Ancient Romans

Question: Ancient romans? I am doing a history project about Ancient Roman Weddings. I know that the bride wears red shoes, her hair in braids, white tunic, but i was wondering if anyone knows what they simbolize? Thanks!

Answer: i found a site that help you a lot of information http://rome.mrdonn.org/weddings.html

Question: How did the ancient Romans survive without food? The American-Indians invented the tomato. The ancient Romans all died before the Indians were discovered by Chris Columbus. That means the ancient Romans didn't have tomatoes. Since you can't make Italian food without tomatoes, how could the Romans survive without starving?

Answer: They weren't Italians until 1861.

Question: Where can I find information online about foods that the Ancient Romans ate? Where online can I find valid information about foods that the Ancient Romans ate? And where might I find Ancient Roman recipes online? I am doing a project on Ancient Roman foods for my Latin class, and my teacher will not accept Wikipedia as a source.

Answer: I once compared the traditional Italian recipes of my family with the foods ancient Romans ate....had some really good resources, let me see if I can find them..... There, the 2nd, 3rd and last are the links I used extensively. The others I found on a general search Mangia!

Question: Do you think the invention of the toilet contributed to the lifestyle and character of ancient Romans? Do you agree?? and Why? The invention of the toilet contributed to the character and lifestyle of ancient romans and still continues to impact on society today all arund the world.

Answer: The development of water systems to carry human waste away from the place of habitation improved hygiene and diminished illness and disease. Although the Romans were unaware of the existence of germs or microbes, their theories that "vapours" emanating from faeces were injurious to humans was effective. Flushing toilets and waste water systems are still the most effective way of promoting hygiene, witness Third World countries where they are not yet common which still suffer outbreaks of diseases such as cholera due to poor disposal methods.

Question: Did ancient Romans cook and eat a preserved dinosaur carcass? On the commentary track for the movie CALIGULA, Malcolm McDowell mentions that he read that ancient Romans found a dinosaur carcass that had been preserved in ice or tar and that they cooked and ate it. Does anyone know if this is true?

Answer: Dan, it probably is NOT true but it is possible. Where in the hell WERE these Romans that they found something that big frozen in ice? BUT .... I DO remember not that long ago of a woolly mammoth frozen and some of the scientists / archeologists fried up a little of it and ate it just to see what it would taste like. Artistic renderings of Triceratops, several along with humans, have been located all over Mexico and South America .... very weird. Also, the Anasazi Indians of the American southwest made pictures on rocks showing dinosaurs and men showing a similar animal. In 1977, Japanese fishermen on board the Zuiyo Maru caught a dead, very smelly "monster", in their nets at a depth of 900 feet. It was estimated to have been dead for over a month. It was 32 feet long and weighed over 4,000 pounds. The fishermen measured it, photographed it, took tissue samples, and promptly threw it overboard before it could contaminate their "real catch". From all the evidence available to them, Japanese scientists believed the creature to "look very much like a Plesiosaur". The Sea Monster of Santa Cruz - This individual washed up on Moore's Beach (now Natural Bridges State Beach) in Monterey Bay, California in 1925, almost identical to the Japanese finding many years later. In 1980, Dr. Roy Mackal, a biologist at the University of Chicago and James Powell, a herpetologist, decided to go and take a look at the area reported to them by a reputable German explorer in the Congo about reports of an extremely large, reptilian like creature of undetermined species. They did interview several people who had seen it, and they also heard about a creature with a long neck and tail that was killed by natives along Lake Tele in 1959. The best known reports about this kind of creature came out of the Congo after the turn of the century. According to the story, anyone who ate of the creatures meat, died. Witnesses said mok'ele-mbembe was about thirty feet long. Of that, ten was head and neck, the rest was body and tail. McDowell's story could have come from the Roman historian, Dio (also known as Cassius), wrote that one day, when Regulus, a Roman consul (third century B.C.), was fighting against Carthage (North Africa), a dragon suddenly crept up and settled behind the wall of the Roman army. The Romans killed it by order of Regulus, skinned it, and sent the hide to the Roman Senate. When the dragon was measured by order of the Senate, it turned to be an amazing 120 feet long, and the thickness was fitting to the length. They said the meat tasted like goat. NOW..... Woolly Mammoths are a different story. Old-time paleontology lore is full of tales in which half-starved explorers or hunters defrost an icebound mammoth carcass. A 1872 item, the New York Times passed along a report from some French adventurers trying for the North Pole who claimed to have found in Russia so many well-preserved mammoth specimens that for a time they "lived entirely on mammoth meat, broiled, roasted and baked." The nature novelist James Oliver Curwood, who traveled extensively in northwestern Canada, told the Chicago Tribune in 1912 about dining with Indians who'd happened upon a frozen mastodon (not the same as a mammoth, but close enough. He described his steak's color as "deep red or mahogany" and its flavor as "old and dry." According to Richard Stone's book Mammoth (2001), Russian zoologist Alexei Tikhonov (who figures in articles about the recent Siberian find) once tried a bite and said "it was awful. It tasted like meat left too long in a freezer." (THIS IS THE STORY I HEARD) One of the best-documented accounts of a prehistoric meal comes at the end of Frozen Fauna of the Mammoth Steppe (1990), by Alaska zoology professor Dale Guthrie. After successfully unearthing and preserving "Blue Babe," a 36,000-year-old steppe bison found near Fairbanks in 1979, Guthrie's team celebrates by simmering some leftover flesh from Babe's neck "in a pot of stock and vegetables." The author reports that "the meat was well aged but still a little tough, and it gave the stew a strong Pleistocene aroma." So, did highly respected actor Malcolm McDowell read about Romans finding and tasting the meat of a long dead prehistoric animal, more prehistoric than themselves? Sure. Was it possible? Sure ....but I'd say it was more likely a woolly mammoth. http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2725/prehistoric-its-whats-for-dinner PHOTOS !! http://www.6000years.org/dinosaurs.html http://www.ridgenet.net/~do_while/sage/v3i1f.htm http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:7zdLXPYhF6YJ:www.dcarroll.com/Creation/Dinosaurs.pdf+romans,+frozen+dinosaur+carcass,+ate+it&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

Question: What race did the ancient Romans and Greeks belong to: Germanic, Mediterranean, Romanian or Black? I am a bit confused because I always thought the ancient Romans were non-Germanic romanian-like. Now someone is claiming they were Nordic with blond hair. Some even say that the ancient Greeks had some connection with Africa and it is sometimes referred to as Black Athens. What is the true answer to the race of the ancient Romans and Greeks? If the ancient Romans were short heighted Romanian like people, why did Hitler think they were like tall Nordics?

Answer: Simply put, they are a Mediterranean race. Early Roman culture was linked to, and influenced, by nearly every existing Mediterranean civilization in late antiquity (mainly those of the Phoenicians, Greeks, and Celts). The Romans saw themselves as descendents of Asiatic Greek colonizers of the Italian peninsula after the fall of Troy and there is some truth to this. We know that Italy was colonized by various Greek powers throughout the course of Hellenic civilization. The early Romans were NOT Germanic or Black African people. The Germanic influence on the Romans isn't seen until the later days of the Republic and though the Romans would have been influenced by the civilizations of North Africa, these were mostly Greek and Phoenician (Semitic) influences. Also, there seems to be some confusion with the terms "Romanian" and "Roman". The Romanians of antiquity were a Dacian people who were relatively unknown to Rome until the later days of the Roman Republic and were "Romanized" after they were conquered by Trajan.

Question: Why didn't the ancient Romans invent computers and space craft? The ancient Romans were quite advanced for their time. They had indoor plumbing, primitive mechanical computers, even a highway system that survives to this day. The Greeks invented a steam engine over 2,000 years ago, but considered it to be a toy... Why didn't the ancients invent modern electronic computers and space craft?

Answer: All the above are good answers, but I'll add to them a bit. The Romans, building on the work of the Greeks, became incredibly sophisticated in their use of technology for the time. But at a certain point, the technological advances started to slow down and stop. Here are a few theories as to why: They became quite comfortable: When the Roman Empire was at its height, the need to innovate to defeat competitors went away as they had no real competitors left. They had a standard of living so much higher than anyone else, so they didn't really see a need any longer to invent a whole lot more, and they became very conservative in their outlook on technology. A good example of this is the steam engine you brought up, invented by a Greek living in the Roman Empire: the Romans would not even think they needed steam ships or trains because what they had worked, so the only use for this new technology was as a toy. And when new competition (Persia, barbarians) arose, it was already too late for the Roman mindset. Slave Labor: The Romans had an enormous pool of slave labor. They had so many slaves that they were able to build things that we wouldn't think imaginable without modern technology. And there were so many, slaves were really cheap. But as the Empire wanned and made less and less conquests, they no longer had an influx of slaves. Yet only after the fall of the Roman Empire, when slaves were rare and very expensive, did it become necessary to invent labor saving techniques. Those labor saving techniques, like machinery and more complicated tools, were the basis of much of the modern day technology that allow things like computers and spacecraft. To simplify this idea: if a Roman can buy a slave dirt cheap who is educated enough to do any math problems, write down whatever he dictates, and tell him whatever facts he wants to know, why would he need a calculator, word processor, or Yahoo! Answers (or anything else a computer can do). Or why would anyone invent a steam ship when they have enough slaves to row the ship. Yet, without technologies like steam and all that it led to, more advanced technology would be impossible.

Question: where did ancient romans get their drinking water from? where did ancient romans get their drinking water from? like, from which streams and rivers, and then how that was transported to the people and any more information about drinking water in ancient rome. thx.

Answer: The Tiber River would have been the first source but water from the river, which was really an open sewer, quickly became undrinkable. Water was moved in kegs from lakes lakes in the mountains near Rome, but that was difficult and could not meet demand so Roman engineers developed a system of aqueducts to move water from substantial distances in the mountains, into Rome. Aqueducts could only move water downhill so, for the time, Roman engineering was an enormous achievement. Aqueducts solved the problem of quantity but purity was a major problem. Water for baths, fountains and agriculture was adequate from the aqueducts but was suspect for drinking. At the time, water would have been the drink of last resort. Wine was beverage of those who could afford it (it was cheap) and only the very poor resorted to drinking water since it frequently made one very sick or worse was fatal due to the contamination.

Question: What did Ancient Romans know about time? :) This is for a assignment at school, and I cant find anything on this. So basically, what did Ancient Romans know about time, and how did they tell it. Thanks.

Answer: They used sundials which gave them time to within a fraction of an hour as long as the sun was shining. They also used hour glasses and water clocks to tell the passage of time by how much sand (or water) had leaked from one container to another so time keeping did not stop when the sun went down.

Question: how were the ancient romans able to have naval battles in the Collusieum? i don't understand, how were the ancient romans able to flood the arena to hold naval battles in the Collosieum(sp?) while still being able to fit a peson in every seat?

Answer: The naumachiae were reproductions of famous naval battles and were staged in a suitable place, that could be flooded. The actors were generally criminals already condemned to death. These shows - which were apparently held only in the city of Rome - were extremely expensive, because the ships had to be complete in all their details and manoeuvred like real ships in battle. The Romans called these shows navalia proelia (naval battles), but they are commonly known by the equivalent Greek term naumachia, which came to indicate at the same time the show and the basin built for it. Academics have long argued that holding sea battles at the Colosseum was impossible due to the underground tunnels used to spirit wild animals, slaves and gladiators to different parts of the arena. Tales of thousands of slaves and convicts drowning in the sea battles with ships built to scale were told by Latin poets such as Martial, but were dismissed as sycophantic works of fantasy written to enhance the reputation of the emperor. However, Dr Crapper believes he has solved the puzzle of the flooded Colosseum. His theories have been tested by a team of experts assembled by the American ABC Discovery Channel. Programme makers and archaeologists from the University of California spent a year creating a virtual reality simulation Colosseum to assess the logistical problems involved. Dr Crapper said the first challenge was to determine if it was possible to blast the millions of gallons of water needed for the sea battles into the Colosseum. "It's purely speculation but I believe a timber structure could have been used to transport water from the main aqueduct. However, the real constraints were not moving the water but ensuring it could flow through a series of inlet wells and concentric pipes beneath the seating area to actually reach the arena," he said. After detailed research, Dr Crapper was able to prove it was possible for the sluice gates to be closed off and for water pressure to reach the correct level for the arena to be flooded by four million gallons of water to a depth of five feet within seven hours. Other members of the research team used X-ray imaging to prove waterproof material had been used in some parts of the underground structure. Further work uncovered 18 sunken blocks used to hold wooden props which held up the arena's floor and which could be removed to allow the area to be used for both gladiatorial battles and naumachiae.

Question: Why were the ancient Romans so blood thirsty? Why did the ancient Romans enjoy watching Gladiators fight each other and kill one another; enjoyed watching wild animals and human slaves being killed in horrible ways? Why were they so barbaric, vicious, and enjoyed watching humans and animals being tortured?

Answer: Blood sport is close to universal, grotesque blood sport is an acquired taste. THe periods of bloodiest Roman gladiator fights (people and animal) coincided with the periods of economic pressure. As part of a policy to keep the masses quietly grumbling rather than in open rebellion the gladiator spectacles were put on and the "masses" encouraged to go and often take sides. The other main part of the policy was free or cheap food. Together the policy was known as 'bread and circus." By providing a minimum to sustain life and a major distraction the unruly masses were kept in place. The upper classes were not in fact much in favor of it and for the landed gentry to be spectactors was mildly scandalous. But the masses were encouraged to go and with the right advertising the masses went. Food of course was a big inducement. I am sure it would be easy to bring it back now. Just look at how much of your local news is enticement to see car wrecks, shoot outs and so on. Or how many hits executions get on youtube and other sites.

Question: How did Christianity unite the Ancient Romans? How did Christianity give the Ancient Romans a sense of unity?

Answer: Christianity didn't become widely accepted until the end of the Roman empire and throughout the Byzantine empire. But Christianity united the Ancient Romans culturally under one faith, as Christianity soon became the state faith. Christianity gave the Romans a way to connect with each other, the rich and the poor, the educated and the non-educated, the men and the women, they all were allowed salvation under this new faith.

Question: Are today Italians descendants of ancient Romans? I would like to ask if today Italians are descendants of ancient Romans (peoples that lived on the Apennines peninsula, before barbarians invasion) The main reason to ask this question is to find out how much today Europeans are descendants of the old European civilization rather then barbarian hordes that invaded Europe from 4th century AD (Goth, Visigoths, Astrogoth, Vandals) and do they deserve to call them self "western civilization" and glorify the history of previous civilizations that they in fact destroyed in the past.

Answer: There are certainly people living in Italy, and many other parts of the world, who are genetically descended from the Romans and whoever they were before they were "Romans" but there was a large influx of Germanic tribes into Italy at the fall of the Roman empire, as well as other invaders, Muslims, Normans etc., into Sicily and southern parts of Italy, which will have displaced many of the Roman inhabitants and all of which must have greatly affected the population to such an extent that the Roman element of todays population must now be extremely diluted and I believe that any who claim "Roman" descent would have extreme difficulty proving it. Edit : You mean in the same way that the Romans destroyed and replaced the Etruscans ? Who had introduced into Italy and Rome (from about 1000 BC) an urban civilization, where before there had been only scattered agricultural villages. They transformed Rome from a loose group of farm villages to a powerful populous city (urbs), gave the city its name, Roma, and started it on its later career of expansion and power in Italy, the judicial, ceremonial and religious ritual, and much of the Roman festivals and shows were Etruscan before they were Roman.

Question: Are Current Greeks and Current Italians related to Ancient Greeks and Ancient Romans? Are Current Greeks and Current Italians related to Ancient Greeks and Ancient Romans? Or did people from other civilazations migrate to these countries and mixed with the ancients?

Answer: Some of both, I would imagine. There are certainly living Greeks and Italians who can trace their ancestry back to ancient times. But even in ancient times, people from other countries traveled and mixed with Romans. Cleopatra had children with Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony.

Question: How did Ancient Romans hold a funeral? What were their burial rites? How did Ancient Romans(non-christian) hold a funeral? What were their burial rites?

Answer: Depends on how rich/liked you were. For instance, the emperor augustus had his own mausoleum and crematorium built. Rome was in mourning for ages on his death, and they made him a god. But for the most part, what would happen is the family would systematically close the dead person's eyes while calling out their name. Then they placed a coin in their mouth to pay the ferryman to take them across the river styx to the underworld. Then they were put on display, that's where wealth came in. The more important and liked you were the longer your body was on display. Nobility were sometimes out for a week, commoners for a day. Then there was a procession, with a band behind the casket, followed by mourners and family members carrying wax effigies of the dead person. Once they got outside of town, a cremation pyre was built (Romans ALWAYS cremated their dead). Julius Caesar's was right in the middle of the Roman forum built by an angry mob. A eulogy was given while it burned. After the pyre goes out, a mother/wife would take the ashes and put them in an urn. A lot of the romans belonged to collegia, which would ensure them a good spot for burial in exchange for a monthly due while alive. Burial was important, and this was the most inexpensive way to make sure it was done right. Many times the emperor would even give an allowance for it towards those too poor to afford one.

Question: What did the ancient Romans think about tornadoes? Since tornadoes occasionally happen in Europe some ancient Roman somewhere in all that time must have seen a tornado or funnel cloud touch down to the ground and rip things apart so I was wondering what they thought about them and what they were. Like was there a Roman God of the wind? Thanks.

Answer: Folgora and Sommanus were the gods of lightning and thunderstorms. That's the closest thing to a god of the wind, or weather. http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/bl/bl_gregory_gods.htm