THE ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT OF ROMAN CULTURE AND RELIGION

Roman culture is associated with a cultural identity that is as strong as Rome’s

political identity. The idea is to examine the elements of culture with an eye
for a reflection of early Roman society in it. The elements of culture broadly
include literature and language, sculpture, architecture and art and also how
religion plays an important role in its development. Therefore, it is also
imperative to have an understanding of the fact that Rome had a cultural
proximity to Greece and that the challenge is to look for the distinctive Roman
features of their culture, apart from the elements that are borrowed from
Greece.

We shall now take a look at Roman Literature and language. Culturally, it

was the Greek who gave the inspiration for the birth of Latin literature. Once
the Romans came directly in contact with the Greeks, they attempted to
imitate them. The most prosperous Greek community is the Tarentum in the
South which provides the first literary figures. Livius Andronicus wrote Latin
plays including comedies and tragedies and his younger contemporary
Naevius offered an early version of the mythical link between Rome and
Carthage. Ennius was revered as the Father of Roman poetry He had been
grounded in Greek as well as in Latin and Oscan culture. Adapting the Greek
philosopher Euhemerus, he devoted a poem to rationalizing the traditional
mythology and particularly the Father-figure Jupiter. Plautus is another
important figure in the history of Roman literature He permanently divorced
Latin poetry from spoken tongues which prepared the way for Roman
literature’s specific glories that were to come. His model like Livius were
complicated, soft and sophisticated plays of the Athenian new comedy. Also,
theatres were only temporary structures in those times.

The political, religious and judicial life led to the use of a language different
from that of everyday’s. The first Roman prose writer was Lato. He excelled in
oratory and history both closely linked with government and way of life of
Roman Republic. He produced first great Roman historical achievements, his 7
book ‘origines’ is now lost.
Merits, fashions and chances have all played a part in deciding why some
ancient works have survived and other perished. Catulus adapted to Latin in
various kinds of Hellenistic poetry, his surviving manuscript of 2,300 lines
was discovered and comprised of long and 109 short poems including
epigrams elegies, hymns, miniature epics and diatribes against his enemies.
Poems of Catullus which by their freshness inspired the Renaissance
humanists makes him above all others as a poet of the 20th century.

Cicero was a gifted and energetic writer, with an interest in a wide variety of
subjects in keeping with the Hellenistic philosophical and rhetorical traditions
in which he was trained. He wrote his ethical treatises and most famous of
these moral essays are ‘ On Duties’, ‘ the boundaries of Good and Evil’, ‘ on old
age’, ‘On Friendship and the political Studies’, ‘On the Laws’ and ‘ On the state’.
Julius Caesar apart from being a distinguished writer of Latin poetry was also
an enemy of Cicero. Caesar and Antony were the ablest orators of 1st century
BC. Caesar adopted a simple, direct style and Antony preferred more
emotional methods which made his speech more effective.

Augustus came into inheritance after Caesar's assassination in 44 BC.

Augustus himself was the author of a skilfully composed political testament
i.e. ‘ReGestae’. Augustus was himself a kindly and patient listener at the
recitation of poems and history, speeches and dialogues, which formed the
usual mode of first publication in those days. . Virgil was one of the greatest
poets of Augustan period. Virgil astonished literary circles at Rome by the
novelty of his ten short eclogues. Virgil’s epic was called Aeneid.

Titus Livius was from Patavium. His history of Rome consisted of 140 books
with full 20 – 30 volumes. It was written in rich, fluent prose, making loftily
imaginative use of many sources without too much critical analysis. Elegiac
poetry is represented by Tibullus, Propertius and Ovid, the work of Gallus and
other elegists of the period not having survived. Love is the main theme of the
elegiac poet who also reached its zenith in this Augustan age. The elegy had
become in Roman hands ‘tearful’ the expression of unhappy love- a branch of
Latin poetry which has exercised an incalculable effect on Latin literature.
Tibullus was perhaps the most successful of all the elegiac poets, he is one of
the most satisfactory of ‘minor poets’. Propertius is in most respects strikingly
different from Tibullus. His genius, compounded of fiery passion, imagination
and lyricism, but lacking in the vigour that ensures equality of performance,
renders him in some ways one of the most modern of Latin poets. Ovid in
contrast to Propertius was moving away from the self-imposed restriction in
his later work. He was the last great writer of the Roman Golden Age.

When we term the golden Age of Roman literature as “Augustan,” we ought to

remember that it began long before Augustus and ended before his death. Of
all the great writers, only Ovid and Livy outlived Augustus. Summing up the
characteristics we may say that on the whole, polish and restraint were its
most prominent characteristics.

The one thing that is elaborately considered to be a manifestation of Roman

culture is early Roman sculpture and architecture. Before the beginning of
the Christian era, the revival of portrait sculpture took place in the Greco-
Roman world. Few of the many factors which led to the development of this
art after third century BC were growth of philosophical reflection, quickening
of hero worship, greater interest in self-analysis and a belief in survival after
death.

Latin literature gives evidence of decoration of palaces/villas with Greek

reliefs, statues, busts etc. By the second century BC, portraits in marble, stone
etc. showed hints of death mask styles. But it was in Egyptian paintings that
funerary portraiture peaked. In contrast Rome had an increasing demand for
realistic portraits. During first century BC the characteristic style had the
quality of ‘verism’- dry realism, as the emphasis was increasingly on the
subject as a man of affairs and not a philosopher. Each emperor like all others
wanted to be recognizably unique for which verism was employed. With the
period of great rulers setting in from the last century BC, we see a gradual
shift towards idealism as it provided the occasion for infusing an element of
grandeur and idealism in the artwork. Coins were also used for effective
portrayal of the emperor. Another important aspect of roman art- sculptural
reliefs that decorated monuments focused on narrating events of national
significance. Both direct and indirect approaches were employed to
commemorate current events. The technique of sculpture reliefs made
progress rapidly during succeeding centuries. Later, a strikingly different
technique is displayed in the Arch of Titus as, the decorator of the Arch
employed deep shadows and vigorous interplay of light and shade aimed
towards the effect of complete illusion. Soon relief sculpture embarked on
wider ambitions.

Ancient Roman architecture adopted certain aspects of Ancient Greek

architecture, creating a new architectural style. Roman architecture flourished
throughout the Empire during the Pax Romana.

Factors such as wealth and high population densities in cities forced the
ancient Romans to discover new architectural solutions of their own. The use
of vaults and arches, together with a sound knowledge of building materials,
enabled them to achieve unprecedented successes in the construction of
imposing structures for public use.

Examples include the aqueducts of Rome, the Baths of Diocletian and the
Baths of Caracalla, the basilicas and Colosseum. The atrium was the peristyle,
the centre of the private part of the building surrounded by bedrooms,
reception rooms, kitchen and dining room usually made to accommodate nine
people and including rooms for different aspects of winter and summer.

After the Great Fire of 64 AD, in which ten out of fourteen Augustan regions of
the city were destroyed, Nero used the opportunity not only to build a
fantastic palace, the Golden House, but also to impose upon the capital some
of the orderly ideas of town planning. The most characteristic and original
achievement in the field of architecture were due to the availability and
utilization of a clean sandy earth-pozalana, It was the best binding material.
The employment of arches and of concrete led to a peculiar Roman
achievement; the amphitheater. These gigantic oval buildings represent a
doubling of a semi circular Greco-Roman theatre.

The Greek and Roman temples were different. The largest of the early temples
of Rome was that which was dedicated in 509BC to the Capitoline Jupiter in
the first days of the Republic. The temple of Bacchus at Ballbek is unusual
among Roman temples in being surrounded by a colonnade. The approach to
the interior or cella is through a wide porch flanked by staircase towers. The
temple of Vesta at Tivoli was built in first century BC. The shrine was
approached by a flight of steps and was surrounded by Corinthian Columns.

Thus the Romans saw their architecture as a means to project to the rest of
the world that they were a powerful force. Their grand stadiums, used for
entertainment, their aqueducts and Public baths all had practical use, but if
one examines accounts by Roman officials of their architecture, they describe
it in terms that shows they viewed the architecture as a means of glorifying
Rome and sampling to the rest of the world what they were capable of and
that they were the greatest civilization of the time.

The next most important element of culture is Roman Art. The Empire
produced something of a more or less uniform ‘Imperial Art’ which since it
embodied all the most progressive tendencies came in time to set the fashion
everywhere. The development of Roman art did not, however, by any means
run a uniform course. To the very end there two different tendencies
alongside one another: the Hellenizing, idealistic, typicalizing, theatrically
emotional style of the court aristocracy on one hand and the native, sober,
naturalistic style of the more mobile middle class on the other.

Roman art mainly consisted of history painting was illustrative, Illusionist,

epic, dramatic and as full of event as film whereas ancient Greek art was
plastic and monumental. Ancestral portraits, an important feature of the
aristocratic funerals, formed a significant part of the Roman art. Roman art,
when compared to Greek art, is illustrative, illusionistic, epic and dramatic
and as full of event as a film. Roman art was more secular and utilitarian and
showed grandeur and scale. The style of representing human figure through
art in the ancient world begins and ends with ‘frontality’. The course of this
development starts with the subordination of art to religious cult, goes on
through the reign of aestheticism, and ends in a new form of spiritual
dependence; beginning as the expression of an authoritarian social order, it
leads through the periods of democracy and liberalism to become again the
expression of a new spiritual authority.

ROMAN RELIGION: As regards the relation of ‘religion’ and the ‘state’,

what comes through from the earliest years of religious consciousness in
Rome is that though local deities were bound to a particular place or tribe,
initially no particular ‘religion’ existed, but by the mere mention and belief of
forces and spirits.

Later, ‘Greco-Roman religion’ is the collective name given to the Greek &
Roman, pre-Christian religions. This nomenclature exists due to the
similarities between the two religious forms. Further it seeks to develop the
idea of religion, as it has been conceptualized from the Graeco-roman period
to the beginnings of Constantinian Christianity.

Thus the factors responsible for the rise and growth of Christianity were : In
the last years of the reign of Augustus, an event took place of which, if
historical events are measured in the term of number of people none in
ancient time and few in the whole of human history, this was the birth of Jew
whose name was Jesus and probably in Nazareth in Palestine there is however
no consensus on the day of this event recent studies claim that 6 th bc is most
likely date.

To understand Jesus one must take into account the religious vision of Jews
which he shared, the Jews have long belief in one God a deity eminent and
universal whose nature had been revealed to them, his chosen people. No
image would be made of him and his laws was to obeyed. The ritual practices
which set these people apart from other people were the part of that law.

This story can be taken up in the 6 th century BC with the Babylonian

conqueror destroyed the Jews cult centre in the great temple of Jerusalem and
carried out many exiles in Mesopotamia. Though some Jews took to
Hellenistic way Palestine passed under Seleucid rule. After a great jewish
revolt against hellenisation. The freedom of moment and trace offered by
hallenistic trades and later by Romans had spread at Rome itself there spread
at Rome itself ther may have been 50,000 and a large Jews population in
Egypt i.e “ Dispertion”. By the time of Augutus fewer Jews lived in Judia then
rest of the western empire in Arabia.

It is in this context that Christianity’s immediate appeal is not hard to define.

The Palestinian Jews themselves were divided into several factions eg.
Sadducees, the Pharisees were in the reform groups and the Semi-monastic
groups known as Assines and also fanatic nationalists known as the Zealots.
Apart from the tensions between Hebrew tribes and their Greek and non-
jewish Syrian neighbours. Adding to this Jewish discontent due to oppressive
Roman Rule and high taxes. It was no wonder, that many Jews were waiting
for the early appearance of Messiah.

Many Jews had long believed that their earthly difficulties would one day end,
when divine rule woul be supreme.

The entire teachings of Jesus was based on 2 assumptions:.

 The kingdom of God would be bought into earth almost at once.

 Jesus himself by GOD’s will was beginning to bring into effect there and
then.

His teachings was not only based on certain established traditions and
believes, it also provided hope of eminent change to a troubled land.

The monotheistic outlook incorporating a notion of equality before

God made possible the occational radical outburst of criticism directed both
against rules and at priests.

The reversal of values that Jesus preached and the end of the age that he
proclaimed as imminent, posed no threat to Romans in Palestine. His enemies
were largely among the religious and political leaders of his own people. Both
featured that the popular acceptance of Jesus as a prophet would their own
positions. Thus all this engineered to his death.

Later, the followers of Jesus this was Paul, a member of diaspora from Tarsus
he provided the church with a vision fueled by a sense of urgency derived
from his conviction that the last days and the return of Messiah was
approaching.

In AD 70 a revolt against Rome by jewish nationalist collapsed a Roman Army

captured Jerusalem executed the rebel leaders and destroy and this was major
turning pointfor both Christianity and Jewdaism. Therefore, the gentile
Christians escaped this stigma and went to become dominant.

As Christianity spread throughout the empire, cananisation of the body of

scriptures though it enshrined a variety of diverse and early traditions.

Therefore the church too was closely identified with established socio-
political order Christians wer now viewed within the imperial culture not
outside it, and became a great transmitter of pegen past to future.