The Roman World
LIFE IN The Roman World
The Romans were excellent at assimilating local culture into a more universal 'Roman' one , and with territories throughout Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East
It Stretched from Hadrian's Wall northern England to the sun-baked banks of the Euphrates in Syria bringing foreign nations under her sway. she was obliged to control them, and to create a system of law by which they could be governed. In spite of all its faults, her government was the most successful that had ever existed up to this time. Roman rule facilitated trade among disparate regions, and this had a profound impact on art in the provinces. The circulation of marble and minerals suited to making pigments bound disparate regions to the capital and made possible the many-colored richness of much Roman architecture; the different types of stone used in the Pantheon, for instance, include yellow marble (giallo antico) from Tunisia, dramatically veined marble (pavonazzetto) from Asia Minor, green marbles from parts of Greece, flecked granites and deep red porpyhry from Egypt.
There were many similarities across the Roman World : Roman coins circulated everywhere, and in every province there were cities adorned with statues of the emperor and buildings such as baths, basilicas, and amphitheaters that embodied Roman cultural and architectural
The interiors of Roman buildings of all description were very frequently sumptuously decorated using bold colours and designs.. Subjects could include portraits, scenes from mythology, architecture using trompe-l’oeil, flora, fauna and even entire gardens, landscapes and townscapes
For wealthy Romans, life was good. They lived in beautiful houses – often on the hills outside Rome, away from the noise and the smell. Poorer Romans, however, could only dream of such a life. Sweating it out in the city, they lived in shabby, squalid houses that could collapse or burn at any moment.
ROME ARCHITECTURE
Roman architecture continued the legacy left by the earlier architects of the Greek world, and the Roman respect for this tradition and their particular reverence for the established architectural orders, especially the Corinthian, is evident in many of their large public buildings.
ROMAN SCULPTURE
Roman Sculpture, Portraiture is a dominant genre of Roman sculpture, growing perhaps on family and ancestors and changing public tastes over centuries, is above all else, remarkable for its sheer variety and eclectic mix. The art form blended the idealised perfection of earlier Classical Greek sculpture with a greater aspiration for realism and absorbed artistic preferences
ROMan slavery
Slavery was an ever-present feature of the Roman world. Slaves served in households, agriculture, mines, the military, manufacturing workshops, construction and a wide range of services . As many as 1 in 3 of the population in Italy or 1 in 5 across the empire were slaves and upon this foundation of forced labour was built the entire edifice of the Roman state and society.
The Roman burial practices always took place at night the corpse was then either burned, and the ashes gathered in an urn, or interred in a tomb The burial custom of most ancient Romans tended to be cremation, with ashes stored in urns. But Christian belief in the bodily resurrection led the early Christians to reject this practice and bury their dead instead.
Roman mosaics were a feature of private homes and public buildings across the empire from Africa to Antioch. the Romans did develop hunting scenes impressionistic vegetation or figure panels, mosaics which used flat shapes repeated motifs to create geometric designs.
The majority of Roman citizens, not all of them poor, lived in these apartment buildings or insulae. As early as 150 BCE, there were over 46,000 insulae throughout the city.the decaying buildings, and the fear of fire, life on the upper floors of the tenements was not very enjoyable for many of the poor.
Roman warfare
The Roman army, famed for its discipline, organistion, and innovation in both weapons and tactics, allowed Rome to build and defend a huge empire which for centuries would dominate the Mediterranean world the Romans were able to win an astonishing number of military victories
