Daily Life in Ancient Rome: Roles, Slavery, Calendar
Women in Ancient Rome
The life of a Roman woman, particularly a mother, involved demanding work and responsibilities. They lived in simple homes, often a single room with a central fireplace. A woman’s day began early, rekindling the fire, lighting a candle, and then spinning and weaving wool to make clothing. She might be assisted by a godson in these tasks. Fetching water from the fountain was a frequent chore. The mother prepared meals for her husband before he went to the fields, and she was responsible for all domestic chores and childcare. It was a hard and exhausting existence.
Ancient Rome was a patriarchal society, and a woman’s primary role was raising children. Unlike boys, who received a more complete primary education, girls typically left school early to learn domestic skills from their mothers. Marriages were often arranged by parents, sometimes when girls were as young as 12 and boys as young as 14. Similar to some cultures today, the bride and groom often did not know each other before marriage, which sometimes led to marital problems.
Slaves and Freedmen in Rome
Slavery, though reprehensible today, was a deeply ingrained part of Roman society. It was not abolished in countries like the U.S. until 1863, and in England until 1872. Until the 19th century, it was widely accepted. The Roman economy relied heavily on slave labor. Many slaves were prisoners of war, spared from death by the *censores*. It was expected that these slaves, and their children, would feel gratitude towards their owners. Other slaves were kidnapped free citizens, unwanted children, or individuals sold into slavery. The slave trade was very profitable.
A slave’s life could be brutal, especially if they were forced to work in galleys or mines. Intelligent slaves had a higher chance of escaping. Those born into slavery within a family were sometimes treated better and could even become valued members of the household. However, slaves had no individual rights; their masters could name them, punish them severely, and even inflict extreme cruelty. For example, Vedius Pollio ordered a young man executed for breaking a glass by throwing him into his fish ponds, and Emperor Hadrian is said to have blinded a slave with a stylus. Despite this harsh treatment, a degree of mutual respect sometimes existed between master and servant. Slaves were sometimes allowed to buy their freedom, and some owners freed them without cost.
The Roman Year
The early Roman calendar was based on the lunar cycle. The year originally consisted of 10 months, with 27 or 28 days each. King Numa Pompilius reformed the calendar by adding January and February. Initially, March was the first month of the year. Later, the Julian calendar was introduced, consisting of 12 months of 30 or 31 days, with a leap year every four years. The months of July and August were named after Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar, respectively. The other months of the calendar refer to Roman deities.
Education in Rome
Most Romans were literate. From the age of 6 or 7 until 12, children were sent to schools where they learned reading, writing, and arithmetic. Both girls and boys attended these schools initially, but girls often left earlier. Children from wealthy families had personal tutors, often Greek slaves, who accompanied them to and from school. Some even had a slave to carry their school supplies. Children in the provinces paid the teacher directly, once a month. Quintus’s father accompanied him to school and supervised his lessons.
Students wrote with a stylus on wax tablets and used an abacus for arithmetic. Lessons were often tedious, with students sitting on uncomfortable benches in a noisy environment, reciting the alphabet forwards and backward, and practicing multiplication tables. After dinner in the evening, they continued their studies. Every eight days, there was a small festive day. There were also breaks in winter and spring, and longer vacations in the summer. All educated Romans were bilingual, speaking both Latin and Greek.