ROME

Introduction

Rome was a world power for its time. It was the center of trade; Rome traded with Greece, Egypt, and even China, 32,000 miles away. The things that were traded consisted of every thing from livestock to food and stones to metals. Rome also had an unbeatable military, with weapons that were suited for gods. But good weapons must have great soldiers handling them. Each recruit had to go through tough training to be enrolled, and after signing on, a recruit be in the military for twenty years. Rome invented many things and with out a few of them, life would be quite different. One example is the Roman Arch and concrete, many buildings and bridges would not be standing if it weren’t for these inventions. The Roman Empire also had a lot of farmers that were very good at their jobs. They produced a wide variety of food for the empire. Not all of the time was work for Romans, sporting events were held at the Coliseum and Circus Maximus. These included Chariot Races and Gladiator Battles. Read further if you want to learn more about Rome.

The Roman Military

Before getting accepted into the Roman Military, people had to be between the ages of 17 to 23 years old and have no serious criminal offenses. The Roman Military recruiters looked for men that were muscular and had fast reflexes. The recruits also had to be close to or taller than five feet eight inches, which the Romans considered to be tall. Then, after being registered, the training began. The training consisted of three twenty-mile marches that had to be completed in three hours, and they even had to carry all of their gear. (A saw, pickax, sickle, basket, bucket, and food.) Other training methods consisted of swimming, chopping down trees, jumping ditches, and practicing combat with heavy weapons, so when they were in combat, the weapons felt lighter. Then the recruits were ready for the real thing.

There were six different forms of fighters in the roman army. One, Velites fought with light spears and shields. Two, Hastati were equipped with a sword, two spears and wore light body armor. Three, Principes were equipped with swords, spears and a round shield. Four, Triarii were equipped with sturdy spears and full body armor. Five, Cavalrymen and their horses wore some armor. The riders had a sword and a shield, or spears, or javelins, or a pilum, or a bow and arrows. Six, Archers wore light or no armor and had a bow and arrows.

Even the light armor that the Romans wore was extensive. The helmets were made of copper and protected all of the blows to the head. The body armor was made of iron rings or slates; it was fastened in front and was worn over pads. Copper was attached to leather straps that were tied around arms for protection. (Sometimes the arm guards were worn around the shin.) The soldiers also wore togas under all of this. The shield was made of three layers of plywood and a copper coating. Swords and daggers had wooden handles and a metal blade. (Dagger blades got longer over the over the years.) Spears and javelins had an iron point, a wooden shaft, and a metal butt (in case the point broke.) A throwing strap was used to get the javelins a farther distance. A pilum is a heavier version of a spear and is used to break down walls and shields.

Nero Claudius Cesar

Nero Claudius Cesar ruled Rome from AD 54 to 68 and is one of Rome’s most widely known emperors. This is because of his evil reputation as a brutal and selfish leader. Nero was arrogant and only respected himself. If any one wrote or spoke badly of him, he had them executed. Nero wasted money on parties and large banquets.

In AD 64 Nero murdered his wife and his mother and claimed that they were plotting against him. Then again in that same year, a devastating fire swept through Rome and destroyed two thirds of the city. Nero was accused of starting the fire, but he didn’t want people thinking that he did, so he blamed the Christians. Nero had all of the Christians executed for allegedly starting the fire. He killed them by having them put on a cross, burning them, and having wild animals maul them in the coliseum. Nero then used a lot of the land, whose buildings were destroyed in the fire, to make a palace that he named “Golden House.” When the palace construction was done he said, “At last I have a house fit for a man.” It was enormous; he even had room for a pond!

Nero had a love for art, he thought highly of himself as a poet, an actor, and a musician. Many times he performed publicly. One time he toured Greece, during that time the Greeks held many poetry, acting, and music contests. If Nero entered these contests the Greeks always awarded him first place, no matter how poorly he did or how good the competition was. But art wasn’t Nero’s only hobby; many times he would disguise himself and go into the streets and mug innocent bystanders. Or he would disguise himself as a poor person and ask for money.

In AD. 68, Nero had a meeting with the senate, and the senate claimed that Nero was no longer a responsible ruler and new emperor should replace him. The senate deserted him, and a while later, the last few loyal to Nero left him. Because Nero had no more people loyal to him, he committed suicide on June ninth, AD.68.

Sports and Recreation

The toys that Roman kids played with were very similar to the toys that kids play with today. Girls played with rag dolls, and with stone or pottery figures like dollhouses, tables, chairs, pots, and pans. Boys played with marbles, kites, hoops, and tops. They also played with wooden swords and shields and a game called jacks. Jacks were played by throwing small pebbles into the air and trying to have them land on the backs of their hands. Even the adults play games like checkers, dice games and gambling. Sometimes they even cheated with loaded dice.

Instead of playing games people could sometimes just watch them. Spectator sports were very popular. One spectator sport that took place in the Coliseum was gladiator battles, where gladiators fought wild animals or other gladiators. Sometimes there were team battles. Gladiators were slaves or criminals. Sometimes they had weapons, sometimes they did not. Chariot races were also popular. Chariot races were held with slaves as drivers and took place at Circus Maximus. Circus Maximus was a large stadium built especially for chariot races. The course had three pillars that the chariots raced around. Every turn was one hundred eighty degrees, which was very dangerous. Each race had seven laps, and a man in the middle of the three pillars counted the laps. Many slaves died from chariot racing but when a slave won he or she became rich and famous. Another form of sport was boat wars and boat races. Every October 15th there would be a chariot race and the four winning horses would be slaughtered. The Coliseum would be flooded or a near by lake would be used. Slaves drove them and fought one another with spears and bows and arrows to puncture the other boats. The spectators of these events loved to bet on who would win.

Trade

Trade in ancient Rome was the overall source of money. Even though there were coins of value like our dollars, back then the upper and middle class were usually the ones with the coins. Trade wasn’t always an easy thing to do because some things may have sentimental value. Not only did the Romans trade with each other, the empire traded goods with other cities, towns and empire.

Rome traded with Egypt for wheat, linen, and papyrus, Italy for wheat, and Africa for wheat, spices, wild animals, oil, ivory, and wood. With Spain they traded for pottery, wine, gold, silver, horses, tin, and copper pots and pans, and Syria provided glass, and textiles. Great Britain was a source of tin, lead, silver, cattle, and oysters, and China traded silk. Asia Minor traded wool and Athens provided honey. Greek Islands for fuller’s earth, (Fuller’s earth was used to wash clothes.) and Greece for their magnificent statues, and paintings.

The Romans found two easy ways to transport their goods to other empires and cities. One, was by boat, the Romans made boats that were sixty to one hundred feet long, seventeen to thirty feet wide, and could carry a cargo of fifty to two hundred and fifty tons. One ship that landed in Athens was one hundred and eighty feet long and was forty four feet tall at it’s shortest, it also carried enough grain to feed everybody in Athens for a year! The second method was by road. With roads there were no dangers of sinking in the sea. Roads also went through cities and towns so the traders could stop at inns instead of sleeping on the ship, and the traders could sell to people in the towns they were passing through.

Romans coin currency but they were rare among the lower class people, the upper and middle class people were the ones with the coins. The lower class had usually had to trade because they didn’t earn that much money, most were farmers and all they did during the day was tend their crops, and they needed every bit of produce to make a good living and have some to eat themselves. Sometimes if the lower class traded with the upper and middle class they would end up with coins or if they sold things. The upper and middle class people got coins as pay for their jobs. These people also were of importance to the empire, like soldiers, senators, and the emperor. Lower class people still got coins (but very few) as pay when they do their jobs, or when they sold things.

Farming

Many Romans made their livings as farmers. Families that farmed for a living usually could not afford slaves. Farming was back breaking work if the family didn’t have slaves to do the work. On the good side farmers didn’t have to use money (or trade) to get, they grew their own food. Because food was and still is vital to survive, farmers almost always had a little bit of money because someone would always be buying food.

Farmers grew many things, including livestock and agriculture. Livestock: pigs, goats, sheep, cattle, oxen, donkeys, bees, ducks, geese, and hens. Pigs were raised for their meat, although Romans didn’t eat a lot of meat. Goats and sheep were raised for their milk, (to make cheese,) wool, and sometimes meat. The wool was used to make rope and clothing. Bees were obviously kept for their honey. Honey was used to sweeten and preserve foods. Hens, ducks and geese were raised for their feathers, eggs and meat. Cattle, oxen, and donkeys were usually not eaten but would be beasts of burden. Roman farmers grew a variety of foods and spices. Vegetables like turnips, tomatoes, lettuce, peas, and corn were usually found in farmers’ crops. Also, fruits like figs, olives, grapes, apples, and pears. Farmers grew wheat and grain for bread.

Roman farmers used a number of tools to help them farm. If the soil had stones in it farmers would use picks to pry them out. When the soil was ready cattle, oxen, or donkeys would pull a plow. To keep the soil fresh, farmers would use a method called crop rotation. This meant planting crops in different places each year. To harvest, sickles were used. Sickles were tools with a long handle and a curved blade at the end. They were swung like baseball bats to hack down wheat. Harvesting the fruits and vegetables were done by hand.

For breakfast Romans ate fruit and bread that was topped with something. For lunch people would go to food stands on the side of roads. These stands had bread, cheese, fish, and vegetables. (Poorer people would live on handouts.) Every night’s dinner was a banquet. The appetizer was usually snails, salad, shellfish, and wine with honey in it. The main course was meat with some vegetable sauces. For desert Romans had fruit, honey in wine, and small cakes.
Technology

Ancient Romans had very extensive education for their time. For elementary school, boys went to a private teacher that was called a litterator. A litterator taught them arithmetic as well as reading and writing. Girls went to a litterator until they turned twelve or thirteen, then they stayed at home to be home schooled, or to help their mother and father. Once a boy turned twelve or thirteen, unlike a girl, he would go to a grammaticus where he would learn history, geography, astronomy, and literature. After children turned sixteen they became legal citizens of Rome. Once becoming a legal citizen of Rome, men could go to a rhetor where they would thoroughly learn public speaking. Then there was no more school.

Rome also had many engineers; engineers were the source of innovation. Inventions helped make things a lot easier. One good example is the fifty thousand miles of roads that were made in ancient Rome. The roads were made up by four layers of material. The first layer was rubble, the second was flat slabs in mortar, the third was concrete and gravel, the top layer was closely laid paving stones. In addition to this the roads had curbstones and drainage ditches.

Other inventions contributed by the Romans were the jury system, postal service, fire departments, apartment buildings, aqueducts, concrete, the water wheel, and the arch. Aqueducts were made to get water from near-by lakes. They were made of concrete arches going in a straight line. However, sometimes the water needed to go uphill. Water wheels were used to get water uphill; they were turned by slaves and were very large. Apartment buildings were houses with many stories and made with concrete and arches to support the building. Romans faced a lot of challenges, but they over came them with perseverance, determination, and education.

Bibliography

1. Nardo, Don, Life in Ancient Rome, Lucent Books Inc, 1997
2. Nardo, Don, The Roman Empire, Lucent Books Inc, 1994
3. What Life Was Like When Rome Ruled The World, Time Life Inc. 1997
4. Levy, Pat, Sheehan, Sean, The Ancient World of Rome, Steck-Vaughn Company. 1999
5. Armento, Beverly, Nash, Gary, Salter, Christopher, Wixson, Karen. A Message of Ancient Days. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1991, pp. 396-475.
6. crystalinks.com

Author’s note: My timeline of Rome is on the wall.To learn even more about Rome read these other authors` works: Elona Gurney, Kevin La Varta, Michael Soldate, and Chanel Kogeler.

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