Daily Life in Ancient Rome

Daily Life in Ancient Rome
The people in ancient Rome lived everyday life in reference to the social status of the people the poorest of the people being the most oppressed in the kingdom. The people in the other societies were, however different from the ancient Romans. The book “Roman Blood” is a history book that depicts the times of the ancient ruler Sulla, who was a dictator in 80 B.C. The ruler like many others was above the law and had command over numerous numbers of people. Ancient Rome was associated with a number of ancient kingdoms that had already started to become civilized. These include the Greek, Egyptian and the Mesopotamian societies that were engaged heavily by dictatorial rule (Bowman). These four societies were the beginning of civilization in the world and calibrated the revolution of the world. The people of these societies, however, engaged in their daily lives different from the others.
Politics
In ancient Rome, the people of this society were ruled by a dictator. The dictator was Sulla, who would rule the kingdom of Rome. During his rule, he made Rome one of the most powerful kingdoms that were civilized. The kingdom of Rome extended to great distances which allowed him to take over numerous kingdoms in the vicinity. His self-assured personality and bravery made him one of the most ruthless leaders in ancient history. In most of the texts that describe the ancient times, Sulla is mentioned quite a number of times. This is a clear depiction of his personality. The people of Rome and Italy feared him and during his time as a military general, he was accorded the grass crown. This is one of the highest and most prestigious military honors in Rome. He was described by Machiavelli as have the ideal characteristics of a leader by being both cunning and brave.
It is through such leadership traits from the leaders of Rome that the society was regarded as the most powerful and exceptionally unique. The Hellenistic kingdom was a society of the Greeks (Heli). Though the society consisted of a population that was privileged and had all that life could offer, it was not as powerful as the Roman Empire. After great leaders like Alexander the Great died, the kingdom quickly crumbled and was taken over by the Roman Empire. They were able to conquer various kingdoms like those of the Egyptians and influenced their culture on them. This led to the formation of the Ptolemaic society that had its capital in Alexandria (Bowman).
Religion
Ancient Rome maintained a tradition that was known as a Pomeranian. This was a line that was ploughed around the original city of the Rome. This became a sacred ground for the ancient Roman society. The people were not allowed to touch the area, let alone go near it. They would not be allowed to go close to the area and no one knew of the things beyond the city. There were many legends of the pomerium and numerous consequences would befall those who did wrong against the legends. The people would not even be allowed to cultivate or erect buildings near the sacred ground. Sulla, during his reign as the leader of the ancient Rome enforced such rules. This is a clear indication of his belief in the sacred and religious beliefs of the Romans. The pomerium had been untouched since the times of the kings. This continued on during his reign and continued to enforce more laws that were previously in the past and used them on the people.
One of the things that he did was increase the boundary of the pomerium. The people had a greater distance from the sacred ground. The Mesopotamian society like other societies used temples as their sacred ground. These were accessible to the civilian population as they were led I worship by their priests in prayer for their lands and their properties. The Mesopotamian society would be led by the sacred leaders as the temple had ownership of the numerous resources of the community. These resources included the land. Therefore, land disputes were often settled in the temple and transactions of purchase and sale of the lands would be conducted in the temple.
Economic Organization
The Roman Empire played a major role in trade and economic activity. The main activity carried out was agricultural practice. The growing of foods and keeping of animals was present in the Roman Empire. The society, with the increase in civilization, engaged in revolutionized economic organization. As described in the text Roman Blood, Cicero hires Gordianus to help in carrying out an investigation (Saylor). In these ancient times, the people will come up with different ways in which they could earn a living. Carrying out an investigation was one of the ways. The people of ancient Rome were able to produce logical findings that allowed the people to make logical decisions in the court system of the time. The making of a revolutionized investigative system, as well as a lawyer with a gift of rhetoric, allowed many deaths to be avoided. During these ancient times, crime would usually be punished by death. Sextus Roscius was accused wrongfully of killing another man, his father, the elder Sextus Roscius. However, because of the revolutionized system of investigation, and Cicero’s way with rhetoric, he was able to escape death.
The people of the Rome also engaged in a form of pleasure economics. The people of the Rome engaged in the sale of sex in exchange of money. The ancient Romans were able to sell women regarded as whores in exchange for money (Heli). The text Roman Blood clearly depicts this in the times of Sulla. Women would make weavings that depicted the cultures of the society. However, the men would sell them in the markets in exchange of monetary value.
Gender Roles
Women in the ancient times of Rome were overlooked a lot. The ancient Romans, especially under the rule of Sulla were able to embrace traditional rules. However, because of influence from other societies like the Hellenistic society, the people were in conflict of the roles of gender. The traditional rules stated that the women would stay indoors while they took care of the home and wove home furnishings, clothing, and art. Like in the Roman Blood, “Where is this girl? She’ll bring us food in a moment that is why I answered the door myself- she’s busy in the pantry” (Saylor, 1). Clearly, the women were believed to belong in the home and all the duties of the home were theirs including answering the door. The people of ancient Rome due to their revolutionized ways allowed the women to engage in practices that were regarded for males only. The women in the society would roam in the kingdom market places and the political sectors of the rule. The women would actively be involved in making the best out of what they acquired from society. The challenge came when many leaders opposed the women from ruling in the society. They saw this as a disregard for the male figure in the society.
Works Cited
Bowman, Alan Keir. Egypt After the Pharaohs: 332 BC–AD 642; From Alexander to the Arab Conquest. 2nd ed. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996.
Gleb, J. Structure of Ancient Mesopotamian Society. P. 36-38
Heli, Richard. Roman blood: Steven Saylor. New York : St. Martin 's Press, 1991.
Hellenistic Period. Kingdoms demography structures Greek Society.
Saylor, Steven. Roman Blood. London, Constable & Robinson Ltd, 1997.

Cited: Bowman, Alan Keir. Egypt After the Pharaohs: 332 BC–AD 642; From Alexander to the Arab Conquest. 2nd ed. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996. Gleb, J. Structure of Ancient Mesopotamian Society. P. 36-38 Heli, Richard. Roman blood: Steven Saylor. New York : St. Martin 's Press, 1991. Hellenistic Period. Kingdoms demography structures Greek Society. Saylor, Steven. Roman Blood. London, Constable & Robinson Ltd, 1997.