Post by Dominus on Dec 26, 2016 11:49:41 GMT
ROMANS
As with many cultures, a person’s quality of life depended in many ways on their rank within the social structure. Two Romans living at the same time in the same city could have very different lives. For wealthy Romans (i.e. nobles), life was extremely good. They lived in beautiful houses (or villas), often on the hills outside Rome, away from the noise and the smell. They enjoyed an extravagant lifestyle with luxurious furnishings, surrounded by servants and slaves to cater to their every desire. Many would hold exclusive dinner parties and serve their guests the exotic dishes of the day. Upper-class Romans were most families whose lineage could be traced back to the founding of Rome. Originally, these families were the ones primarily consisting of the Senate. There are those of the higher middle class that are wealthy merchants who also enjoy the riches that they possess and the connections it allows them to form to others of higher positions.[/li][/ul][/blockquote][/blockquote]
Poorer Romans (the lower class), however, had a very different lifestyle. Sweating it out in the city, they lived in shabby houses that could collapse or burn at any moment. If times were hard, they might abandon newborn babies to the streets, hoping that someone else would take them in as a servant or slave. Poor in wealth but strong in numbers, they were the Roman mob, who relaxed in front of the popular entertainment of the time – chariot races between opposing teams, or gladiators fighting for their life, fame and fortune.
Although their lives may have been different, they did have some things in common. In any Roman family life, the head of the household was a man. Although his wife looked after the household, he controlled it. He alone could own property. Only he decided the fate of his children and who they would marry.Romans currently on the site:
- Nobles:
- Felix Valerius
[li]Citizens: