Social life at Rome in the Age of Cicero | Page 2

large numbers;
porterage; precarious condition of labour; fluctuation of markets; want
of a good bankruptcy law.
* CHAPTER III
THE MEN OF BUSINESS AND THEIR METHODS
Meaning of equester ordo; how the capitalist came by his money;
example of Atticus; incoming of wealth after Hannibalic war;
suddenness of this; rise of a capitalist class; the contractors; the public
contracting companies; in the age and writings of Cicero; their political
influence; and power in the provinces; the bankers and money-lenders;
origin of the Roman banker; nature of his business; risks of the
money-lender; general indebtedness of society; Cicero's debts; story of
Rabirius Postumus; mischief done by both contractors and
money-lenders.
* CHAPTER IV
THE GOVERNING ARISTOCRACY
The old noble families; their exclusiveness; Cicero's attitude towards
them; new type of noble; Scipio Aemilianus: his "circle"; its influence

on the Ciceronian age in (1) manners; (2) literary capacity; (3),
philosophical receptivity; Stoicism at Rome; its influence on the
lawyers; Sulpicius Rufus, his life and work; Epicureanism, its general
effect on society; case of Calpurnius Piso; pursuit of pleasure and
neglect of duty; senatorial duties neglected; frivolity of the younger
public men; example of M. Caelius Rufus; sketch of his life and
character; life of the Forum as seen in the letters of Caelius.
* CHAPTER V
MARRIAGE AND THE ROMAN LADY
Meaning of matrimonium: its religious side; shown from the oldest
marriage ceremony; its legal aspect; marriage cum manu abandoned;
betrothal; marriage rites; dignified position of Roman matron; the ideal
materfamilias; change in the character of women; its causes; the ladies
of Cicero's time; Terentia; Pomponia; ladies of society and culture:
Clodia; Sempronia; divorce, its frequency; a wonderful Roman lady:
the Laudatio Turiae; story of her life and character as recorded by her
husband.
* CHAPTER VI
THE EDUCATION OF THE UPPER CLASSES
An education of character needed; Aristotle's idea of education; little
interest taken in education at Rome; biographies silent; education of
Cato the younger; of Cicero's son and nephew; Varro and Cicero on
education; the old Roman education of the body and character; causes
of its breakdown; the new education under Greek influence; schools,
elementary; the sententiae in use in schools; arithmetic; utilitarian
character of teaching; advanced schools; teaching too entirely linguistic
and literary; assumption of toga virilis; study of rhetoric and law;
oratory the main object; results of this; Cicero's son at the University of
Athens: his letter to Tiro.
* CHAPTER VII

THE SLAVE POPULATION
The demand for labour in second century B.C.; how it was supplied;
the slave trade; kidnapping by pirates, etc.; breeding of slaves; prices of
slaves; possible number in Cicero's day; economic aspect of slavery:
did it interfere with free labour?; no apparent rivalry between them;
either in Rome; or on the farm; the slave-shepherds of South Italy; they
exclude free labour; legal aspect of slavery: absolute power of owner;
prospect of manumission; political results of slave system; of
manumission; ethical aspect: destruction of family life; no moral
standard; effects of slavery on the slave-owners.
* CHAPTER VIII
THE HOUSE OF THE RICH MAN IN TOWN AND COUNTRY
Out-of-door life at Rome; but the Roman house originally a home;
religious character of it; the atrium and its contents; development of
atrium: the peristylium; desire for country houses: crowding at Rome;
callers, clients, etc.; effects of this city life on the individual; country
house of Scipio Africanus; watering-places in Campania; meaning of
villa in Cicero's time: Hortensius' park; Cicero's villas: Tusculum;
Arpinum; Formiae; Puteoli; Cumae; Pompeii; Astura; constant change
of residence, and its effects.
* CHAPTER IX
THE DAILY LIFE OF THE WELL-TO-DO
Roman division of the day; sun-dials; hours varied according to the
season; early rising of Romans; want of artificial light; Cicero's early
hours; early callers; breakfast, followed by business; morning in the
Forum; lunch (prandium); siesta; the bath; dinner: its hour becomes
later; dinner-parties: the triclinium; drinking after dinner; Cicero's
indifference to the table; his entertainment of Caesar at Cumae.
* CHAPTER X

HOLIDAYS AND PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS
The Italian festa, ancient and modern; meaning of the word feriae;
change in its meaning; holidays of plebs; festival of Anna Perenua; The
Saturnalia; the ludi and their origin; ludi Romani and plebeii; other ludi;
supported by State; by private individuals; admission free; Circus
maximus and chariot-racing; gladiators at funeral games; stage-plays at
ludi; political feeling expressed at the theatre; decadence of tragedy in
Cicero's time; the first permanent theatre, 55 B.C.; opening of
Pompey's theatre; Cicero's account of it; the great actors of Cicero's day:
Aesopus; Roscius; the farces; Publilius Syrus and the mime.
* CHAPTER XI
RELIGION
Absence of real religious feeling; neglect of worship, except in the
family; foreign cults, e.g. of Isis; religious attitude of Cicero and other
public men: free thought, combined with maintenance of the ius
divinum; Lucretius condemns all religion as degrading: