Early European History Part 50

The ancient Athenian was no sluggard. At sunrise, or even before, he rose from his couch, washed his face and hands, put on his scanty garments, and was soon ready for the street. Before leaving the house, he broke his fast with a meal as simple as the European "rolls and coffee"--in this case merely a few mouthfuls of bread dipped in wine. After breakfast he might call on his friends or perhaps ride into the country and visit his estates. About ten o'clock (which the Athenians called "full market"), he would be pretty sure to find his way to the Agora. The shops at this time were crowded with purchasers, and every sociable citizen of Athens was to be found in them or in the neighboring colonnades which lined the market place.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PERISTYLE OF A POMPEIAN HOUSE House of the Vettii Pompeii. The peristyle, excavated in 1894-1895 A.D.

has been carefully restored. The garden, fountains, tables, and marble colonnades are all modern]

OCCUPATIONS IN THE AFTERNOON

The public resorts were deserted at noon, when the Athenian returned home to enjoy a light meal and a rest during the heat. As the day grew cooler, men again went out and visited a gymnasium, such as the Lyceum or the Academy, in the city suburbs. [13] Here were grounds for running, wrestling, discus-throwing, and other sports, as well as rooms for bathing and anointing. While the younger men busied themselves in such active exercises, those of maturer years might be content with less vigorous games or with conversation on political or philosophical themes.

THE EVENING MEAL

The princ.i.p.al meal of the day came about sunset. The master of the house, if he had no guests, shared the repast with his wife and children. For a man of moderate means the ordinary fare was very much what it is now in Greece--bread, olives, figs, cheese, and a little meat as an occasional luxury. At the end of the meal the diners refreshed themselves with wine mixed with water. The Greeks appear to have been usually as temperate in their drink as they were frugal in their food. The remainder of the evening would be devoted to conversation and music and possibly a little reading. As a rule the Athenian went early to bed.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A GREEK BANQUET From a vase painting by Duns.]

MORNING ROUND OF A ROMAN n.o.bLE

A Roman of the higher cla.s.s, who lived in late republican or early imperial times, pa.s.sed through much the same daily routine as an Athenian citizen in the days of Pericles. He rose at an early hour and after a light breakfast dispatched his private business with the help of his steward and manager. He then took his place in the _atrium_ to meet the crowd of poor dependents who came to pay their respects to their patron and to receive their usual morning alms--either food or sufficient money to buy a modest dinner. Having greeted his visitors and perhaps helped them in legal or business matters, the n.o.ble entered his litter and was carried down to the Forum. Here he might attend the law courts to plead a case for himself or for his clients. If he were a member of the Senate, he would take part in the deliberations of that body. At eleven o'clock, when the ordinary duties of the morning were over, he would return home to eat his luncheon and enjoy the midday rest, or siesta. The practice of having a nap in the heat of the day became so general that at noon the streets of a Roman city had the same deserted appearance as at midnight.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A ROMAN LITTER The litter consists of an ordinary couch with four posts and a pair of poles. Curtains fastened to the rod above the canopy shielded the occupant from observation.]

THE AFTERNOON EXERCISE AND BATH

After an hour of refreshing sleep it was time for the regular exercise out of doors in the Campus Martius or indoors at one of the large city baths.

Then came one of the chief pleasures of a Roman's existence--the daily bath. It was taken ordinarily in one of the public bathing establishments, or _thermae_, to be found in every Roman town. [14] A Roman bath was a luxurious affair. After undressing, the bathers entered a warm anteroom and sat for a time on benches, in order to perspire freely. This was a precaution against the danger of pa.s.sing too suddenly into the hot bath, which was taken in a large tank of water sunk in the middle of the floor.

Then came an exhilarating cold plunge and anointing with perfumed oil.

Afterwards the bathers rested on the couches with which the resort was supplied and pa.s.sed the time in reading or conversation until the hour for dinner.

THE LATE DINNER

The late dinner, with the Romans as with the Greeks, formed the princ.i.p.al meal of the day. It was usually a social function. The host and his guests reclined on couches arranged about a table. The Romans borrowed from the Greeks the custom of ending a banquet with a symposium, or drinking-bout.

The tables were cleared of dishes, and the guests were anointed with perfumes and crowned with garlands. During the banquet and the symposium it was customary for professional performers to entertain the guests with music, dancing, pantomimes, and feats of jugglery.

92. AMUs.e.m.e.nTS

ATHENIAN RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS

The Athenians celebrated many religious festivals. One of the most important was the Great Panathenaea, [15] held every fourth year in the month of July. Athletic contests and poetical recitations, sacrifices, feasts, and processions honored the G.o.ddess Athena, who presided over the Athenian city. Even more interesting, perhaps, were the dramatic performances held in midwinter and in spring, at the festivals of Dionysus. The tragedies and comedies composed for these entertainments took their place among the masterpieces of Greek literature.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THEATER OF DIONYSUS, ATHENS The theater of Dionysus where dramatic exhibitions were held lay close to the south eastern angle of the Acropolis. The audience at first sat upon wooden benches rising tier after tier on the adjacent hillside. About the middle of the fourth century B.C. these were replaced by the stone seats which are still to be seen. Sixteen thousand people could be accommodated in this open air theater.]

FEATURES OF A GREEK PLAY

There is very little likeness between the ancient and the modern drama.

Greek plays were performed out of doors in the bright sunlight. Until late Roman times it is unlikely that a raised stage existed. The three actors and the members of the chorus appeared together in the dancing ring, or orchestra. The performers were all men. Each actor might play several parts. There was no elaborate scenery; the spectator had to rely chiefly on his own imagination for the setting of the piece. The actors indulged in few lively movements or gestures. They must have looked from a distance like a group of majestic statues. All wore elaborate costumes, and tragic actors, in addition, were made to appear larger than human with masks, padding, and thick-soled boots, or buskins. The performances occupied the three days of the Dionysiac festivals, beginning early in the morning and lasting till night. All this time was necessary because they formed contests for a prize which the people awarded to the poet and chorus whose presentation was judged of highest excellence.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A DANCING GIRL A Greek bronze statuette found in a sunken galley off the coast of Tunis.

The galley had been wrecked while on its way to Rome carrying a load of art objects to decorate the villas of wealthy n.o.bles. This statuette was doubtless a life-like copy of some well-known entertainer. The dancer's pose suggests the American "cakewalk" and her costume, the modern "hobble skirt."]

PANTOMIME AND VAUDEVILLE AT ROME

Pantomimes formed the staple amus.e.m.e.nt of the Roman theater. In these performances a single dancer, by movements and gestures, represented mythological scenes and love stories. The actor took several characters in succession and a chorus accompanied him with songs. There were also "vaudeville" entertainments, with all manner of jugglers, ropedancers, acrobats, and clowns, to amuse a people who found no pleasure in the refined productions of the Greek stage.

CHARIOT RACES

Far more popular than even pantomime and vaudeville were the "games of the circus." At Rome these were held chiefly in the Circus Maximus. Chariot races formed the princ.i.p.al attraction of the circus. There were usually four horses to a chariot, though sometimes the drivers showed their skill by handling as many as six or seven horses. The contestants whirled seven times around the low wall, or _spina_, which divided the race course. The shortness of the stretches and the sharp turns about the _spina_ must have prevented the attainment of great speed. A race, nevertheless, was a most exciting sport. What we should call "fouling" was permitted and even encouraged. The driver might turn his team against another or might endeavor to upset a rival's car. It was a very tame contest that did not have its accompaniment of broken chariots, fallen horses, and killed or injured drivers.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE CIRCUS MAXIMUS (RESTORATION)]

ANIMAL BAITINGS

The Circus Maximus was often used for a variety of animal shows. Fierce wild beasts, brought from every quarter of the empire, were turned loose to slaughter one another, or to tear to pieces condemned criminals. [16]

More popular still were the contests between savage animals and men. Such amus.e.m.e.nts did something to satisfy the l.u.s.t for blood in the Roman populace--a l.u.s.t which was more completely satisfied by the gladiatorial combats.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GLADIATORS From a stucco relief on the tomb of Scaurus, Pompeii. Beginning at the left are two fully armed hors.e.m.e.n fighting with lances. Behind them are two gladiators, one of whom is appealing to the people. Then follows a combat in which the defeated party raises his hand in supplication for mercy. The lower part of the relief represents fights with various wild beasts.]

GLADIATORIAL SHOWS

Exhibitions of gladiators were known in Italy long before they became popular at Rome. The combats probably started from the savage practice of sacrificing prisoners or slaves at the funeral of their master. Then the custom arose of allowing the victims a chance for their lives by having them fight one another, the conquerors being spared for future battles.

From this it was but a step to keeping trained slaves as gladiators.

During the imperial epoch the number of such exhibitions increased greatly. The emperor Trajan, for example, to celebrate his victories over the Dacians, [17] exhibited no less than ten thousand men within the s.p.a.ce of four months. The gladiators belonged to various cla.s.ses, according to the defensive armor they wore and the style of fighting they employed.

When a man was wounded and unable to continue the struggle, he might appeal to the spectators. He lifted his finger to plead for release; if he had fought well, the people indicated their willingness to spare him by waving their handkerchiefs. If the spectators were in a cruel mood, they turned down their thumbs as the signal for his deathblow. These hideous exhibitions continued in different parts of the Roman Empire until the fifth century of our era.

"BREAD AND THE GAMES OF THE CIRCUS."

Gladiatorial combats, chariot races, and dramatic shows were free performances. For the lower cla.s.ses in the Roman city they became the chief pleasure of life. The days of their celebration were public holidays, which in the fourth century numbered no less than one hundred and seventy-five. The once-sovereign people of Rome became a lazy, worthless rabble, fed by the state and amused with the games. It was well said by an ancient satirist that the Romans wanted only two things to make them happy--"bread and the games of the circus." [18]

93. SLAVERY

PLACE OF SLAVERY IN CLa.s.sICAL LIFE

The private life of the Greeks and Romans, as described in the preceding pages, would have been impossible without the existence of a large servile cla.s.s. Slaves did much of the heavy and disagreeable work in the ancient world, thus allowing the free citizen to engage in more honorable employment or to pa.s.s his days in dignified leisure.

SOURCES OF SLAVES

The Greeks seem sometimes to have thought that only barbarians should be degraded to the condition of servitude. Most Greek slaves, as a matter of fact, were purchased from foreign countries. But after the Romans had subdued the Mediterranean world, their captives included not only members of inferior races, but also the cultivated inhabitants of Greece, Egypt, and Asia Minor. We hear of slaves at Rome who served as clerks, secretaries, librarians, actors, and musicians. Their education was often superior to that of the coa.r.s.e and brutal masters who owned them.

NUMBER AND CHEAPNESS OF SLAVES

The number of slaves, though great enough in Athens and other Greek cities, reached almost incredible figures during the later period of Roman history. Every victorious battle swelled the troops of captives sent to the slave markets at Rome. Ordinary slaves became as cheap as beasts of burden are now. The Roman poet Horace tells us that at least ten slaves were necessary for a gentleman in even moderate circ.u.mstances. Wealthy individuals, given to excessive luxury, might number their city slaves by the hundreds, besides many more on their country estates.

SLAVES' TASKS

Slaves engaged in a great variety of occupations. They were domestic servants, farm laborers, miners, artisans, factory hands, and even shopkeepers. Household slaves at Rome were employed in every conceivable way. Each part of a rich man's residence had its special staff of servants. The possession of a fine troop of slaves, dressed in handsome liveries, was a favorite method of showing one's wealth and luxury.

TREATMENT OF SLAVES