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Paragraph 4.2. Roman society. Rich. Rich Romans had a good life: Beautiful villas with nicely decorated rooms, Swimming pools and gardens . They showed off their wealth . They were carried around the city in a sedan chair . . Poor. A large part of society was poor .
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Paragraph 4.2 Roman society
Rich • Rich Romans had a good life: • Beautifulvillaswithnicelydecorated rooms, • Swimming pools andgardens. • Theyshowed off theirwealth. • Theywerecarriedaround the city in a sedan chair.
Poor • A large part of society was poor. • A quarter of the 1.000.000 people in Rome werepoor. • Theydidn’t have jobs or worked as bearer or labourer on building projects. • Theylived in hovels (=krotten) or mud huts.
People with a bit more money lived in a brickapartment building with 3 or 4 stories. • A whole family would live in 1 or 2 rooms. • No kitchen, theyboughttheir food in a snackbar or soupkitchen. • There was no running water or sewage (=riool) in the flats. • Feces (= uitwerpselen) were put in stonejars.
Breadand games • To keep the peoplequietandtostaypopular the rulers gave the people ‘breadand games’. • 200.000 poorpeoplereceived free grainto make bread. • Rulershanded out money andorganised free horse races andother entertainment.
70-80 AD: The Collosseum was built in Rome. • A stadium with 50.000 seats. • Therewereall kinds of shows: • Fightswithlions, tigers, elephants, rhinos, etc. • Sea battles, when the collosseum was filledwith water.
Most popularwere the gladiotorfights. • Prisoners of war weretrainedtofighteachotherwithswords. • The use was tospillblood.
If the emporerwouldwatch, the gladiators wouldgreethim: • ‘Ave caesar, morituri te salutant’ • Hailemporer, thosewho are aboutto die saluteyou.
When a loser of a fightsurvived, the audiencecoulddecidewhether he shouldbekilled or not. • Thumbs up: allowedto live • Thumbs down: die. • Winners becamefamousandrich.
Trade • The Roman empire was a agricultural-urban society: agricultureandtrade in cities. • There was a lot of tradebetween the cities. • The pax Romana (=peace) was goodfortrade. • Alsogoodroadsand Roman coinshelped the trade.
Roman money • 2 coins: sertertiusanddenariuswereused. • Allpeoplepaidwith the same money in the empire. • Traderssometimesbecameveryrich. • But families with ‘old money’ looked down on this. Theybelievedthatwealth was based on the amount of land andpossessions.
Farmers had tosupplycitieswith food. • Rome gotitsgrainfrom Egypt andSicily. • Shipswouldbringitto Ostia, Rome’sharbour. • There, it was transferredtobarges (=aken)thatwouldbringitto the city, up the riverTiber.
More productsthatwereimported in Rome: • SpicesandperfumefromArabia • Pearls from the Red Sea • Wood fromnorthern Europe.
Farmers • In the beginning of the empire, most farmers were independent. • 3rd century BC: most farmers lost their farms. • Farmers wereawayfor long timesfighting wars. • Hannibal and his elephantsalsodestroyed a lot of farmland.
The farmers movedto the citiesto start a new life. • Theybecame part of the growingproletariat. • The masses of peoplewho had no possessions. ( latin: proles)
Land was important forwealth. • Rich families employed sharefarmers (= pachters) toworktheir land. • Theygot a part of the profit. • The richalso built latifundia. • Large farmsteads (=boerderijen) whereslavesworked.
Slaves • 2nd and 1st century BC: therewere a lot of slaves in Italy. • These wereallprisoners of war, and Rome was fighting a lot of wars! • Most slavesworked on farms and in mines andstonequarries. (= groeven). • Othersworked in houses of the rich.
EducatedGreekscouldbecometeachers or accountants. • Theydidn’t have anyrights, but someweretreated well. • A small groupcouldearn money tobuytheirfreedom.
For most of them, life was miserable. • On the latifundia, theyweretreatedlikecattle. • Theysleptchained up in a pen. (=hok) • Thereweren’t a lot of uprisingsand the few werebeaten down withviolence.
