How Do We Know? Discovering the Romans

04 1515 CH03 6/25/01 4:07 PM Page 31 Chapter 3 How Do We Know? Discovering the Romans In This Chapter ➤ Evidence for Roman civilization and cultu...
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Chapter 3

How Do We Know? Discovering the Romans In This Chapter ➤ Evidence for Roman civilization and culture ➤ Where the important archeological evidence comes from ➤ Where the important textual evidence comes from

When reading what someone tells you about an ancient culture, especially about what the people were like and what they thought, it’s always a good idea to ask the question, “How do we know?” Information comes from a variety of sources: the physical remains of what that culture left behind, evidence of how that culture influenced subsequent or surrounding cultures, and written texts from or about that culture. Added to this mix comes a hearty dose of (hopefully educated) imagination and careful analysis. The Romans left behind practically everything, and in practically every possible form. Thousands of archeological remains litter the Mediterranean landscape from the Middle East to Scotland, from North Africa to the Danube. Pompeii and Herculaneum have been preserved as time capsules of the first century C.E. Rome’s presence, customs, and language made a profound and discernable impact upon surrounding and conquered peoples. Finally, we have hundreds of thousands of public and private texts from over a thousand years.

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Part 1 ➤ All Roads Lead to Rome

Digging In: Ruins, Remains, and Archeological Sites The Romans were famous builders and engineers, and the remains that they left us show that, when possible, they built to last. Many of these remains (such as roads, buildings, bridges, and aqueducts) are still in use today, or were up to recent times. Many of these constructions were either preserved during the Middle Ages through conversion to other uses or lost because their building stone was used for other projects. Other remote locations remain remarkably preserved.

Veto! People have an urge to romanticize ancient cultures as utopian (that is, an ideal and perfected society) in direct proportion to the scarcity of texts we possess by them. This has happened at different times with the Egyptians, Etruscans, and Minoans of Bronze Age Crete. Without textual evidence, keep a big salt shaker at hand when reading about the character, religion, or ethics of ancient cultures, and always ask, “How do we know?”

Rome Itself As you can imagine, you can’t walk anywhere in Rome without stepping on several layers of Roman archeological remains. It’s often frustrating for the people who actually live there: They can’t do anything above or below ground without having to stop and carefully consider what is being lost and found. A prime example of this is the ongoing construction of Rome’s subway system, which seems to be as eternal as the city itself. What is so remarkable about Rome is being able to see Roman history represented from beginning to present in its archeological remains. The Romans were conscious, even in early times and especially in the case of the Forum, of preserving their legacy, and other Roman buildings were preserved by being converted into other uses. The result is a visible record of history, quite literally, in the making. This dramatic mixture of ancient to modern interconnection swirls around you wherever you look. When you go down to the Tiber you can see the still functional Cloaca Maxima (big sewer) that the Etruscan kings built in the sixth century B.C.E. to create

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Chapter 3 ➤ How Do We Know? Discovering the Romans the Forum. Head out of the train station and you enter the magnificent Baths of Diocletian, which were transformed into a Church by Michelangelo in the sixteenth century as a fitting last word to this persecutor of Christians. Take a walk past the remains of the Theater of Marcellus, upon whose clear foundations grow modern apartments and offices in the curved shape of the seating area. It’s not seamless history, but the stitching, as in a quilt, brings an added appreciation.

Around Italy There are, of course, Roman ruins throughout Italy. If you have a car, you can follow the ancient Roman roads through the countryside. Most of the time modern roads have been paved over or been put alongside the ancient ones, but there are some places where people continue to use the ancient stone roadways for local access! Depending on your driving skills and adrenaline addiction, traveling by car makes for a thrilling—or chilling—way to explore the geography of the past.

Great Caesar’s Ghost! Public baths were one of the most important of public spaces and included bathing facilities, libraries, eating spaces, and both indoor and outdoor exercise and leisure areas. The great public baths built in Rome by the Emperor Caracula (C.E. 211–217) have been transformed in recent years into a splendid venue for opera and musical performances by such entertainers as “The Three Tenors.”

Roamin’ the Romans The Museo Civico in Gubbio preserves 7 of 14 bronze tablets discovered in C.E. 1444. These tablets, the largest of which is about 3 by 2 feet, were written at different times between 400 and 90 B.C.E. in the Osco-Umbrian dialect of the area. They contain religious associations, customs, and rituals and provide a wonderful illustration of how culturally and linguistically diverse Roman Italy remained even in areas often thought of as completely “Romanized.”

When you explore Italy, however, remember that what you’re seeing is often not Roman in the sense of the city of Rome. Italy has (and had) its own distinct cultures and subcultures, and people were proud of regional differences even as they became

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Part 1 ➤ All Roads Lead to Rome part of the Roman world. So as you drive into Tuscany, you’ll see Roman ruins with a distinctly Etruscan flair as well as the pre-Roman Etruscan remains at Cerveteri; as you drive into Umbria, you’ll see the “Roman” ruins change with the landscape and the people. Visit Gubbio and see tablets written in the native dialect of rugged ancient people of this area. Drive south from Rome to Naples and into Magna Graecia and Campania, where the ancient ruins of Paestum remind you of the Greek foundations upon which cities like Naples, Tarento, and Syracuse rest.

From Britain to Babylon: Remains from the Frontiers and Provinces The border areas of the Roman Empire were not only areas of great conflict and Roman defensive works, but areas of intensive cultural and economic exchange. Ruins from these areas contain both Roman military forts (which housed troops stationed along the border) and fortifications (the defensive walls and towers protecting borders, towns, and forts), as well as a vibrant array of towns and settlements that thrived along the borders during different periods. The most famous of these frontier archeological sites is Hadrian’s Wall, which roughly divides England from Scotland. The 73-mile wall not only featured Roman garrisons and guard stations, but military and civilian settlements along its path. You can also find spectacular remains in other far-flung areas such as Volubilis (in Morocco), Leptis Magna (in Libya), Zeugma (in Syria), and Aquincum (in Hungary).

Gifts of Vesuvius: Pompeii and Herculaneum In C.E. 79, Vesuvius, a rumbling volcanic mountain just south of Naples, roared to life and blew half of its contents onto the countryside. In the sudden eruption, two towns and many of their inhabitants were covered and preserved for later discovery. Initially looted for treasures and art, Pompeii has become a well-trod tourist destination and the focus of such popular media as The Last Days of Pompeii. But the eruption of Vesuvius was a real-life drama and disaster film of its own. The eruption of Vesuvius occasioned the first recorded eyewitness account of a volcanic eruption, given by Pliny the Younger. His uncle, Pliny the Elder, died after sailing to rescue some friends who lived closer to the mountain. At least 3,600 people died in the eruption, which began at about noon on the 24th of August, C.E. 79. The volcano spewed four to five feet of ash and pumice onto Pompeii in the first several hours of the eruption. The ash did not kill the inhabitants. In fact, many were walking around on top of the ash when they were killed and covered by surges of volcanic gasses and debris shortly after the same surges had destroyed Herculaneum. A heavy ash fall covered the town and its inhabitants.

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Chapter 3 ➤ How Do We Know? Discovering the Romans In Herculaneum, many residents had already left when the material from the volcanic eruption began cascading down the slopes toward the town, reaching it in about four minutes. It’s not clear whether remaining residents saw the surge coming or were already taking cover, but several hundred people were under the piers along the water when they were killed instantly as the volcanic gasses and mud flows boiled over and poured into the town. The flow hit with the force of an atomic weapon and carried parts of the town for several miles, but subsequent flows buried Herculaneum until almost no part of the town showed above the surface. In Pompeii, the ash fall preserved far more of the buildings, leaving even signs and interior painting intact. In Herculaneum, the mud and volcanic debris collapsed buildings and destroyed more of the architecture but sealed and preserved artifacts inside the buildings. This has enabled the recovery of important organic items, like papyrus rolls containing personal and literary works of the time. People and animals were also covered. As bodies decayed, they left empty impressions in the hardened rock. These forms, when filled in with plaster (like bronze poured into a mold), yield fascinating and terrifying sculptures. A man clutches his money purse. A pregnant woman clutches her stomach. A dog writhes in the agony of asphyxiation. Hordes of hopeful fugitives remain trapped under a pier. Notwithstanding the initial looting, Pompeii and Herculaneum have provided an incredible treasuretrove of artifacts and information and give us a remarkably comprehensive look into Roman life in the first century C.E. Besides the archeological finds, the towns have been used as a touchstone for dating and studying artistic styles, architecture, urban planning, social and civic organization, economics, and private life.

Great Caesar’s Ghost! I live in Washington state. We got a first-hand view of a modern Vesuvius when Mt. St. Helens blew its top in May of 1981. The force of the blast leveled thousands of acres of forest and covered several states with ash. The mud flow obliterated the Spirit Lake Lodge (including a modern Pliny, the obstinate innkeeper Harry Truman, who refused to leave) and washed a good portion of the mountain down the Cowlitz river looking like a cataclysmic milk shake.

Veto! Pompeii has often been depicted as a typical Roman town (a kind of Roman Mayberry), but it was a great deal more complicated that that. Both Pompeii and Herculaneum had their own cultures, styles, and traditions. Pompeii offers us a precious glimpse into the past, but it was typically Roman only in the way that Seattle would be typically American if it were covered by the eruption of Mt. Rainier.

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Lend Me Your Ears “On August twenty-fourth at about one o’clock, my mother pointed out a cloud to him [Pliny the Elder] that was very unusual both for its size and for its appearance. He had just taken a cold bath and was warming up by lying about in the sun after breakfast while reading a bit. He called for his slippers and went up the hill from which the wonder could best be seen. A cloud was rising up out of a mountain (this was only later recognized to be Vesuvius because it was hard to tell from such a distance from which mountain the cloud was coming at the time) which was closest in form and shape to an umbrella pine tree. For it rose up on a kind of very tall trunk and poured outward at the top like in branches. It was sometimes bright white, and sometimes dark and spotted, depending on whether it had brought up ash or earth.” —Pliny the Younger, Letter 6.16, written to the historian Tacitus, ca C.E. 110

Under Water: What Goes Down Sometimes Comes Up

Roamin’ the Romans When in Turkey, be sure to visit Bodrum (ancient Halicarnassus), where there is a fine museum dedicated to underwater archeology. Much more than Roman artifacts are there, of course, but you’ll get an overview of the role that seafaring and merchant trade played throughout ancient history.

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The Mediterranean is littered with shipwrecks, and the sunken treasure that they have provided includes more than objects of art and gold. They also tell us a great deal about trade, travel, and technology. Freshwater lakes have also yielded some remarkable finds. Two well-preserved vessels from the early empire were excavated between 1929 and 1932 at the bottom of Lake Nemi, not far outside of Rome. Excavators drained the lake (using, in part, the old Roman aqueduct) down to the ships, which were placed in a museum designed for their preservation and study. Unfortunately, the Nazis burned it all as they abandoned Italy. Drawings, some photographs, and other material remain. Efforts are underway to rebuild full-scale working replicas of the original ships.

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Chapter 3 ➤ How Do We Know? Discovering the Romans

Words and Texts We have a great deal of textual evidence from and about the Romans. Both Greek and Roman culture were highly literate, which means that people ranging from private individuals to state officials created a variety of written documents. On the public and state level, there is a great deal of literature that recorded what happened and when, described decrees and laws, and proclaimed the purpose or origin of buildings and public monuments. Other public texts, like the signs that adorn the walls of Pompeii, give us an idea of the kinds of public discourse that took place in a bustling Roman town. Literature of all kinds, much of it highly introspective and self-analytic, circulated in the public sphere. Moreover, a great deal of personal material has been recovered, which gives us a look into the lives of individuals—evidence often sorely lacking in the study of ancient cultures.

Official Documents Official texts were often preserved in what was literally a “hard copy”—stone or bronze. Treaties, dedications, proclamations, and official documents such as the Twelve Tables (see the following list) were inscribed to ensure their permanence. Other official records were kept in less secure ways, and most were lost in the sack of Rome by the Gauls in 390 B.C.E. The most important official public documents for the study of Roman history and culture are … ➤ Lapis Niger: Also called the Black Stone, this is the only original document of Roman history that we possess, and the oldest monument in the Roman Forum. The Lapis Niger is a fragmented stone pyramid dating to the period of the Kings (sixth century B.C.E.) with inscriptions concerning ritual law and practice. ➤ Twelve Tables: These were law codes originally written on wood and later inscribed in bronze (see Chapter 5, “Seven Hills and One Big Sewer: Rome Becomes a City,” for more on them). Although we do not possess the originals, we have a good idea of what they contained. Early Roman historians had access to them, and Roman schoolchildren of the first century B.C.E. were forced to memorize them much as has been done at times in the United States with the Constitution and Bill of Rights. ➤ Fasti: These were originally public lists of days on which legal and public business could be held. They were kept by magistrates and priests. Over time, these lists came to include yearly records of public concern such as magistrates, treaties, triumphs, and portents. These records were used by early Roman historians for chronological and historical information. The Fasti are more accurate for dates after about 300 B.C.E., but overall they are pretty accurate. Augustus

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Part 1 ➤ All Roads Lead to Rome had information combined from several fasti and set up the Fasti Capitolini (also known as the Regia Inscription), which covered the period from Romulus to about 12 B.C.E. You can see fragments of this inscription in Capitoline Museum in Rome. ➤ Annales Maximi: These were yearly records kept by the Pontifex Maximus, or chief priest. These were kept since the time of the kings, but like many other records, perished in the Gallic sack of 390 B.C.E. Various other lists were brought back together to restore the record in about 133 B.C.E.

Veto! We possess few original documents from the Romans. Much of what we know about official records, such as the Twelve Tables, comes from quotations by other authors or fragments of inscriptions that are themselves copies. A few original documents of personal nature, such as papyrus fragments, graffiti, and signs, have been preserved in archeological finds, and there are many epitaphs with personalized inscriptions. But we possess no “first edition” works of Roman literature. These works were passed on through copies and preserved in libraries and monasteries.

Roman Literature

Veto! Oral sources are not necessarily suspect simply because they are passed on by word of mouth rather than in written documents. Many cultures, ancient as well as modern, preserve details of their history in traditional oral forms that are remarkably accurate and comprehensive.

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The Romans left an incredible amount of literature, and we’ll cover the specifics in Chapter 11, “Literature and Culture of the Republic,” and Chapter 21, “Cogito Ergo Sum: The Life of the Mind.” There is poetry, history, philosophy, biography, satire, ethnography—even a cookbook! Overall, however, the Romans loved to talk about themselves, both in self-adulation and selfcriticism. They were also quite conscious of preserving their legacy and their traditions. Consequently, we have lots of material about almost all aspects of Roman life—once the Romans began to record them. Unfortunately, they didn’t start to pursue literature until the end of the second century B.C.E., so much of what we know about the early Romans comes from later sources and oral tradition.

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I Was Here: Graffiti and Other Unofficial Remains It may surprise you, but the scribbles and scratches that you find on bathroom walls and alleyways has a long and honorable history as far as cultural historians are concerned. We learn a great deal that you might never think of from such writings. For example, since most people (like myself) tend to (mis)spell things phonetically, misspelled graffiti can tell us how Latin was pronounced in different times and in different places. Graffiti can also give us an insight into the composition of neighborhoods, social issues and attitudes, and facets of culture that were originally meant for public viewing but rarely, if ever, seen.

Lend Me Your Ears Here are a few examples of graffiti found at Pompeii. ➤ Town rivalries: puteolanis felicia omnibus Nucerinis felicia et uncum Pompeianis Petecusanis, meaning “Happiness to the people of Puzzuoli! Happiness to everyone of Nuceria! And the meat hook for the Pompeians and Pithecusians”; ➤ I was here: Lucius pinxit, meaning “Lucius wrote (painted) this”; ➤ “It’s a dirty job,” but: pecunia non olet, meaning “Money don’t stink.”

What Other People Said It’s always helpful, when studying a culture, to have the perspectives of both insiders and outsiders. There are other writers who wrote in other languages (mostly Greek) about the Romans and events in which Rome was involved. Most of these authors were “Romanized” either as captives in war or by acculturation, and they often sought to explain Roman successes and the new world order to their audiences. Four of the most influential were … ➤ Polybius (ca 220–120 B.C.E.). Polybius was an influential Greek who was taken to Rome after the battle of Pydna (168 B.C.E.). There he became the tutor of a powerful Roman, Scipio Aemelianus. Eventually he oversaw part of the reorganization of Greece after the destruction of Corinth in 146 B.C.E. and wrote a history about Rome’s domination of the Mediterranean. In it he includes a famous analysis of the Roman constitution as being a superior mix of the elements of monarchy (the Roman consuls), aristocracy (the Roman senate), and democracy (the Roman assemblies).

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Part 1 ➤ All Roads Lead to Rome ➤ Flavius Josephus (ca C.E. 37–100). Josephus was a Jewish statesman, soldier, and Pharisee during the Jewish rebellion of 68. He became an attendant of the emperors Vespasian and Titus and was present at the fall of Jerusalem in 70. He returned to Rome and became a citizen. There he wrote several works which include his perspective on Rome and the Romans. The first was “The History of the Jewish War Against the Romans,” which was originally written in Aramaic for Jews in Mesopotamia but then translated into Greek. His other works were written in Greek and included a history of the Jews from Creation to 66 B.C.E., an autobiography, and two essays against Apion of Alexandria, an anti-Semitic scholar. ➤ Plutarch (ca C.E. 46–120). Plutarch was a prolific Greek writer, moralist, and lecturer who lived in central Greece. He appears to have traveled the empire on several occasions. His works are too many to describe here, but they include the biographical “Parallel Lives,” in which the lives of 23 famous Greeks are told alongside that of an equal number of famous Romans with a brief comparison after each pair. ➤ Cassius Dio (ca C.E. 150–235). Dio was from Nicea in Bythinia (modern Turkey). He became consul in Rome and governor of Africa and Dalmatia. Although a Roman citizen and a powerful one, Dio is included here because he spent 22 years writing a comprehensive Roman history in Greek. Part of it survives, including the only surviving account of Claudius’s invasion of Britain. Relief showing the spoils of Jerusalem in Emperor Titus’s triumphal parade. From the arch of Titus in Rome.

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Chapter 3 ➤ How Do We Know? Discovering the Romans

Roamin’ the Romans When in the Forum in Rome, walk through the Arch of Titus. Titus, the son of Vespasian, took over the siege of Jerusalem when his father left for Rome to become emperor in C.E. 69. Titus, accompanied by historian Josephus, stayed and conquered Jerusalem in 70. He then became emperor after Vespasian died. You can see Titus’s triumphal parade carved into the arch, including a scene of the menorah from the temple in Jerusalem being carried as part of the spoils.

Early Church Texts The story of the early Christian church is inexorably bound up with the Romans. Romans, such as the centurian whose daughter Jesus heals, Pontius Pilate, and the Roman emperor whom St. Paul appeals to in the book of Acts in the New Testament, play a pivotal role in church texts from the beginning. In addition, the Roman empire and the role that Rome played in the designs of the gods, God, or fate continued to be an issue in the struggle between pagan and Christian world views until about the sixth century C.E. We’ll take a closer look at these texts and the transition of the Roman empire from pagan to Christian in Chapter 17, “Divide and (Re)Conquer: Diocletian to Constantine,” Chapter 20, “(Un)Protected Sects: Religions, Tolerance, and Persecutions,” and Chapter 21. Here, however, are two major writers to know: ➤ St. Augustine (C.E. 354–430). The son of a pagan father and Christian mother, he was a highly educated teacher who converted to Christianity after a long intellectual and spiritual struggle. He eventually became the bishop of Hippo in Africa. Augustine’s works, such as his Confessions and City of God, are among the most influential of early Christian literature and give us an illuminating perspective on this period in Roman history and culture. ➤ Eusebius (ca C.E. 265–340). Eusebius was the bishop of Caesarea in Palestine. Among his many works (written in Greek) is his “Ecclesiastical History,” which describes early Christianity’s struggle within the Roman Empire until the conversion of the Emperor Constantine to Christianity in 314. All right. The last chapter presented you with an overall framework for Roman history and literature. This chapter has given you an idea of how we know what we know about the Romans. You’ve read about some of the kinds of evidence that we

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Part 1 ➤ All Roads Lead to Rome have, and where this evidence comes from. Next, let’s give you some background. Rome was, in every way, the new kid on the block among the great civilizations that sprang up around the Mediterranean Basin. To understand and appreciate how Rome grew and developed, you need some perspective on what else was going on leading up to Rome’s rise.

The Least You Need to Know ➤ The Romans left an enormous amount of archeological evidence about their culture.

➤ Excavations at Pompeii and Herculaneum have provided an incredible treasure-trove of artifacts and information to give us a remarkably comprehensive look into Roman life in the first century C.E.

➤ Roman textual evidence includes official documents, literature, and even graffiti.

➤ Texts about the Romans come from Roman, Greek, and Jewish authors.

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