Date sent:        Mon, 29 Apr 1996 07:58:03 -0400

                         The Roman Empire

     The Roman Empire was a very successful and commanding civilization for more than
400 years, militarily and socially. They are known for being "brutal" and "unforgiving,"
this may be true in some means but by looking deep into their society and reading between
the lines it's easy to see that they were quite civilized. In the  next few pages Ancient
Rome will be described in detail about its citizens, slavery, architecture, laws, religion,
and economy.  The Roman army will not be discussed, because it would be impossible to get
sufficient information across in less than two thousand words while including this amazing
force.
     The citizens of Rome only accounted for 10% of the population.  These citizens wore a
piece of clothing called the toga.  "The Toga was the national garment of Rome and in the
Empire, was the ceremonial dress of the upper class."1 The Roman people were known to  show
off', and be very egotistical toward their peers, this is proven when each citizen had a
piece of clothing for indoors and another different one when they are in public.  Everyday
people wore a tunic with a hooded cloak which was very effective in keeping their head and
hair clean. 
     The population of Rome at anyone time is very hard to determine.  The many historians
and scholars have a range from 250,000 - 4,000,000 people in their golden age.  I think it
is in the area of 1,500,000.  
     The education of a child was primarily the doing of the parents.  A child had to be a
     free-citizen to be allowed a public education. "The teachings would start at the age of
     seven in an
ordinary, elementary school.  At the age of thirteen, a successful student would move onto
secondary school where they studied the same subjects but only in deeper context."2 There
were never any hands on training for education purposes.  The education was much more
philosophical.
     The Roman's idea of entertainment was quite different from many other successful
civilizations.  The Roman nature was very brutal and savage.  This is shown in their
amusements.  They consisted of wild beast hunts, naval battles, and the Roman's personal
favourite: The Gladiators. The great Roman Amphitheatre was packed full to watch two or more
men fight to the death using various weapons. The spectator's favourite part of the show was
in the end, after one gladiator had obviously lost, the other one would look up to the
audience and see more than 100,000 people with their thumbs down, to authorize the kill.3
The sword would then be plunged into the warrior's heart, blood spurts forth and the crowd
erupts in glorious cheer.  The main other Roman amusement was much less violent, although
there was some. This is the chariot race.  These were held in huge arenas that could hold
more than 250,000 people (i.e., Circus Maximus).  Approx. 12 racers being pulled by horses
while standing on a chariot would travel along on a one kilometre circular track eight
times, while dodging whips and clubs from other riders.  This was very popular along with
the gladiators.
     In the eyes of the Roman law, a slave was the absolute property of his master; he could
not marry without his consent and his master could inflict any kind of punishment on his
that he chose.4 This statement implies that all Roman slaves were treated with the least
respect and compassion, but that is not always the case. There were two kinds of slaves. 
The town slaves and city slaves.  The town slaves were better treated, had lighter duties,
and lived in much better conditions.  In every house there were also well educated slaves
who were trained as teachers, secretaries, copyists, and doctors.  The farm slaves had hard
and heavy work.  The Roman farmer worked his slaves to an extreme point of cruelty.  Being a
slave wasn't all that bad, it just depended on where you were and what kind of a man your
master was.
     Rome was much more than a conqueror, during the Pax Romana it was a great civilizing
power.  Through Roman architecture it shows how practical they really were.  "Rome was the
first city of the ancient world in which the public buildings of the state are greater than
the temples."5 The biggest contributions Rome made was the development of the arch.  Romans
were the very first people to build large bridges, and the great aqueducts.  These new
innovative ideas were all made possible with Roman bricks that were fired up to one thousand
degrees Celsius which made them far more durable.  From there they invented the most
important building material that we use today; concrete.  The Romans were then able to
create cement mix, in turn allowing them to be able to build in ways previously unknown.
     Many people believe that the Roman religion is a carbon copy of that of the Greeks.7
This is not true.  There were two types of religion that Rome had.  The Greeks only had one.
The State religion and the Traditional religion.  The State believed that their gods lived
atop of Mount Olympus because it was the highest point in Rome.  On earth, these gods were
represented by huge statues which were an exquisite work of art.  They were made out of
marble, painted in colour and covered with gold, silver, and precious gems.  In the temple's
people came and prayed to their personal gods.  "A fairly common practice, especially if
they were making some unusual gift such as to be cured of some serious disease was for
people to spend a night in the temple."6 The other religious beliefs belonged to the
Traditional religion, which were ones that people grew up within the home. This religion did
not depend so much upon visits to the temples or upon the service of the priests because
every home, however  poor had its own domestic shrine and altar at which everyone in the
household could have a daily prayer.  These shrines were often considered as the homes
guardian angel.  More often than not, traditional beliefs were more important than the
State's.
     The industry and trade of Rome were very unique.  The Roman schools gave no training in
handwork or technical skills, and with thousands of slaves to do most of the manual and
highly skilled work, there was a smaller chance of earning a living as a free Roman citizen.
 The basic position for middle or lower class women was simple; get married, have kids, and
tend to the house.  Higher class intelligent women had a slight chance of being rewarded
with a career. The man's role was mainly to work on the farm, fight for the army and  a few
became craftsmen, shopkeepers, or carriers.  This system worked effectively for many years
but as Rome became more of an imperial power, this type of life was disappearing quickly. 
The simple reason being, why should somebody do something if they are able to get someone
else to do it for them?  The fact that there was few industry jobs made an impact on the
import-export ratio.  Rome had huge amounts of imports, while their exports were next to
nothing.  To compensate for the substantial difference, payments for the imports came from
the tribute, taxes and rent from all of the provinces which Rome had acquired by force of
arms. There is another problem with the large amounts of imports, how do they all get to the
capital city of Rome? The supplies and goods that got imported to the city of Rome by sea
all went through the great Port of Ostia. This was a huge harbour where people conducted
business in a very orderly and peaceful manner.  There was an average of five hundred ships
that went in and out of this port in one day, being able to control this shows the kind of
government and people that lived in Rome. Another aspect of Rome's successful movement of
its imports was its roads. "Their straight paved roads remain among the enduring
contributors of the Roman to Western Civilizations."7 The Roads were also responsible for
the quick movements of the legion when they are on an attack or retreat.  Of all Rome's
material achievements, none did so much to aid the spread of civilization and culture as the
roads did.
     If a civilization was unforgiving and brutally cruel as some scholars say Ancient Rome
was, their laws would have very high consequences and be very demanding.  In Rome, the laws
were very reasonable with adequate punishments, although law really played a small role in
its empire, the reason being that the citizens of Rome were essentially law-abiding and
obedient. As a Roman grew up, he was trained to respect and obey his father, and eventually
the State. With citizens that are like soldiers, there is little room for crime and
stupidity. Therefore, with laws and rules that are fair to all citizens, and punishments
that aren't always death and loss of body parts the Roman Civilization wasn't all that
heartless and inhuman.
     In conclusion, the great Roman civilization was rational and sensible. Ancient Rome and
North America have almost the exact same entertainment. There is only one difference between
the two, their's was real and ours is fake and seen on a little box. I am sure that the
average person today has seen five times as many killings than the average Roman citizen,
and they say that their empire was brutal? Dumb. The citizens were what kept the Empire
together.  They had strong beliefs of discipline, and the soldier's fundamental idea.  Their
society was very controlled.