The Roman Peace

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• The Roman Peace
• Cultural pluralism and cultural unity
• The purpose of the educational system was not
  merely to teach how to read and write but how to
  read and write well.
• Like wealth and titles, culture was regarded as a
  mark of distinction and almost as eagerly sought.
• Greek and Latin.
• Focus on the classical texts
• The ultimate goal of the educational system was
  the mastery of the spoken word.
• There was no philosophy of education as a tool
  for socialization in the modern sense. Education
  was narrowly conceived as the prerogative of a
  small elite that had the time and the money to
  spend on it. Extending this kind of education
  broadly would have seemed absurd and probably
  impossible.
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• The middle class strove for culture and advanced
  as far as their resources would permit them.
• City life
• Greater degree of proximity between the classes
• Trials, elections, public announcements, games,
  theater, religious celebrations, baths, gymnasia,
  markets.
• Life was carried on in a very personal, intimate
  manner
• The rich were expected to make tangible
  contributions to the public life of the city by
  serving, unremunerated, as magistrates, giving
  festivals, maintaining the food and water supply,
  erecting public buildings, and generally
  contributing to the essentials of civilized life.
  (p. 372)
• The ranking of cities
• Title of Roman colony
• The Italian Right
• Cities of Roman and Latin citizenship
• Native cities
• Villages
• Districts

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• The ranking of cities
• Title of Roman colony
• The Italian Right
• Cities of Roman and Latin citizenship
• Native cities
• Villages
• Districts
•  
• Ludi state festivals honoring gods. At the time
  of Augustus, the Roman calendar had 77 days of
  public games honoring the gods within two
  centuries the number had risen to 176.
• Circus races
• Theaters
• Raunch vaudeville
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• Gladiatorial shows were originally staged as
  funeral games honoring the dead, and as a way of
  drawing attention to the virtue of the deceased.
  They were not financed by the state buy by the
  individual who felt he had an obligation (a
  munus munera, pl.) to a dead person. (p. 375)
• The munera became politicized.
• The slaughter of animals had symbolic value
• Perditi homines (prisoners of war, criminals,
  slaves)

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The great cultural diversity of the Empire was
reflected in the chaotic variety of religions,
cults, philosophies, and theosophies that offered
themselves to the inhabitants of the Roman
world.   The emperor was the high priest and head
of the Roman state religion, and as such
responsible for maintaining right relations
between the gods and humankind. While alive he
was a semi divine intermediary between human
beings and the gods, and when dead he was a god
himself. (p. 377)   Mithraism An Iranian
religion, Mithraism, was popular in the army and
offered an attractive combination of doctrine,
ritual, and ethical practice. Its adherents
believed that the cosmos was in constant tension
between the forces of good and evil, light and
darkness, life and death. (p. 378.) Excluded
women   Health of Paganism? pp. 378-379.
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Judaism and Christianity Judaism and
Christianity were both exclusive in the
membership and both placed emphasis on the close
adhesion to strict ethical practices and dogmatic
beliefs.   The liturgy of Judaism and
Christianity had the advantages of both the
philosophers lecture hall and the sense of
community and brotherhood of the mystery cults.
  To the Jewish belief that God was the Lord of
History, Christians added the assertion that
history had found its culmination in the lowly
person of Jesus of Nazareth, who was executed by
the imperial prefect Pontus Pilate during the
reign of the emperor Tiberius. (p. 379.)   Among
the major issues settled in the early years of
the Christian community was the question of
whether Jesus message was to be limited to Jews
or could be extended to gentiles as well. One of
the principal figures in this momentous debate
was a Hellenized Jew, Paul of Tarsus.   Rabbinic
Judaism (The destruction of the Temple in
Jerusalem by the Romans in A.D. 70.
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• In its earliest form Christianity had the
  potential to alter familial relations profoundly.
  It challenged the old concepts of patriarchal
  dominance by suggesting that all members of the
  Christian community were equal and that the
  family of Christians had replaced the family of
  the secular world.
•  
• Roman citizens were potentially capable of a full
  political life at Rome. In addition, they had
  certain rights in criminal law not possessed by
  anyone else.
•  
• In A.D. 212, the emperor Caracalla extended Roman
  citizenship to almost everyone in the Empire.
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• Honestiores and Humiliores
• Honestiores could claim special treatment under
  the law and were subject to much less stringent
  criminal punishments.
• Those who belonged to the honestiores included
  first of all senators and equestrians, then
  decurions (local senators), soldiers, veterans,
  and dome professionals. The scramble for
  citizenship became a scramble for inclusion in
  one of the higher classifications. (p. 383.)
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• The Senate remained at the apex of the Roman
  social pyramid
• Even though the Senate lost its political power
  as a corporate, governing body, it never lost is
  social position.
• In a status-conscious society, membership in the
  senatorial order represented the ultimate
  achievement of a mans life.
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The Equestrian Civil Service   The Decurion
Class   Collegia burial societies. The purpose
of collegia was to bury the dad and honor their
memory with inscriptions and with celebrations at
banquets at which all the members gathered. The
Roman cult of the dead was deeply ingrained, and
its perpetuation was of the utmost importance.
If a family should die out, the burial society
would indefinitely continue to honor the memory
of its deceased, especially if they were
benefactors. (pp. 392-393.) The collegia were
open to all members of society, servile or fee,
male or female, all classes could indulge in
their desire to have a title, achieve some
distinction, and be above someone else.