Ancient Rome is a state whose history covers the period from the 7th century BC to the 7th century BC. e. and up to 476 AD. e., - created one of the most developed civilizations of the Ancient World. At its height, its emperors controlled territory from present-day Portugal in the west to Iraq in the east, from Sudan in the south to England in the north. The golden eagle, which was the unofficial coat of arms of the country before the adoption of Christianity, was a symbol of the inviolability and indestructibility of the power of the Caesars.
City on the hills
The capital of Ancient Rome was the city of the same name, founded in the 7th century BC. e. in a territory bounded by three of the seven nearby hills - the Capitol, the Quirinal and the Palatine. It received its name in honor of one of its founders, Romulus, who, according to the ancient historian Titus Livius, became its first king.
In the scientific world, the history of ancient Rome is usually considered as ten separate periods, each of which has its own characteristic features of political, economic and cultural development. This is due to the fact that for a thousandyears, the state has come a long way from an elective monarchy, headed by kings, to a tetrarchy - a political system in which the emperor shared power with three top government officials.
The structure of ancient Roman society
The initial period of the history of ancient Rome is characterized by the fact that its society consisted of two main classes - the patricians, which included the indigenous inhabitants of the country, and the plebeians - the newcomer population, which nevertheless extended all civil rights. The strife between them at an early stage was eliminated by the introduction in 451 BC. e. a set of laws governing all aspects of public life.
Later, the structure of ancient Roman society became much more complicated due to the emergence of such social groups as “nobility” (the ruling class), “horsemen” (we althy citizens, mostly merchants), slaves and freedmen, that is, former slaves who received freedom.
Paganism as a state religion
Until the IV century, when Christianity became the official religion of ancient Rome by the will of Emperor Constantine the Great, it was dominated by polytheism, or, in other words, paganism, which was based on the worship of a large number of gods, many of which were borrowed from ancient Greek mythology. Despite the fact that religion occupied an important place in the life of society, many contemporaries noted that by the 2nd century BC. e. the upper strata of society treated her very indifferently and visited temples only becauseestablished tradition. Nevertheless, Christianity, which began its spread in the 1st century, was the most fiercely resisted by paganism.
The role of fine art in the culture of ancient Rome
Fine art, which is an important part of the culture of the ancient Roman state, up to the II century BC. e. was in decline. Mark Porcius Cato, a prominent politician of that era, expressed his attitude towards him in his writings. He wrote that only architecture has the right to exist, and then only as an auxiliary tool for managing public affairs. He did not allocate any place in the system of aesthetic values to other genres, considering them empty fun.
This point of view or close to it was shared by most of the Roman society. However, after the 2nd century BC. e. Greece was conquered and a stream of works of art exported from it poured into the country, the opinion of the Romans changed in many ways. This process of rethinking values, stretching for a whole century, led to the fact that under the emperor Octavian Augustus (63 BC - 14 AD), the fine arts received official status in ancient Rome. However, even in their best creations, the Roman masters could not escape the influence of the Greek school and created countless repetitions of its masterpieces.
Architecture in the service of the Caesars
A different picture has developed in architecture. Despite the fact that here the influence of Hellenistic architecture was verytangibly, Roman architects managed to develop and implement a completely new concept in solving spatial compositions. They also own a peculiar style of decorative design of public buildings, which today is called "imperial".
It is noted that Roman architecture owes its intensive development primarily to the practical interests of the state, for which it was a powerful ideological tool. The emperors spared no expense to ensure that the very appearance of government buildings engendered in the citizens of the country confidence in the invincibility of the supreme power.
Death in the circus arena
Telling about the culture of ancient, Ancient Rome, one cannot remain silent about the love of its citizens for mass spectacles, among which gladiator fights were the most popular. The theatrical performances widespread in Greece seemed boring to the bulk of the Romans. They were much more interested in bloody performances in the circus arena, in which the lot of the vanquished was real, and not at all sham death.
These barbaric spectacles received official status in 105 BC. e., when they were introduced into the number of public spectacles by a special imperial decree. The direct participants in the fighting were slaves who had undergone preliminary training in martial arts in special schools. Contemporaries noted that despite the mortal risk to which the gladiators were exposed, there were many who wanted to be among them. This is explained by the fact that the most successful fighters over timegained freedom that was almost impossible for other slaves.
Heritage of the ancient Etruscans
It is curious to note that the idea of gladiatorial games was borrowed by the Romans from the ancient Etruscans, a people who inhabited the Apennine Peninsula in the 1st millennium. There, such battles, in which not only slaves but also free members of the tribe took part, were part of the funeral rites, and the killing of opponents was considered as an obligatory human sacrifice to the local gods. At the same time, a kind of selection took place: the weakest died, while the strong remained alive and became the successors of the family.
Ancient philosophy of Rome
Since, in an effort to maximize the territory of conquest and spread their dominance everywhere, the Romans enriched their culture with the best that the peoples they conquered created, it becomes clear that their philosophy could not help but feel the powerful influence of various Hellenistic schools.
Therefore, starting from the middle of the II century BC. e. the entire ancient history of ancient Rome is inextricably linked with the teachings of the ancient Greek philosophers. This is extremely important, because on the basis of their works the worldview of many generations of Roman citizens was formed and their own philosophical currents arose. Thus, it is generally accepted that it was under the influence of Greece that Roman philosophers were divided into followers of skepticism, Stoicism and Epicureanism.
Three main directions of ancient Roman philosophy
The first category included thinkers who based their reasoning onthe impossibility of reliable knowledge of the world and even those who denied the possibility of rationally substantiating the norms of behavior in society. Their leader is the famous philosopher Aenesidemus (1st century BC), who created a large circle of his followers in the city of Knossos.
In contrast to them, representatives of Stoicism, among whom the most famous are Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus and Seneca Slutsky, put forward ethical standards, following which, in their opinion, was the foundation of a happy and correct life. Their compositions were most successful in the circles of the Roman aristocracy.
And finally, the followers of the famous Epicurus, the founder of the school named after him, adhered to the concept that human happiness depends solely on the complete satisfaction of his needs and on how much he can create for himself an atmosphere of peace and pleasure. This doctrine found many supporters in all strata of society, and at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries, when ancient Rome had long sunk into oblivion, it was developed in the works of French thinkers.
