Document: Juvenal's Take on Life in Rome
In cool Praeneste or the verdant hills of Volsinii, who
Has ever feared his house would Collapse as we all do -
Or in simple Gabii or Tivoli's craggy
Digitally-rendered illustration of an ancient Roman city with apartment buildings called insulae, and an aqueduct in the background.
In cool Praeneste or the verdant hills of Volsinii, who
Has ever feared his house would Collapse as we all do -
Or in simple Gabii or Tivoli's craggy
Digitally-rendered illustration of an ancient Roman city with apartment buildings called insulae, and an aqueduct in the background.
Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome_nodrm
htm
Bibliography for Document
Fuller, Edmund (tr. ) Plutarch: Lives of the Noble Greeks. New York, 1968.
Granger, Frank (tr. ). Vitruvius on Architecture. Volume I. [LCL. ] Cambridge and London,
1934.
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23. A HUSBAND AND WIFE DISCUSS THEIR DOMICILE: A PLACE FOR EVERYTHING AND EVERYTHING IN ITS PLACE
INTRODUCTION
The second document in this chapter comes to us by way of Xenophon (ca. 430-355 BCE), author of 14 books and treatises on a variety of subjects. His Oeconomicus is a narrative about the organization of an upscale Athenian household. In the excerpt from Oeconomicus quoted below, Xenophon relates a conversation between the famous philosopher Socrates and an Athenian gentleman named Ischomachus. The latter explains to Socrates how he and his wife came to an agreement about organizing their household goods efficiently and in the appropriate rooms of their home.
KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ
1. This discussion represents something of a "role reversal" for Socrates. In many of Plato's Socratic dialogues, Socrates often dominates the conversation, while his stu- dents or friends merely assent to his comments. But here, Socrates assumes the role of the instructed instead of the instructor.
2. Ischomachus's inspiration for organizing his household in the manner he suggests comes from an opportunity he had to get a first-hand look at a Phoenician transport ship. He notes that such a vessel carries a vast array of equipment: ropes, rigging, weaponry, galley necessaries, and personal effects of the sailors, not to mention the cargo. And since there was very little storage space aboard the ship, the items enu- merated above had to be carefully and logically organized and stored, so that each could be retrieved quickly and easily when needed, without a lot of fruitless search- ing. Ischomachus spoke to one of the ship's mates, who happened to be making an inventory of the on-board equipment; he asked the man what he was doing. The reply: He simply wanted to make certain that everything was stored properly, that nothing was out of place, because if a sudden storm should arise, there would be no time for hunting up any item that might be needed to help the ship ride out the storm. Ischomachus was very impressed with his tour, and with the knowledge gained, so he decided to propose to his wife that they organize their household goods along the same lines.
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? Document: Xenophon on Household Management
[Ischomachus speaks to Socrates]: "And what a beautiful sight is afforded by boots of all sorts and conditions ranged in rows! How beautiful it is to see cloaks of all sorts and conditions kept separate, or blankets, or bronze vessels, or table furniture! Yes, no serious man will smile when I claim that there is beauty in the order even of pots and pans set out in neat array . . . There is nothing, in short, that does not gain in beauty when set out in order. For each set looks like a troop of utensils, and the space between the sets is beautiful to see, when each set is kept clear of it, just as a troop of dancers about the altar is a beautiful spectacle in itself, and even the free space looks beautiful and unencumbered.
We can test the truth of what I say . . . without any inconvenience and with very little trouble. Moreover . . . there is no ground for misgiving that it is hard to find someone who will get to know the various places and remember to put each set in its proper place. For we know . . . that the city as a whole has ten thousand times as much of everything as we have; and yet you may order any sort of servant to buy something in the market and to bring it home, and he will be at no loss; every one of them is bound to know where he should go to get each article. Now the only reason for this is that everything is kept in a fixed place . . . Such is the gist of the conversation I think I remember having with her about the arrangement of utensils and their use.
And what was the result? Did . . . your wife pay any heed to the lessons you tried so earnestly to teach her?
Why, she promised to attend to them, and was evi- dently pleased beyond measure . . .
And how did you arrange things for her, Ischomachus?
Why, I decided first to show her the possibilities of our house. For it contains few elaborate decorations, Socrates. But the rooms are designed simply with the object of pro- viding as convenient receptacles as possible for the things that are to fill them, and thus each room invited just what was suited to it. Thus the storeroom, by the security of its position, called for the most valuable blankets and utensils, the dry covered rooms for the corn, the cool for the wine, the well-lit for those works of art and vessels that need light. I showed her decorated living rooms for the family that are cool in summer and warm in winter. I showed her that the whole house fronts south, so that it was obvious that it is
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? bolted door: In his history of the Peloponnesian War, the historian Thucydides describes an incident [2. 4] where the Thebans had besieged the city of Plataea and suc- cessfully occupied it--or so they thought. Rather, they had been lured into the city, and once inside, they could not escape, because the one and only exit gate had been barred, with the bar secured by a javelin pin. Xenophon does not state whether a javelin was used to secure the door between the women's and men's quarters in Ischomachus's house, but some similar device was probably used.
decorations: This refers particularly to embroidered works of art, such as wall tapestries.
market: The Greek word that is univer- sally translated as "market" is agora, which is the word Xenophon uses in this passage. The agora in most ancient Greek towns and cities was indeed a marketplace, but much more than that. Temples, shops, law courts, pickpockets, traffic, and more could all be found there. Ancient agoras were similar to the downtown areas of typical American cities.
troop of dancers about the altar: This is apparently an analogy drawn from Greek theater, where a "troop of dancers," or the chorus, would perform ritual dances around the altar of a god, especially Dionysus. Ischomachus seems to be compar- ing the precise dance moves of a well-trained chorus to the beauty and symmetry of a well-organized set of kitchen utensils.
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A Husband and Wife Discuss Their Domicile: A Place for Everything and Everything in Its Place
sunny in winter and shady in summer. I showed her the women's quarters too, separated by a bolted door from the men's, so that nothing which ought not to be moved may be taken out. " [Tr. E. C. Marchant. Xenophon: Memorabilia and Oeconomicus. (8. 9) Volume IV. LCL, 1923. Page numbers: 437, 439, 441. ]
AFTERMATH
Ischomachus went on to explain to Socrates the manner in which he directed that the spe- cific household goods should be organized: vessels used in religious sacrifices, women's and men's formal attire, blankets and shoes for men and women, cloth-making equipment, cooking and bread-making utensils, and laundry supplies. He then suggested a sort of priori- tizing system of dividing these goods into those that are more and less frequently used and calculating when each item might need to be replaced or replenished.
The next step was to ensure that the servants were familiarized with this system, and finally, that Ischomachus's wife understood that she was in charge of the whole enterprise, and that it would surely flounder if she did not exercise strict oversight of it.
After the detailed exposition on arranging the household and its contents, the couples' next task was to choose a (female) housekeeper who would oversee the day-to-day opera- tions, under the supervision of Ischomachus's wife. The bar was set quite high for the pro- spective employee: she must be moderate in eating, drinking, and sleeping; she must be loyal, dependable, and have an excellent memory. Furthermore, she must be thoroughly knowledgeable about the management system, and be willing and able to suggest improvements.
Even so, Ischomachus emphasized to his wife that she was ultimately answerable for the smooth running of the household, and that she should not be insulted or annoyed that she bore a heavier responsibility in this regard than the servants. She responded that it would have been more difficult if she had no role to play instead of the leading role, and that it would be easier for her to care for the family's possessions than it would be to turn that job over to a servant.
ASK YOURSELF
1. How would you characterize Ischomachus's attitude toward his wife? Does she have any real role to play in making decisions about how the household goods are to be organized?
2. Do you think Ischomachus's system is workable? Why or why not? What factors or problems might arise that could cause the system to go awry? Is it a practical system, or does it seem that he is trying to unnecessarily micromanage the organization of the household?
3. Are there any statements in the document that would lead you to believe that the ancient Greeks tried to orient their houses in such a way that they could take advan- tage of natural ways to heat and cool the houses?
TOPICS TO CONSIDER
e ConsiderIschomachus'sstatementthat"youmayorderanysortofservant to buy something in the market and to bring it home, and he will be at no
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116
loss; every one of them is bound to know where he should go to get each article. " What does this statement tell us about public marketplaces in Athens? What does it reveal about the expectations for household servants?
e Consider the author's (Xenophon) perspective. If you examine the list of his known written works, you can observe quite a surprising variety of topics. But mostly, he seems to have been a biographer and a historian, with particular emphasis on military matters. Is there any way to know what motivated him to write a book on household management? Does this book seem to have any connection to his other writings?
Further Information
Bartlett, Robert C. (tr. /ed. ), with Thomas Prangle and Wayne Ambler. Xenophon: The Shorter Socratic Writings. Apology of Socrates to the Jury, Oeconomicus, and Symposium. Ithaca, NY, 1996.
Strauss, Leo. Xenophon's Socratic Discourse: An Interpretation of the Oeconomicus. Ithaca, NY, 1970.
Waterfield, Robin H. Conversations of Socrates, by Xenophon. New York, 1990. Websites
Xenophon. http://www. crystalinks. com/xenophon. html
Xenophon's Oeconomicus. http://bingweb. binghamton. edu/~clas382a/study_guides/
03-05_xenophon_oecnomicus. htm
Xenophon--Introduction. http://www. enotes. com/classical-medieval-criticism/xenophon
Bibliography for Document
Marchant, E. C. (tr. ). Xenophon: Memorabilia and Oeconomicus. [LCL. ] Cambridge and London, 1923.
24. YOU TAKE YOUR LIFE IN YOUR HANDS IF YOU LIVE IN ROME
INTRODUCTION
One of the difficulties facing those interested in finding out information about how the ancient Greeks and Romans lived their lives is the relative lack of written source material on ordinary people. We have a plethora of writings that provide biographical detail on the famous politicians, military leaders, emperors, and other high-profile people of the ancient civilizations, but not so much source material on the less prominent, but far more numerous, members of society.
The literary output of the poet/satirist Juvenal (ca. 60-ca. 130 CE) is an exception to that general rule. Perhaps because he himself came from a small town (Aquinum, about 80 miles southeast of Rome) from an apparently comfortable, but undistinguished, family background, he tends to feature in his written works people who shared his lot in life. Not surprisingly, then, much of what we know about housing in antiquity comes from descriptions of upscale homes, as we saw in the two Greek documents in this chapter. Juvenal provides us with a glimpse of how "the other half" lived in the document below, an excerpt from his third Satire.
KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ
1. Juvenal, as noted above, was a satirist, and satirists (whether ancient or modern) must employ exaggeration as a key element in making their points. Therefore, we should probably keep that fact in mind as we read the document.
2. The Romans, unlike the Greeks, tended to build dwellings "vertically. " That is, most Greek houses (regardless of the owner's financial circumstances) seldom rose higher than two stories, whereas the Romans built high-rise structures that some- times topped five or six stories. These insulae ("apartments"; literally, "islands"), as the buildings were called, were the domiciles of the less affluent; they were often poorly built, because there were no codes or regulations governing their construc- tion. Noise from other tenants and from the city streets below was a constant annoyance; flash fires were a constant danger.
3. Although we do not possess a host of specific details about Juvenal's life, it is known that he was exiled from Rome sometime during the reign of the emperor Domitian (reigned 81-96 CE), and that after the death of the emperor, he returned to Rome both bitter and impoverished. This downturn in his circumstances undoubtedly
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influenced the angry and sarcastic tone of much of his satirical writing. His dour attitude toward life in general and Rome in particular is well summarized by a famous line from his first Satire: Difficile est satiram non scribere. "It is difficult not to write satire. "
4. The insurance industry was unknown in ancient Rome, so when a person's house or apartment burned down (or was destroyed by any other natural or man-made event), the owner or renter had no recompense for his/her loss, except through the generosity of friends.
5. Although this document focuses on the danger of flash fires breaking out in the insulae, fire was not the only problem faced by urban tenants. Noise from the street was another. The Romans from time to time attempted to pass regulations prohib- iting the use of wagons and draft animals in the city streets during certain hours. However, these regulations were apparently not very effective in curtailing the noise, with the result that apartment dwellers often found themselves awakened in the middle of the night by the racket emanating from the streets below. A rich man, as Juvenal wryly notes, could afford a more expensive domicile in a quieter part of the city, where uninterrupted sleep was more of a reality than a goal.
Document: Juvenal's Take on Life in Rome
In cool Praeneste or the verdant hills of Volsinii, who
Has ever feared his house would Collapse as we all do -
Or in simple Gabii or Tivoli's craggy
Digitally-rendered illustration of an ancient Roman city with apartment buildings called insulae, and an aqueduct in the background. Based on archaeological excavations at Pompeii and Herculaneum. (Dreamstime. com)
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Heights? But here
We live in a city held up for the
greater part by mere
Toothpicks, for thus the janitor props
the tottering beams
And patches up the old walls at cracks and gaping seams,
And tells the tenants to rest in peace--well said, "R. I. P. ,"
With rafters ready to cave in on their heads! Not for me!
I must live where there are no fires
and no alarms in the night.
Below, some Ucalegon already is shouting in fright
For water and moving his stuff. From your attic room, smoke pours,
But you don't know it; for if the fire starts on the lower floors,
The last one to burn will be the man with nothing to keep
Him from the rain but the roof tiles, beneath which, in a heap,
The soft rock-doves lay eggs. The one
bed that Codrus owned
Was too small for a dwarf, his cupboard boasted six mugs, a lone
Pitcher, a Chiron reclining, made of
the same soft stone,
With an old chest of Greek books, whose lovely poems were chewed
By illiterate mice. Poor Codrus had nothing--isn't it true? -
But he still lost the whole nothing.
The straw on the camel's back
Is this: although he's stripped of all
and begging a snack,
No one will give him a paltry
handout, no one a bed,
Or even offer him shelter, a roof above his head.
But let the great house of Asturicus
catch and burn,
The matrons mourn, the nobles wear black, the courts adjourn.
Oh, then we bewail the city's disasters and hate its fires!
The palace is still in flames and
someone runs up and desires
You Take Your Life in Your Hands if You Live in Rome
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Asturicus: Just as the name "Codrus" was used to refer to a poor man, so the name "Asturicus" symbol- izes a man of wealth.
attic room: The Latin phrase used by Juvenal, tabulata tertia, literally means "third floor," which was apparently the top floor in the burning apartment building.
Chiron: One of the centaurs--hybrid, half-man, half-horse creatures--of Greek mythology. Chiron was always portrayed as a wise, cul- tured, and gentle being, and a tutor of some of the most famous figures in Greek and Roman legend, including Achilles, Hercules, and Aeneas. It would have been appro- priate if Codrus had indeed placed the statue of Chiron on top of his chest of Greek books.
Codrus: Here, probably a generic name referring to any impover- ished person.
Euphranor or Polyclitus. Both were famous Greek sculptor/artists, who lived in the fourth century BCE and the fifth century BCE, respectively.
games: A reference to chariot races in the Circus Maximus. The implica- tion seems to be that one of the advantages of living in Rome is that one can easily frequent the Circus Maximus, whereas residence in one of the outlying towns requires some inconvenient travel to get to the games. However, living in one of these towns, like Sora or Frusino, can have a major benefit, too: more affordable housing.
Persicus: Another rich man, whose wealth is due to his childlessness and also to the suspicion that he may have torched his own house in order to receive gifts from sym- pathetic friends, not to mention
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To give him marble or building funds, another is pleased
To offer shining nude statues, another a masterpiece
Of Euphranor or Polyclitus or figures of bronze from nooks
In ancient Asian temples. And others will give him books,
Bookshelves, a bust of Minerva, or silver in coin or plate.
This is how Persicus, most refined and most fortunate
Of the childless, restores his loss with more and richer things.
No wonder that he's suspected of arson--look what it brings!
If you can be torn from the games, you can buy a fine house and stay
In Sora, Frusino, or anywhere else for what you now pay
In Rome to rent a dark hole one year. You'll have a small lawn,
A garden, a shallow well from which water is easily drawn,
With no need of ropes, to wet your tender plants. Live in peace
With a hoe as companion there, grow a truck garden fit to feast
A Vegetarian convention. Remote though your farm may be,
It's something to be the lord of one green lizard--and free . . .
what rented flat
Allows you to sleep? Only rich men
in this city have that.
[Tr. Hubert Creekmore. The Satires of Juvenal. (Satire 3. ) Mentor Classic, 1963. Page numbers: 55, 56, 57, 58. ]
AFTERMATH
Juvenal apparently wrote his satires--16 in all--after his return from exile. After a period of unknown duration, during which he occupied himself with the hard work of writing the satires, he was able to acquire a country farm home and at least some financial sta- bility. The source of this largesse is a mystery; it may have been a generous literary patron, or perhaps even the emperor, the enlight- ened Hadrian (reigned 117-138 CE).
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? the presents from legacy hunters who hoped to be recompensed, and then some, by being named heirs in Persicus's will. The poet Martial (3. 52) relates the story of a certain Tongilianus, whose house burned to the ground, but who received monetary contributions from friends that totaled five times the value of the gutted house.
Praeneste: Praeneste was a small town nestled in the hills about 20 miles southeast of Rome. It was a desir- able place for retirees, offering the pleasures and comforts of a small town, combined with easy acces- sibility to Rome. The downside? Real estate there was very pricey, so only the richest Romans could afford to buy a home in Praeneste.
Tivoli: Tibur, in Latin. Tivoli, like Praeneste, was a fashionable com- munity for well-to-do Romans. Juvenal calls it "craggy"; the poet Horace, in one of his Odes, refers to it as "sloping. " Both are referen- ces to Tivoli's location on the side of a hill. Juvenal cites all four of these towns (Praeneste, Volsinii, Gabii, and Tivoli) as examples of safe and pleasant places to live. Compare them, he suggests, to the dangers of residing in Rome: houses that collapse; roof and ceiling beams supported by mere "toothpicks"; a janitor--the Latin word employed by Juvenal is vilicus, perhaps better translated as "apartment man- ager"--makes a few cosmetic repairs, and then assures the tenants that their rooms are sound and that they should all "rest in peace. "
The sloppy construction and maintenance methods that were rampant in these inner-city apart- ments contrast vividly to the care
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Life in Rome generally was undoubtedly better after the death of Domitian. That despotic ruler was followed by the so-called Five Good Emperors (Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius), who collectively reigned from 98 to 180 CE. The historian Edward Gibbon famously referred to this era with these glowing words: "If a man were called to fix the period in the history of the world during which the condition of the human race was most happy and prosperous, he would, without hesitation, name that which elapsed from the death of Domitian to the acces- sion of Commodus. "
ASK YOURSELF
1. Juvenal writes, somewhat enviously, about pleasant but pricey retirement communities like Praeneste. Would it be accurate to compare Praeneste to a place like Palm Springs, California, a well-known retirement destination for the rich and famous?
2. It was mentioned in "Keep in Mind as You Read" that Juvenal, as a satirist, often relied on exaggeration to help him make his points or convey his message. Do you notice any passages or descriptions in the document that seem like they might be exaggerated? Which one(s), and why?
3. What do you make of the passage where Juvenal chides an apartment dweller for being unwilling to move to inexpen- sive housing in one of the small country towns near Rome, because of the allure of attending chariot races in Rome? Might there be a desire on the part of a city resident to be "where the action is"? Is the same true today?
TOPICS TO CONSIDER
e The Romans enjoyed gardens and gardening in
the same way as many contemporary Americans.
Juvenal suggests that living in a small town, away
from Rome, would enable the occupant to have a
garden, but only a small one. (The word in Latin
for garden is hortus; Juvenal uses the diminutive,
hortulus, a "little garden," to describe the typical
small-town garden. ) Consider and research the
topic of Roman gardens. In addition to size, how was a standard garden (hortus) different from a little garden (hortulus)? Are there any similarities between Roman and American gardens?
e The Romans excelled in the area of civil engineering (the construction of public works such as roads, bridges, and aqueducts), but they never seemed to be able to solve the problem of congestion and noise in the streets of their big cities, especially Rome. Consider the topic of street construction and usage in ancient Rome. What specific measures did they take to try
You Take Your Life in Your Hands if You Live in Rome
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? that was taken in the building of upscale homes. In his treatise on architecture, Vitruvius recounted at some length the importance of properly fabricated walls, piers, col- umns, arches, and other weight- bearing components that contrib- uted to the structural integrity of the house.
Ucalegon: Ucalegon is the (probably fic- titious) name of one of the tenants on a lower floor. However, in the Aeneid, the epic poet Virgil also refers to a certain Ucalegon, a resident of the doomed city of Troy: "Even now, the spacious house of Deiphobus has fallen, as the fire- god towers above; even now his neighbor, [the house belonging to] Ucalegon, blazes. " [2. 310-312; tr. Fairclough. ] Perhaps Juvenal had in mind the Virgilian Ucalegon, another house-fire victim, when he wrote these lines.
Volsinii; Gabii: Both were towns in central Italy.
with nothing to keep him from the rain but the roof tiles: The impli- cation seems to be that apartment fires often start on the lower floors, in which case the tenant on the top floor will be "the last one to burn. " Roof tiles (tegulae) were con- structed of flat sheets of stone joined together by curved, raised connectors.
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? ? ? ? A SLUMLORD AND FINANCIAL PROFITEER EXTRAORDINAIRE
The first-century BCE politician Marcus Licinius Crassus amassed a fortune that would have been the envy of a Gates or a Trump . . . or even an Alex Rodriguez. One of his favored ways of maintaining and augmenting his bottom line was to buy up properties in lower-income neighborhoods in Rome and then rent them out at exor- bitant rates. He was especially aggressive in purchasing properties that had been destroyed by fire; according to the biographer Plutarch, destructive house and apartment fires were frequent in Rome because of the height and physical proximity of these buildings. Plutarch relates that Crassus bought about 500 slaves who were knowl- edgeable about building and architecture, and then when a conflagration was raging in some residential district in Rome, Crassus would appear on the scene and offer the distraught owner a bargain basement price for his property. The owner, figuring that something was better than nothing, usually agreed to the price. In this way, says Plutarch, Crassus acquired on the cheap a large number of burned-out houses and apartments, which his 500 slaves subsequently rebuilt, and from which Crassus profited greatly through the excessive rental fees he charged.
Oddly, Rome had no organized, government-sanctioned fire brigade until early in the first century CE, when the emperor Augustus placed throughout the city some 7,000 nocturnae vigiles--literally, "night watchmen"-- whose primary job was to guard against the outbreak of fires and to assist in extinguishing them when needed. These vigiles probably also had some law enforcement responsibilities, thus making them kind of a hybrid com- bination of police officers and firefighters.
The biographer Suetonius has an interesting, albeit rather cryptic, comment on firefighting, in his Life of Nero. [16. 1] He states that Nero ordered porticos to be constructed in front houses and apartments in Rome; these porticos had flat roofs, from which residential fires could be battled. However, Suetonius does not mention the methods that could be employed by rooftop brigades in containing fires. It was also during Nero's reign that the great fire of 64 CE swept through Rome, for six days and seven nights, according to Suetonius. Whether Nero himself set the conflagration, and whether he "fiddled while Rome burned," are both open to debate.
? ? to deal with the noise-pollution problem? How successful were they in doing so? Are there any parallels between ancient Roman cities and modern American cities in the way(s) in which they handled these kinds of problems?
Further Information
Green, Peter. Juvenal: The Sixteen Satires. Baltimore, 1967. Highet, Gilbert. Juvenal the Satirist: A Study. New York, 1954.
? ? ? ? SATIRE: A ROMAN INVENTION
The ancient Romans, rightly or wrongly, are often accused of "borrowing" large portions of their culture-- mythology, literature, art, and architecture, to name a few--from the Greeks. But one literary niche was totally Roman: satire. A famous line from the first-century CE orator Quintilian attests to Roman ownership of this genre: Satira quidem tota nostra est: "Satire, at least, is all ours. " [10. 1. 93] This line occurs within the context of a lengthy defense of Roman authors and their sometimes implied, sometimes stated, equivalence or even superiority to their Greek counterparts.
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Websites
Juvenal. http://www. nndb. com/people/055/000097761/
Sample Plan of a Roman house. http://vroma. org/~bmcmanus/house. html
Bibliography for Document
Creekmore, Hubert (tr. ). The Satires of Juvenal. New York, 1963.
Fairclough, H. Rushton (tr. ). Virgil: Eclogues; Georgics; Aeneid. Volume I. [LCL. ] Cambridge
and London, 1916.
Bibliography for Document
Fuller, Edmund (tr. ) Plutarch: Lives of the Noble Greeks. New York, 1968.
Granger, Frank (tr. ). Vitruvius on Architecture. Volume I. [LCL. ] Cambridge and London,
1934.
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23. A HUSBAND AND WIFE DISCUSS THEIR DOMICILE: A PLACE FOR EVERYTHING AND EVERYTHING IN ITS PLACE
INTRODUCTION
The second document in this chapter comes to us by way of Xenophon (ca. 430-355 BCE), author of 14 books and treatises on a variety of subjects. His Oeconomicus is a narrative about the organization of an upscale Athenian household. In the excerpt from Oeconomicus quoted below, Xenophon relates a conversation between the famous philosopher Socrates and an Athenian gentleman named Ischomachus. The latter explains to Socrates how he and his wife came to an agreement about organizing their household goods efficiently and in the appropriate rooms of their home.
KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ
1. This discussion represents something of a "role reversal" for Socrates. In many of Plato's Socratic dialogues, Socrates often dominates the conversation, while his stu- dents or friends merely assent to his comments. But here, Socrates assumes the role of the instructed instead of the instructor.
2. Ischomachus's inspiration for organizing his household in the manner he suggests comes from an opportunity he had to get a first-hand look at a Phoenician transport ship. He notes that such a vessel carries a vast array of equipment: ropes, rigging, weaponry, galley necessaries, and personal effects of the sailors, not to mention the cargo. And since there was very little storage space aboard the ship, the items enu- merated above had to be carefully and logically organized and stored, so that each could be retrieved quickly and easily when needed, without a lot of fruitless search- ing. Ischomachus spoke to one of the ship's mates, who happened to be making an inventory of the on-board equipment; he asked the man what he was doing. The reply: He simply wanted to make certain that everything was stored properly, that nothing was out of place, because if a sudden storm should arise, there would be no time for hunting up any item that might be needed to help the ship ride out the storm. Ischomachus was very impressed with his tour, and with the knowledge gained, so he decided to propose to his wife that they organize their household goods along the same lines.
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? Document: Xenophon on Household Management
[Ischomachus speaks to Socrates]: "And what a beautiful sight is afforded by boots of all sorts and conditions ranged in rows! How beautiful it is to see cloaks of all sorts and conditions kept separate, or blankets, or bronze vessels, or table furniture! Yes, no serious man will smile when I claim that there is beauty in the order even of pots and pans set out in neat array . . . There is nothing, in short, that does not gain in beauty when set out in order. For each set looks like a troop of utensils, and the space between the sets is beautiful to see, when each set is kept clear of it, just as a troop of dancers about the altar is a beautiful spectacle in itself, and even the free space looks beautiful and unencumbered.
We can test the truth of what I say . . . without any inconvenience and with very little trouble. Moreover . . . there is no ground for misgiving that it is hard to find someone who will get to know the various places and remember to put each set in its proper place. For we know . . . that the city as a whole has ten thousand times as much of everything as we have; and yet you may order any sort of servant to buy something in the market and to bring it home, and he will be at no loss; every one of them is bound to know where he should go to get each article. Now the only reason for this is that everything is kept in a fixed place . . . Such is the gist of the conversation I think I remember having with her about the arrangement of utensils and their use.
And what was the result? Did . . . your wife pay any heed to the lessons you tried so earnestly to teach her?
Why, she promised to attend to them, and was evi- dently pleased beyond measure . . .
And how did you arrange things for her, Ischomachus?
Why, I decided first to show her the possibilities of our house. For it contains few elaborate decorations, Socrates. But the rooms are designed simply with the object of pro- viding as convenient receptacles as possible for the things that are to fill them, and thus each room invited just what was suited to it. Thus the storeroom, by the security of its position, called for the most valuable blankets and utensils, the dry covered rooms for the corn, the cool for the wine, the well-lit for those works of art and vessels that need light. I showed her decorated living rooms for the family that are cool in summer and warm in winter. I showed her that the whole house fronts south, so that it was obvious that it is
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? bolted door: In his history of the Peloponnesian War, the historian Thucydides describes an incident [2. 4] where the Thebans had besieged the city of Plataea and suc- cessfully occupied it--or so they thought. Rather, they had been lured into the city, and once inside, they could not escape, because the one and only exit gate had been barred, with the bar secured by a javelin pin. Xenophon does not state whether a javelin was used to secure the door between the women's and men's quarters in Ischomachus's house, but some similar device was probably used.
decorations: This refers particularly to embroidered works of art, such as wall tapestries.
market: The Greek word that is univer- sally translated as "market" is agora, which is the word Xenophon uses in this passage. The agora in most ancient Greek towns and cities was indeed a marketplace, but much more than that. Temples, shops, law courts, pickpockets, traffic, and more could all be found there. Ancient agoras were similar to the downtown areas of typical American cities.
troop of dancers about the altar: This is apparently an analogy drawn from Greek theater, where a "troop of dancers," or the chorus, would perform ritual dances around the altar of a god, especially Dionysus. Ischomachus seems to be compar- ing the precise dance moves of a well-trained chorus to the beauty and symmetry of a well-organized set of kitchen utensils.
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A Husband and Wife Discuss Their Domicile: A Place for Everything and Everything in Its Place
sunny in winter and shady in summer. I showed her the women's quarters too, separated by a bolted door from the men's, so that nothing which ought not to be moved may be taken out. " [Tr. E. C. Marchant. Xenophon: Memorabilia and Oeconomicus. (8. 9) Volume IV. LCL, 1923. Page numbers: 437, 439, 441. ]
AFTERMATH
Ischomachus went on to explain to Socrates the manner in which he directed that the spe- cific household goods should be organized: vessels used in religious sacrifices, women's and men's formal attire, blankets and shoes for men and women, cloth-making equipment, cooking and bread-making utensils, and laundry supplies. He then suggested a sort of priori- tizing system of dividing these goods into those that are more and less frequently used and calculating when each item might need to be replaced or replenished.
The next step was to ensure that the servants were familiarized with this system, and finally, that Ischomachus's wife understood that she was in charge of the whole enterprise, and that it would surely flounder if she did not exercise strict oversight of it.
After the detailed exposition on arranging the household and its contents, the couples' next task was to choose a (female) housekeeper who would oversee the day-to-day opera- tions, under the supervision of Ischomachus's wife. The bar was set quite high for the pro- spective employee: she must be moderate in eating, drinking, and sleeping; she must be loyal, dependable, and have an excellent memory. Furthermore, she must be thoroughly knowledgeable about the management system, and be willing and able to suggest improvements.
Even so, Ischomachus emphasized to his wife that she was ultimately answerable for the smooth running of the household, and that she should not be insulted or annoyed that she bore a heavier responsibility in this regard than the servants. She responded that it would have been more difficult if she had no role to play instead of the leading role, and that it would be easier for her to care for the family's possessions than it would be to turn that job over to a servant.
ASK YOURSELF
1. How would you characterize Ischomachus's attitude toward his wife? Does she have any real role to play in making decisions about how the household goods are to be organized?
2. Do you think Ischomachus's system is workable? Why or why not? What factors or problems might arise that could cause the system to go awry? Is it a practical system, or does it seem that he is trying to unnecessarily micromanage the organization of the household?
3. Are there any statements in the document that would lead you to believe that the ancient Greeks tried to orient their houses in such a way that they could take advan- tage of natural ways to heat and cool the houses?
TOPICS TO CONSIDER
e ConsiderIschomachus'sstatementthat"youmayorderanysortofservant to buy something in the market and to bring it home, and he will be at no
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loss; every one of them is bound to know where he should go to get each article. " What does this statement tell us about public marketplaces in Athens? What does it reveal about the expectations for household servants?
e Consider the author's (Xenophon) perspective. If you examine the list of his known written works, you can observe quite a surprising variety of topics. But mostly, he seems to have been a biographer and a historian, with particular emphasis on military matters. Is there any way to know what motivated him to write a book on household management? Does this book seem to have any connection to his other writings?
Further Information
Bartlett, Robert C. (tr. /ed. ), with Thomas Prangle and Wayne Ambler. Xenophon: The Shorter Socratic Writings. Apology of Socrates to the Jury, Oeconomicus, and Symposium. Ithaca, NY, 1996.
Strauss, Leo. Xenophon's Socratic Discourse: An Interpretation of the Oeconomicus. Ithaca, NY, 1970.
Waterfield, Robin H. Conversations of Socrates, by Xenophon. New York, 1990. Websites
Xenophon. http://www. crystalinks. com/xenophon. html
Xenophon's Oeconomicus. http://bingweb. binghamton. edu/~clas382a/study_guides/
03-05_xenophon_oecnomicus. htm
Xenophon--Introduction. http://www. enotes. com/classical-medieval-criticism/xenophon
Bibliography for Document
Marchant, E. C. (tr. ). Xenophon: Memorabilia and Oeconomicus. [LCL. ] Cambridge and London, 1923.
24. YOU TAKE YOUR LIFE IN YOUR HANDS IF YOU LIVE IN ROME
INTRODUCTION
One of the difficulties facing those interested in finding out information about how the ancient Greeks and Romans lived their lives is the relative lack of written source material on ordinary people. We have a plethora of writings that provide biographical detail on the famous politicians, military leaders, emperors, and other high-profile people of the ancient civilizations, but not so much source material on the less prominent, but far more numerous, members of society.
The literary output of the poet/satirist Juvenal (ca. 60-ca. 130 CE) is an exception to that general rule. Perhaps because he himself came from a small town (Aquinum, about 80 miles southeast of Rome) from an apparently comfortable, but undistinguished, family background, he tends to feature in his written works people who shared his lot in life. Not surprisingly, then, much of what we know about housing in antiquity comes from descriptions of upscale homes, as we saw in the two Greek documents in this chapter. Juvenal provides us with a glimpse of how "the other half" lived in the document below, an excerpt from his third Satire.
KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ
1. Juvenal, as noted above, was a satirist, and satirists (whether ancient or modern) must employ exaggeration as a key element in making their points. Therefore, we should probably keep that fact in mind as we read the document.
2. The Romans, unlike the Greeks, tended to build dwellings "vertically. " That is, most Greek houses (regardless of the owner's financial circumstances) seldom rose higher than two stories, whereas the Romans built high-rise structures that some- times topped five or six stories. These insulae ("apartments"; literally, "islands"), as the buildings were called, were the domiciles of the less affluent; they were often poorly built, because there were no codes or regulations governing their construc- tion. Noise from other tenants and from the city streets below was a constant annoyance; flash fires were a constant danger.
3. Although we do not possess a host of specific details about Juvenal's life, it is known that he was exiled from Rome sometime during the reign of the emperor Domitian (reigned 81-96 CE), and that after the death of the emperor, he returned to Rome both bitter and impoverished. This downturn in his circumstances undoubtedly
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influenced the angry and sarcastic tone of much of his satirical writing. His dour attitude toward life in general and Rome in particular is well summarized by a famous line from his first Satire: Difficile est satiram non scribere. "It is difficult not to write satire. "
4. The insurance industry was unknown in ancient Rome, so when a person's house or apartment burned down (or was destroyed by any other natural or man-made event), the owner or renter had no recompense for his/her loss, except through the generosity of friends.
5. Although this document focuses on the danger of flash fires breaking out in the insulae, fire was not the only problem faced by urban tenants. Noise from the street was another. The Romans from time to time attempted to pass regulations prohib- iting the use of wagons and draft animals in the city streets during certain hours. However, these regulations were apparently not very effective in curtailing the noise, with the result that apartment dwellers often found themselves awakened in the middle of the night by the racket emanating from the streets below. A rich man, as Juvenal wryly notes, could afford a more expensive domicile in a quieter part of the city, where uninterrupted sleep was more of a reality than a goal.
Document: Juvenal's Take on Life in Rome
In cool Praeneste or the verdant hills of Volsinii, who
Has ever feared his house would Collapse as we all do -
Or in simple Gabii or Tivoli's craggy
Digitally-rendered illustration of an ancient Roman city with apartment buildings called insulae, and an aqueduct in the background. Based on archaeological excavations at Pompeii and Herculaneum. (Dreamstime. com)
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Heights? But here
We live in a city held up for the
greater part by mere
Toothpicks, for thus the janitor props
the tottering beams
And patches up the old walls at cracks and gaping seams,
And tells the tenants to rest in peace--well said, "R. I. P. ,"
With rafters ready to cave in on their heads! Not for me!
I must live where there are no fires
and no alarms in the night.
Below, some Ucalegon already is shouting in fright
For water and moving his stuff. From your attic room, smoke pours,
But you don't know it; for if the fire starts on the lower floors,
The last one to burn will be the man with nothing to keep
Him from the rain but the roof tiles, beneath which, in a heap,
The soft rock-doves lay eggs. The one
bed that Codrus owned
Was too small for a dwarf, his cupboard boasted six mugs, a lone
Pitcher, a Chiron reclining, made of
the same soft stone,
With an old chest of Greek books, whose lovely poems were chewed
By illiterate mice. Poor Codrus had nothing--isn't it true? -
But he still lost the whole nothing.
The straw on the camel's back
Is this: although he's stripped of all
and begging a snack,
No one will give him a paltry
handout, no one a bed,
Or even offer him shelter, a roof above his head.
But let the great house of Asturicus
catch and burn,
The matrons mourn, the nobles wear black, the courts adjourn.
Oh, then we bewail the city's disasters and hate its fires!
The palace is still in flames and
someone runs up and desires
You Take Your Life in Your Hands if You Live in Rome
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Asturicus: Just as the name "Codrus" was used to refer to a poor man, so the name "Asturicus" symbol- izes a man of wealth.
attic room: The Latin phrase used by Juvenal, tabulata tertia, literally means "third floor," which was apparently the top floor in the burning apartment building.
Chiron: One of the centaurs--hybrid, half-man, half-horse creatures--of Greek mythology. Chiron was always portrayed as a wise, cul- tured, and gentle being, and a tutor of some of the most famous figures in Greek and Roman legend, including Achilles, Hercules, and Aeneas. It would have been appro- priate if Codrus had indeed placed the statue of Chiron on top of his chest of Greek books.
Codrus: Here, probably a generic name referring to any impover- ished person.
Euphranor or Polyclitus. Both were famous Greek sculptor/artists, who lived in the fourth century BCE and the fifth century BCE, respectively.
games: A reference to chariot races in the Circus Maximus. The implica- tion seems to be that one of the advantages of living in Rome is that one can easily frequent the Circus Maximus, whereas residence in one of the outlying towns requires some inconvenient travel to get to the games. However, living in one of these towns, like Sora or Frusino, can have a major benefit, too: more affordable housing.
Persicus: Another rich man, whose wealth is due to his childlessness and also to the suspicion that he may have torched his own house in order to receive gifts from sym- pathetic friends, not to mention
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To give him marble or building funds, another is pleased
To offer shining nude statues, another a masterpiece
Of Euphranor or Polyclitus or figures of bronze from nooks
In ancient Asian temples. And others will give him books,
Bookshelves, a bust of Minerva, or silver in coin or plate.
This is how Persicus, most refined and most fortunate
Of the childless, restores his loss with more and richer things.
No wonder that he's suspected of arson--look what it brings!
If you can be torn from the games, you can buy a fine house and stay
In Sora, Frusino, or anywhere else for what you now pay
In Rome to rent a dark hole one year. You'll have a small lawn,
A garden, a shallow well from which water is easily drawn,
With no need of ropes, to wet your tender plants. Live in peace
With a hoe as companion there, grow a truck garden fit to feast
A Vegetarian convention. Remote though your farm may be,
It's something to be the lord of one green lizard--and free . . .
what rented flat
Allows you to sleep? Only rich men
in this city have that.
[Tr. Hubert Creekmore. The Satires of Juvenal. (Satire 3. ) Mentor Classic, 1963. Page numbers: 55, 56, 57, 58. ]
AFTERMATH
Juvenal apparently wrote his satires--16 in all--after his return from exile. After a period of unknown duration, during which he occupied himself with the hard work of writing the satires, he was able to acquire a country farm home and at least some financial sta- bility. The source of this largesse is a mystery; it may have been a generous literary patron, or perhaps even the emperor, the enlight- ened Hadrian (reigned 117-138 CE).
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? the presents from legacy hunters who hoped to be recompensed, and then some, by being named heirs in Persicus's will. The poet Martial (3. 52) relates the story of a certain Tongilianus, whose house burned to the ground, but who received monetary contributions from friends that totaled five times the value of the gutted house.
Praeneste: Praeneste was a small town nestled in the hills about 20 miles southeast of Rome. It was a desir- able place for retirees, offering the pleasures and comforts of a small town, combined with easy acces- sibility to Rome. The downside? Real estate there was very pricey, so only the richest Romans could afford to buy a home in Praeneste.
Tivoli: Tibur, in Latin. Tivoli, like Praeneste, was a fashionable com- munity for well-to-do Romans. Juvenal calls it "craggy"; the poet Horace, in one of his Odes, refers to it as "sloping. " Both are referen- ces to Tivoli's location on the side of a hill. Juvenal cites all four of these towns (Praeneste, Volsinii, Gabii, and Tivoli) as examples of safe and pleasant places to live. Compare them, he suggests, to the dangers of residing in Rome: houses that collapse; roof and ceiling beams supported by mere "toothpicks"; a janitor--the Latin word employed by Juvenal is vilicus, perhaps better translated as "apartment man- ager"--makes a few cosmetic repairs, and then assures the tenants that their rooms are sound and that they should all "rest in peace. "
The sloppy construction and maintenance methods that were rampant in these inner-city apart- ments contrast vividly to the care
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Life in Rome generally was undoubtedly better after the death of Domitian. That despotic ruler was followed by the so-called Five Good Emperors (Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius), who collectively reigned from 98 to 180 CE. The historian Edward Gibbon famously referred to this era with these glowing words: "If a man were called to fix the period in the history of the world during which the condition of the human race was most happy and prosperous, he would, without hesitation, name that which elapsed from the death of Domitian to the acces- sion of Commodus. "
ASK YOURSELF
1. Juvenal writes, somewhat enviously, about pleasant but pricey retirement communities like Praeneste. Would it be accurate to compare Praeneste to a place like Palm Springs, California, a well-known retirement destination for the rich and famous?
2. It was mentioned in "Keep in Mind as You Read" that Juvenal, as a satirist, often relied on exaggeration to help him make his points or convey his message. Do you notice any passages or descriptions in the document that seem like they might be exaggerated? Which one(s), and why?
3. What do you make of the passage where Juvenal chides an apartment dweller for being unwilling to move to inexpen- sive housing in one of the small country towns near Rome, because of the allure of attending chariot races in Rome? Might there be a desire on the part of a city resident to be "where the action is"? Is the same true today?
TOPICS TO CONSIDER
e The Romans enjoyed gardens and gardening in
the same way as many contemporary Americans.
Juvenal suggests that living in a small town, away
from Rome, would enable the occupant to have a
garden, but only a small one. (The word in Latin
for garden is hortus; Juvenal uses the diminutive,
hortulus, a "little garden," to describe the typical
small-town garden. ) Consider and research the
topic of Roman gardens. In addition to size, how was a standard garden (hortus) different from a little garden (hortulus)? Are there any similarities between Roman and American gardens?
e The Romans excelled in the area of civil engineering (the construction of public works such as roads, bridges, and aqueducts), but they never seemed to be able to solve the problem of congestion and noise in the streets of their big cities, especially Rome. Consider the topic of street construction and usage in ancient Rome. What specific measures did they take to try
You Take Your Life in Your Hands if You Live in Rome
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? that was taken in the building of upscale homes. In his treatise on architecture, Vitruvius recounted at some length the importance of properly fabricated walls, piers, col- umns, arches, and other weight- bearing components that contrib- uted to the structural integrity of the house.
Ucalegon: Ucalegon is the (probably fic- titious) name of one of the tenants on a lower floor. However, in the Aeneid, the epic poet Virgil also refers to a certain Ucalegon, a resident of the doomed city of Troy: "Even now, the spacious house of Deiphobus has fallen, as the fire- god towers above; even now his neighbor, [the house belonging to] Ucalegon, blazes. " [2. 310-312; tr. Fairclough. ] Perhaps Juvenal had in mind the Virgilian Ucalegon, another house-fire victim, when he wrote these lines.
Volsinii; Gabii: Both were towns in central Italy.
with nothing to keep him from the rain but the roof tiles: The impli- cation seems to be that apartment fires often start on the lower floors, in which case the tenant on the top floor will be "the last one to burn. " Roof tiles (tegulae) were con- structed of flat sheets of stone joined together by curved, raised connectors.
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? ? ? ? A SLUMLORD AND FINANCIAL PROFITEER EXTRAORDINAIRE
The first-century BCE politician Marcus Licinius Crassus amassed a fortune that would have been the envy of a Gates or a Trump . . . or even an Alex Rodriguez. One of his favored ways of maintaining and augmenting his bottom line was to buy up properties in lower-income neighborhoods in Rome and then rent them out at exor- bitant rates. He was especially aggressive in purchasing properties that had been destroyed by fire; according to the biographer Plutarch, destructive house and apartment fires were frequent in Rome because of the height and physical proximity of these buildings. Plutarch relates that Crassus bought about 500 slaves who were knowl- edgeable about building and architecture, and then when a conflagration was raging in some residential district in Rome, Crassus would appear on the scene and offer the distraught owner a bargain basement price for his property. The owner, figuring that something was better than nothing, usually agreed to the price. In this way, says Plutarch, Crassus acquired on the cheap a large number of burned-out houses and apartments, which his 500 slaves subsequently rebuilt, and from which Crassus profited greatly through the excessive rental fees he charged.
Oddly, Rome had no organized, government-sanctioned fire brigade until early in the first century CE, when the emperor Augustus placed throughout the city some 7,000 nocturnae vigiles--literally, "night watchmen"-- whose primary job was to guard against the outbreak of fires and to assist in extinguishing them when needed. These vigiles probably also had some law enforcement responsibilities, thus making them kind of a hybrid com- bination of police officers and firefighters.
The biographer Suetonius has an interesting, albeit rather cryptic, comment on firefighting, in his Life of Nero. [16. 1] He states that Nero ordered porticos to be constructed in front houses and apartments in Rome; these porticos had flat roofs, from which residential fires could be battled. However, Suetonius does not mention the methods that could be employed by rooftop brigades in containing fires. It was also during Nero's reign that the great fire of 64 CE swept through Rome, for six days and seven nights, according to Suetonius. Whether Nero himself set the conflagration, and whether he "fiddled while Rome burned," are both open to debate.
? ? to deal with the noise-pollution problem? How successful were they in doing so? Are there any parallels between ancient Roman cities and modern American cities in the way(s) in which they handled these kinds of problems?
Further Information
Green, Peter. Juvenal: The Sixteen Satires. Baltimore, 1967. Highet, Gilbert. Juvenal the Satirist: A Study. New York, 1954.
? ? ? ? SATIRE: A ROMAN INVENTION
The ancient Romans, rightly or wrongly, are often accused of "borrowing" large portions of their culture-- mythology, literature, art, and architecture, to name a few--from the Greeks. But one literary niche was totally Roman: satire. A famous line from the first-century CE orator Quintilian attests to Roman ownership of this genre: Satira quidem tota nostra est: "Satire, at least, is all ours. " [10. 1. 93] This line occurs within the context of a lengthy defense of Roman authors and their sometimes implied, sometimes stated, equivalence or even superiority to their Greek counterparts.
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Websites
Juvenal. http://www. nndb. com/people/055/000097761/
Sample Plan of a Roman house. http://vroma. org/~bmcmanus/house. html
Bibliography for Document
Creekmore, Hubert (tr. ). The Satires of Juvenal. New York, 1963.
Fairclough, H. Rushton (tr. ). Virgil: Eclogues; Georgics; Aeneid. Volume I. [LCL. ] Cambridge
and London, 1916.
