A ROMAN’S LIFE
From birth to death
GROWING UP
The newborn is given a name on their 9th day
Boy’s name: Gaius Iulius Caesar
Girl’s name: Julia
At the age of 15 a boy becomes a man, namely a full citizen and wears the
toga virilis.
Around the same age a girl is usually given in her first marriage
Life expectancy is on average shorter (about 30-35 years), which makes an
earlier start in life imperative.
Admission to manhood/womanhood comes with the advent of sexual (not
necessarily emotional) maturity.
IS THIS A TOGA VIRILIS?
NOPE. THAT WAS THE TOGA PRAETEXTA. IS THIS A TOGA
V IRIL IS?
NOPE. THIS WAS JUST A SHEET ON AN IDIOT. IS THIS THE TOGA
V IRIL IS?
N O P E . T H E Y A R E D E C O R AT E D T O G A E O F M A G I S T R AT E S. W H AT A B O U T T H I S
O N E ?
NOPE. THAT’S A DRESSIS THIS A TOGA?
N O P E . T H I S I S A G R E E K S T Y L E O U T F I T ( T O O S H O RT. T H I S O N E M AY B E ?
NOPE. THIS IS A SOLDIER’S OUTFIT. THIS ONE, MAYBE?
THIS THE ONE
EDUCATION
Primary education: Maybe at home, but usually at a ludus
(school), common for boys and girls (the Greeks only sent
boys to school, while girls were schooled at home).
Lessons included languages (Greek and Latin) arithmetic
and some physical exercise.
Secondary education usually at a grammar school with a
grammaticus. Involved reading and learning Greek and
Latin literature.
SCHOOL
THE ARTES LIBERALES
HIGHER EDUCATION
Rhetoric
(Quintilian Institutio Oratoria), Cicero De Oratore
Philosophy
In Christian times:
Theology
TECHNICAL EDUCATION (e.g. Medicine or Engeneering)
were offered through apprenticeships with a master.
MARRIAGE
Often for political reasons
A contract set out the property arrangements and legitimized the
marriage
The ceremony bears many similarities with ours (engagement ring,
covering of the bride, white dress, fertility symbols) ,because we have
adopted these from the Romans.
A wedding party and a bridal procession, is common in many cultures\
Marriage, like death, was a socially stratified event, where the rich
had the opportunity for ostentatious behavior.