Literary Sources (Roman City Life)
Literary Sources (Roman City Life)
Literary Sources on Roman City Life
Appearance and Layout
- Pliny the Younger’s letters offer snapshots of city life, including descriptions of buildings, streets, and city services.
- Vitruvius provides detailed architectural rules and norms of the time in his work “De Architectura”. This gives us invaluable insights into the physical place that was the city.
Social Hierarchy
- Authors like Juvenal and Martial depict a society organized around wealth and status, where the urban rich lived in grand houses and the poor in crowded apartments.
- Cicero’s speeches also mention the distinction between the classes and the pride Romans felt for their city.
Everyday Life
- The poet Horace offers an image of the daily routines, street crowds, noise, and vibrant city life.
- The works of Petronius and Persius also offer unvarnished views of both the pleasures and difficulties of life in a Roman city.
Politics and Administration
- Sources such as Tacitus detail the politics and governance of the city, depicting an active citizenry and a complex administrative structure.
- Julius Caesar’s “The Gallic Wars” offers insights into the city’s symbolic role in a wider empire and the political and military workings thereof.
Leisure and Entertainment
- Professional authors like Terence and Plautus who wrote scripts for theatrical performances, provide insights to popular Roman entertainment.
- Suetonius in his “The Lives of the Twelve Caesars” recounts stories of public spectacles - essential for understanding the immense cultural value Romans attached to leisure and entertainment.
Religion and Belief
- Religious texts and mythologies such as Ovid’s “Metamorphoses” offer insights into the religious beliefs, rituals, and ceremonies of Romans.
- Virgil’s “Aeneid”, although largely a mythical legend, offers glimpses of religious practices exhibiting Roman values and beliefs.
These literary sources collectively provide a rich mosaic of life in a Roman city, allowing us to piece together a picture of the world as experienced by Romans themselves.