Daily life in ancient Rome

Aims

This course aims to:

• provide a broad understanding of the problems ordinary Romans faced
   
• read a wide variety of popular sources, both literary and visual
   
• reflect on the methodological problems involved in accessing the lived experiences of the Roman non-elite

Course content

Roman historians have traditionally concentrated on the elite. This course looks at the lives of ordinary Romans, be they men, women or slaves and aims to see how far we can approach Roman history “from below”. Can we begin to describe the cultural world of the “ordinary” Roman? What stories did they tell? What made them laugh? What did they fear? How different were their tastes, cultural preferences, even language from those of the elite?

Most of the surviving texts in the canon of classical literature pay little more than passing attention to the non-elite and hardly any were written by those who were not part of a relatively narrow group of the elite or well-connected. But there is nevertheless some material – and more than most people imagine – which may offer us a glimpse of the world and world-view of the ordinary Roman in the street. This includes fables, joke books, oracles, graffiti and visual representations of many kinds. All these will take centre stage in this course.

The course will start by considering what we mean by “ordinary Romans”. What levels of wealth or poverty do we mean? What living conditions do we imagine? How “multi-cultural” a group were they? It will go on to explore the character of their popular culture – from the world of the bar and the (communal) latrine to the impact of the gods or the strong arm of the law. But throughout we shall keep in mind the methodological issues at stake. These popular texts are no more transparent than any others; and some of them may not be as popular as they seem.

We shall concentrate on the city of Rome and Italy, but some material will also be drawn from Roman Egypt, as well as Christian imperial culture. The disjunction between the rural context of many of the richest sources and the metropolis itself will be one major theme of discussion.

What to expect on this course

The course will be taught in classroom sessions, with plenty of images to enable you to familiarise yourself with the content.

Course sessions

1. The problems of daily life
   How did people make a living, how much did they earn, was it enough?
    
2. Popular religion 
   Who did they worship, what did they ask for, did it work?
    
3. Having fun
   Games, taverns and gambling.
    
4. Ordinary people in art
   What do the frescoes and mosaics of Pompeii tell us?
    
5. Popular Resistance
   Did people push back against their low position in society?

Learning outcomes

As a result of the course, you will gain a greater understanding of the subject and you should be able to:

• be aware of the cultural world of the non-elite in late Republican and 
  imperial Rome
   
• explore a wide range of literary, documentary and visual sources relevant to the cultural world of the non-elite in Roman society
   
• reflect on the particular methodological problems in accessing the culture or experience of those outside the Roman elite

Required reading

There is no required reading for this course. See Course materials for supplementary reading once registered.