Life in the Roman World of Nero and St. Paul

Life in the Roman World of Nero
and St. Paul

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by T. G. Tucker
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Title: Life in the Roman World of Nero and St. Paul
Author: T. G. Tucker
Release Date: July 10, 2004 [eBook #12875]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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LIFE IN THE ROMAN WORLD OF NERO AND ST. PAUL
by
T. G. TUCKER
1924

PREFACE
The reception accorded to my Life in Ancient Athens has led me to
write the present companion work with an eye to the same class of
readers. In the preface to the former volume it was said: "I have sought

to leave an impression true and sound, so far as it goes, and also vivid
and distinct. The style adopted has therefore been the opposite of the
pedantic, utilizing any vivacities of method which are consistent with
truth of fact." The same principles have guided me in the present
equally unpretentious treatise. I agree entirely with Mr. Warde Fowler
when he says: "I firmly believe that the one great hope for classical
learning and education lies in the interest which the unlearned public
may be brought to feel in ancient life and thought."
For the general reader there is perhaps no period in the history of the
ancient world which is more interesting than the one here chosen. Yet,
so far as I know, there exists no sufficiently popular work dealing with
this period alone and presenting in moderate compass a clear general
view of the matters of most moment. My endeavour has been to
represent as faithfully as possible the Age of Nero, and nowhere in the
book is it implied that what is true for that age is necessarily as true for
any other. The reader who is not a special student of history or
antiquities is perhaps as often confused by descriptions of ancient life
which cover too many generations as by those--often otherwise
excellent--which include too much detail.
I have necessarily consulted not only the Latin and Greek writers who
throw light upon the time, but also all the best-known Standard works
of modern date. It is perhaps scarcely necessary to state that in matters
of contemporary government, administration, and public life my guides
have been chiefly Mommsen, Arnold, and Greenidge; for social life
Marquardt, Friedländer, and Becker-Göll; for topography and buildings
Jordan, Hülsen, Lanciani, and Middleton; nor that the Dictionaries of
Smith and of Daremberg and Saglio have been always at hand, as well
as Baumeister's _Denkmäler_, and Guhl and Koner's Life of the Greeks
and Romans. The admirable Pompeii of Mau-Kelsey has been, of
course, indispensable. I have also derived profit from the writings of
Prof. Sir W. M. Ramsay in connexion with St. Paul, and from
Conybeare and Howson's Life and Epistles of the Apostle. Useful hints
have been found in Mr. Warde Fowler's _Social Life in Rome in the
Age of Cicero_, and in Prof. Dill's Roman_ Society from Nero to
Marcus Aurelius_. A personal study of ancient sites, monuments, and
objects of antiquity at Rome, Pompeii, and elsewhere has naturally
been of prime value. Those intimately acquainted with the immense

amount of the available material will best realize the difficulty there has
been in deciding how much to say and how much to "leave in the
inkstand."
For the drawings other than those of which another source is specified I
have to thank Miss M. O'Shea, on whom has occasionally fallen the
difficult task of giving ocular form to the mental visions of one who
happens to be no draughtsman. For the rest I make acknowledgment to
those books from which the illustrations have been directly derived for
my own purposes, without reference to more original sources.
I am especially grateful for the permission to use so considerable a
number of illustrations from the Pompeii of Mau-Kelsey, from
Professor Waldstein's _Herculaneum_, and from Lanciani's New Tales
of Old Rome.
T.G.T.
October 1909.

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION

CHAPTERS
I EXTENT AND SECURITY OF THE EMPIRE
II TRAVEL WITHIN THE EMPIRE
III A BRIEF SURVEY OF THE PROVINCES
IV THE IMPERIAL SYSTEM: EMPEROR, SENATE, KNIGHTS,
AND PEOPLE
V NERO THE EMPEROR
VI ADMINISTRATION AND TAXATION OF THE EMPIRE
VII ROME: THE IMPERIAL CITY
VIII STREETS, WATER-SUPPLY, AND BUILDING MATERIAL

IX THE ROMAN TOWN HOUSE