Life in Ancient Rome

Romulus and Remus are the mythological twin brothers who founded the city of Rome.Romulus and Remus were twin boys born to a princess named Rhea Silvia. Their father was the fierce Roman god of war, Mars. The king where the boys lived was scared that someday Romulus and Remus would overthrow him and take his throne. So he had the boys left in a basket on the Tiber River. He figured they would soon die.

The boys were then found by a she-wolf. The wolf cared for them and protected them from other wild animals. A friendly woodpecker helped to find them food. Eventually some shepherds happened across the twins. One shepherd took the boys home and raised them as his own children

Growing Up

As the boys grew older they became natural leaders. One day Remus was captured and taken to the king. He discovered his true identity. Romulus gathered some shepherds to rescue his brother. They ended up killing the king. When the city learned who the boys were, they offered to crown them as joint kings. They could be rulers of their homeland. However, they turned down the crowns because they wanted to found their own city. The twins left and set out to find the perfect spot for their city.

Founding a New City

The twins eventually came to the place where Rome is located today. They both liked the general area, but each wanted to place the city on a different hill. Romulus wanted the city to be on top of Palatine Hill while Remus preferred Aventine Hill. They agreed to wait for a sign from the gods, called an augury, to determine which hill to use. Remus saw the sign of six vultures first, but Romulus saw twelve.Each claimed to have won.

Remus is Killed. Romulus went ahead and started building a wall around Palantine Hill. However, Remus was jealous and began to make fun of Romulus' wall. At one point Remus jumped over the wall to show how easy it was to cross. Romulus became angry and killed Remus.

Rome is Founded

• With Remus dead, Romulus continued to work on his city. He officially founded the city on April 21, 753 BC, making himself king, and naming it Rome after himself. From there he began to organize the city. He divided his army into legions of 3,300 men. He called his 100 most noble men the Patricians and the elders of Rome the Senate. The city grew and prospered. For over 1,000 years Rome would be one of the most powerful cities in the world

Roman Religion

• From the beginning Roman religion was polytheistic.
• Roman believed that Gods controlled their lives and, as a result, spent most of their time worshiping them.
• The most important God was Jupiter. He was the King of Gods who ruled with his wife Juno, the Goddess of the sky.
• Other Gods were:

Mars - God of War

Mercury - The messenger of the gods

Nepture - God of the Sea Janus- God of the Doorway

Diana- Goddess of Hunting

Vesta - Goddess of the Hearth

Minerva - Goddess of Healing and Wisdom

Venus - Goddess of Love

Prayer and sacrifice

The contractual relationship between mankind and the gods involved each party in giving, and in turn receiving, services. The Romans believed that powers residing in natural and physical objects had the ability to control the processes of nature, and that man could influence these processes by symbolic action.

The religion of the state

The religion of the Roman state reflected the ways of private worship, while retaining traditions from the period of the kings. Under the nominal direction of the pontifex maximus, administrative and ritualistic matters were the responsibility of four colleges, whose members were usually appointed or elected from the ranks of politicians and held office for life.

Roman Government

The republic was run by the Senate. The senate passed all laws and collected all taxes. All members of the Senate were of the Patrician or wealthy landowner class. At the head of the senate were two consuls. The Consuls controlled the legions of Rome. A senator was selected by the Consuls and remained a senator for life. The Consuls also selected the new members of the Senate if a senator died. To become a consul, you had to be elected by a majority of the popular vote from all citizens of Rome

Augustus Caesar

Augustus

• Best known for: The first Roman Emperor and establishing the Roman Empire
• His birth name was Gaius Octavius Thurinus, but he was usually called Octavian until later in life.
• •In 27 BC the Senate gave him the title of Augustus and he would be known by this name for the rest of his life.

Augustus did number of things to help the roman empire to succeed.

First, he took power over the empire as a whole after the civil war that followed the assassination of Julius Caesar. Second, he did some things to expand the empire. He finalized the quest to Spain. He set up client kingdoms in the east of the empire so that the Roman army itself would not have to defend such a large area. He instituted reforms in the army that helped make it stronger.Finally, he put forward changes in the society that helped to keep Rome stable.Most importantly, Augustus brought back an emphasis on religion. He felt that religion would help bind the people together and keep empire more stable.

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Roman Society

WOMEN

Defined by the men in their lives, women in ancient Rome were valued mainly as wives and mothers. Although some were allowed more freedom than others, there was always a limit, even for the daughter of an emperor.

Not much information exists about Roman women in the first century. Women were not allowed to be active in politics, so nobody wrote about them. Neither were they taught how to write, so they could not tell their own stories.

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Education was very important to the Ancient Romans. The rich people in Ancient Rome put a great deal of faith in education. While the poor in Ancient Rome did not receive a formal education, many still learned to read and write. Children from rich families, however, were well schooled and were taught by a private tutor at home or went to what we would recognize as schools. In general, schools as we would recognize them, were for boys only.

Family Life

Ancient Rome was a man’s world. In politics, society and the family, men held both the power and the purse-strings – they even decided whether a baby would live or die. Families were dominated by men.He looked after the family's business affairs and property and could perform religious rites on their behalf. Absolute power

The paterfamilias had absolute rule over his household and children. If they angered him, he had the legal right to disown his children, sell them into slavery or even kill them. Sons were important, because Romans put a lot of value on continuing the family name. If a father had no sons then he could adopt one – often a nephew – to make sure that the family line would not die out.

Marriage

Marriage in Roman times was often not at all romantic. Rather, it was an agreement between families. Men would usually marry in their mid-twenties, while women married while they were still in their early teens. As they reached these ages, their parents would consult with friends to find suitable partners that could improve the family’s wealth or class.

Art & Architecture

The Romans developed or improved their art by copying the art from the Greeks for the statues. Statues were made from clay or marble. Metal was sometimes added to the statues so that they had added strength. Statues were well made, were nude and they were made of gods or important leaders which were recognized . The fact that the statues had important people meant that they had to be done as well as possible since it was honoring their gods