DAILY LIFE

Over the centuries, the daily existence of ancient Greeks, Etruscans and Romans has been a source of fascination. A wealth of information relating to eating and drinking, clothing, childhood, cosmetics and jewellery survives in the ancient official documents, letters, biographies, histories, annals and plays which have survived. The majority of these reflect the lives of the wealthy.

In the artefacts, paintings, epigraphs and other structures which archaeologists have uncovered in the last centuries, we learn more of the lives of the wealthy and also something of the lives of poorer people. Graffiti from Pompeii, for example, reflects the value of objects and an all too human occurrence of theft. Lost from this shop – a bronze water-pot. 65 sesterces REWARD to anyone who brings back the same. If he produces the thief, from whom we may rescue our property, 84 sesterces!

Etruria and Rome show considerable indebtedness to Greece in elements of architecture, writing, religious cults and social practices. There was considerable difference in the housing of rich and poor, as well as differences between housing and living conditions in Greece, Etruria and Rome. Athens, for example, had narrow unpaved alleys between small flat-topped dwellings that were little better than huts. It had no sanitation or rubbish disposal.

In the sixth and fifth centuries BC, Greek houses usually consisted of between two to twelve rooms clustered around a central courtyard. In Rome, the streets were paved and had underground drains to dispose of sewage and rubbish. The private houses of the rich included a central room with a hole in the roof that acted as a light well, and let rain into a freshwater tank below. Other rooms were placed at the sides and one end.

As the impact of Greek culture grew stronger, houses became more symmetrical like their Greek counterparts. Amongst the most important rooms, was the dining area and dining couches were the main item of domestic furniture. The wealthier members of these ancient societies turned eating and drinking into an art form. Many representations of people enjoying lavish evening meals have been found on ceramics and tomb paintings. Such dinner parties were clearly of social importance.

The objects displayed here include many which were used for storing, serving and drinking watered wine which was (after water) the most common drink in this part of the world. Other objects give us a glimpse of styles of clothing, cosmetics and jewellery, as well as the childhood of individuals of ancient Greece, Rome and Etruria.. 

GARUM – FISH SAUCE
Accept this exquisite garum, a precious gift made with the first blood spilled from a living mackerel. (Martial 13, 102). Garum (fish sauce) was a common flavouring sauce. This third century recipe was penned by Gargilius Martialis: Use fatty fish, for example sardines, and a well-sealed (pitch-coated) container with a 26-35 litre capacity. Add dried aromatic herbs possessing a strong flavour, such as dill, coriander, fennel, celery, mint, oregano, and others, making a layer on the bottom of the container; then put down a layer of fish (if small leave them whole, if large use pieces); and over this add a layer of salt two fingers high. Repeat these three layers until the container is filled. Let it rest for seven days in the sun. Then mix the sauce daily for twenty days. After that time it becomes a liquid (garum). Gargilius Martialis, De Medicina et de Virtute Herbarum, 62 (from: Ilaria Gozzini Giacosa A Taste of Ancient Rome transl. Anna Herklotz; University of Chicago Press, 1992) 

By modern standards, Greek, Etruscan and Roman furniture was sparse. Backed chairs were synonymous with dignity or prestige and were valued items for people of high rank. Tripod tables, beds, stools and storage chests for woolens and linens were the other usual furnishings. Poorer people slept on piled skins or cloth. Domestic utensils such as pottery vases, jars, basins and cups were set on the floor or hung on the wall.

Lighting
Candles, resinous torches and oil lamps were the main sources of lighting. The cost of artificial lighting was probably frequently beyond the reach of poorer people. Small portable pottery oil lamps (cat. nos 40, 57) used about 500 ml of oil to provide 40 – 50 hours light. Olive oil, the most commonly used lighting oil, was quite expensive.

In the Roman period even tallow candles with a central twisted wick were considered a luxury by the poor, partly because like the oil, tallow may have been more useful as food. Most people heated their houses, if at all, with charcoal rather than wood, since chimneys to remove smoke, were uncommon. The hypocaust heating system, developed during the Roman Imperial period, relied on burning large quantities of wood in furnaces below the floor, with hot air circulating in the space below the floor, and fumes escaping through flues in the wall to outside the roof. Starting a flame or fire required dry tinder and a steel or flint with which a spark could be struck.

Food, water and wine
Water was not easily accessible in Greece. It had to be carried home from the few public fountains, often a heavy job and one done by slaves and freeborn women. However, for Romans water was more easily accessed. The aqueducts whose remains still criss-cross Europe reflect this improvement in domestic access to water. Water was channelled to public fountains and baths, as well as to the private dwellings of the wealthy. The underground sewage system draining into the Tiber also relied on this readily available water.

The standard ancient diet was fairly basic. Wheat or barley was boiled into a thick porridge or ground into flour and baked as flat circular damper (unleavened bread). Barley was most common in Attica, wheat in Rome. Slaves or women were responsible for grinding flour, an unpopular task. Early bakeries were known from Attica in fifth century BC, and in Rome from the second century BC and from this time the popularity of purchased bread increased dramatically in Rome.

The labour force continued to be slave driven, turning huge stone mills (the popular imagery of B-grade movies). By late Imperial times, water driven mills were appearing. While water was the main drink, large quantities of wine were also consumed. Some localities, such as Chios, were renowned for the quality of their wines.

Wine was usually diluted with water, but other substances were also added to improve its flavour or to assist in the aging process. Additives include ashes or lime to neutralise acids, and resin. Many of the jugs, storage containers and cups that are included in this exhibition were used for storing, mixing, serving or consuming wine. A standard Homeric dinner included barley meal, bone marrow, roast beef and wine.

Other foods included fish, game, vegetables, sheep and goat's milk cheese, soups of beans, peas and lentils, olives and olive oil, wild or domestic honey. Greek herbs included rue, sage, thyme, sesame, parsley, cumin, caraway, pennyroyal and marjoram, as well as onions, horseradish, mustard and garlic. The staple Roman food was wheat or barley, as porridge, or baked flour. However Romans produced a great variety of vegetables including leeks, shallots, carrots, parsnip, endive, chicory, sorrel, mountain asparagus, lovage, cabbage, lettuce, artichokes, cress and orach.

Probably the most important ingredient in Roman cooking was fish sauce and garum, fish pickle. This is likely to have been the type of sauce that was placed in the central dip in the fish plate or glass plate in this exhibition (cat. nos 76, 77). … 'the gills, blood, and intestines of a mackerel were placed in a jar with salt, vinegar and herbs. The mixture was stirred and pounded into a paste or sauce, which was left in the sun to ferment. The choicest part, a clear liquid was drained off to become the garum … The best garum came from Spain, and was said to be made from blood taken from a still-breathing Spanish mackerel' (Robinson in Descoeurdes 1994:122).

Additionally, Romans ate cheese, eggs, olives, meat, fish, eels, poultry, hares, wild birds, shellfish, mushrooms, fruit and nuts. Exotics such as peacocks, peaches, nectarines, oranges and lemons were added to the diet of the wealthy during the Imperial period. For the most part, portable terracotta stoves were used in Greek houses for boiling and frying food, while bread was baked on a hot hearth stone under a lid. Roman houses had a cooking hearth.

In both Greece and Rome, the main meal of the day was dinner. Breakfast, if it was eaten at all, may have been no more than bread dipped in diluted wine, and a small snack sufficed at midday. In early and classical times, Greeks ate their meals either at home or at the houses of friends, unless they were travelling. By this stage Greek men had adopted the oriental style of reclining on a couch, propped on the left elbow while dining.

Gradually, the pattern of evening male banqueting, accompanied by entertainment such as musicians and dancers, became the norm (see cat. nos 63, 70). Roman men copied this style of eating. In Greece, and initially in Rome, women were excluded from these meal sessions, although in Etruria women sat with the men, earning a reputation as 'intrepid drinkers'. Slaves would bring guests bowls of water for their hands, and wash their feet. Food was served on little tables and the diners helped themselves with their fingers.

Until late Roman times, people sopped up food with bread and usually threw scraps on the floor. The focus of the evening went beyond food consumption to include socialising, entertainment and conversation. There are many Etruscan tomb representations of people enjoying sumptuous feasts, reclining on couches covered with cushions and covers, and 'served in silver plates on flowered tablecloths' (Diodorus Siculus).

A summary of Edward Robinson's detailed description of Roman dining habits and cuisine (in Descoeurdes 1994) follows. In Roman dining rooms (the triclinium) three three-seater couches were positioned near a table. For formal dining, particular people reclined on specific couches. Guests used the upper and middle couches while the host, his wife and another family member reclined on the lower couch. The guest of honour was seated closest to the host. Roman women also participated in these dinner-parties, and while initially they were expected to sit, from Augustus' time both men and women reclined on couches while they ate. Diners helped themselves to the food which slaves had placed on a central table, placing their food on a plate held in the left hand and eating with the fingers of the right. They sometimes used knives and spoons (cat. nos 79, 80, 119).

During winter meals were eaten indoors by oil lamps, while during summer people commonly ate in dining areas open to the courtyards or gardens. Some idea of the types of food which people ate survives in the 500 or so recipes attributed to the Roman chef (or chefs) Apicius. The poor did not follow this pattern of lavish evening banqueting. In Pompeii and Ostia for example there were many street-corner booths which sold food. These 'snack bars and taverns' were criticised as dens of iniquity and were frequented particularly by the lower classes.

Clothing
Greek clothes (cat. nos 84 – 91) were made from wool or flax, both of which were available locally. The standard items of clothing were the chiton, a tunic tied around the waist with a belt, and a himation, or chlamys, different types of cloak.

Until the end of the sixth century, Athenian women commonly wore a Doric version of the chiton known as a peplos. This was a simple rectangle, about one and a half times a person's height. It was folded over, wrapped round the body and pinned at the shoulders and sides with a fibula (cat. no. 112). Woven figures and designs decorated expensive chitons. A different version of the chiton is known as the Ionian chiton. Made of linen, this fell in elaborate pleats. The sides were sewn up to create a long cylinder that was fastened with a cord at the waist or below the breast. Short sleeves were sometimes added at the sides.

A himation was a rectangle of wool or linen, draped so that one shoulder was left bare. These clothes were quite expensive; a good himation would cost more than the monthly wage of a working man. People did not wear underclothes. They did wear broad brimmed hats as protection against the sun, and sometimes wore shoes or boots with cork or wooden soles.

Etruscans wore vividly coloured clothes (similar to Greek styles) with purple bands and flowered motifs. These were clasped by embroidered belts fastened under the breast. Men wore simple laced sandals, while women sometimes wore high-sided ankle length Greek-style shoes. Etruscans were widely renowned for the quality of their jewellery (cat. nos 112, 113) such as brooches, necklaces, earrings, tiaras, bracelets and rings.

In Rome, all free Roman men wore togas. This rounded woollen garment was draped around the body, with a remaining loose end of cloth thrown over the left shoulder. Married women wore a ground-length stola, suspended by straps from the shoulder. Women had a choice of colours, while men wore white (added colours symbolised specific administrative offices). When it was cold they donned extra tunics (sleeved garments). Children and slaves wore tunics, sometimes with a himation, toga or stola.

Unlike Greeks, Romans wore underclothes including loincloths, and Roman women wore breast supports made of linen, cotton or sometimes of soft leather. While wool was the most common fabric, with its newfound colonial wealth from the second century BC, Rome introduced new materials. These included cotton, silk and dyes. However, silk continued to be expensive. During the emperor Diocletians's rule (AD 284 – 305), half a kilo of silk was valued at one and a half kilos of gold. Spinning and weaving were domestic arts which women were expected to practice, and she worked with wool is a common epitaph for Roman women. Most spinning and weaving in the ancient Mediterranean world however, continued to be done by slaves. Romans wore a variety of footwear (for example cat. nos 124, 125), but in Rome, the style and colouring conveyed social distinctions. For example, consuls wore scarlet shoes; patricians had shoes with small half moons.

Cosmetics
Many scents were imported from the east. Without alcohol, scents were made from oils such as balsam or olives combined with flowers such as roses, marjoram, iris and narcissus. Some of the glass containers (cat. no. 101) included in this exhibition were used for such precious oils and perfumes. Roman women wore rouge, lipstick and eye-shadow made from charcoal or saffron.

Childhood and learning
Initially, children indulged in a variety of playtime activities (cat. no. 94), including games such as ball, knucklebones and marbles. They had model animals, girls had dolls, and boys played at soldiers; they also had pet animals (cat. no. 93) and caged birds. At varying ages, children commenced schooling, and the focus of education varied considerably.

In Sparta, education emphasised sport, physical education, some reading, writing and music, with an overall expectation of people well-trained for warfare. Both boys and girls were placed in state-run educational institutions from the age of seven. Athenian early schooling was not compulsory. From the age of six, both boys and girls attended three privately funded schools, variously for gymnastics, music and poetry, and literacy (reading, writing, and numeracy). Teachers were usually slaves. The children of wealthier parents could continue their education at schools or academies such as those of Plato or Aristotle.

At Rome, boys aged between seven and sixteen were taught by their fathers prior to being apprenticed to an advocate or entering military service. From the third century BC, schooling following the Greek model became more common, though with less emphasis on physical education. The study of Greek and Roman rhetoric was highly esteemed. Julius Caesar (cat. no. 41) had studied rhetoric on Rhodes.

This brief glimpse of ancient daily life offered above demonstrates that many aspects of daily life have parallels in our own lives today. The lives of the wealthy were far easier than those of the urban poor and the agricultural workers who made up the bulk of the population.

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