the history and economy of pompeii

Question 1

Which towns stood in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius?

Answer 1

1. Pompeii
2. Herculaneum

Question 2

What was Pompeii’s economy based on?

Answer 2

1. TRADE
2. Agriculture
3. Small shops
4. Inns

Question 3

Behind a Roman shop was often their house. What would a typical Roman house include?

Answer 3

1. An entrance door leading into the atrium (central courtyard)
2. Smaller rooms surrounding the atrium (used for kitchen, bedrooms, storage rooms etc)
3. In a larger home, towards the back there would be a peristyle (colonnaded garden)
4. Two important rooms: the tablinium and the
   triclinium

Question 4

What are three aspects of a dinner party?

Answer 4

1. Could be very elaborate (inclusion of entertainment, multiple courses)
2. Occasions for the host to display his wealth and generosity
3. A place where upwardly mobile Romans to display their participation in elite culture and refinement

Question 5

Romans sought to impress their friends through dinner parties as well as by decorating their houses with elaborate wall paintings, these paintings would have decorated the entire wall. These wall paintings may have depicted what? What else may have they depicted

Answer 5

1. Scenes from myth, history, daily life.
2. Highly realistic architectural structures that created the illusion of more space.

Question 6

What was the preferred technique of creating wall paintings?

Answer 6

Fresco - Powdered pigments were mixed with water and then painted onto a wall that was still damp from a coating of lime plaster.
- When the wall was dry, the colours became fixed to the surface of the wall.

Question 7

What was an important function of the atrium?

Answer 7

CONNECTED TO RELIGION
Roman homes were protected by two gods:
1. Lares - household numen who protected the family.
2. Penates - associated with pantries and cooking, in a way, preserved the existence of the family.

Question 8

The importance of the family as a basic social unit is shown through what practice?

Answer 8

THE PRACTICE OF ANCESTOR WORSHIP

Question 9

In relation to religion, the paterfamilias had what job?

Answer 9

1. honoring ancestors
2. ensuring the mos maiorum was followed
3. ensured the family prospered

Question 10

Romans typically had two or three names. What were the types of names? What do they mean?

Answer 10

using the example of Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus
1. Parenomen - a personal name
- Tiberius
2. Nomen Gentilicium - a man’s most important name
- Sempronius
- identifies the gens/family to which the individual belonged
3. Cognomen (sometimes) - second most important
name if the individual had one.
- Gracchus
- identified the branch of the gens to which the
individual belonged; an individual could sometimes acquire an extra cognomen based on their character or their appearance

Question 11

Roman women, specifically upper class, played a significant role in their families and society at large. What type of marriage was most common for lower classes? What were the two types of marriages found among the upper classes?

Answer 11

LOWER CLASSES
1. common consent - similar to common law.
UPPER CLASSES
1. manus - the wife and her property passed from the authority of her father into the control and authority of her husband
2. marriage without manus - the wife remained a member of her father’s family and her property was not transferred to her husband; provided the wife with more freedom

Question 12

Marriage and divorce in ancient Rome was not a matter of love. What was it a matter of?

Answer 12

POLITICS

Question 13

Rome was highly stratified. One of the most important divisions was between what types of status?

Answer 13

1. Freeborn - THE TOP OF THE SOCIAL HIERARCHY
2. Freedmen
3. Enslaved - The life they lived was dependent on the individual’s education as well as on who their master
   was.

Question 14

What are the main features of the roman family and social hierarchy?

Answer 14

1. importance of the paterfamilias
2. act of respecting and worshipping ancestors
3. a clear division of statuses and how they rank

Question 15

What are the main features of Roman art? Architecture?

Answer 15

ART - depicted myth, history, daily life, nature.
- largely used the fresco technique
- would have decorated a full wall

ARCHITECTURE - domes, arches, vaults.
- excelled in historical relief and narrative

Question 16

What are the main features of a Roman house?

Answer 16

1. THE MOST IMPORTANT SPACE: the atrium, located right beyond the entryway.
   - it served as a “living room” and had smaller rooms around it.
2. Triclinium/dining room
3. Tablinium, toward the back of the house.
   - the location where the master of the house would greet his guests and clients
4. the addition of smaller rooms for:
   - bedrooms and rooms for servants
   - kitchen and storage areas
5. Peristyle, found in larger homes.
   - another open courtyard toward the back of the house

Question 17

What rights did women have regarding marriage and
divorce?

Answer 17

WOMEN WERE ALWAYS UNDDER GUARDIANSHIP OF AN ADULT MALE (father, husband, a diff close relative appointed guardian)
- Limited consent required as they were usually married off in their teens
- in marriages WITH MANUS, a wife could not initiate divorce
- in marriages WITHOUT MANUS, a wife could initiate divorce

Question 18

What can be learned from archeological and visual sources that may not have been learned from literary sources?

Answer 18

A lot can be learned about the daily life, specifically of ordinary people, from archaeological and visual sources.
- i.e. the wall painting of a husband and wife from Pompeii shows a much more equal relationship between the married couple than our literary sources