Ancient Rome

== Society ==
[[File:Foro romano dal campidoglio 04.JPG|thumb|upright|The [[Roman Forum]], the political, economic, cultural, and religious center of the city during the [[Roman Republic|Republic]] and later [[Roman Empire|Empire]]]]
The imperial city of Rome was the largest urban center in the empire, with a population variously estimated from 450,000 to close to one million.<ref>{{Harvnb|Duiker|Spielvogel|2001|page=[https://archive.org/details/worldhistoryto1500duik/page/149 149]}}; [https://web.archive.org/web/20110501052229/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-20586744.html ''Abstract of'' The population of ancient Rome.] by Glenn R. Storey. HighBeam Research. 1 December 1997. Retrieved 22 April 2007.; [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/journals/CP/29/2/Population_of_Rome*.html#note6 The Population of Rome] by Whitney J. Oates. Originally published in ''Classical Philology''.
Vol. 29, No. 2 (April 1934), pp.&nbsp;101–116. Retrieved 22 April 2007.</ref> Around 20 per cent of the population under jurisdiction of ancient Rome (25–40%, depending on the standards used, in Roman Italy)<ref>N.Morley, ''Metropolis and Hinterland'' (Cambridge, 1996) 174–183</ref> lived in innumerable urban centers, with population of 10,000 and more and several [[military settlement]]s, a very high rate of urbanisation by pre-industrial standards. Most of those centers had a [[Forum (Roman)|forum]], temples, and other buildings similar to Rome's. The average life expectancy in the Middle Empire was about 26–28 years.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gawande |first=Atul |title=Being Mortal |date=2014 |publisher=Profile Books |isbn=978-1846685828 |page=32}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Rossi |first=Lino|title=Rotocalchi di pietra. Segni e disegni dei tempi sui monumenti trionfali dell'Impero romano|date=1981|publisher=Jaca Book |isbn=978-8816400719 |page=59|language=it}}</ref>

=== Law ===
{{Main|Roman law}}
The roots of the legal principles and practices of the [[Outline of ancient Rome|ancient Romans]] may be traced to the [[Twelve Tables|Law of the Twelve Tables]] promulgated in 449&nbsp;BC and to the codification of law issued by order of Emperor [[Justinian I]] around 530&nbsp;AD (see [[Corpus Juris Civilis]]). Roman law as preserved in Justinian's codes continued into the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine Roman Empire]], and formed the basis of similar codifications in continental Western Europe. Roman law continued, in a broader sense, to be applied throughout most of Europe until the end of the 17th century.

The major divisions of the law of ancient Rome, as contained within the Justinian and Theodosian law codes, consisted of ''Jus civile'', ''[[Jus gentium]]'', and ''Jus naturale''. The ''Jus civile'' ("Citizen Law") was the body of common laws that applied to Roman citizens.{{Sfn|Adkins|Adkins|1998|p=46}} The [[Praetor urbanus|''praetores urbani'']] (''sg. Praetor Urbanus'') were the people who had jurisdiction over cases involving citizens. The ''Jus gentium'' ("Law of nations") was the body of common laws that applied to foreigners, and their dealings with Roman citizens.{{Sfn|Duiker|Spielvogel|2001|page=[https://archive.org/details/worldhistoryto1500duik/page/146 146]}} The [[Praetor peregrinus|''praetores peregrini'']] (''sg. Praetor Peregrinus'') were the people who had jurisdiction over cases involving citizens and foreigners. ''Jus naturale'' encompassed natural law, the body of laws that were considered common to all beings.

=== Class structure ===
{{Main|Social class in ancient Rome|Status in Roman legal system}}
[[File:Arringatore 04.JPG|thumb|upright|''[[The Orator]]'', c.&nbsp;100 BC, from the [[National Archaeological Museum of Florence]], Italy, an Etrusco-Roman bronze statue depicting Aule Metele (Latin: Aulus Metellus), an Etruscan man wearing a Roman [[toga]] while engaged in [[rhetoric]]; the statue features an inscription in the [[Etruscan language]]]]
Roman society is largely viewed as [[social hierarchy|hierarchical]], with [[slavery in antiquity|slaves]] (''servi'') at the bottom, [[freedman|freedmen]] (''liberti'') above them, and free-born citizens (''cives'') at the top. Free citizens were subdivided by class. The broadest, and earliest, division was between the [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|patricians]], who could trace their ancestry to one of the 100 [[patriarch]]s at the founding of the city, and the [[plebs|plebeians]], who could not. This became less important in the later Republic, as some plebeian families became wealthy and entered politics, and some patrician families fell economically. Anyone, patrician or plebeian, who could count a consul as his ancestor was a [[nobility|noble]] (''nobilis''); a man who was the first of his family to hold the consulship, such as [[Gaius Marius|Marius]] or [[Cicero]], was known as a ''[[novus homo]]'' ("new man") and ennobled his descendants. Patrician ancestry, however, still conferred considerable prestige, and many religious offices remained restricted to patricians.

A [[class division]] originally based on military service became more important. Membership of these classes was determined periodically by the [[Roman censor|censors]], according to property. The wealthiest were the Senatorial class, who dominated politics and command of the army. Next came the [[Equestrian order|equestrians]] (''[[equites]]'', sometimes translated "knights"), originally those who could afford a warhorse, and who formed a powerful mercantile class. Several further classes, originally based on the military equipment their members could afford, followed, with the ''proletarii'', citizens who had no property other than their children, at the bottom. Before the reforms of Marius they were ineligible for military service and are often described as being just above freed slaves in wealth and prestige.

Voting power in the Republic depended on class. Citizens were enrolled in voting "tribes", but the tribes of the richer classes had fewer members than the poorer ones, all the ''proletarii'' being enrolled in a single tribe. Voting was done in class order, from top down, and stopped as soon as most of the tribes had been reached, so the poorer classes were often unable to cast their votes.

[[Women in ancient Rome]] shared some basic rights with their male counterparts, but were not fully regarded as citizens and were thus not allowed to vote or take part in politics. At the same time the limited rights of women were gradually expanded (due to [[emancipation]]) and women reached freedom from ''[[pater familias]]'', gained property rights and even had more juridical rights than their husbands, but still no voting rights, and were absent from politics.<ref>Frank Frost Abbott, ''Society and Politics in Ancient Rome'', BiblioBazaar, LLC, 2009, p. 41</ref>

Allied foreign cities were often given the [[Latin Rights]], an intermediary level between full citizens and foreigners (''peregrini''), which gave their citizens rights under [[Roman law]] and allowed their leading magistrates to become full Roman citizens. While there were varying degrees of Latin rights, the main division was between those ''cum suffragio'' ("with vote"; enrolled in a [[Roman tribe#The Servian tribes|Roman tribe]] and able to take part in the ''comitia tributa'') and ''sine suffragio'' ("without vote"; could not take part in Roman politics). Most of Rome's Italian allies were given full citizenship after the [[Social War (91–88&nbsp;BC)|Social War]] of 91–88&nbsp;BC, and full [[Roman citizenship]] was extended to all free-born men in the Empire by [[Caracalla]] in 212, with the exception of the ''dediticii'', people who had become subject to Rome through surrender in war, and freed slaves.<ref name=dediticii/>

=== Education ===
{{Main|Education in ancient Rome}}
[[File:Busto maschile.JPG|thumb|[[Roman portraiture]] fresco of a young man with a [[papyrus]] [[scroll]], from [[Herculaneum]], 1st century AD]]

In the early Republic, there were no public schools, so boys were taught to read and write by their parents, or by educated [[List of slaves|slaves]], called ''[[paedagogi]]'', usually of Greek origin.<ref name="Lecture 13">[http://www.historyguide.org/ancient/lecture13b.html Lecture 13: A Brief Social History of the Roman Empire] by Steven Kreis. 11 October 2006. Retrieved 2 April 2007.</ref>{{Sfn|Adkins|Adkins|1998|p=211}}{{Sfn|Werner|1978|p=31}} The primary aim of education during this period was to train young men in agriculture, warfare, [[Culture of ancient Rome|Roman traditions]], and public affairs.<ref name="Lecture 13"/> Young boys learned much about civic life by accompanying their fathers to religious and political functions, including the Senate for the sons of nobles.{{Sfn|Adkins|Adkins|1998|p=211}} The sons of nobles were apprenticed to a prominent [[Politician|political figure]] at the age of 16, and campaigned with the army from the age of 17.{{Sfn|Adkins|Adkins|1998|p=211}} Educational practices were modified after the conquest of the Hellenistic kingdoms in the 3rd century BC and the resulting Greek influence, although Roman educational practices were still much different from Greek ones.{{Sfn|Adkins|Adkins|1998|p=211}}{{Sfn|Duiker|Spielvogel|2001|pages=[https://archive.org/details/worldhistoryto1500duik/page/143 143]}} If their parents could afford it, boys and some girls at the age of 7 were sent to a private school outside the home called a ''[[wikt:ludus|ludus]]'', where a teacher (called a ''litterator'' or a [[wikt:magister|''magister ludi'']], and often of Greek origin) taught them basic reading, writing, arithmetic, and sometimes Greek, until the age of 11.{{Sfn|Adkins|Adkins|1998|p=211}}{{Sfn|Werner|1978|p=31}}<ref name="TexEd">[https://web.archive.org/web/20071225125840/http://www.txclassics.org/exceteducation.htm Roman Education]. Latin ExCET Preparation. Texas Classical Association, by Ginny Lindzey, September 1998. Retrieved 27 March 2007.</ref>

Beginning at age 12, students went to secondary schools, where the teacher (now called a ''grammaticus'') taught them about [[Greek literature|Greek]] and [[Latin literature|Roman literature]].{{Sfn|Adkins|Adkins|1998|p=211}}<ref name="TexEd"/> At the age of 16, some students went on to [[rhetoric]] school (where the teacher, usually Greek, was called a ''[[wikt:rhetor|rhetor]]'').{{Sfn|Adkins|Adkins|1998|p=211}}<ref name="TexEd"/> Education at this level prepared students for legal careers, and required that the students memorise the laws of Rome.{{Sfn|Adkins|Adkins|1998|p=211}}

=== Government ===
{{Main|Roman Constitution|History of the Roman Constitution}}
{{Further|History of citizenship#Roman conceptions of citizenship}}
Initially, Rome was ruled by [[Roman Kingdom|kings]], who were elected from each of Rome's major tribes in turn.{{Sfn|Matyszak|2003|pages=16–42}} The exact nature of the king's power is uncertain. He may have held near-absolute power, or may have merely been the chief executive of the [[SPQR|Senate and the people]]. In military matters, the king's authority (''[[Imperium]]'') was likely absolute. He was also the head of the [[Religion in ancient Rome|state religion]]. In addition to the authority of the King, there were three administrative assemblies: the [[Roman Senate|Senate]], which acted as an advisory body for the King; the [[Curiate Assembly|Comitia Curiata]], which could endorse and ratify laws suggested by the King; and the [[Roman assemblies|Comitia Calata]], which was an assembly of the priestly college that could assemble the people to bear witness to certain acts, hear proclamations, and declare the [[Festival|feast]] and holiday schedule for the next month.

[[File:Cicero Denounces Catiline in the Roman Senate by Cesare Maccari.png|thumb|upright=1.15|Representation of a sitting of the [[Roman Senate]]: [[Cicero]] attacks [[Catiline|Catilina]], from a 19th-century fresco by [[Cesare Maccari]], in [[Palazzo Madama, Rome|Palazzo Madama]], home to Italy's Senate]]
The [[class struggle]]s of the [[Roman Republic]] resulted in an unusual mixture of democracy and [[oligarchy]]. The word republic comes from the Latin ''[[res publica]]'', which literally translates to "public business". [[List of Roman laws|Roman laws]] traditionally could only be passed by a vote of the Popular assembly ([[Tribal Assembly|Comitia Tributa]]). Likewise, candidates for public positions had to run for election by the people. However, the [[Roman Senate]] represented an oligarchic institution, which acted as an advisory body.

In the Republic, the Senate held actual authority (''[[auctoritas]]''), but no real legislative power; it was technically only an advisory council. However, as the Senators were individually very influential, it was difficult to accomplish anything against the collective will of the Senate. New senators were chosen from among the most accomplished [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|patricians]] by [[Roman censor|censors]] (''Censura''), who could also remove a senator from his office if he was found "morally corrupt"; a charge that could include bribery or, as under [[Cato the Elder]], embracing one's wife in public. Later, under the reforms of the dictator [[Lucius Cornelius Sulla|Sulla]], [[quaestor]]s were made automatic members of the Senate, though most of his reforms did not survive.

The Republic had no fixed [[bureaucracy]], and collected taxes through the practice of [[tax farming]]. Government positions such as quaestor, [[aedile]], or [[Prefect|praefect]] were funded by the office-holder. To prevent any citizen from gaining too much power, new [[magistrate]]s were elected annually and had to share power with a colleague. For example, under normal conditions, the highest authority was held by two consuls. In an emergency, a temporary [[Roman dictator|dictator]] could be appointed. Throughout the Republic, the administrative system was revised several times to comply with new demands. In the end, it proved inefficient for controlling the ever-expanding dominion of Rome, contributing to the establishment of the [[Roman Empire]].

In the early Empire, the pretense of a republican form of government was maintained. The [[Roman Emperor]] was portrayed as only a ''[[princeps]]'', or "first citizen", and the Senate gained legislative power and all legal authority previously held by the popular assemblies. However, the rule of the Emperors became increasingly [[Autocracy|autocratic]], and the Senate was reduced to an advisory body appointed by the Emperor. The Empire did not inherit a set bureaucracy from the Republic, since the Republic did not have any permanent governmental structures apart from the Senate. The Emperor appointed assistants and advisers, but the state lacked many institutions, such as a centrally planned [[budget]]. Some historians have cited this as a significant reason for the [[decline of the Roman Empire]].

=== Military ===
{{Main|Military history of ancient Rome|Military of ancient Rome|Structural history of the Roman military|Roman army|Roman navy}}
{{Ancient Rome military sidebar}}
[[File:Altar Domitius Ahenobarbus Louvre n3bis.jpg|thumb|[[Altar of Domitius Ahenobarbus]], c.&nbsp;122 BC; the altar shows two Roman infantrymen equipped with long ''[[Scutum (shield)|scuta]]'' and a cavalryman with his horse. All are shown wearing [[chain mail]] armour.]]
[[File:Römerturm, Auf dem Gaulskopf.jpg|thumb|upright|Roman [[tower]] ([[Reconstruction (architecture)|reconstruction]]) at [[Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes|Limes]] – [[Taunus]] / Germany]]
The early [[Roman army]] ({{Circa|500&nbsp;BC}}) was, like those of other contemporary [[city-state]]s influenced by Greek civilisation, a citizen ''[[militia]]'' that practised [[hoplite]] tactics. It was small and organised in five classes (in parallel to the ''[[Roman assemblies|comitia centuriata]]'', the body of citizens organised politically), with three providing hoplites and two providing light infantry. The early Roman army was tactically limited and its stance during this period was essentially defensive.{{Sfn|Keegan|1993|pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyofwarfare00keeg/page/263 263–264]}}<ref name="potter">{{Cite book |last=Potter |first=David |title=The Roman Army and Navy |date=2004 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/cambridgecompani0000unse_s0h2/page/67 67–70]}} in {{Harvnb|Flower|2004}}</ref><ref>For a discussion of hoplite tactics and their sociocultural setting, see {{Cite book |first=Victor Davis |last=Hanson |title=The Western Way of War: Infantry Battle in Classical Greece |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |location=New York |date=1989 |isbn=0394571886}}</ref>

By the 3rd century BC, the Romans abandoned the hoplite formation in favour of a more flexible system in which smaller groups of 120 (or sometimes 60) men called ''[[Maniple (military unit)|maniples]]'' could manoeuvre more independently on the battlefield. Thirty maniples arranged in three lines with supporting troops constituted a [[Roman legion|legion]], totalling between 4,000 and 5,000 men.{{Sfn|Keegan|1993|pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyofwarfare00keeg/page/263 263–264]}}<ref name= potter/> The early Republican legion consisted of five sections: the three lines of manipular heavy infantry (''[[hastati]]'', ''[[principes]]'' and ''[[triarii]])'', a force of light infantry (''[[velites]]''), and the cavalry (''[[equites]]''). With the new organisation came a new orientation toward the offensive and a much more aggressive posture toward adjoining city-states.{{Sfn|Keegan|1993|pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyofwarfare00keeg/page/263 263–264]}}<ref name= potter/> At nominal full strength, an early Republican legion included 3,600 to 4,800 heavy infantry, several hundred light infantry, and several hundred cavalrymen.{{Sfn|Keegan|1993|pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyofwarfare00keeg/page/263 263–264]}}{{Sfn|Goldsworthy|1996|p=33}}<ref>{{Cite book |editor-first=Jo-Ann |editor-last=Shelton |title=As the Romans Did: A Sourcebook in Roman Social History |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |date=1998 |isbn=019508974X |pages=245–249}}</ref>

Until the late Republican period, the typical legionary was a property-owning citizen farmer from a rural area (an ''adsiduus'') who served for particular (often annual) campaigns,{{Efn|Between 343 BC and 241 BC, the Roman army fought in every year but five.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Oakley |first=Stephen P. |title= The Early Republic |date=2004 |page=[https://archive.org/details/cambridgecompani0000unse_s0h2/page/27 27]}} in {{Harvnb|Flower|2004}}</ref>}} and who supplied his own equipment. After 200&nbsp;BC, economic conditions in rural areas deteriorated as manpower needs increased, so that the property qualifications for compulsory service were gradually reduced. Beginning in the 3rd century BC, legionaries were paid a [[stipend]] (''stipendium''). By the time of Augustus, the ideal of the citizen-soldier had been abandoned and the legions had become fully professional. At the end of the [[Final War of the Roman Republic|Civil War]], Augustus reorganised Roman military forces, discharging soldiers and disbanding legions. He retained 28 legions, distributed through the provinces of the Empire.<ref>{{Harvnb|Mackay|2004|pp=249–250}} Mackay points out that the number of legions grew to 30 by 125 AD and 33 during the [[Severan dynasty|Severan]] period (200–235 AD).</ref>

During the [[Principate]], the tactical organisation of the Army continued to evolve. The {{lang|la|auxilia}} remained independent cohorts, and legionary troops often operated as groups of cohorts rather than as full legions. A new and versatile type of unit, the ''cohortes equitatae'', combined cavalry and legionaries in a single formation. They could be stationed at garrisons or outposts and could fight on their own as balanced small forces or combine with similar units as a larger, legion-sized force. This increase in organizational flexibility helped ensure the long-term success of Roman military forces.{{Sfn|Goldsworthy|1996|pp=36–37}} The Emperor [[Gallienus]] (253–268&nbsp;AD) began a reorganisation that created the last military structure of the late Empire. Withdrawing some legionaries from the fixed bases on the border, Gallienus created mobile forces (the ''[[comitatenses]]'' or field armies) and stationed them behind and at some distance from the borders as a strategic reserve. The border troops (''[[limitanei]]'') stationed at fixed bases continued to be the first line of defence. The basic units of the field army were regimental; ''legiones'' or {{lang|la|auxilia}} for infantry and ''[[vexillation]]es'' for cavalry. Nominal strengths may have been 1,200 men for infantry regiments and 600 for cavalry, but actual troop levels could have been much lower—800 infantry and 400 cavalry.{{Sfn|Elton|1996|pages=89–96}} Many infantry and cavalry regiments operated in pairs under the command of a ''[[comes]]''. Field armies included regiments recruited from allied tribes and known as ''[[foederati]]''. By 400&nbsp;AD, ''foederati'' regiments had become permanently established units of the Roman army, paid and equipped by the Empire, led by a Roman tribune and used just as Roman units were used. The Empire also used groups of barbarians to fight along with the legions as allies without integration into the field armies, under overall command of a Roman general, but led by their own officers.{{Sfn|Elton|1996|pages=89–96}}

Military leadership evolved over the course of the history of Rome. Under the monarchy, the hoplite armies were led by the kings. During the early and middle Roman Republic, military forces were under the command of one of the two elected [[Roman consul|consuls]] for the year. During the later Republic, members of the Roman Senatorial elite, as part of the normal sequence of elected public offices known as the ''[[cursus honorum]]'', would have served first as ''[[quaestor]]'' (often posted as deputies to field commanders), then as ''[[praetor]]''.<ref name="bcorrey">{{Cite book |last=Brennan |first=Correy T. |title=Power and Process Under the Republican 'Constitution' |date=2004 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/cambridgecompani0000unse_s0h2/page/66 66–68]}} in {{Harvnb|Flower|2004}}
</ref>{{Sfn|Goldsworthy|1996|pp=121–125}} Following the end of a term as praetor or consul, a Senator might be appointed by the Senate as a [[Promagistrate|''propraetor'']] or [[Promagistrate|''proconsul'']] (depending on the highest office held before) to govern a foreign province. Under Augustus, whose most important political priority was to place the military under a permanent and unitary command, the Emperor was the legal commander of each legion but exercised that command through a ''[[legatus]]'' (legate) he appointed from the Senatorial elite. In a province with a single legion, the legate commanded the legion (''[[legatus legionis]]'') and served as provincial governor, while in a province with more than one legion, each legion was commanded by a legate and the legates were commanded by the provincial governor (also a legate but of higher rank).{{Sfn|Mackay|2004|pp=245–252}}

During the later stages of the Imperial period (beginning perhaps with [[Diocletian]]), the Augustan model was abandoned. Provincial governors were stripped of military authority, and command of the armies in a group of provinces was given to generals ([[Dux|''duces'']]) appointed by the Emperor. These were no longer members of the Roman elite but men who came up through the ranks and had seen much practical soldiering. With increasing frequency, these men attempted (sometimes successfully) to usurp the positions of the Emperors. Decreased resources, increasing political chaos and civil war eventually left the Western Empire vulnerable to attack and takeover by neighbouring barbarian peoples.<ref>{{Harvnb|Mackay|2004|pp=295–296}} Also chapters 23–24.</ref>

====Roman navy====
[[File:D473-birème romaine-Liv2-ch10.png|thumb|A Roman naval [[bireme]] depicted in a relief from the [[Temple of Fortuna Primigenia]] in [[Praeneste]] ([[Palestrina|Palastrina]]),

<ref>{{Cite book |first=D.B. |last=Saddington |editor-first=Paul |editor-last=Erdkamp |date=2011 |orig-date=2007 |title=A Companion to the Roman Army |chapter=Classes: the Evolution of the Roman Imperial Fleets |pages=201–217 (Plate 12.2 on p. 204) |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |isbn=978-1405121538}}</ref>

 which was built {{Circa|120 BC}};<ref>Coarelli, Filippo (1987), ''I Santuari del Lazio in età repubblicana''. NIS, Rome, pp. 35–84.</ref> exhibited in the Pius-Clementine Museum ([[Museo Pio-Clementino]]) in the [[Vatican Museums]].]]

Less is known about the [[Roman navy]] than the Roman army. Prior to the middle of the 3rd century BC, officials known as ''duumviri navales'' commanded a fleet of twenty ships used mainly to control piracy. This fleet was given up in 278&nbsp;AD and replaced by allied forces. The [[Punic Wars|First Punic War]] required that Rome build large fleets, and it did so largely with the assistance of and financing from allies. This reliance on allies continued to the end of the Roman Republic. The [[quinquereme]] was the main warship on both sides of the Punic Wars and remained the mainstay of Roman naval forces until replaced by the time of Caesar Augustus by lighter and more manoeuvrable vessels.<ref name="Potter pp. 76-78">This paragraph is based upon Potter, pp. 76–78.</ref>

As compared with a [[trireme]], the quinquereme permitted the use of a mix of experienced and inexperienced crewmen (an advantage for a primarily land-based power), and its lesser manoeuvrability permitted the Romans to adopt and perfect [[Corvus (weapon)|boarding tactics]] using a troop of about 40 marines in lieu of the [[Naval tactics in the Age of Galleys|ram]]. Ships were commanded by a ''[[navarch]]'', a rank equal to a centurion, who was usually not a citizen. Potter suggests that because the fleet was dominated by non-Romans, the navy was considered non-Roman and allowed to atrophy in times of peace.<ref name="Potter pp. 76-78"/>

Information suggests that by the time of the late Empire (350&nbsp;AD), the Roman navy comprised several fleets including warships and merchant vessels for transportation and supply. Warships were oared sailing galleys with three to five banks of oarsmen. Fleet bases included such ports as Ravenna, Arles, Aquilea, Misenum and the mouth of the Somme River in the West and Alexandria and Rhodes in the East. Flotillas of small river craft (''classes'') were part of the ''limitanei'' (border troops) during this period, based at fortified river harbours along the Rhine and the Danube. That prominent generals commanded both armies and fleets suggests that naval forces were treated as auxiliaries to the army and not as an independent service. The details of command structure and fleet strengths during this period are not well known, although fleets were commanded by prefects.{{Sfn|Elton|1996|pages=99–101}}

=== Economy ===
{{Main|Roman agriculture|Roman commerce|Roman finance|Roman currency|Roman metallurgy}}
[[File:Pompeii - Fullonica of Veranius Hypsaeus 1 - MAN.jpg|thumb|Workers at a cloth-processing shop, in a painting from the ''[[fullonica]]'' of Veranius Hypsaeus in Pompeii]]
Ancient Rome commanded a vast area of land, with tremendous natural and human resources. As such, Rome's economy remained focused on [[Farming in ancient Rome|farming]] and trade. Agricultural [[free trade]] changed the Italian landscape, and by the 1st century BC, vast grape and [[olive]] estates had supplanted the [[yeoman]] farmers, who were unable to match the imported grain price. The [[annexation]] of [[Egypt]], Sicily and [[Tunisia]] in North Africa provided a continuous supply of grains. In turn, [[olive oil]] and [[Ancient Rome and wine|wine]] were Italy's main exports. Two-tier [[crop rotation]] was practised, but farm productivity was low, around 1 ton per hectare.

Industrial and manufacturing activities were small. The largest such activities were the mining and [[quarry]]ing of stones, which provided basic construction materials for the buildings of that period. In manufacturing, production was on a relatively small scale, and generally consisted of workshops and small factories that employed at most dozens of workers. However, some brick factories employed hundreds of workers.

The economy of the early Republic was largely based on [[smallholding]] and paid labour. However, foreign wars and conquests made [[slavery in antiquity|slaves]] increasingly cheap and plentiful, and by the late Republic, the economy was largely dependent on [[Slavery|slave labour]] for both skilled and unskilled work. Slaves are estimated to have constituted around 20% of the Roman Empire's population at this time and 40% in the city of Rome. Only in the Roman Empire, when the conquests stopped and the prices of slaves increased, did hired labour become more economical than slave ownership.

[[File:Mercati di Traiano, 2013.jpg|thumb|left|View of [[Trajan's Market]], built by [[Apollodorus of Damascus]]]]
Although [[barter]] was used in ancient Rome, and often used in tax collection, Rome had a very developed [[coin]]age system, with [[Brass instrument|brass]], [[bronze]], and [[precious metal]] coins in circulation throughout the Empire and beyond—some have even been discovered in India. Before the 3rd century BC, copper was traded by weight, measured in unmarked lumps, across [[central Italy]]. The original [[British coinage|copper coins]] (''[[As (Roman coin)|as]]'') had a face value of one [[Pound (weight)#Origins|Roman pound]] of copper, but weighed less. Thus, Roman money's utility as a unit of exchange consistently exceeded its intrinsic value as metal. After [[Nero]] began debasing the silver [[denarius]], its [[legal tender|legal]] value was an estimated one-third greater than its intrinsic value.

Horses were expensive and other [[pack animal]]s were slower. Mass trade on the [[Roman roads]] connected military posts, where Roman markets were centered.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4aX-W6AVNv8C&pg=PA231 |title=The Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Warfare |date=2007 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0521782746 |editor-last=Sabin |editor-first=Philip |page=231 |editor-last2=van Wees |editor-first2=Hans |editor-last3=Whitby |editor-first3=Michael}}</ref> These roads were designed for wheels.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Heseltine |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fm5l000EmoAC |title=Roads to Rome |date=2005 |publisher=J. Paul Getty Museum |isbn=978-0711225527 |page=11}}</ref> As a result, there was transport of [[commodity|commodities]] between Roman regions, but increased with the rise of [[Roman commerce#Sea routes|Roman maritime trade]] in the 2nd century BC. During that period, a trading vessel took less than a month to complete a trip from [[Cádiz|Gades]] to [[Alexandria]] via [[Ostia Antica|Ostia]], spanning the entire length of the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]].{{Sfn| Scarre|1995}} Transport by sea was around 60 times cheaper than by land, so the volume for such trips was much larger.

Some economists consider the Roman Empire a [[market economy]], similar in its degree of capitalistic practices to 17th century Netherlands and 18th century England.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Temin |first=Peter |year=2001 |title=A Market Economy in the Early Roman Empire |url=http://eh.net/abstracts/archive/0370.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100615223139/http://eh.net/abstracts/archive/0370.php |archive-date=15 June 2010 |website=Abstract Archives |publisher=Economy History Services}}</ref>

=== Family ===
{{Main|Family in ancient Rome}}
[[File:Galla Placidia (rechts) und ihre Kinder.jpg|thumb|A [[gold glass]] portrait of a family from [[Roman Egypt]]. [[Greek language|The Greek inscription]] on the medallion may indicate either the name of the artist or the ''[[pater familias]]'' who is absent in the portrait.<ref>See {{Cite web |title=Masterpieces. Desiderius' Cross |url=http://www.bresciamusei.com/nsantagiulia.asp?nm=14&t=Masterpieces%2E+Desiderius%27+Cross |access-date=2 October 2016 |website=Fondazione Brescia Musei |archive-date=19 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019100706/https://www.bresciamusei.com/nsantagiulia.asp?nm=14&t=Masterpieces.+Desiderius%27+Cross |url-status=dead }}. For a description of scholarly research on the Brescia Medallion, see Daniel Thomas Howells (2015). "[http://www.britishmuseum.org/pdf/Late_Antique_Gold_Glass_online.pdf A Catalogue of the Late Antique Gold Glass in the British Museum (PDF).]" London: the British Museum (Arts and Humanities Research Council), p. 7. Accessed 2 October 2016. [[List of gold-glass portraits|gold glass portrait]] (most likely by an [[History of Alexandria|Alexandrian Greek]] due to [[Ancient Greek dialects|the Egyptian dialect of the inscription]]), dated 3rd century AD; Beckwith, John, Early Christian and Byzantine Art, Penguin History of Art (now Yale), 2nd edn. 1979, {{ISBN|0140560335}}, p. 25; Boardman, John ed., The Oxford History of Classical Art, 1993, OUP, {{ISBN|0198143869}}, pp. 338–340; Grig, Lucy, "Portraits, Pontiffs and the Christianization of Fourth-Century Rome", ''Papers of the British School at Rome'', Vol. 72, (2004), pp.&nbsp;203–230, {{JSTOR|40311081}}, p. 207; Jás Elsner (2007). "The Changing Nature of Roman Art and the Art Historical Problem of Style", in Eva R. Hoffman (ed), ''Late Antique and Medieval Art of the Medieval World'', 11–18. Oxford, Malden & Carlton: Blackwell Publishing. {{ISBN|978-1405120715}}, p. 17, Figure 1.3 on p. 18.</ref>]]
[[File:Rilievo funerario dei vibii, fine del I secolo ac..JPG|thumb|A funerary relief with members of the ''[[gens]]'' [[Vibia gens|Vibia]], late 1st century BC, [[Vatican Museums]]]]

The basic units of Roman society were households and families.{{Sfn|Duiker|Spielvogel|2001|page=[https://archive.org/details/worldhistoryto1500duik/page/146 146]}} Groups of households connected through the male line formed a family (''[[gens]]''), based on blood ties, a common ancestry or [[Adoption in ancient Rome|adoption]]. During the [[Roman Republic]], some powerful families, or ''[[Gens|Gentes Maiores]]'', came to dominate political life. Families were headed by their oldest male citizen, the ''[[pater familias]]'' (father of the family), who held lawful authority (''patria potestas'', "father's power") over wives, sons, daughters, and slaves of the household, and the family's wealth.{{Sfn|Duiker|Spielvogel|2001|page=[https://archive.org/details/worldhistoryto1500duik/page/146 146]}}

The extreme expressions of this power—the selling or killing of family members for moral or civil offences, including simple disobedience—were very rarely exercised, and were forbidden in the Imperial era. A ''pater familias'' had moral and legal duties towards all family members. Even the most despotic ''pater familias'' was expected to consult senior members of his household and ''gens'' over matters that affected the family's well-being and reputation. Traditionally, such matters were regarded as outside the purview of the state and its magistrates; under the emperors, they were increasingly subject to state interference and legislation.<ref>Parkin, Tim, & Pomeroy, Arthur, ''Roman Social History, a Sourcebook,'' Routledge, 2007, p. 72. {{ISBN|978-0415426756}}</ref>

Once accepted into their birth family by their fathers, children were potential heirs. They could not be lawfully given away, or sold into slavery. If parents were unable to care for their child, or if its paternity was in doubt, they could resort to [[infant exposure]] (Boswell translates this as being "offered" up to care by the gods or strangers). If a deformed or sickly newborn was patently "unfit to live", killing it was a duty of the ''pater familias''. A citizen father who exposed a healthy freeborn child was not punished, but automatically lost his ''potestas'' over that child. Abandoned children were sometimes adopted; some would have been sold into slavery.<ref>Boswell, John Eastburn, "Expositio and Oblatio: The Abandonment of Children and the Ancient and Medieval Family", ''American Historical Review'', '''89''', 1984, p. 12</ref> Slavery was near-ubiquitous and almost universally accepted. In the early Republic, citizens in debt were allowed to sell their labour, and perhaps their sons, to their debtor in a limited form of slavery called ''[[nexum]]'', but this was abolished in the middle Republic. Freedom was considered a natural and proper state for citizens; slaves could [[Manumission|be lawfully freed]], with consent and support of their owners, and still serve their owners' family and financial interests, as freedmen or freed women. This was the basis of the [[Patronage in ancient Rome|client-patron relationship]], one of the most important features of Rome's economy and society.{{Sfn|Casson|1998|pages=[https://archive.org/details/everydaylifeinan00cass/page/10 10–11], 24–32}}

In law, a ''pater familias'' held ''potestas'' over his adult sons with their own households. This could give rise to legal anomalies, such as adult sons also having the status of minors. No man could be considered a ''pater familias'', nor could he truly hold property under law, while his own father lived.{{Sfn|Casson|1998|pages=[https://archive.org/details/everydaylifeinan00cass/page/10 10–11, 24–32]}}<ref>[http://fathom.lib.uchicago.edu/1/777777121908/ Family Values in Ancient Rome] by Richard Saller. The University of Chicago Library Digital Collections: Fathom Archive. 2001. Visited 14 April 2007.</ref> During Rome's early history, married daughters came under the control (''manus'') of their husbands' ''pater familias''. By the late Republic, most married women retained lawful connection to their birth family, though any children from the marriage belonged to her husband's family.{{Sfn|Adkins|Adkins|1998|pp=39–40}} The mother or an elderly relative often raised both boys and girls.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rawson |first=Beryl |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=85Gdul_43DEC&pg=PP7 |title=The Family in Ancient Rome: New Perspectives |date=1987 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-0801494604 |page=7 |language=en}}</ref> Roman moralists held that marriage and child-raising fulfilled a basic duty to family, ''gens'', and the state. Multiple remarriages were not uncommon. Fathers usually began seeking husbands for their daughters when these reached an age between twelve and fourteen, but most commoner-class women stayed single until their twenties, and in general seem to have been far more independent than wives of the elite. Divorce required the consent of one party, along with the return of any dowry. Both parents had power over their children during their minority and adulthood, but husbands had much less control over their wives.<ref>Frier, Bruce W., and McGinn, Thomas A.J. ''A Casebook on Roman Family Law'', Oxford University Press: American Philological Association, 2004, p. 20</ref>

Roman citizen women held a restricted form of citizenship; they could not vote but were protected by law. They ran families, could own and run businesses, own and cultivate land, write their own wills, and plead in court on their own behalf, or on behalf of others, all under dispensation of the courts and the nominal supervision of a senior male relative. Throughout the late Republican and Imperial eras, a declining birthrate among the elite, and a corresponding increase among commoners was cause of concern for many ''gentes''; [[Augustus]] tried to address this through state intervention, offering rewards to any woman who gave birth to three or more children, and penalising the childless. The latter was much resented, and the former had seemingly negligible results. Aristocratic women seem to have been increasingly disinclined to childbearing; it carried a high risk of mortality to mothers, and a deal of inconvenience thereafter.<ref>Rawson, Beryl, "The Roman Family", in ''The Family in Ancient Rome: New Perspectives'', Cornell University Press, 1986, pp. 30, 40–41.; Galinsky, Karl, ''Augustan Culture: An Interpretive Introduction'', Princeton University Press, 1998, pp. 130–132, {{ISBN|978-0691058900}}</ref>

=== Time and dates ===
{{See also|Roman timekeeping|Roman calendar|Roman consul#Consular dating}}
Roman hours were counted ordinally from dawn to dawn. Thus, if sunrise was at 6 am, then 6 to 7 am was called the "first hour". Midday was called ''[[wikt:meridies|meridies]]'' and it is from this word that the terms ''am'' (''ante meridiem'') and ''pm'' (''post meridiem'') stem. The English word "noon" comes from ''nona'' ("ninth (hour)"), which referred to 3 pm in Ancient Rome.{{Efn|Later in Christian liturgy, "noon" came to describe the [[Nones (liturgy)|nones]], a time of prayer originally at 3 pm but later at midday, so "noon" became synonymous with midday.}} The Romans had clocks (''horologia''), which included giant public [[sundial]]s (''solaria'') and water clocks (''[[Water clock#Greco-Roman world|clepsydrae]]'').

The ancient Roman week originally had eight days, which were identified by letters A to H, with the eighth day being the [[nundinae|nundinum]] or market day, a kind of weekend when farmers sold their produce on the streets. The [[seven-day week]], first introduced from the East during the early Empire, was officially adopted during the reign of [[Constantine the Great|Constantine]]. Romans [[names of the days of the week|named week days]] after celestial bodies from at least the 1st century AD. Roman months had three important days: the [[kalends|calends]] (first day of each month, always in plural), the ides (13th or 15th of the month), and the nones (ninth day before the ides, inclusive, i.e. 5th or 7th of the month). Other days were counted backwards from the next one of these days.

The Roman year originally had ten months from Martius (March) to December, with the winter period not included in the calendar. The first four months were named after gods (Martius, Aprilis, Maius, Junius) and the others were numbered (Quintilis, Sextilis, September, October, November, and December). [[Numa Pompilius]], the second king of Rome (716–673 BC), is said to have introduced the months of January and February, both also named after gods, beginning the 12-month calendar still in use today. In 44 BC, the month Quintilis was renamed to Julius (July) after [[Julius Caesar]] and in 8 BC, Sextilis was renamed to Augustus (August) after [[Augustus Caesar]].

The Romans had several ways of tracking years. One widespread way was the [[Roman consul#Consular dating|consular dating]], which identified years by the two [[Roman consul|consuls]] who ruled each year. Another way, introduced in the late 3rd century AD, was counting years from the [[indiction|''indictio'']], a 15-year period based on the announcement of the delivery of food and other goods to the government. Another way, less popular but more similar to present day, was ''[[ab urbe condita]]'', which counted years from the mythical foundation of Rome in 753 BC.