The Roman Peace

•Cultural pluralism and cultural unity

•The purpose of the educational system was not merely to teach how to read and write but how to read and write well.

•Like wealth and titles, culture was regarded as a mark of distinction and almost as eagerly sought.

•Greek and Latin.

•Focus on the classical texts

•The ultimate goal of the educational system was the mastery of the spoken word.

•There was no philosophy of education as a tool for socialization in the modern sense. Education was narrowly conceived as the prerogative of a small elite that had the time and the money to spend on it. Extending this kind of education broadly would have seemed absurd and probably impossible.

 

The middle class strove for culture and advanced as far as their resources would permit them.

City life

•Greater degree of proximity between the classes

•Trials, elections, public announcements, games, theater, religious celebrations, baths, gymnasia, markets.

•Life was carried on in a very personal, intimate manner

The rich were expected to make tangible contributions to the public life of the city by serving, unremunerated, as magistrates, giving festivals, maintaining the food and water supply, erecting public buildings, and generally contributing to the essentials of civilized life. (p. 372)

The ranking of cities

Title of Roman colony

The Italian Right

Cities of Roman and Latin citizenship

Native cities

Villages

Districts

The ranking of cities

•Title of Roman colony

•The Italian Right

•Cities of Roman and Latin citizenship

•Native cities

•Villages

•Districts

 

Ludi: state festivals honoring gods. At the time of Augustus, the Roman calendar had 77 days of public games honoring the gods; within two centuries the number had risen to 176.

•Circus races

•Theaters

•Raunch vaudeville

 

Gladiatorial shows were originally staged as funeral games honoring the dead, and as a way of drawing attention to the virtue of the deceased. They were not financed by the state buy by the individual who felt he had an obligation (a munus; munera, pl.) to a dead person. (p. 375)

•The munera became politicized.

•The slaughter of animals had symbolic value

•Perditi homines (prisoners of war, criminals, slaves)

The great cultural diversity of the Empire was reflected in the chaotic variety of religions, cults, philosophies, and theosophies that offered themselves to the inhabitants of the Roman world. The emperor was the high priest and head of the Roman state religion, and as such responsible for maintaining right relations between the gods and humankind. While alive he was a semi divine intermediary between human beings and the gods, and when dead he was a god himself. (p. 377) Mithraism: An Iranian religion, Mithraism, was popular in the army and offered an attractive combination of doctrine, ritual, and ethical practice. Its adherents believed that the cosmos was in constant tension between the forces of good and evil, light and darkness, life and death. (p. 378.)Excluded women Health of Paganism? pp. 378-379.

Judaism and Christianity: Judaism and Christianity were both exclusive in the membership and both placed emphasis on the close adhesion to strict ethical practices and dogmatic beliefs. The liturgy of Judaism and Christianity had the advantages of both the philosophers’ lecture hall and the sense of community and brotherhood of the mystery cults.  To the Jewish belief that God was the Lord of History, Christians added the assertion that history had found its culmination in the lowly person of Jesus of Nazareth, who was executed by the imperial prefect Pontus Pilate during the reign of the emperor Tiberius. (p. 379.) Among the major issues settled in the early years of the Christian community was the question of whether Jesus’ message was to be limited to Jews or could be extended to gentiles as well. One of the principal figures in this momentous debate was a Hellenized Jew, Paul of Tarsus. Rabbinic Judaism (The destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans in A.D. 70.

In its earliest form Christianity had the potential to alter familial relations profoundly. It challenged the old concepts of patriarchal dominance by suggesting that all members of the Christian community were equal and that the family of Christians had replaced the family of the secular world. Roman citizens were potentially capable of a full political life at Rome. In addition, they had certain rights in criminal law not possessed by anyone else.  In A.D. 212, the emperor Caracalla extended Roman citizenship to almost everyone in the Empire. Honestiores and Humiliores:

•Honestiores could claim special treatment under the law and were subject to much less stringent criminal punishments.•Those who belonged to the honestiores included first of all senators and equestrians, then decurions (local senators), soldiers, veterans, and dome professionals. The scramble for citizenship became a scramble for inclusion in one of the higher classifications. (p. 383.)

 The Senate remained at the apex of the Roman social pyramid:

•Even though the Senate lost its political power as a corporate, governing body, it never lost is social position.•In a status-conscious society, membership in the senatorial order represented the ultimate achievement of a man’s life.

 

The Equestrian Civil Service

 

The Decurion Class

 

Collegia: burial societies. The purpose of collegia was to bury the dad and honor their memory with inscriptions and with celebrations at banquets at which all the members gathered.

The Roman cult of the dead was deeply ingrained, and its perpetuation was of the utmost importance. If a family should die out, the burial society would indefinitely continue to honor the memory of its deceased, especially if they were benefactors. (pp. 392-393.)

The collegia were open to all members of society, servile or fee, male or female, all classes could indulge in their desire to have a title, achieve some distinction, and be above someone else.