What was ancient roman culture like? ( its for my sweet 16 and i want to incorporate their culture)

Question

pix plz!

Answer 1

As someone who studies ancient Rome, I could not possibly describe its entire culture here. However, I'll give you info as it pertains to having a party, and make some suggestions on what to use.

The Roman empire was huge and incorporated many cultures into it. However, the most influencial on Roman culture were the Greeks. So I'll point out that I'm talking about the Romans at their height, when they were influenced in many things by the Greeks. So here are some basic things about their culture:

Decor:

Roman homes, to modern people, would seem very loud and busy. They painted all the walls with scenes, and had lots of colors, but put little emphasis on furniture. Red was a very popular color, as was an imitation marble color. Here are the walls of some Roman houses:

http://www.accd.edu/sac/vat/arthistory/a...

http://www.sandrashaw.com/images/AH1L23M...

Also, nothing, decoration wise, says Roman more than mosaics. Mosaics are designs made with individual little tiles. I'm sure you could make banners, signs, etc. in fake mosaic style (using little cut outs of paper, or even Legos). Here is a website that lets you plan out mosaics:  http://gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/mosaic/mkmo...

For any more info on decor, google search images from Pompeii (Pompeii was an ancient Roman city that was destroyed by a volcano but preserved under the ash, leaving the inside of homes intact).

Also, columns tend to make things look romans (Romans preferred Corinthian columns) as do marble-looking statues. It should be noted that Romans painted their statues, but since the paint wore away with time, people tend to associate white, unpainted marble statues with ancient times.

If you want to be really creative, you could try to make our of cardboard  or something, or just paint, a triumphal arch. The Romans build these to ride through to celebrate victories: http://www.umehon.maine.edu/images/hon11...

Food:

The Romans liked some weird food. You may think Italian food would come from them, but the Romans did not have tomatoes (they grew only in the Americas), or pasta (China invented it). What the Romans did eat was bizarre (they loved, for example, cooked mice and the uterus of pigs)  and loved to put garum (sauce made from fish) on everything. Some of the more appealing things to modern people would be olives, raisins, sausage, and pork. The Romans also loved sweet things, but sugar as we know it only grew in the New World. So they used honey. Anything with honey feels very Roman. Also, they ate lots of sweet fruit, like apples, pears, ect. Of course if you want to cheat, you could just order pizza, which, though the Romans could not make it for lack of tomatoes, feels Italian and therefore Roman.

As for drinks, they loved wine. They drank both white and red, and they had it with almost every meal, so they usually watered it down, or else mixed it with honey or juice. Since you are going to be 16, alcohol is (probably) not an option, but the fake wine cider stuff, or even grape juice, could replace it if it must.

Also, it should be noted that Romans laid down to eat. They ate on couches, three to a couch, around a table. Here is a picture: http://library.thinkquest.org/22866/Dutc...

Music: Here is a German group that plays reconstructions of Roman music.

http://www.myspace.com/mvsicaromana

It's not really good to dance to, its more ambient. That's because the Romans did not dance socially, instead they watched dancing, kind of like how we watch ballet. Any respectable party in ancient Rome would have dancers there, but dancing was considered risque and nobles would not do it.  

Clothing:

Ancient Roman women wore dresses, and, on formal occasions, a special dress called the stola:

http://www.wokmuziektheater.nl/wedstrijd...

Here is a picture preserved in Pompeii of a woman in everyday clothes: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co...

Note: Women did not wear togas unless they were prostitutes.

Men did wear the toga, but rarely. It was like the tuxedo of ancient times: it was expensive, uncomfortable, and only for very formal occasions. More commonly they wore tunics, which were like big shirts with a belt worn around the waist. In this picture, the two figures on the right wear tunics: http://www.bible-researcher.com/ancient2...

As for hair styles, Roman women tended to like it curly, but fashions were always changing. Here is a good website that shows hair and clothing: http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/clothing2...

Roman women wore jewelery and makeup, but their makeup was usually aimed to make them look paler, as being tan was considered ugly.

If you want some more exposure to Roman culture, I would recommend the TV show Rome that was on HBO. Its not always accurate, but it does a good enough job for your purposes and is fun to watch. Also, in episode 4 of the first season, there are two simultaneous parties shown, one that the rich characters attend, one that the poorer characters attend, and you can compare and contrast them.

Answer 2

Sexually debauched.

Answer 3

Why don't you do a basic search online. If you want images, click "images".