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As the Romans Did: A Source Book in Roman Social History

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Shelton, Jo Ann. As the Romans Did: A Source Book in Roman Social History, 1st ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988. Pp. xix; 492. ISBN 0195041771.

Shelton has amassed a wealth of information from primary sources into a single volume. She touches upon every conceivable aspect of the Roman world: the structure of Roman Society, families, education, occupation, slaves, freedmen, government & politics, the army, women in society, leisure & entertainment, religion & philosophy, and others. With excerpts from the writings of real-life people in the days of ancient Rome, we capture the notion that these were real, down-to-earth individuals with cares and concerns, some of which are universal and timeless.

Students of ancient history, biblical studies, and classics will find this volume fascinating at the very least, if not quite useful for their respective purposes. It is appropriate for the high school or undergraduate level. This review is of the first edition, and there is a second edition to it. Since I have not read it, however, I cannot comment.

I spent a lot of time in Greco Roman studies in college and still thoroughly enjoy it today. This book is a fun resource and not bad as a straight read.

Definitive Work On Rome,

I read this book for a graduate course in Roman history. Jo-Ann Shelton's book is the definitive anthology pertaining to Roman social history!

Shelton opens each chapter with a brief synopsis of the subject and then she has a plethora of primary source documents, which are about the subject. I find this to be the genius of the book. The books appendix of primary sources and bibliography make this book an indispensable resource for anyone who studies Rome.

Following is an example of some of the subjects covered. According to Roman folklore, the first public day of entertainment soon after the founding of Rome by Romulus was a day of chariot racing. Thus, its importance culturally to Rome was paramount considering it became the oldest and longest lasting public sport in Rome--lasting over one thousand years. These chariot races first took place in the seventh century BCE in an area between the Palatine and Aventine hills. The racetrack was built in the "Circus Maximus" and was expanded over the years in order to seat 250,000 spectators. Originally, there were 17 game days or ludi a year in which 12 races a day would be run. Romans throughout the social strata were attracted to the blood and danger of this spectacle, as most races had at least one chariot crashing in a race. In general, the political importance of the races and games were not lost on ambitious men wanting to make a name for themselves. Admission was free to the races since it was the aedile or praetor's responsibility to organize public entertainment while they held office. Politicians seeking to ingratiate themselves with the people and wanting to further their political careers would spend their own money to supplement the public funds available so that they could increase the lavishness of the games. For example, Julius Caesar almost went bankrupt in 65 BCE during his aedileship. He put on some of the most lavish games that Romans had ever witnessed, which made him extremely popular with the people. Though this political ploy was expensive it paid off handsomely because his popularity rose among the plebeians.

When one thinks about public entertainment in Rome, it is hard to ignore the Roman penchant for gladiatorial combat and what it culturally meant to the Romans. During the republican period, it was common practice for gladiatorial matches to be financed by wealthy private individuals. Usually sponsored in honor of a dead relative these matches were not ludi but referred to as munera meaning "duties." As was the case for the ludi, wealthy politicians used the munera for the purpose of winning over the hearts and minds of the plebeians by staging lavish spectacles for their entertainment. The advantage for an ambitious politician was that these events could be staged at any time during the year. However, during the imperial period, gladiatorial combat became a part of the publicly financed entertainment for Romans. This was done because Rome's emperors did not want potential political rivals currying favor from the plebeians. The Romans seemed to have a blood lust in their entertainment. This may be due to using gladiatorial combat as a way of showing its citizens an ennobling contempt for death. It was also certainly used to serve as a reminder to citizens the authority that the state held over them. Like the chariot drivers, gladiators were slaves that were trained in their sport under rigorous conditions. Since it was expensive to train men, not every loser of a match was automatically killed. To feed the Roman blood lust, those condemned by the state to death and many war captives were sent to the arena to fight to the death--sometimes pitted against ferocious wild animals. "In the 100 days of spectacles, which accompanied the opening of the Colosseum in 80 CE, 9000 animals were killed. At Trajan's games of 108 CE, 10,000 gladiators fought and 11,000 animals were killed."

Private leisure activities, such as dinner parties, also fulfilled important Roman cultural needs. Once again, the wealthy Roman politician frequently hosted extravagant banquets with exotic foods and expensive entertainment to curry favor from his dinner guests. Sometimes a banquet would feature food grown on the estate farms of the host. This custom was an old and respected time honored Roman tradition. Many times the dinner parties were more austere in nature and conducted as part of the Roman patron-client relationship, or just out of friendship. It is interesting to note that when one reads about the Roman customs surrounding dinner parties, one quickly realizes that they have many similarities to modern customs. As an example, in Shelton's book there are ancient accounts showing how a man fishing for a dinner invitation ingratiated himself by drying off the back of a fellow bather at the public baths, or how people would use flattery to gain a dinner invitation. There are accounts of uncouth behavior that dinner guest display that hosts, both ancient and modern, always dread. These include the guest that perpetually shows up at your door early for a dinner requiring the host to drop everything they were doing to attend to them. Roman dinner guests often came with their own cloth napkins and would use them as doggy bags to bring food home. Of course, there are accounts of the rude dinner host as well. Some hosts would serve different quality and types of food to their guests based on their social standing. Shelton's book has an account of the "persistent poet" that bores their guests with poetry recitals that drone on and are quite boring. It reminds one of being invited to a friend's house for dinner and then having to suffer through a long slide show of their host's summer vacation. What Shelton proves with her section on dinner parties is that some customs never change.

Bathing was not just used for hygiene in the Roman Empire but was also a recreational pastime in its own right. Romans throughout the social strata and of both sexes partook of this activity. Except for the very wealthy who had bathing facilities at home, most Romans went to public bathhouses. Many of Rome's emperors had bathhouses built as part of their master building plan for the city, and once again to curry favor with the citizenry. Emperors Augustus, Nero, Trajan, and Commodus to name a few, had bathhouses built throughout Rome. The popularity of bathing was such that by the fourth century CE, Rome had over 1,000 public bathhouses that were operated by the state or as private businesses. Bathhouses had either separate sex facilities or different operating hours for the opposite sex. Shelton wrote that bathing was so popular throughout the Roman Empire that, "almost every town and every village had at least one public bath building." For example, one can still visit the Roman baths in the city of Bath in England where the Romans became enamored with the restorative powers they perceived the local water contained. Starting in the late republic period, bathhouses offered many different recreational activities similar to our present day fitness centers. Thus, bathhouses served many cultural needs of its citizens; one of which was a place were Romans could congregate to gossip and talk about issues of the day. Another need they served was that they were a place where Romans could engage in all types of physical exercises--such as, ball games, swimming, and jogging. Massages were a large part of the bathing ritual as well. The plan of the Stabian Baths at Pompeii, built in the second century BCE, show the enormity of bathhouse structures. The Stabian baths had separate bathing for the opposite sex, dressing and massage rooms, a swimming pool, an exercise yard, offices for meetings, as well as other amenities. In addition, shops and food vendors surrounded many of the bathhouses; thus, many Romans of the upper classes could spend long portions of the day at the baths.

Recommended reading for those interested in Roman history.