rest, consisting of the youngest, being velites. If the legion consists of more than four thousand men, they divide accordingly, except as regards the triarii, the number of whom is always the same…

…From each of the classes except the youngest they elect ten centurions according to merit, and then they elect a second ten. All these are called centurions, and the first man elected has a seat in the military council. The centurions then appoint an equal number of rearguard officers (optiones). Next, in conjunction with the centurions, they divide each class into ten companies, except the velites, and assign to each company two centurions and two optiones from among the elected officers. The velites are divided equally among all the companies; these companies are called ordines or manipuli or vexilla, and their officers are called centurions or ordinum ductores. Finally these officers appoint from the ranks two of the finest and bravest men to be standard-bearers (vexillarii) in each maniple. 

(Polybius, The Rise of the Roman Empire, Book VI.6)

The Roman legion c.160 B.C. according to Polybius (image: The Making of the Roman Army, p.34, Lawrence Keppie)

So, the Republican army contained battle formations of maniples of velites (light-armed troops in the first line), hastati (spearmen in the second line), principes (chief men in the third line), and triarii (older men in the fourth line). Around 130 B.C., men were placed in the battle lines not according to their financial status, but according to their age and experience.

Each legion had ten maniples of one-hundred and twenty men each of hastati and principes, and ten maniples of sixty men each of triarii. In addition to these, a legion had reserves of rorarii and accensi in the rear who were, it seems, servants of some sort.

When it comes to Italian allied forces, these were known as the socii, and they served in cohorts of five hundred men commanded by a praefectus. Ten cohorts of socii formed an ala sociorum which was about the same size as a legion with similar organization. This was the precursor of Roman alae, or auxiliary forces (such as Sarmatian or Numidian cavalry), during the imperial period.

Mercenary forces, such as Cretan archers, were also employed.

When it comes to the army of the late Republic (c. 88-30 B.C.), there was an increase in the delegation of military power to the legati who were, as a requirement, senators who had served as quaestors as a minimum. (For more information of the various levels of office, check out this post on the Cursus Honorum)

In 52 B.C. a law was created that required five years between holding an office and a provincial military command, and because Rome was a republic at the time, there were several commanders-in-chief of the army, the idea being that no one man could become too powerful. As we know, however, this was not a foolproof system!

The legions were still commanded by six tribunes but these men were increasingly young and ambitious and hoping to enter into the Senate. Tribunes and prefects could go on to be legates too.

As new territories were acquired, and as Rome expanded, new legions were raised to hold those new territories. Magistrates were given more powers and longer terms beyond the previous one-year, and proprietors and proconsuls were given command of legions for longer periods. An example of this is Caesar’s command in Gaul.

Growth from Republic to Empire (Wikimedia Commons)

The greatest, most long-lasting changes to the Roman army occurred around 107 B.C. under what has come to be called the Marian Reforms.

Gaius Marius was a pro-Plebeian statesmen and successful general who served seven terms as consul of Rome. He led successful campaigns in North Africa and Germania. But Marius is perhaps best known for the major changes to the Roman army in which he moved things from a citizen, manipular militia to a standing, professional army.

Under Marius’ leadership, the Roman army became better, more evenly equipped, and went from the widespread use of maniples to cohorts as the main sub-unit of the Roman legion. This was the birth of the imperial Roman legion we are familiar with today.

The maniple vs. the cohort (image: The Making of the Roman Army, p. 65, Lawrence Keppie)

But perhaps one of the biggest reforms Gaius Marius made, and one which won him a lot of enemies in the upper classes, was to open up the ranks of Rome’s legions to the capite censi, that class of landless men who, once in the army, were seen by some to be the cause of greed and lawlessness in the ranks.

Nevertheless, this new Roman army made a marked improvement. Soldiers had better weapons and carried all their equipment on their own backs which made troop movements and marches more efficient. This is where the term, ‘Marius’ Mules’ comes from.

Gaius Marius is also credited with the introduction of the eagle standard, the aquila, given to each legion and which became a focus of loyalty and affection for the troops.

Image of a Roman eagle standard, or ‘aquila’ (Wikimedia Commons)

The Roman army of the early Republic was now drastically changed, larger, and more efficient. More legions were created as Rome expanded its reach around the Mediterranean basin and into Europe. As the lower classes of Rome’s citizens were allowed to enlist, they found purpose, coin, and opportunities in a new, professional, standing army.

Of course, the army would continue to evolve with career soldiers serving for twenty years or more, and other classes moving up the ranks during such periods as the reign of Septimius Severus who also allowed soldiers to marry. The soldiery would later make emperors, or destroy them.

One thing was certain: wherever in the world Rome could be found, the Roman army had got there first.

Thank you for reading.

As always, we would like to thank all our men and women in service, and their families, for the sacrifices they have made, and continue to make, to keep us all safe and free.

On November 11th, and every other day of the year, we remember you and are grateful.

This year, Eagles and Dragons Publishing is proud to have supported Wounded Warriors Canada and their important PTSD Service Dog Program, and the Couples-Based Equine Therapy Program both of which play an important role in the healing process for service men and woman and their families.

Check out the Wounded Warriors Canada website here:

https://woundedwarriors.ca

 

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The Delphic Maxims – An Ancient Light in the Dark

Greetings readers and fellow history-lovers!

I hope that you have all had a good and safe summer where you are, despite the chaos that has been gripping our shared world.

My apologies for the extended silence on the blog, but the focus these last several weeks has been on writing the next Eagles and Dragons novel, The Blood Road, and I’m happy to report that the first draft is almost finished.

This leads us to the subject of this new blog post which was inspired by one of the settings in The Blood Road. In this instance, I’m referring to ancient Delphi.

The archaeological site of Delphi as seen from above the theatre, with the temple of Apollo below.

Delphi is one of my favourite archaeological sites in Greece, and I’ve visited it several times (you can read about one of my visits HERE). It has never really made an appearance in my fiction except very briefly in The Dragon: Genesis, and Killing the Hydra. I had planned on visiting this summer and filming a documentary there, but alas, those plans have been put on hold.

Delphi is one of those places that was sacred to both the ancient Greeks and Romans. It symbolized more that just a place where Apollo had his most famous oracle – the Pythia – but was also a guiding light in the ancient world. The ‘Navel of the World’, as Delphi was known, also carried with it a philosophy for living, or rather a series of philosophies known as the Delphic Maxims.

The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy defines a maxim as a “simple and memorable rule or guide for living”. The Delphic Maxims were written and memorized by ancient students, discussed by philosophers, for hundreds of years.

In a way, this post is timely. It’s fitting that, during times of both physical, mental, and spiritual strain, we look elsewhere for some inspiration and guidance to get us through. Adversity can be a good thing that makes us stronger, but we all have a breaking point.

Temple of Apollo at Delphi, by Albert Tournaire (Wikimedia Commons)

Most of you will be familiar with the most famous of the Delphic Maxims, ‘Know thyself’. It, along with ‘Nothing in excess’ and ‘Surety brings ruin’, was inscribed on the pronaos, the entrance to the temple of Apollo at Delphi. These three maxims, especially the first, were discussed at length by some of the greatest philosophers of the ancient world, including Socrates and Plato in his many dialogues.

“Tell me, Euthydemus, have you ever been to Delphi?”

“Yes, certainly; twice.”

“Then did you notice somewhere on the temple the inscription ‘Know thyself’?”

“I did.”

“And did you pay no heed to the inscription, or did you attend to it and try to consider who you were?”

“Indeed I did not; because I felt sure that I knew that already; for I could hardly know anything else if I did not even know myself.”

(Socrates on ‘Know thyself’ in Xenophon’s Memorabilia 4.2.24)

During my research for The Blood Road, I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I discovered there were more than the three Delphic maxims mentioned above. There were, in fact, 147 of them!

Perhaps it was because I had not studied philosophy in depth at university that these were not brought to my attention, or that I just never dug deep enough, focussing, like most, on ‘Know thyself’. Whatever the case, this long list of maxims were important to ancient ways of thinking, and provided a moral code or principles for living that were taught to students and to be considered throughout a man’s life.

Apollo and the Pythia who uttered his prophecies to mortals

But where did the Delphic Maxims come from? Who came up with them?

There are two traditions or answers to this.

The first is that they were said to have been originally given by Apollo, through his oracle, the Pythia.

The second, as mentioned by several ancient writers, including Diogenes Laertius (3rd century A.D.) and Stobaeus (5th century A.D.) is that the Delphic Maxims were developed by the Seven Sages of ancient Greece. These seven men were philosophers and law-givers in the sixth century B.C. 

In the fore-temple at Delphi are written maxims useful for the life of men, inscribed by those whom the Greeks say were sages… These sages, then, came to Delphi and dedicated to Apollo the celebrated maxims, “Know thyself,” and “Nothing in excess.”

(Pausanias, Description of Greece 10.24)

Who were these wise men that are frequently mentioned in ancient sources? Some of them you may recognize, but most you may not unless you have studied ancient Greek history in depth. Also, there is some disagreement among ancient sources about a few of the names. Nevertheless, here they are:

The first is Thales of Miletus (c. 624-546 B.C.). He is generally thought to be the first well-known Greek philosopher. He also wrote about the concept of philotimo which is a central theme of the Eagles and Dragons series. If you would like to read my previous post on philotimo and Thales of Miletus, you can check that out by CLICKING HERE.

The other commonly named men of the seven sages are Pittacus of Mytilene (c. 640-568 B.C.) who was a governor of Mytilene (Lesbos) who tried to curb the power of the nobility, and Bias of Priene (6th century B.C.) who was also a politician.

Oh, for the days when politicians were considered ‘wise men’ or ‘sages’!

Carrying on…

There was, of course, Solon of Athens (638-558 B.C.) whom many of you will know as the great lawmaker of Athens who helped to give form to Athenian democracy. Then, there was Chilon of Sparta (c. 555 B.C.) who was a Spartan ephor and politician who helped to militarize Spartan society.

When it comes to the fifth and sixth names on the ancient lists of the seven sages, there is some variation among the following names:

There is Cleobulus (c. 600 B.C.) who was a tyrant of Lindos and related to Thales, Periander of Corinthos (634-585 B.C.) who was a successful administrator in Corinth, Myson of Chenae (6th century B.C.) who was a Cretan or Laconian farmer, and finally, Anacharsis the Scythian (6th century B.C.) who travelled from what is today northern Iran to Athens where he made a surprisingly good impression on the normally xenophobic Greeks.

3rd century A.D. mosaic of the Seven sages with the muse, Calliope in the center. (Wikimedia Commons)

Such men were Thales of Miletus, Pittacus of Mytilene, Bias of Priene, Solon of our city, Cleobulus of Lindus, Myson of Chen, and, last of the traditional seven, Chilon of Sparta. All these were enthusiasts, lovers and disciples of the Spartan culture; and you can recognize that character in their wisdom by the short, memorable sayings that fell from each of them they assembled together 

and dedicated these as the first-fruits of their lore to Apollo in his Delphic temple, inscribing there those maxims which are on every tongue—“Know thyself” and “Nothing overmuch.” To what intent do I say this? To show how the ancient philosophy had this style of laconic brevity; and so it was that the saying of Pittacus was privately handed about with high approbation among the sages—that it is hard to be good.

(Plato’s Protagoras, 343 a-b)

Whatever the true origins of the Delphic Maxims, it is clear that they were revered in the ancient world, and used by teachers, as the Roman writer Quintilian said of students, to “improve their moral core”.

The world could certainly use some of that today, no?

But what sorts of things do the Delphic Maxims say, instruct or advise?

Well, there is, to be honest, quite a bit of variation and, in looking at them, you can see how very laconic they are (hence the many references to their Spartan influence!). These short, punchy phrases give us a good idea of what the ideal moral code was in ancient Greece and even Rome and, though some may seem anachronistic to us today, many could certainly apply to our current world situation.

I won’t list them all here, but some of them make a whole lot of sense…

‘Obey the law’

‘Respect your parents’ (you parents out there will understand!)

‘Know by learning’

‘Listen and understand’

‘Pursue honour’ (remember Thales’ idea of philotimo)

‘Shun evil’

‘Look to the future’

and

‘If you have, give’

There are others that are of a highly religious theme, an aspect of life that many have lost today but which was central to ancient ways of thinking and living:

‘Pray for what is possible’

‘Respect the Gods’

‘Embrace your fate’

‘Exercise [religious] silence’

and

‘Do not wrong the Dead’

Then, there are some that may sound absurd to our modern minds:

‘Set out to be married’

‘Educate your sons’ (education is good, but what about our daughters?)

‘Control your wife’ (mine was not impressed with this one!)

and

‘Admire oracles’

But some of my favourites are those that could really guide us in these dark times of ours:

‘Listen and understand’

‘Exercise nobility of character’

‘Embrace friendship’

‘If you have received, give back’

‘Despise slander’

‘Shun violence’

‘Deal kindly with everyone’ (this one’s for you, Leon Logothetis!)

‘Pursue harmony’

‘Shun hatred’

and

‘Do not abandon honour’

There are others, but these are the ones that stand out to me at the moment. 

2nd century B.C. inscription of some of the Delphic Maxims from a find in Afghanistan (Wikimedia Commons)

Perhaps the most resonant of the Delphic Maxims, however, are some of the final ones on the list…

‘Do as well as your mortal status permits’

and

‘At your end be without sorrow’

This last one hits particularly hard, especially when one actually thinks about one’s end being near, for it is really contingent on most of the other maxims.

A thoughtful life, well-lived, is a life without regret.

Would that we could all know and feel that when the time comes…

The sacred valley before Delphi

You can read the full translated list of the Delphic Maxims HERE.

Take a look and let us know in the comments below which ones stand out to you?

There is a lot to be learned and guided from in ancient philosophy, and the Delphic Maxims are but one source of wisdom.

Personally, the concept of philotimo is important to me, but I also love the Golden Verses of Pythagoras as words to live by.

We all have the potential to live a ‘Good Life’, even when it seems that things are at their most dire.

As ever, let history be our guide…

Thank you for reading.

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Ancient Everyday: Government in Ancient Rome – Part II

Welcome back Readers and History-Lovers!

Previously, in Part I of this two-part series on government in ancient Rome. we looked briefly at the popular assemblies which gave all male Roman citizens a measure of decision-making power when it came to their city and growing empire. If you missed that post, you can read it HERE.

In Part II, we’re going to be taking a brief look at what was arguably the real power behind Roman government during the Republican era: the Senate.

SPQR. Senatus Populusque Romanus. The Senate and People of Rome.

For a very long time, the initials SPQR stood for power, civilization, democracy and a government that spoke and worked for the people.

We’ve already taken a look at the ‘People’ portion, so now let us take a very brief look at the Senate of ancient Rome.

The Senate was really the ruling body behind Roman government. It was made up of a group of unelected men, and in the early Republican era, those men were only Patricians. It was later that Plebeians were permitted to join the ranks of the Senate.

Debate In The Early Roman Senate (by Severino Baraldi)

In the mid to late Republic, if a man was elected to a magistracy by the comitia, the popular assemblies we spoke of last time, he was automatically admitted to the Senate for life. The only way a senator could be expelled was if he was found guilty of some sort of severe misconduct.

Originally, there were one hundred members of the Senate. Then, this was increased to three hundred, and then in 80 B.C. to six hundred. Under Julius Caesar, when he was padding the Senate with his own supporters, the number reached nine hundred!

But what was the purpose of the Senate?

Originally, the Senate was a body of noble men who were to advise Rome’s elected magistrates and put forward laws, or leges, which the comitia could vote on. From the third century B.C., with the advent of the second Punic War and the great threat posed by Hannibal, the Senate’s powers were increased greatly.

Not only did the Senate prepare legislation to be voted on by the comitia, it also administered Rome’s finances, was in charge for foreign relations, and oversaw state religion. By the second and first centuries B.C., the Senate was pretty well the government of Rome, largely controlling the comitia and the elected magistrates.

The Senate of Rome in session in the Curia Julia (screen shot from the 1964 film The Fall of the Roman Empire)

Early on, the Senate could not make laws – those had to be voted on by the comitia – but it could issue decrees or decreta, also known as senatus consulta.

There was a lot of power and influence up for grabs when one was a Senator, but other than being an elected magistrate, what were the other criteria for joining the Senate?

To be a senator, one had to have a private income. There was no salary involved.

For Patricians in ancient Rome, becoming a Senator was another a part of the pursuit of power for themselves, for their families, and their friends. The education of Patrician or Senatorial class men was preparation for politics, for to the nobles of Rome, politics was everything, and it influenced friendships, marriages and divorces.

But this was a small percentage of Rome’s population, and there were intense rivalries. There were divisions, of course.

Senators included a group whose ancestors had held curule magistracies and consulships, and these men were known as nobiles, or ‘well-knowns’, and they could be Patrician or Plebeian.

Another group that later emerged in the ranks of the Senate was the novus homo, or ‘new man’. A novus homo was the first man in a family to hold a curule magistracy. The most famous such ‘new man’ is perhaps Cicero.

For an excellent novel on the rise of Cicero, you may wish to check out Robert Harris’ Cicero trilogy, beginning with Imperium.

Cicero

Meetings of the Senate were only attended by senators and the Flamen Dialis, the high priest of Jupiter. But the public could gather at the open doors in the vestibule of the Senate.

The meetings were originally held in the Curia Hostilia in the northwest corner of the Forum Romanum, but in actuality they could take place in any consecrated, public place within 1.6 kilometres of Rome. There was no fixed order for seating.

But what happened to the Senate under Rome’s emperors? Did it still have the power and sway that it used to?

The simple answer is no, not really.

However, in ancient Rome, tradition itself was a powerful thing, and the Senate was central to Rome’s traditions. For the sake of tradition, and perhaps popular opinion, no emperor tried to abolish the Senate, but they did impede its powers.

The Senate House, or ‘Curia’. This is the Curia Julia, built by Caesar and finished by Augustus after the previous two – the Curia Hostilia and the Curia Cornelia – were destroyed.

Under Augustus, the Senate was granting increasing powers to the emperor and, as a result, its own power was greatly reduced. However, by Augustus’ reign, there were over one thousand senators. Rome’s first emperor reduced that number to six hundred and also imposed a property qualification of one million sesterces for being admitted to the Senate.

Because Rome’s empire was expanding greatly, the Senate began to fill with men from noble families from the provinces.

What the Senate still did was control the state treasury, the aerarium, and create laws as a legislative body.

For better or for worse, perhaps depending on the type of emperor upon the throne, the power of the Roman Senate was gradually waning, and in A.D. 359, Emperor Constantine created another senate in his new capital of Constantinople, thereby creating two senates in the empire. 

By A.D. 384, each senate had about two thousand members, and though it continued as a legislative body, it would never be the same.

The last mention of the Roman Senate was in A.D. 603 around a declaration of new statues of Emperor Phocas and Empress Leontia.

Constantine the Great (c.272 – 337) – Statue outside York Minster

 We’ve only barely scraped the surface on the subject of the Senate of ancient Rome. This is a massive and fascinating subject. Hopefully this short post has given you an idea as to how the Senate fit into the government and workings of ancient Rome.

The slow death of tradition is not an easy thing. We are loathe to let go of our traditions. One can imagine the hardcore republicans during the time of Caesar and Augustus experiencing many a sleepless night at what they probably knew was coming.

Of course, they managed to stop Caesar, but by the time Augustus was on his imperial throne, the damage to the Senate had already been done, the gradual process of waning power was underway.

Forum Romanum reconstruction (The Roman Forum: A Reconstruction and Architectural Guide – Cambridge University Press)

Would Rome have been better off controlled by the Senate, and People, as it was in the early Republican era, come as it might with all of the corruption and politicking of senators and magistrates? Or was Rome better off with an emperor in place who could curb the Senate’s power and be a father to the Empire and its citizens?

Those are massive questions that have been debated for a long time, and will continue to be so. Of course, it would depend on the emperor at the time. Would you prefer to be in Rome during the height of the Republic or, say, during the reign of Emperor Antoninus Pius?

The answer might not be as easy as one thinks.

Tell us what you think in the comments below. If you could choose any period in Rome’s history in which to live, which would it be and why?

Whatever the period, there is no doubt that life in Rome was never dull, and we will always find the everyday world of that ancient city interesting and entertaining.

Thank you for reading.

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Ancient Everyday: Government in Ancient Rome – Part I

Salvete Readers and History-Lovers!

It’s been a while since our last blog on Religious Rites in Ancient Rome, and in that span of time a lot has happened abroad and at home.

Despite the lingering presence of COVID-19 in many countries around the world, some have started to risk staged re-openings, including our beloved Greece and Italy where summers would be incomplete without ancient sites and the sense-tickling blues of sea and sky. Eating al fresco is still a risky business, but people are trying things out.

I wonder if ‘re-openings’ were similar in the terrible wake of the Antonine Plague of the second century? Then, as now, the theatres and games must have been the last to open.

It has been an eventful period for myself as well. During this time of plague, my family and I decided to quit Rome for the quiet and less crowded countryside of Etruria. Well…in truth, we’ve completed our long-planned move from Toronto to Stratford, Ontario, home of the famous Shakespeare festival (yes, named after the English one!). Once again, as happened in ancient Rome or Elizabethan England, the theatres are dark due to plague. But they will re-open again!

But now for this week’s blog post…

During this pandemic, we have been hearing a lot about governments, how they have been dealing with this pestilence, how they have been trying to keep the populace safe, how they have developed economic plans for support and recovery at various levels and for various sectors etc.

So, I thought it would be a good time for a short, two-part blog series on government in ancient Rome.

What did government look like in the world of ancient Rome? How were decisions made? What did it look like in the Republic versus the Principate? What was the difference between the Popular Assemblies and the Senate?

In Part I of this series, we’re going to be taking a very brief look at the Popular Assemblies during the Republican era.

For a long time, Roman citizenship was something of value, something to be cherished for many reasons, not least of which was the ability to have a say in who was elected to political office, but also which legislation was passed in the growing empire that was Rome. Roman citizenship, for free men that is, was something to be proud of. It offered protection, commanded respect, and so much more.

All male citizens of Rome could vote on legislation and in the election of government officials, and this voting was done in the Popular Assemblies, or comitia. All male citizens were automatically members of a comitium, of which there were four.

The important thing to keep in mind is that these comitia met only to vote, not to discuss or initiate action.

Legislation, laws, or a proposed action (ex. to go to war against an enemy) was initiated by an elected magistrate and discussed by the Senate of Rome. This happened before being taken to the Popular Assemblies, or comitia, for a vote. In this way, the senators of Rome controlled the nature of legislation.

Denarius with image of a voter casting a ballot (Wikimedia Commons)

Laws were known as leges (singular, ‘lex’), and laws passed by the Plebeian assembly were known as plebiscita.

There was no discussion during assemblies, but there could be informal discussions known as contiones before a vote which male and female citizens, slaves and foreigners could attend, hence the importance of public opinion and the favour of ‘the mob’ in ancient Rome if you were a senator or magistrate who wanted something to be passed by the Popular Assemblies.

As Rome’s empire grew, many citizens could not vote because they were far from Rome where the voting took place.

To Romans, Rome really was the centre of the world.

Ancient Rome (image from Ancient History Magazine)

There were four types of comitia in ancient Rome during the Republican era, and the first group were the comitia curiata.

In ancient Rome, there were thirty wards or curiae, ten wards for each of the three original tribes (Ramnes, Tities, and Luceres) of Rome. Just as we do today, people voted in their respective wards.

However, little is known of the comitia curiata. What we do know is that the comitia centuriata grew out of it, and that by the late Republic the comitia curiata met only formally to confer imperium on consuls and praetors.

The next popular assembly we are going to take a look at is the comitia centuriata. This is the assembly that decided between War and Peace in ancient Rome, so you can imagine them meeting quite often as Rome’s empire expanded. They also elected higher magistrates and were the court of appeal for death sentences.

The comitia centuriata could only be summoned by a magistrate with imperium. They met on the Campus Martius (the Field of Mars) at Rome, and the voters of this assembly were divided into units called centuries, of which there were 373 in total. These centuries were based on male citizens’ ages and property asset values, the latter meaning that the poor had fewer votes. It was the rich who ran Rome.

Will it be War or Peace?

The third group of comitia we’re going to take a look are the comitia tributa or ‘assembly of the tribes’.

These comitia met in the Forum Romanum and the voters were divided into their thirty-five tribes, including the three original Roman tribes. They were summoned by consuls, praetors or tribunes for the purposes of electing lesser magistrates or to act as a court of appeal. They also voted on bills which the magistrates put before them.

Lastly, there was the concilium plebis, or Plebeian Assembly.

This assembly consisted of Plebeians only and met in the Forum Romanum. The citizens were divided into the thirty-five Plebeian tribes whose duty is was to elect tribunes and plebeian aediles. After 287 B.C., their resolutions or ‘plebiscita’ were binding on all citizens of Rome.

Gaius Gracchus, tribune of the people, presiding over the Plebeian Council (Wikimedia Commons)

So, there you have it: a very brief outline of the Popular Assemblies in ancient Rome.

Even though it appears that the rich – ie. the senators – controlled Rome, the popular assemblies were important in that they are what gave the people their say. Yes, the system could be corrupted, votes surely bought, but it was a say and every male citizen of Rome had his duty to vote. No vote, no say.

For those of you who are interested, the novel ROMA, by Steven Saylor, delves into the early government of ancient Rome. It’s a fantastic read and I highly recommend it.

But it is true that during the Republic, the Senate was perhaps the true power behind Rome’s growing empire.

Next week, in Part II of this blog series on government in ancient Rome, we’ll be taking a brief look at the senate, and its powers and duties.

Thank you for reading.

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Religious Rites in Ancient Rome

As some of you may know, I find Roman religion utterly fascinating. I find the customizable nature of Roman religious beliefs very interesting in that people were not bound to a particular god or goddess. Indeed, there was a different god or goddess for almost every aspect of life, and as Rome conquered new lands, new deities and traditions were added into the mix.

In some ways, Roman religion was as diverse as Roman society.

In the last blog post, we took a look at the various types of spirits, or numina, that existed in Roman religion. If you missed that post, you can read it by CLICKING HERE.

We know that there were many kinds of spirits, and various gods and goddesses that were worshiped by Romans, but what form did that worship take? Were there different ways of honouring and conversing with the gods?

In this post, we’re going to be taking a look at the various religious rites in Roman religion.

Artist impression of temple of Mars Ultor (the ‘Avenger’)

Roman religion itself was more cult-based. It involved the worship of a god, goddess or hero with specific rituals that were observed in order to win the gods’ favour.

This was more of a symbiont relationship, as it was believed that not only did mortals need the gods, but also that the gods needed mortal acknowledgment. 

As mostly spirits of natural forces (ex. lighting, or the sea), the gods needed to be propitiated, kept friendly toward their mortal worshippers. This was done more through observing the proper rites than through piety or good behaviour.

The cult ceremonies performed by mortals to honour gods, goddesses, or heroes were a sort of ‘contract’ between mortal and immortal.

Let’s take a brief look at the various types of religious rites or ceremonies that were carried out by ancient Romans.

The Council of the Gods by Raphael, c.1517, Villa Farnesina, Rome

The first type of rite is one that is common to all religions, and that is prayer.

Prayers in ancient Roman religion did not always have a set text that had to be spoken, such as the Lord’s Prayer or a Hail Mary in Christianity. A Roman prayer really depended on the person offering it, and what that person needed. 

As part of prayers, a worshipper offered to give something to the god, or to do something for the god (ex. build an altar). This was done with no expectation. It was a gift.

Prayers tried to cover eventualities.

A sacrifice portrayed on a lararium, or family shrine, in Pompeii

Vows were similar to prayers in that the worshipper offered to do or give something to a god, but in this instance, it was only in return for something from the immortal.

Not only did individuals make vows, but the state could also make a vow, such as if the gods helped to avert a crisis or disaster. It was common for vows to be recorded on votive tablets and left in temples as a record of the vow. With vows, there was a sort of two-way accountability. 

The fulfillment of a vow often involved setting up an altar, or leaving a gift at a temple or shrine.

The vow was referred to as a nuncupatio and the fulfillment as the solutio. For the particular gift that was created or offered, it was referred to as ex voto, that is ‘in fulfillment of a vow’.

Altar to Jupiter dating to 2nd–3rd century AD. – Inscription: Dedicated by L. Lollius Clarus for himself and his family (Wikiwand)

When it comes to Roman religious rites, the one that most people today probably think of is the sacrifice.

Sacrifices were a gift to the gods, heroes, and to the dead. They were carried out publicly or privately, and there were many different ways of performing them.

Sometimes, food and drink were shared between mortals and immortals at a feast. However, sometimes, in sacrifice, all the food was burned on the fire for the gods. These types of sacrifices could consist of cakes, wine, incense, oil, honey and various animals (blood sacrifices).

There is little evidence for human sacrifice in Roman religion except in an extreme example after the battle of Cannae (216 B.C.), when Rome experienced one of her worst military defeats ever during the second Punic War against Hannibal. The sacrifice that took place after the battle involved the burying of two Greeks and two Gauls in the forum Boarium in Rome.

There were a few categories of sacrifice in Roman religion, with various motives for each. These are evidenced mostly by inscriptions on altars. The motive could be the fulfillment of a vow (perhaps the most common), a thank offering, or the expectation of a favour from the gods. Other motives could included the result of some sort of divination, an anniversary (such as the founding of Rome on April 21), or a dedication.

Some sacrifices were considered to be instigated by the gods because of a dream or some other portent.

You can read more about the specifics of sacrifice, and how they were carried out in ancient Rome, by CLICKING HERE.

Relief of a Suovetaurilia ceremony

Another form of offering that was a part of Roman religious rites was the libation.

Libations were liquid offerings (also considered a sacrifice) to the gods that were poured on the ground. The most common was undiluted wine, but libations could also include milk, honey and even water. These were also offered to the dead at burials and later in ceremonies at the tombs of the deceased.

Another rite was the devotio. This was when a suppliant tried to gain the favour of the gods by offering their own life. This was, of course, less common.

The devotio was performed in times of desperation, such as by a general who was about to loose a battle, and so would offer his life during the battle if his forces should be victorious and avert disaster and shame. This was a ritual that was often performed for Tellus, the Earth Goddess, or the manes, the ‘spirits of the divine dead’.

The Goddess Tellus on the Ara Pacis in Rome

The rite known as the ver sacrum was performed at a time of great crisis. This usually involved the dedication of everything born in the Spring to a god, often to Jupiter himself.

As part of the ver sacrum, all such animals were sacrificed, but children born in the Spring were expelled from the country at the age of twenty to form a new community elsewhere. This rite was performed in 217 B.C. during the second Punic War.

German print of Hannibal, victorious against Rome at Cannae

A lustratio was another important rite in Roman religion. It was a sort of purification ceremony to protect against evil and give good luck. It involved a procession, an animal sacrifice, prayers and other sacrifices such as of food and incense.

An example of this was when a newborn child reached nine days of age and received his or her name. In this sense, the lustratio was similar to the Christian rite of baptism.

Those of you who have read the novel, Killing the Hydra, will remember the chapter in which a lustratio ceremony takes place at the legionary fortress of Lambaesis in Numidia.

Relief of Emperor Marcus Aurelius performing a sacrifice

Divination rites were also a major part of Roman religion.

These involved the reading of signs and omens to reveal the will of the gods. It was a way of predicting the future through things such as thunder, lightning, bird signs and other phenomena.

There were two types of divination. The first was natural divination which involved dream interpretation (such as when a sick person was made to sleep in the temple of Asclepius), or oracular prophecy by someone possessed by a god. In natural divination, the gods spoke directly to mortals.

Artificial divination, however, was based on the observance of plants and animals. It could involve augury, which was the art of reading bird signs, reading the entrails of a sacrifice, or even reading the throwing of dice or drawing of lots.

Specialized training was required to carry out these rites of divination, much of which was handed down by the Etruscans to the Romans.

Etruscan bronze liver that may have served as an instructional model for a haruspex (Wikimedia Commons)

Oracles were an important part form of natural divination, and though they were more popular in the world of ancient Greece, they did play a role in Roman religion.

The most famous oracles were the Pythia at Delphi, still consulted in Roman times, and the Cumaean Sibyl (whose cave is visited in the book Children of Apollo. The god Apollo, worshipped by both the Greeks and Romans, spoke through both of these important oracles. However, there were other gods who spoke to the Romans through oracles, such as Carmentis, a water goddess who was also a prophetic goddess of protection in childbirth, and Faunus, the Roman equivalent to Pan, who was a hunter and agricultural god. In his oracular nature, Faunus spoke to mortals in dreams and through sacred groves.

The Roman state consulted oracles less frequently than, say, the ancient Athenians or Spartans. However, the prophecies of the Cumaean Sibyl that were known as the Sibylline Books, were consulted in ancient Rome. These important prophecies were destroyed in a fire that consumed the temple of Jupiter where they were kept, and so a new compendium of the Sibylline Books was transferred to the temple of Apollo on the Palatine Hill, which was built by Augustus.

Oracles were tricky though, and because they became increasingly popular among the people of Rome in the early Empire, there was a growing sense of panic. For this reason, Augustus is said to have burned two thousand books of prophecies. Perhaps the emperor had a good point? Some of you may remember the Mayan Calendar and the Y2K panic? I wonder if Nostradamus’ prophecies said anything about our current COVID crisis? And what about Voldemort and his obsession with a prophecy in the Harry Potter series!

Let’s not think about it. Oracles, it seems, were a double-edged gladius.

Apollo and the Pythia who uttered his prophecies to mortals

The final sort of religious rite we’re going to take a look at is one that is still popular today.

Astrology came to Rome in the second century B.C. from Babylon and Egypt. At the time, it was very popular, and it was thought to be compatible with religion because the stars foretold the future, and that that future was the gods’ will.

At first, even Christians and Jews accepted astrology and the predictability of the planets and stars.

Most famously, Emperor Septimius Severus and Empress Julia Domna were big believers in the art of astrology, and they used astrologers on a regular basis. This part of their beliefs, and how it affected their rule, is explored in the Eagles and Dragons series. 

Looking to the to the stars for guidance…

I hope you’ve enjoyed this brief look at religious rites in ancient Rome. There are, of course, more aspects to the intricacies of Roman religious observance, and anyone with an interest in this subject is encouraged to read more, but also to look closely at the archaeological record, mainly the remains of altars and votive inscriptions, to learn more about the people who carried out these rites or commissioned them.

These rites were not only a way of honouring gods, goddesses, and heroes by the Romans. They were also a way to communicated directly with them, to interact with them, to be closer to them.

Thank you for reading.

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Numina Romana – Spirits in Roman Religion

In all of the many years I’ve been researching and writing about the world of ancient Rome, the topic of Roman religion has been a constant source of fascination for me as an author and historian. Many of my readers have echoed this sentiment too, pointed out that they love the inclusion of that aspect of Roman life.

You can read more about writing Roman religion HERE.

But what is it that fascinates us about Roman religious beliefs and practices?

For me, it is the openness and flexibility of Roman religion. Mortals had a closer, perhaps more symbiont, relationship with their gods. The religion was highly customizable.

But, like any other religion, there was a sort of evolution over time. Most religions today believe in a spirit realm, that spirits are present, and often they are menacing.

It was a little different in Roman religion. We are all familiar with the gods of the Roman pantheon – Jupiter, Juno, Minerva etc. – but what you may not know is that sprits of various kinds played a central role in Roman religious beliefs and practices.

In this short post, we’re going to be taking a look at the various kinds of spirits that Romans believed in.

In the world of ancient Rome, spirits were known as numina (sing. numen). These were divine spirits or powers that were present everywhere in life, people, and places. They were not anthropomorphic at first.

Originally, Romans may have believed that a numen was a place itself, such as a wood, river, spring, or cave etc., and that that place was supernatural or divine.

Gradually, however, with the influence of Greek religion, Romans came to believe that these places were inhabited or protected by these numina or spirits. Eventually, these numina were given names and traits. In many instances they began to take form.

Illustration of a statue of Sancus found in the Sabine’s shrine on the Quirinal (Wikimedia Commons)

Numina were present in material things such as crops, but also in actions such as travel.

These spirits could also inhabit more abstract ideas such as Discipline (the Goddess Disciplina), Virtue (the Goddess Pietas), or Trust and Honesty (the God Sancus). Even the living emperor, his role as such, had a numen that was worshipped by the people.

Truth be told, there are myriad numina in Roman religion, and most of them were nameless. Most Romans honoured the numen or numina that were related to their home or occupation.

But what were the various types of spirits or numina whom Romans believed in?

Let us go through the most prominent ones…

Bronze genius depicted as paterfamilias (1st century AD) Wikimedia Commons

In addition to the main gods, goddesses and heroes who were worshipped in ancient Rome, there were many types of numina:

The Genii (sing. Genius) literally mean the ‘begetter’. Early on, this was a man’s guardian spirit who helped him to beget children. This spirit was honoured on the birthday of the paterfamilias, the man in whom it lived.

The genius was symbolized by the snake which was a protective symbol of household protectors.

Over time, people and places came to have genii. For example, the spirit of a place was the genius loci, and if one was in a place where one did not know whom to worship or make offerings to, one would pray to the genius loci of that particular place.

Lararium in the House of the Vettii, Pompeii. It depicts the ancestral genius (upper centre) flanked by the Lares, with a serpent below. (Wikimedia Commons)

The next group of spirits we’re going to look at are the Lares (sing. Lar).

These were very important numina in the world of ancient Rome. The Lares were ancient and mysterious spirits whose original character is unknown. It is thought that early on, they were guardians of farmland.

The Lares evolved into protective household gods. Every household, however grand or simple, had them. They were worshipped at what was called a lararium, a shrine dedicated to them, and prayers to the Lares were led by the paterfamilias.

These numina were worshipped on the Kalends (first day), the Nones (ninth day), and the Ides (fifteenth day) of every month.

There were also Lares of other less personal places such as neighbourhoods (Lares Compitales), and cities (Lares Publici or Lares Praestites). In Rome, the Lares Praestites had a temple at the beginning of the Via Sacra. 

The Lares Compitales were worshipped on the festival of Compitalia, a Roman agricultural festival, perhaps alluding to their rural roots. The Lares in general had their festival at Rome on December 22.

Offerings of food to the Penates were burned on the domus hearth fire

Another group of spirits who went hand in hand with the Lares were known as Di Penates. These were also protective spirits of the household, but more specifically the pantry.

At every meal, a portion of the food was set aside for the Penates, and this was offered to them on the hearth fire. Salt and fruit was always left on the table for them.

The festival of the Penates was held on October 14.

Di Penates were also not limited to a household, the same as the Lares. The Penates Publici were attached to the Roman state and were worshipped alongside Vesta, Goddess of the Hearth, in her temple.

Honouring dead family members

Now we move into the realm of the remembrance and honouring of the spirits of the dead.

The Manes, the Roman spirits of the divine dead, were a group that Romans took very seriously.

The dead were to be respected, remembered and honoured in ancient Rome, and there were several festivals at which this was done: Feralia, Parentalia, and Lemuria.

The belief was that every dead person, no matter the age or gender, had its own spirit, and that spirit was known as a manes (yes, plural and singular forms are the same here).

The Manes were mainly honoured as the Manes Familiae, or more commonly as Di Parentes, the ‘Dead of the Family’.

“To the spirits of the dead: For Cornelia Frontina, who lived 16 years and 7 months, her father, Marcus Ulpius Callistus, freedman of the emperor, overseer in the armory of the Ludus Magnus, and Flavia Nice, his most virtuous wife, set up this [monument] for themselves, their freedmen and freedwomen, and their descendants.”

Graves were also important, and to be respected, as is evidenced by the many memorials and monuments that line the roads leading into Rome, or that dot the grounds of many ancient necropoli. Graves were considered dis manibus sacrum, ‘sacred to the divine dead’, and this was inscribed on monuments. Later, individuals were named in grave dedications that sometimes told their stories.

Ancestor worship was a part of honouring the Manes, and they were remembered in households by the imagines which were wax masks or busts of the deceased. It is believed this was the case because the Romans believed that the life source was in the head, and not the heart.

Imagines later became works of art to decorate homes, but the old religious significance never really disappeared.

Romulus and Remus upon an altar dedicated to Mars and Venus (from Ostia)

The spirits of the dead were not always entities whose remembrance gave comfort to the living. There was another group of spirits who were to be dreaded and propitiated: Lemures.

Lemures were spirits of the dead of a household, or place, who haunted the domus or location, those who had been violently murdered or met an untimely end. These numina were hostile, and often the Lemures of children were feared the most.

They were of a very different character to the Manes Familiae.

The poet Ovid, in his Fasti, relates a story on the origins of Lemures and the festival of Lemuria:

Why the day was called Lemuria, and what is the origin of the name, escapes me; it is for some god to discover it. Son of the Pleiad, thou reverend master of the puissant wand, inform me: oft hast thou seen the palace of the Stygian Jove. At my prayer the Bearer of the Herald’s Staff (Caducifer) was come. Learn the cause of the name; the god himself made it known. When Romulus had buried his brother’s ghost in the grave, and the obsequies had been paid to the too nimble Remus, unhappy Faustulus and Acca, with streaming hair, sprinkled the burnt bones with their tears. Then at twilight’s fall they sadly took the homeward way, and flung themselves on their hard couch, just as it was. The gory ghost of Remus seemed to stand at the bedside and to speak these words in a faint murmur: “Look on me, who shared the half, the full half of your tender care, behold what I am come to, and what I was of late! A little while ago I might have been the foremost of my people, if but the birds had assigned the throne to me. Now I am an empty wraith, escaped from the flames of the pyre; that is all that remains of the once great Remus. Alas, where is my father Mars? If only you spoke the truth, and it was he who sent the wild beast’s dugs to suckle the abandoned babes. A citizen’s rash hand undid him whom the she-wolf saved; O how far more merciful was she! Ferocious Celer, mayest thou yield up thy cruel soul through wounds, and pass like me all bloody underneath the earth! My brother willed not this: his love’s a match for mine: he let fall upon my death – ‘twas all he could – his tears. Pray him by your tears, by your fosterage, that he would celebrate a day by signal honour done to me.” As the ghost gave this charge, they yearned to embrace him and stretched forth their arms; the slippery shade escaped the clasping hands. When the vision fled and carried slumber with it, the pair reported to the king his brother’s words. Romulus complied, and gave the name Remuria to the day on which due worship is paid to buried ancestors. In the course of ages the rough letter, which stood at the beginning of the name, was changed into the smooth; and soon the souls of the silent multitude were also called Lemures: that is the meaning of the word, that is the force of the expression. But the ancients shut the temples on these days, as even now you see them closed at the season sacred to the dead. The times are unsuitable for the marriage both of a widow and a maid: she who marries then, will not live long. For the same reason, if you give weight to proverbs, the people say bad women wed in May. But these three festivals fall about the same time, though not on three consecutive days.

(Ovid, Fasti, Book V; trans. James G. Frazer)

It is quite a moving beginning the tradition. As relayed by Ovid, the festival of Lemuria did not fall on three consecutive days, but was celebrated on May 9th, 11th, and 13th.

Les Parques (The Parcae, ca. 1885) by Alfred Agache

There were other numina or spirits that took on a more divine nature in Roman religion.

The Fata (Fates) or the Parcae, were the powers of Destiny, and they were known by the names Nona, Decima and Morta.

Originally, the Parcae, believed to have been influenced by a triad of Celtic goddesses, may have been birth goddesses, but this role evolved into something more all-encompassing.

One could not escape the Parcae, or rather, Fate.

Similarly, one could also not escape the Furies.

The Remorse of Orestes, where he is surrounded by the Erinyes, by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1862

Influenced by Greek beliefs, the Furiae were goddesses of terror to the Romans, similar to the Greek Erinyes.

The Furiae were female spirits who carried out the vengeance of the Gods on mortals. If you’ve read Saturnalia, these anima will be familiar to you.

These numina carried out their duties on Earth as well as in the Underworld. They were everywhere and could not be escaped from. Traditionally, there were three Furiae: Tisiphone, Megara, and Alecto. Roman tradition also sometimes included two more: Adrasta and of course, Nemesis.

Whoever you were, and whatever you had done, the Furiae were to be respected and feared.

Hylas and the Nymphs by Waterhouse (1896)

Lastly, we come to perhaps one of the most well-known groups of numina in Greek and Roman religion: the Nymphs.

The Nymphs were female nature spirits of objects or places such as trees, springs, rivers, mountains etc.

They were everywhere and were usually young and beautiful, and loved music and dancing.

The Nymphs were not immortal as some might think, but they lived much longer than humans.

The cult of the Nymphs was popular in Roman religion, perhaps not only because they were young and beautiful and not menacing, but perhaps also because they were everywhere.

And like other Roman divinities and numina, they were more relatable to humans than the gods of later, ‘revealed’ religions.

Nymphaeum, or shrine dedicated to the Nymphs (Jerash, Jordan)

Those are the primary numina of Roman religion. I hope that you have learned something new in this short post.

While it is true that the belief in spirits spans most world religions, the Roman beliefs, to me, are utterly fascinating for they are a mixture of the divine and departed, of nurture and menace, of fear and inspiration.

Just as Romans lived with and honoured their Gods on a daily basis, so too did the spirits of their world roam alongside them.

Thank you for reading.

If you would like to learn all about Sacrifices in Roman religion, CLICK HERE to carry on reading.

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Literature in Ancient Rome

All literature, all philosophical treatises, all the voices of antiquity are full of examples for imitation, which would all lie unseen in darkness without the light of literature. (Cicero)

Salvete Romanophiles!

If you are here, presumably you like to read. Perhaps you also like to hear things read or performed? Maybe you’re a movie person? Or are comedy skits your thing?

There are many different forms of literary arts today, just as there were in ancient Rome. Actually, in Rome, no matter the literary form, there was something for everyone. You didn’t even have to be able to read to enjoy literature of a sort.

In this post, we’re going to be taking a brief look at this quite large subject by discussing the types of literature in ancient Rome, some of the main authors and surviving texts, and which forms of literature survived the test of time and public opinion in the capital the Roman Empire.

Roman writing materials

Literary sources that we know of from the world of ancient Rome include such things as histories, speeches, poems, plays, practical manuals, law books and biographies, treatises and personal letters.

More often than not, authors in ancient Rome were well-educated and even very wealthy, and as a result, the opinions often expressed in literature reflected the values of the upper classes either because the authors were of that class themselves, or because they were patronized by the wealthy.

The main types or classifications of literature were drama, poetry, prose and satire. Though much was written in each of these areas in ancient Rome, in some cases, very little has survived, which makes this a sort of tragedy in and of it self. We’re going to be taking a look at each of these in turn.

An array of Greek theatre masks

Drama was performed in Rome since before the 3rd century B.C., and these early performances took the form of mimes, dances, and farces.

One example of these early forms of drama were the fabulea atellanae which originated in the town Atella. These were a collection of vulgar farces that contained a lot of low or buffoonish comedy and rude jokes. The were often improvised by the actors who wore masks.

Mimes were very similar and were dramatic performances by men and women that were more licentious nature. They were highly popular, especially with the lower classes, but they have also been accused of being the cause of the decline of comedy in ancient Rome. By the early sixth century A.D. they were banned or suppressed.

The ancient theatre of Epidaurus, Greece

Enter SCEPARNIO, with a spade on his shoulder.

SCEPARNIO

to himself . O ye immortal Gods, what a dreadful tempest has Neptune sent us this last night! The storm has unroofed the cottage. What need of words is there? It was no storm, but what Alcmena met with in Euripides1; it has so knocked all the tiles from off the roof; more light has it given us, and has added to our windows.

Enter PLESIDIPPUS, at a distance, talking with three CITIZENS.

PLESIDIPPUS

I have both withdrawn you from your avocations, and that has not succeeded on account of which I’ve brought you; I could not catch the Procurer down at the harbour. But I have been unwilling to abandon all hope by reason of my remissness; on that account, my friends, have I the longer detained you. Now hither to the Temple of Venus am I come to see, where he was saying that he was about to perform a sacrifice.

SCEPARNIO

aloud to himself, at a distance . If I am wise, I shall be getting ready this clay that is awaiting me. Falls to work digging.

PLESIDIPPUS

looking round . Some one, I know not who, is speaking near to me. Enter DÆMONES, from his house.

DÆM.

Hallo! Sceparnio!

SCEPARNIO

Who’s calling me by name?

DÆM.

He who paid his money for you.

SCEPARNIO

turning round . As though you would say, Dæmones, that I am your slave.

DÆM.

There’s occasion for plenty of clay2, therefore dig up plenty of earth. I find that the whole of my cottage must be covered; for now it’s shining through it, more full of holes than a sieve.

PLESIDIPPUS

advancing . Health to you, good father, and to both of you, indeed. DÆM. Health to you.

SCEPARNIO

to PLESIDIPPUS, who is muffled up in a coat . But whether are you male or female, who are calling him father?

PLESIDIPPUS

Why really, I’m a man.

DÆM.

Then, man, go seek a father elsewhere. I once had an only daughter, that only one I lost. Of the male sex I never had a child.

PLESIDIPPUS

But the Gods will give—-

SCEPARNIO

going on digging . A heavy mischance to you indeed, i’ faith, whoever you are, who are occupying us, already occupied, with your prating.

PLESIDIPPUS

pointing to the cottage . Pray are you dwelling there?

SCEPARNIO

Why do you ask that? Are you reconnoitring the place for you to come and rob there?

PLESIDIPPUS

It befits a slave to be right rich in his savings, whom, in the presence of his master, the conversation cannot escape, or who is to speak rudely to a free man.

SCEPARNIO

And it befits a man to be shameless and impudent, for him to whom there’s nothing owing, of his own accord to come to the house of another person annoying people.

(Plautus, excerpt from Rudens (or ‘The Fisherman’s Rope’), Act I; Henry Thomas Riley, Ed.) 

When we think of ancient theatre, however, we cannot help but think first of ancient Greek drama, which was an art form in the lands of the Hellenes long before Romans began producing Latin literature. And like so many other things, the Romans adopted forms of drama from the Greeks as well, especially drama in the form of plays.

Greek ‘New Comedy’ was introduced in Latin in Rome around 240 B.C. by Livius Andonicus and Naevius, and shortly afterward, Greek plays were being adapted by Terence, Caecilus Statius and of course, Plautus, whose early works are the oldest Latin literary works to survive in their entirety. These plays were called fabulae palliatae, or ‘plays in Greek cloaks’.

However, Latin drama had begun to evolve out of this, and soon there emerged the fabulae togatae, or ‘plays in togas’, which were comic plays about Italian life and Italian characters. Sadly, there are no surviving examples of these early Latin comedies.

Surprisingly, by the first century B.C., Roman comic plays pretty much ceased to be written and were replaced by mime which was much more vulgar and thought by many to be of little literary merit. 

Illustration of Roman mime performance

Other fabulae were introduced by Livius Andronicus, including the fabula crepidata which was a Roman tragedy on a Greek theme, and the fabula praetexta which was a Roman drama based on a historical or legendary theme.

The latter, a form invented by Naevius, gained little popularity in Rome, and by the late Republican era, tragedy in general began to decline. There was a short revival under Augustus, but it did not last, and there are no surviving works of Roman tragedy that come down to us.

It seems the Romans would have leaned more toward Dumb and Dumber than Romeo and Juliet…

One theory about the lack of survival of tragedy in ancient Rome is that under the Empire, it was difficult to choose a safe subject. 

Livius Andronicus

The second form of literature we are going to look at is poetry, and this seems to have caught on much more in ancient Rome.

Again, there was some borrowing from the Greeks when it came to poetic meters, but a Latin style did develop.

The oldest form of Latin verse was known as ‘Saturnine meter’, which was named after the god Saturn, it is believed, to indicate its great antiquity.

Latin poetic verse did not have stressed or unstressed syllables like the English verse we are familiar with, but rather it relied on the larger quantity of long and short syllables in a single line.

One example of this is hexameter, which was thought to be perfected by Virgil:

Thus he cries weeping, and gives his fleet the reins, and at last glides up to the shores of Euboean Cumae. They turn the prows seaward, then with the grip of anchors’ teeth made fast the ships, and the round keels fringe the beach. In hot haste the youthful band leaps forth on the Hesperian shore; some seek the seeds of flame hidden in veins of flint, some despoil the woods, the thick coverts of game, and point to new-found streams. But loyal Aeneas seeks the heights, where Apollo sits enthroned, and a vast cavern hard by, hidden haunt of the dread Sibyl, into whom the Delian seer breathes a mighty mind and soul, revealing the future. Now they pass under the grove of Trivia and the roof of gold.

(Virgil, Aeneid, Book VI, Trans. H.R. Fairclough)

Mosaic showing Virgil with the Muses, Clio (history) and Melpomene (tragedy) – Bardo Museum, Tunis

Fescennine verses were an early form of Latin poetry that, like the mimes, were intended to amuse the masses. These were ribald in nature and took the form of songs or dialogues that were often performed at festivals. It is believed they may be the origin of Italian drama.

There were also naeniae, or neniae, were funeral poems or songs that were performed by the female relatives of the deceased, or by hired singers.

Lyric poetry was popular in ancient Rome, and was more often sung and not written. However, a very few examples of this do exist such as a poem composed by Livius Andronicus himself around 207 B.C. for the goddess Juno, and the Carmen Saeculare composed by Horace which was sung at the Secular Games of 17 B.C.

Blessed is he, who far from the cares of business,

Like one of mankind’s ancient race,

Ploughs his paternal acres, with his own bullocks,

And is free of usury’s taint,

Not roused as a soldier is, by the fierce trumpet,

Nor afraid of the angry sea,

Shunning the Forum, avoiding proud thresholds

Of citizens holding more power.

Instead he’s either out tying his full-grown vines

To the heights of his poplar trees,

Or watching his wandering herds of lowing cattle

In some secluded deep valley,

Or pruning the useless branches back with his knife,

And grafting superior ones,

Or storing thick honey away in clean vessels,

Or perhaps shearing helpless sheep:

Or when crowned with a garland of ripened fruit,

In the fields, Autumn rears its head,

How he takes delight in picking the grafted pears

And the grapes that vie with purple,

To honour Priapus, and Father Silvanus

Who’ll protect his boundaries.

It’s pleasant to lie now beneath some old oak-tree,

Or now on the springy turf,

While the streams go gliding, between their steep banks,

And little birds sing in the leaves,

And the fountains murmur, with flowing waters

That invite us to gentle sleep.

Then when Jove the Thunderer’s wintry season

Brings both rain and snow together,

With a pack of hounds you can drive fierce wild-boars,

Here and there, to waiting barriers,

Or on gleaming poles, stretch the broad-meshed nets out,

A snare for the greedy thrushes,

Or catch with a noose trembling hares, and migrating

Cranes, the most joyful of prizes.

Among such delights who can’t fail to forget,

The sad cares that passion may bring?

And if a chaste wife should be playing her part there,

In caring for home and children,

Like a Sabine girl, or the sun-tanned wife, of some

Nimble-footed Apulian,

Piling the sacred hearth high with old firewood

For her weary man’s arrival,

Penning the frisky flock in the wickerwork fold,

And draining the swollen udders,

Then pouring the year’s sweet vintage from the jar,

And preparing a home-grown meal:

Then Lucrine oysters could never delight me more

Or a dish of scar or turbot,

Should winter thundering with Eastern waves

Direct them towards our coastline:

Not African fowls, nor Ionian pheasants

Could more happily pass my lips,

Than the fruit collected from the most heavily

Loaded branches of the olive,

Or the leaves of the meadow-loving sorrel,

Mallows good for a sick body,

Or a lamb sacrificed at Terminus’ feast,

Or a kid retrieved from the wolf’s jaws.

At such a meal what a pleasure it is to see

Flocks of sheep hurrying homewards,

The listless oxen dragging along an upturned

Ploughshare, yoked to their weary necks,

And the crowd of slaves born there on a wealthy farm,

Ranged all round the gleaming Lares.’

When Alfius the usurer has uttered all this,

On the verge of a rural life,

He recalls his money, once more, on the Ides,

On the Kalends, farms it again!

(Horace, Carmen Saeculare, II, The Delights of the Country; trans. A. S. Kline)

Funerary inscription for Tiberius Claudius Tiberinus

Another form of poetry that was widespread in ancient Rome was the elegy.

Elegies were poems to express personal sentiments that were commonly used in funeral inscriptions. They often took the form of an elegiac couplet with alternating lines of hexameter and pentameter.

Elegies were influenced by Greeks who were present in Rome in the first century B.C., and apart from funeral inscriptions, they were mostly used for love poetry by such writers as Gallus, Tibullus, Propertius, Catullus and Ovid.

Lesbia, come, let us live and love, and be

deaf to the vile jabber of the ugly old fools,

the sun may come up each day but when our

star is out…our night, it shall last forever and

give me a thousand kisses and a hundred more

a thousand more again, and another hundred,

another thousand, and again a hundred more,

as we kiss these passionate thousands let

us lose track; in our oblivion, we will avoid

the watchful eyes of stupid, evil peasants

hungry to figure out

how many kisses we have kissed.

(Catullus, V; trans. Michael G. Donkin)

Artist impression of Catullus singing to an audience at his villa (NYPL, Science Source Images)

Funeral inscriptions were also popular in the form of epigrams. These were written in verse, and from the second century B.C. were written on themes of love.

One of the great Roman writers of epigrams was Martial:

Laevina, so chaste as to rival even the Sabine women of old, and more austere than even her stern husband, chanced, while entrusting herself sometimes to the waters of the Lucrine lake, sometimes to those of Avernus, and while frequently refreshing herself in the baths of Baiae, to fall into flames of love, and, leaving her husband, fled with a young gallant. She arrived a Penelope, she departed a Helen.

(Martial, On Laevina, Epigram LXII; trans. Bohn.)

Pastoral landscape in Etruria

Bucolic poetry also achieved a level of popularity. This was poetry on pastoral themes, and it included such works as Virgil’s Eclogues, and Georgics, while authors such as Lucretius used this particular poetic form to give instruction, such as in his De Rerum Natura. 

THE WORLD IS NOT ETERNAL

     And first,

Since body of earth and water, air’s light breath,

And fiery exhalations (of which four

This sum of things is seen to be compact)

So all have birth and perishable frame,

Thus the whole nature of the world itself

Must be conceived as perishable too.

For, verily, those things of which we see

The parts and members to have birth in time

And perishable shapes, those same we mark

To be invariably born in time

And born to die. And therefore when I see

The mightiest members and the parts of this

Our world consumed and begot again,

‘Tis mine to know that also sky above

And earth beneath began of old in time

And shall in time go under to disaster.

     And lest in these affairs thou deemest me

To have seized upon this point by sleight to serve

My own caprice- because I have assumed

That earth and fire are mortal things indeed,

And have not doubted water and the air

Both perish too and have affirmed the same

To be again begotten and wax big-

Mark well the argument: in first place, lo,

Some certain parts of earth, grievously parched

By unremitting suns, and trampled on

By a vast throng of feet, exhale abroad

A powdery haze and flying clouds of dust,

Which the stout winds disperse in the whole air.

A part, moreover, of her sod and soil

Is summoned to inundation by the rains;

And rivers graze and gouge the banks away.

Besides, whatever takes a part its own

In fostering and increasing [aught]…

     . . . . . .

Is rendered back; and since, beyond a doubt,

Earth, the all-mother, is beheld to be

Likewise the common sepulchre of things,

Therefore thou seest her minished of her plenty,

And then again augmented with new growth.

(Lucretius, Re Rerum Natura, Book V, lines 235-260; trans. William Ellery Leonard. E. P. Dutton. 1916)

Lastly, among the poetic forms, we have epic poetry.

This was narrative poetry on a grand scale that related the deeds of ancient heroes.

It was introduced by the philhellene, Livius Andronicus, in the third century B.C. with his Latin translation of Homer’s Odyssey.

Latin epic poems were written by men such as Lucan, Silius Italicus, Valerius Flaccus, Statius and Claudian. However, when it comes to epic Latin poetry, the greatest work is by far Virgil’s Aeneid. Who can forget these opening lines?:

Arms and the man I sing, who first from the coasts of Troy, exiled by fate, came to Italy and Lavine shores; much buffeted on sea and land by violence from above, through cruel Juno’s unforgiving wrath, and much enduring in war also, till he should build a city and bring his gods to Latium; whence came the Latin race, the lords of Alba, and the lofty walls of Rome.

(Virgil, Aeneid, Book I; Trans. H.R. Fairclough)

Cicero

And what of prose?

Today, prose is perhaps the most common form of literature. But in ancient Rome, though it was commonly used in certain social circles, prose was used for more than just works of fiction or non-fiction.

In ancient Rome, prose was actually born out of public speech records or annales. Interestingly, Roman prose was not really influenced by Greek tradition.

The high point of Roman prose is believed to be Cicero, the bane of every Latin student’s life.

Those, therefore, who allege that old age is devoid of useful activity adduce nothing to the purpose, and are like those who would say that the pilot does nothing in the sailing of the ship, because, while others are climbing the masts, or running about the gangways, or working at the pumps, he sits quietly in the stern and simply holds the tiller. He may not be doing what younger members of the crew are doing, but what he does is better and much more important. It is not by muscle, speed, or physical dexterity that great things are achieved, but by reflection, force of character, and judgement; in these qualities old age is usually not only not poorer, but is even richer.

(Cicero, Cato the Elder: On Old Age, XVII; ed. William Armistead Falconer)

But what were the various types of prose that one might encounter in ancient Rome?

Well, there were controversiae which were rhetorical Latin exercises in oratory that were used in the law courts.

Declamationes, were exercises that were performed by students in rhetoric, and suasoriae were speeches of advice or political oratory.

Obviously, these were forms of literature that were practiced by a select few who had the means and the will to study rhetoric, probably those who were climbing the cursus honorum. 

Artist impression of an ancient library

Perhaps the form of Roman prose we are most familiar with today is the ‘history’, but here there was indeed Greek influence.

The earliest Roman historians wrote in Greek because Latin had not fully developed as a literary medium, but they also wanted to tie Rome’s foundation to the glories and deeds of the more ancient Greek world. Think of of Thucydides, Aristotle, Xenophon and Herodotus to name a few. Early Roman writers wanted to live up to these great historians, or go them better.

The first historical work in Latin was Cato the Elder’s Origines which was a work on Roman and Italian history. It inspired the study of Rome’s official records which where published after 130 B.C. as the Annales Maximi. This was a history of Rome in chronological order and became a style of writing that was later used by such famous Roman authors as Sallust, Tacitus, and Ammianus Marcellinus. 

Julius Caesar

Another form of prose was the biography, and the earliest version of this was the funeral oration. Later, this developed as the memoirs of Republican generals, such as Julius Caesar’s Conquest of Gaul.

There in like manner, Vercingetorix the son of Celtillus the Arvernian, a young man of the highest power (whose father had held the supremacy of entire Gaul, and had been put to death by his fellow-citizens, for this reason, because he aimed at sovereign power), summoned together his dependents, and easily excited them. On his design being made known, they rush to arms: he is expelled from the town of Gergovia , by his uncle Gobanitio and the rest of the nobles, who were of opinion, that such an enterprise ought not to be hazarded: he did not however desist, but held in the country a levy of the needy and desperate. Having collected such a body of troops, he brings over to his sentiments such of his fellow-citizens as he has access to: he exhorts them to take up arms in behalf of the general freedom, and having assembled great forces he drives from the state his opponents, by whom he had been expelled a short time previously. He is saluted king by his partisans; he sends embassadors in every direction, he conjures them to adhere firmly to their promise. He quickly attaches to his interests the Senones , Parisii , Pictones, Cadurci, Turones , Aulerci, Lemovice, and all the others who border on the ocean; the supreme command is conferred on him by unanimous consent. On obtaining this authority, he demands hostages from all these states, he orders a fixed number of soldiers to be sent to him immediately; he determines what quantity of arms each state shall prepare at home, and before what time; he pays particular attention to the cavalry. To the utmost vigilance he adds the utmost rigor of authority; and by the severity of his punishments brings over the wavering: for on the commission of a greater crime he puts the perpetrators to death by fire and every sort of tortures; for a slighter cause, he sends home the offenders with their ears cut off, or one of their eyes put out, that they may be an example to the rest, and frighten others by the severity of their punishment.

(Julius Caesar, Caesar’s Gallic War, VII.4; Trans. W. A. McDevitte and W. S. Bohn)

No autobiographies survive from the imperial period, however, what have survived are biographies known as vitae, or ‘Lives’. There are many examples of ‘Lives’ that will be familiar to students of Roman history, including Tacitus’ life of Agricola, or the lives of the Twelve Caesars by Suetonius. Another example are the Confessiones of St. Augustine of Hippo.

Roman prose could also take the form of letters that were written for publication, such as the letters of Pliny the Younger.

Or there were the dialogues which were Greek in origin, but which Cicero used to great effect in his treatises. Dialogues were in the form of a conversation on a particular theme.

The last form of prose was one that we are perhaps more familiar with today, and that is the novel.

Gaius Petronius Arbiter

So after they had all wished themselves good sense and good health, Trimalchio looked at Niceros and said, “You used to be better company at a dinner; I do not know why you are dumb now, and do not utter a sound. Do please, to make me happy, tell us of your adventure.” Niceros was delighted by his friend’s amiability and said, “May I never turn another penny if I am not ready to burst with joy at seeing you in such a good humour. Well, it shall be pure fun then, though I am afraid your clever friends will laugh at me. Still, let them; I will tell my story; what harm does a man’s laugh do me? Being laughed at is more satisfactory than being sneered at.” So spake the hero, and began the following story:

“’While I was still a slave, we were living in a narrow street; the house now belongs to Gavilla. There it was God’s will that I should fall in love with the wife of Terentius the inn-keeper; you remember her, Melissa of Tarentum, a pretty round thing. But I swear it was no base passion; I did not care about her in that way, but rather because she had a beautiful nature…”

(Petronius, Satyricon, 61; trans. Michael Heseltine)

The earliest surviving novel from ancient Rome is the Satyricon which was written in a mixture of prose and some verse by Gaius Petronius Arbiter during the reign of Emperor Nero.

The only complete Latin novel to survive is Metamorphoses or The Golden Ass by Apuleius:

The moment the sun put the darkness to flight and ushered in a new 

day, I woke up and arose at once. Being in any case an all too eager 

student of the remarkable and miraculous, and remembering that I 

was now in the heart of Thessaly, renowned the whole world over as 

the cradle of magic arts and spells, and that it was in this very city 

that my friend Aristomenes’ story had begun, I examined attentively 

everything I saw, on tenterhooks with keen anticipation. There was 

nothing I looked at in the city that I didn’t believe to be other than 

what it was: I imagined that everything everywhere had been changed 

by some infernal spell into a different shape – I thought the very 

stones I stumbled against must be petrified human beings, I thought 

the birds I heard singing and the trees growing around the city walls 

had acquired their feathers and leaves in the same way, and I thought 

the fountains were liquefied human bodies. I expected statues and 

pictures to start walking, walls to speak, oxen and other cattle to utter 

prophecies, and oracles to issue suddenly from the very sky or from 

the bright sun. 

(Apuleius, The Golden Ass, Book II; trans. E. J. Kenney)

When one considers how few have survived, we should probably count ourselves lucky that we have so much to choose from in the modern era.

Now we come to the final item in our short study of literature in ancient Rome: Satire.

Satire was a separate literary genre, for it could be done using various forms of literature such as dialogues, verse and prose.

In ancient Rome, satire was a personal commentary in the form of good humour or highly abusive invective. This was more popular during the Republican era, rather than the Empire for, it seems, the emperors had little sense of humour when it came to their reputations.

One of the earliest Roman satirists was Quintus Ennius who wrote satires in verse, but whose works sadly only exist in fragments now.

However, the most popular satirist in ancient Rome was Gaius Lucilius, an equestrian class author who was part of the Scipios’ inner circle during the Republican era. Sadly, very few of his works survive, and those that do are only fragmentary. 

Horace (by Giacomo Di Chirico)

In researching and writing this short piece, I can’t help but be saddened by how much literature from ancient Rome has been lost to us. Yes, we have many surviving examples, but over and over I read about the work of various authors surviving only in fragments or being completely lost to us.

Did their work burn with the library of Alexandria? Were there so few copies? Was much of it memorized for performance?

The list of questions that are likely to be left unanswered is too much to contemplate.

Rather, I suppose we Romanophiles should be grateful for the works that do survive. We should study them, and try to understand them. We should enjoy them as they were meant to be enjoyed.

These surviving works of literature from a past age continue to inform us and give us a window into the people and places of the world of ancient Rome.

Thank you for reading.

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New! – Consulting and Author Coaching from Eagles and Dragons Publishing

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