Castor and Pollux – Roman religion
Castor and Pollux - the Dioscuri - on a votive plaque from Tarentum in southern Italy Who are Castor and Pollux? Castor and Pollux were originally Greek gods, but when the [...]
4
09, 2017
4
09, 2017
Plotinus and the Neoplatonists – Roman philosophy
Bust of Plotinus (Ostia, ca. 250 AD) Around the time of Jesus, philosophers (and regular people) in West Asia and the Roman Empire started to think a lot about what happened to you after you died. [...]
4
09, 2017
Lucretius and Epicureanism
A medieval manuscript copy of Lucretius' De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things) What's Lucretius's backstory? Lucretius was born about 99 BC, in the later Roman Republic. Nobody knows anything about [...]
4
09, 2017
Roman philosophy – ancient Rome
A Roman man making a speech (Florence, about 50 BC) Thanks to VROMA for the image Romans meet Greek philosophy Roman men didn't begin studying philosophy until about 200 BC. At that time, [...]
4
09, 2017
Cicero – Stoicism – Roman philosophy
Cicero's philosophy: a bust of Cicero (Capitoline Museum, Rome) Who was Cicero? In the last years of the Roman Republic, great men like Julius Caesar and Pompey fought over which of [...]
4
09, 2017
Slavery in ancient Rome
A Roman shepherd, probably a slave (Istanbul, 500s AD) Many Roman people were owned by other people, or by the Roman government, as slaves. Because the Romans didn't really have hourly wage [...]
4
09, 2017
Roman schools – education in ancient Rome
Roman education outside of school: A Roman teacher home-schooling, about 200 AD Poor kids had to work Roman schools were for rich boys; most Roman kids did not go to [...]
4
09, 2017
Roman women: Women in ancient Rome – gender and power
Roman women: an old woman, about 50 AD. The sculptor has made her look silly on purpose to make fun of old women Were women oppressed in ancient Rome? Roman [...]
4
09, 2017
Ancient Roman people – who lived in the Roman Empire?
A barmaid brings a drink to two men sitting on chairs. The words show the men arguing about whose drink it is. (Caupona of Salvius, Pompeii, 79 AD) The Roman Empire was so [...]
4
09, 2017
Roman insulae – apartments – Roman architecture
Insulae at Ostia (can you see where the wooden balconies would have been?) Roman apartment buildings In big cities, most Romans lived in apartment buildings we call insulae (IN-sue-lie), or [...]
