Articles (Society)

Rome – Roma Aeterna and caput mundi – The Eternal City and the “head of the world”. Who among us hasn’t heard of the capital of Italy? The city from which the ancient empire once grew, lives in the mass imagination and pop culture with images such as the Colosseum, the Trevi Fountain, Julius Caesar, or ancient ruins. Generally, all of these images can be thrown into a bag on which it is written: “magnificent, wonderful, monumental, timeless”. But would such issues as… toilets, poop, defecation fit into this bag? Not really, is it? It is not too popular a subject in terms of considerations on the magnificence of ancient Rome, which is a pity. One of the foundations of the empire, an indispensable element of its social fabric and a determinant of high development was the first such modern and advanced sewage and sanitation system in the world. In order to show you every aspect of life in the Roman Empire, I invite you on a trip through its not-so-smelly, but extremely important and interesting…side.

Magic is always known to be at odds with science. One believes in the truth, while the other bends it. However sometimes, magic and science find themselves on the same side.

Almost everyone likes animals. Most of us probably once had or currently have a pet. In this matter, we are almost no different from the ancient Romans, who also had their animal friends, not only those that are most popular today, such as dogs or cats, but also parrots, snakes, lions, bears, and even monkeys.

Today, business travel is standard all over the world. A multitude of means of transport, a wide range of accommodations and other facilities, such as telecommunications, make travelling for business purposes quick, comfortable and safe. And what were such issues like in the vast Roman Empire? The answer comes from the detailed, and therefore extremely valuable, journals and letters of a certain official who meticulously recorded his travels.

Ancient Rome was a multicultural state, which owed its relative prosperity to the skilful balancing between the strength of the Roman army in the occupied territories and openness to local culture and non-interference in the everyday life of conquered peoples as much as possible. However, this apparent openness of the Romans to these cultures was not altruistic. Ultimately, significant inhabitants of the conquered areas adopted the Roman way of being and language, which degraded local cultures by merging with Latin culture. In the case of Greek, however, the complete opposite happened. It was the Romans who, after conquering Hellas, propagated this language not only in the east but also in the west of the empire.

As is well known, women in ancient Rome had very limited rights, but their social position was much stronger than that of Greek women. Despite this, she still remained completely dependent on men – first her father and then her husband. Manus, or the passing of the wife under the authority of the husband, was closely related to the institution of marriage. If we combine the concepts of marriage and manus, this requires more explanation.

Development of Roman gardens (horti) was greatly influenced by Greek culture. The impact of the Greek style was first due to the gardens of Magna Graecia and Sicily. Then the East began to play a role, along with conquests and numerous contacts. Territorial gains under the Republic led to the accumulation of wealth in the hands of an influential elite who developed their great estates, including gardens.

The ancient Romans created a very developed culture. They conquered huge areas and where they settled, they introduced their customs. To this day, we can admire their technological achievements preserved in the form of monuments. Their greatest achievements certainly include thermal baths, also known as baths. They were a place of meetings and numerous entertainments. However, their most important function was to take care of hygiene.