ROM: Cultural Lesson - The City of Rome

The City of Rome

Rome is called the eternal city. Let's join Decimus on his journey through the city.

Please download and complete the Roma Map Reading Links to an external site. handout. This handout will follow Decimus on his journey through Rome. Use the information on this page to help as well when completing the handout.

Be sure that you have completed the handout before moving ahead in the course.

The Castra Praetoria

Decimus arrives at the Castra Praetoria (Praetorian Camp - see image) located just outside the city walls of Rome.  The barracks for the Praetorian guard were built during the reign of the emperor Tiberius to house elite soldiers.  Soldiers in the praetorian guard received the highest pay of any Roman soldiers.  The guard kept order during the chariot races at the Circus Maximus (chariot racing stadium), during the games at the Colosseum (Flavian amphitheater) and during performances at the theater.  The guards oversaw the city prison, patrolled as daytime policemen and guarded the city gates.  The guards were lightly armed soldiers who served a term of 14 years.

Campus Martius

The Praetorian camp was located near a field called the Campus Martius (Field of Mars). Historically this area was used for training soldiers. Later the once swampy area was revitalized with many public buildings: the Ara Pacis (the altar of Peace), the Pantheon, Baths of Agrippa, Mausoleum of Augustus, and Theaters of Marcellus and Pompey. The image shows a model of the Campus Martius around the year 300 CE. 

For pictures of the buildings mentioned above, please download the Campus Martius Images Links to an external site. handout.

Circus Maximus

Decimus was also assigned crowd control duties at the Circus Maximus. The Circus Maximus was a large stadium used for chariot racing in ancient Rome. Located between the Aventine and Palatine hills, it was the largest Roman stadium and could hold 250,000 spectators. The ludi circenses (chariot races) were very popular and paid for by Emperors for public entertainment. Chariot teams were distinguished by color: red, white, blue or green.  Starting from the carceres (starting stalls) as the Emperor dropped a white handkerchief, the charioteer raced his team of horses around the track 7 times along the spina (center barrier) and around the metae (turning posts). Romans favored factiones (chariot teams) and often bet on winners.

The Forum Romanum

Decimus’s first major assignment is to patrol the Forum Romanum (the Roman Forum). This city center housed numerous important public buildings and monuments. Located between the Capitoline and Palatine Hills; the forum was home to triumphal processions, famous orations, criminal trials, and statues that commemorated great Romans. Decimus would pass by the Basilica Julia (courthouse), the Curia (senate house), the Rostra (public speaking podium), the Temple of Vesta and other temples along the Via Sacra (main road through the forum). Visible from the forum was the Imperial palace, home to the emperor and his family, located on the nearby Palatine Hill. Decimus would have seen the Amphitheatrum Flavium (Colosseum) nearing completion just outside the Forum. The image depicts the Forum Romanum.

Roman Housing

Ancient Roman streets were often dangerous places. Rome was not immune to muggers, thieves and violent mobs. Decimus would have encountered these dangers while on patrol. Despite these unruly citizens, the greatest threat in Rome was fire. Roman apartments, called Insulae, were wooden structures built closely together. Overcrowded inhabitants used improvised stoves for cooking and highly flammable oil lamps for light. Ancient authors suggest that fire occurred nightly in ancient Rome. The vigiles (a fire brigade) was established by Emperor Augustus. These firefighters navigated the streets of Rome nightly with buckets of water. Fire was a common hazard in ancient Rome.

Images courtesy of VRoma Links to an external site..