Unit 11: Domestic and Personal Concerns
Contents and layout ©1999 Joseph J. Hughes, Ph.D.
Revised 09 November 2000
ientaculum garum
prandium vomitorium
cena medicus
puls memento mori
stola toga
I. Meals
A. basis of Roman meals
1. Roman meals
a. ientaculum (breakfast)
1). bread
2). cheese
b. prandium (lunch)
1). bread
2). wine, cold meat, fruit (if available)
c. cena (dinner): main meal
1). usually three courses
2). followed by wine-guzzling
2. staples of diet
a. puls (porridge)
1). grain or spelt
2). garlic, cheese, and/or fruit
3). meat (if available)
a. bread
1). late development
2). came in second century BC
b. garum (a/k/a liquamen)
1). favorite seasoning of Romans
2). made of rotten fish entrails
3). ancestor of Worchestershire sauce
c. wine
1). usually watered down to grape juice
2). stronger stuff left for drunks
B. poor folks
1. accustomed to survive on necessities
a. puls or bread
b. wine when possible
c. water when necessary
2. kitchen facilities
a. sometimes a charcoal brazier
b. not very elaborate at all
c. remember no ventilation
C. rich folks
1. dinner with Martial
a. cheap but lots of variety
b. moderate delicacies
2. dinner with Trimalchio
a. dinner raised to an art form
b. lots of ridiculous courses
1). pigs made of lard
2). stuffed dormice
3). emphasis on weirdness
c. vomitorium
3. armies of cooks, huge kitchens
a. lots of funky recipes
b. the famous cookbook of Apicius
4. style of eating
a. recline on couches
1). three couches in a U shape
2). positions had more or less honor
b. women usually sit on chairs
1). this tended to change
2). what of the mos maiorum
II. Clothing
A. Fabrics
1. wool: Romans raised sheep from very early on
a. matronae spun it at home
b. very mos maiorum
c. some wool came in various tints
2. linen: the best came from ancient Egypt
3. cotton: eventually cane in from Greek east
4. silk eventually imported from China (rare and expensive)
B. Women's attire
1. stola: traditional garb of the matrona
a. belted at waist
b. palla or shawl worn over it
2. underwear:
a. subligaculum or loincloth
b. strophium or breastband
c. undertunic
3. hairstyles/makeup
a. Roman women went for curls and fancy hair
b. often dyed with henna, etc.
c. makeup also an artform
1). Ovid: "On the Art of Makeup"
2). sometimes men wore it too
4. jewelry
a. bracelets, necklaces, earrings
b. just about every jewel except for diamonds
5. shoes: sandals or 1/2 boots
C. Men's attire
1. toga or SPQR corporate attire
a. manly toga: age 17
b. toga candidata : used for running for office
c. various purple stripes depending on rank
2. other clothes
a. cloaks and pullovers of various types
b. tunic belted at waist
1). sometimes underwear
2). only Persians and sissies wore pants
3. hair and beards
a. hair always close cut
b. beards part of the mos maiorum
1). people were clean shaven in 1st cents BC/AD
2). Hadrian brought beards back into fashion AD 117-138
III. Illness and Medicine
A. diseases
1. epidemics
2. common diseases
a. dysentery (Cicero)
b. asthma (Seneca the Younger)
c. colds
d. epilepsy (Julius Caesar)
3. hysteria
a. "womb disease"
b. any disease perceived in women but not in men
B. medicine
1. status of doctors (L. -medicus-)
a. medicine not a formal science
1). often practiced by amateurs
2). no idea of licensing
b. mistrusted by Romans
1). understandably skeptical of amateurs
2). medicine often a sideline
c. not a particularly honorable profession
1). often Greek slaves or freedmen
2). not considered honorable for the wealthy
2. the Greeks and medicine (important for essay on Greex)
a. Etruscans also contributed
b. Greek doctors considered the best
c. medical "science" primarily taken from Greeks
d. Pliny the Elder on Greek medicine (R 106)
3. midwifery
a. honored science
b. valued role for women
c. traditional exemption from mos maiorum
d. what about it today?
C. sophistication of remedies
1. native Roman remedies
a. prayers and spells
1). Romans naturally superstitious
2). most primitive form of "medicine"
b. potions and preparations
1). broken bone: ashes of goat's jaw
2). bruises: boar manure
2. techniques of Greek medicine
a. 200 different implements found at Pompeii
b. surgeries:
1). tonsillectomies, cataracts
2). various dental operations
IIII. Death
A. life expectancies
1. wealthy: long, happy life
a. Augustus: 76 years
b. Livia: 86 years
2. poor: nasty, brutish, short
a. malnutrition
b. childbirth
c. disease and lack of medical care
d. 80% of epitaphs at Ostia for under thirty
B. attitudes toward death
1. memento mori:
a. Romans obsessed with death
1). liked to be reminded of it in art
2). carpe diem theme
3). thought to make life more meaningful
b. reason behind elaborate rules for burial
2. writings
a. consolatio: literary exercise for the rich and lettered
b. gravestones
1). full name and age
2). offices and public honors (wealthy)
3). professional successes (freedmen)
C. funerals
1. ceremony
a. poor folks
1). simple
2). unceremonious
3). buried in catacombs
4). if they were buried
b. rich folks (R 115)
1). lie in state
2). long funeral procession
3). eulogy delivered
4). imago (deathmasks) paraded in public
5). buried in rich sepulchers
2. scads of funeral laws (R 113)
a. regarding funeral clubs (insurance)
b. regulated other things
1). vandalism of tombstones
2). location of tombs
3). periods of mourning
V. Roman Graffiti
A. good source of "personal concerns"
1. anybody can write on a wall
2. grammar and spelling decidedly unstandard
B. personal concerns from Pompeii
1. disease: "I have a head cold"
2. personal dislike: "Albanus is a bugger"
3. sports: "Epaphra is not a ball player"
4. romance: "Marcus loves Spendusa"
5. sex: "I have screwed many girls here".
6. food: "let anyone who invites me to dinner prosper"
7. religion: "A benevolent god dwells here in this house"
Return to Table of Contents
Return to LLT 326 Home Page