Exactly one month
after the holiday in honour of Her lover Mars, the God of war and agriculture,
it’s now the turn of the Goddes Venus to be honoured.
On April 1,
the ancient Romans celebrated the Veneralia like you can see on this mosaic.This part of the mosaic
depicts April. In the back you can clearly see a shrine containing a cult
statue of Venus.
Fig. 1: Bronze statuette of Venus found in Kortrijk (Belgium) on display in the Musée Royal de Mariemont.
It was especially
women who took part in the Veneralia rites as it was said that this would help
maintain one’s beauty.Although Venus was -among
other things- the Goddess of lust, She was also believed to have the ability to
turn inappropriate feelings of lust into chaste feelings thus helping women
protect their reputation. [I]
Her statues were
commonly adorned with necklaces , bracelets and earrings [Fig. 1], but on this day, women
-married and unmarried alike[II]- would take of the
ornaments of a certain statue (or perhaps all statues?) and clean it. Once She
was dry, Her jewellery was returned to Her and she was gives fresh flowers, most
typically roses.
Then, the women would ritually
bathe themselves. Myrtle, which was considered sacred to Venus as She had once
used it to protect Her naked body from the gaze of satyri, seems to have
played a role in this ritual.[I]
Another Goddess called
Fortuna Virilis was also honoured on the Veneralia. At some kind of
public pool or bath where women were naked, she was given the following offerings:
・ incense
・ ground poppies in
milk
・ honey
She was believed to
have the power to hide imperfections on the female body from the eyes of men.
The first
misconception I would like to address concerns wine in ancient Rome: It is
often said that Roman wine was much, much stronger than modern-day wine, which
usually has an alcohol percentage of approximately 12%.
There’s two arguments that are often given to support this claim:
* The first one is that it was a common practice to dilute wine with water
before drinking it [I]. Although this was in fact very common, we have no way of
knowing the average alcohol percentage of neither the pure wine nor the diluted
beverage.
Using this as an
argument for the claim that undiluted wine must have been much stronger than
modern-day wine assumes that the ancient Romans would have wanted to drink a
beverage that has a similar alcohol level to the wine we drink today, but there
are simply no grounds for this. Compared to whiskey or tequila, 12% to 15% seems
like it isn’t that much, but if you drink a beverage with this amount of
alcohol all day, every day, the risk of getting too intoxicated to get anything
done is quite high.
* The second argument is taken from Plinius Maior (Pliny the Elder). He says
that Falernian wine would catch fire when a flame was held near [II]. First of all, we are not sure that his was due to the
amount of alcohol and not some other ingredient, but even if it was, the
flashpoint of modern-day wine is only at about 52°C (126° Fahrenheit) [III], so
briefly heating the wine could have been enough to cause it to become
flammable.
The highest percentage of alcohol you can get by fermentation seems to
be about 20%. [IV] Such wines have a
flashpoint as low as 36°C (97°F), which must have been easy to attain under the
Italian summer sun.
In any case, there is no evidence that the practice of distilling drinks
to get a higher alcohol level was widespread in the Roman Empire, if it was
even known at all.
❷"All Roman statues were white." + "All Roman statues were brightly coloured."
A second misconception I would like to mention, is a very old one, but it can
still be seen in many movies today. Many people still think that all Greek and
Roman statues where virginal white, because that’s what most marble statues
from antiquity look like when they are excavated. Sculptors from the Renaissance
period and the Neo-Classical period were very fond of the pure appearance of white
marble statues from antiquity so they tried to copy this look when making their
own statues. By doing so, they further spread the idea that marble statues are
meant to be white.
Fig.➀ Left: Roman marble statue of the Muse Clio (photo by TIMOTHEVS); middle: mosaic showing bust of Sappho (photo by Carole Raddato); right: polychrome statue of the Goddess Minerva (photo by Jastrow)
However, there is
sufficient evidence (Fig.➀) that shows that many Greek and Roman statues where not left
white like the early modern and modern ones. Some, like the one shown on the
left here still have traces of the pigmentation that was applied to marble and
others are were made by fitting together several differently coloured materials
like the one on the right.
Many people that are
interested in Antiquity have heard about coloured statues by now, but we
shouldn’t be tempted to think that ALL statues were brightly coloured either.
Fig.➁ Left: fresco depicting marble bust of the God Apollo (photo by Romain Bréget); middle: fresco depicting statue of the God Mars (photo by Carole Raddato); right: mosaic depicting statue of boxer (photo by WolfgangRieger).
Roman frescos and mosaics (Fig.➁) reveal that at least
some statues were not that colourful at all. They seem to have been left unpainted,
at least partially. Of course, another explanation would be that the depicted
statues were already old enough for the colouring to have faded. Perhaps, some Romans
of the Imperial period appreciated the weathered look of antique republican or Greek
statue?
Apart from painting statues or leaving them white, gilding them seems to have
been fairly common as well.(Fig.➂) Of course Roman statues made entirely out of metal
were also common.
In the end,
there also is a great variety in the appearance of statues of catholic saints
or Hindu deities, so why would this be any different for Roman statues?
Fig.➂ Roman statue of a politician, gilded bronze, 2nd century CE (National Museum of Slovenia, Ljubliana).
❸ "The Romans
just copied Greek religion."
Many people think that the Romans basically adopted Greek polytheism and
just changed the Greek names to Latin names, but reality is a lot more complex
than that.
First of all, both Greek and Roman polytheism most likely derive from
Indo-European religion [V] [VI], so they have a common
ancestor so to speak, but they developed into distinct religions. Influenced by the Gods of the Greek settlers
of Southern Italy, the vague native Italic Spirits acquired more complex
personalities and family ties, along with temples and statues in Their honour.
[VII]
The Roman Neptunus for example originally was a spirit that dwelled in
springs and fresh water streams (as the early Romans were not sea-oriented), but
through association with the Greek Poseidon [VIII], He became a bearded man with a trident and horses who was the brother
of Iuppiter and Pluto, husband of Salacia and ruler of the seas.
The Romans may have enriched their native religion with many Greek
elements, but a number of typically Roman peculiarities remained or were
invented later on.
When it comes to the concrete religious rituals for example, both the
Greeks and the Romans made offerings of wine and incense and sacrificed animals
to gain a certain deity’s favour, but in general, the Romans covered their heads
("capite velato") while praying [IX] while the Greeks did not.
It was common in both cultures to eat the victim’s meat after the
sacrifice, but the Romans did not eat the entrails like the Greeks did.
Instead, they burned them on the altar. [X]
And, more importantly, some of the most prominent Deities in Roman
religion, especially during the Imperial period, had no Greek counterpart. Let
me just mention these 3:
* Ianus
It feels only natural to mention the two-headed Ianus [XI] first in this list: This God of beginnings and gateways after whom the
month of January was named, had to be mentioned first in every prayer. As Ianus
was the gatekeeper of the Gods, failing to mention Him would keep your prayer
from reaching the Gods [XII] (that being said, not all prayers recorded in
Roman rituals start by mentioning Him).
* The household Gods called the Lares were also unknown to the pre-Roman
Greeks. These Deities were believed to protect the familia and, despite their
humble status, received daily offerings in the household [XIII], which actually makes them among the most prominent
Deities in everyday life in ancient Rome.
* Another prominent set of sacred beings that did not receive religious
attention in Greece prior to the Roman rule, were the Emperors. Many Emperors
were deified [XIV] and
enshrined in temples after they died. At some point, Roman citizens were even required
to offer incense to the living Emperor. [XV]
❹ "Every gladiator had his own unique set of armour."Hollywood often depicts gladiators with random armour, but evidence
indicates that the kinds of swords, helmets, shields etc. were dependent on the
type of gladiator. There was only a handful of popular types and each type had
a regulated set of weapons.
I dedicated a few
videos entirely to the 7 most popular types of gladiators, so if you would like to
learn more about that, take a look at this playlist.
❺"All slaves
were treated like trash."
Based on what one can see in Hollywood movies, one could be inclined to
think that every slave in the Roman Empire was subject to constant physical and
psychological abuse. But, several sources [XVI] [XVII][XXV] indicate that mistreating slaves
was frowned upon by at least a part of the free Roman population.
Perhaps the treatment of slaves in ancient Rome can compared to that of
domesticated animals in today’s society: Like slaves, most pets and farm animals are not free to go where they
want and need to obey their master. Some pets are mistreated, but others are loved and cared for in a way
that it is safe to assume they are quite happy.
Apart from the character of the master, the purpose of the slave also would
have played a roll.
Just like a chicken in a battery cage doesn’t receive the same treatment
as a lapdog, a common quarry slave or mine slave wouldn’t have received the
same treatment [XVIII][XIX] as a highly educated Greek slave who worked
as a teacher for a wealthy young Roman[XX].
During the imperial period, the treatment of slaves gradually improved. In
the course of the first 2 centuries CE, slaves acquired the
right to take legal action when they were mistreated [XXI] Also, murdering
a slave for no good reason became illegal.[XXII] Throughout the Roman period, freeing a slave for good service was not uncommon and in some cases, they might have had better lives than some of the poorer freeborn Romans. A slave that was freed by a Roman citizen was granted some rights, e.g. the right to vote [XXIII], but he could not hold public office. [XXIV] Furthermore, he was usually not allowed to become a priest. However, when a freedman fathered a son after his manumission, the son could acquire full citizinship so the stigma of slavery was erased relatively quickly.
References:
[I] Dalby, Andrew (2013) Food in the Ancient World from A to Z.
Routledge: p354.
[II] Pliny. Natural
History. Book XIV.62.
[III]Wolke, Robert L. (2006) "Combustible Combination", washingtonpost.com
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/04/AR2006070400283.html>
(retrieved March 10, 2017). [IV]Meyer, Scott (2013) Hooch: Simplified Brewing, Winemaking, and Infusing
at Home. Hachette UK: "Alcohol Tolerance". [V]Sacks, David, Oswyn Murray and Lisa R. Brody (2014)
Encyclopedia of the Ancient Greek World. Infobase Publishing: p292. [VI]de
Laet, Sigried J., Joachim Herrmann (1996) History of Humanity: From the seventh
century B.C. to the seventh century A.D. UNESCO: p64.[VII]Dunstan, William E. (2010) Ancient Rome. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers:
p34. [VIII]Forsythe, Gary (2006) A Critical
History of Early Rome: From Prehistory to the First Punic War. University of
California Press: p132.
[IX] Plutarch. Roman Questions: 10.[X] Dillon, Matthew & Lynda Garland (2013) Ancient Rome: A Sourcebook.
Routledge: p135.] [XI]Ovid. Fasti: Book
I: 90.[XII] Ovid. Fasti: Book I: 173.[XIII] Plautus. The Pot of
Gold. prologue: 23.[XIV] McIntyre, Gwynaeth (2016) A Family of Gods: The Worship of the
Imperial Family in the Latin West. University of Michigan Press: p17. [XV]Kaatz, Kevin W. The Rise of
Christianity: History, Documents, and Key Questions: p31.
[XVI] Seneca minor. Epistulae morales ad
Lucilium: 47. [XVII]Cicero. De Officiis. 1.41 [XVIII] Diodorus Siculus. Ἱστορικὴ Βιβλιοθήκη: 5.38.1. [XIX] "Slavery in
Rome" (2010) in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome. Oxford
University Press: p323. [XX] Dillon, Matthew & Lynda Garland (2013)
Ancient Rome: A Sourcebook. Routledge: p303, 333.[XXI] McGinn, Thomas (2003) Prostitution, Sexuality, and the Law in
Ancient Rome. Oxford University Press: p309. [XXII]Dillon, Matthew and Garland, Lynda (2005) Ancient Rome: From the Early Republic to the Assassination of Julius Caesar.
Routledge: p297. [XXIII] Fergus Millar (2002) The Crowd in Rome in the Late Republic: pp23, 209. [XXIV] Renshaw, James (2012) In Search of the Romans. A&C Black: p183. [XXV] Macrobius. Saturnalia. Book I:115.
