Culture Quotes Flashcards
(22 cards)
Roman Gods: Livy (P)
“Six couches were put out in public; one for Jupiter and Juno, another for Neptune and Minerva, a third for Mars and Venus …”
State Religion: Ovid (P)
“they abandoned the Parental Days. This did not go unpunished; […] from this omen Rome grew hot with the pyres of the dead outside the city.”
(Ovid’s Fasti) = structured as eye-witness reports/interviews by the first-person “vates” (a bard) <— unique and real view of State Religion.
Afterlife: Virgil (P)
“Before the entrance hall of Orcus, in the very throat of hell, Grief and Revenge have made their beds […], with white faced Diseases and Fear and Hunger, corrupted of men, […] things dreadful to look upon …” (Aeneid Book VI)
Aeneas: Ovid (P)
“Aeneas, the hero whose mother was Venus, / Rescued his household gods and through the flames on his shoulders / He carried a burden as sacred, his venerable father Anchises. / These with his own dear son Ascanius […], Aeneas the dutiful …” (Ovid’s Metamorphoses)
“Metamorphoses” = transformation (key theme) <— this excerpt captures the essence of Aeneas’ pietas (the greatest Roman virtue of duty and loyalty to your gods, family and country)
Aeneas & the Foundations of the Roman Race: Livy (P)
“Aeneas conferred the native name of the Latins upon his own people;” (Livy’s ‘History of Rome’)
This explains the persistence of the Latin language and culture after the Trojans settled - Jupiter & Juno’s pact (Juno must accept that the Trojans have found their new homeland but she demanded that the Trojans lose their own cultural identity)
Aeneas: Livy (P)
“and for Aeneas, the battle was the last of his labours in this world. […] Was he man or god? However it be, men call him Jupiter Indiges - the local Jove” (Livy’s ‘History of Rome’)
Romulus & Remus: Ovid (+)
“A she-wolf gave her dugs to the twins to suck, / She feared not to lie down with infants so noble.”
(Ovid’s Fasti)
= a she-wolf, usually a sign of danger, becomes a nurturing protector - symbolising Rome’s strength, endurance and divine origins.
Roman Gods + Romulus: Ovid (+)
“Jupiter with his own lightning hurled him from the sky; / Mars wept for his son.” (Ovid’s Metamorphoses)
= links to Romulus’ deification as he fulfilled his destiny
- Jupiter represents divine authority and cosmic order, affirming Romulus’s fate — Mars, as Romulus’s father, links Rome’s martial origins to divine lineage, Ovid’s emotional portrayal of Mars enhances the mythic grandeur of Rome: even the gods feel deeply about the city’s fate.
State Religion: Cicero (+)
“The chief reason for the superiority of Rome is that we have paid greater attention to religion than any other people.” (Cicero’s De Natura Deorum)
= reflects the Roman value of “pietas” and the ritualistic exactness Romans believed must be upheld to please the gods - Rome’s greatness is not rooted in political or military success, but its careful and dutiful worship of the gods.
Gladiators: Amabilis Inscription (P)
“To Amabilis, a heavily armed gladiator, born a Dacian, a man of 13 fights, cheated by Fate, not by man.”
Gladiators: Juvenal (P)
“What did she see in him so that she put up with being called a gladiator’s mistress?” (Juvenal’s Satires)
= being a “gladiatrix” is a morally corrupt life for a Roman women, exemplifying the view that gladiators were in a lower social position than slaves.
‘Venatio’ (wild animal shows): Seneca (+)
“In the morning they throw men to the lions and the bears; at noon, they throw them to the spectators.”
= scathing metaphor, watching this cruelty is turning moral Roman citizens into beasts - critiques the use of public entertainment to exert political control & the general public bloodlust.
Entertainment: Juvenal (+)
“The people who once bestowed commands, […] now restrain themselves and are eager for just two things: bread and circuses.” (Juvenal’s Satires)
- “bread” = free grain distribution
- “circuses” = public entertainment
= Juvenal’s view that public entertainment was a distraction from civic duty, a tool used by emperors to pacify the masses.
Stock Characters: Plautus (P)
miser: “… he wouldn’t give you starvation is you asked for it! He even hoards up his own nail-clippings!”
parasitus: “Myself, Menaechmus and his parasite.” — “Then that makes ten! I count the parasite as good as eight.”
Stock Characters: Plautus (+)
adulescens: “I’m lost without her! What shall I do? My father (the senex) is watching me like a hawk, and I can’t move a finger! If only Chrysalus (the servus) can trick him again — he’s the only one clever enough to get me out of this mess.”
= adulescens, deeply in love, helped by the clever servus but hindered by his father (the senex)
Chariot Racing: Epaphroditus Inscription in Rome (P)
“To the spirit of the departed: Epaphroditus, charioteer of the Red faction, won 178 time and with the Purples as a freedman he won 8 times.”
Chariot Racing: Inscription honoring Diocles (+)
“He won 1,462 races, took second place 861 times, and third place 576 times. He earned 35,863,120 sesterces in prize money — more than any man has ever earned.”
- Diocles primarily raced for the Reds & raced for 24 years total (a long and dangerous career); he was born a freedman, so would have kept his earnings - equivalent to hundreds of millions of dollars today.
= inscription in Rome showed that the most successful charioteers were celebrities and had devoted fans.
Circus Maximus: Ovid at the races
“They come to see, they come so that they themselves may be seen.” (Ovid, Amores 3.2) = women at the races are just as much on display as the chariots - reflects the social and romantic dynamics of public Roman entertainment.
“Back then, no awnings hung from marble theaters,” (Ovid, Amores 3.2) = illustrates how the races had become a place of lavish display, where even the setting was theatrical.
Ovid’s theme: the transformation of Roman entertainment into a space for love and seduction — not just sport.
Cena: Dinner with Trimalchio
“You shall see all my slaves with their faces daubed with white powder, and they will serve you like gods.” (Petronius’ Satyricon)
= Trimalchio’s ostentatious display of wealth and absurd desire to impress - uses his wealth unnecessarily (seems tasteless and unrefined)
- slaves’ white-painted faces parody theatrical masks, blending entertainment with servitude (obsession with appearance is distracting from Roman duties)
Cena: Dinner with Trimalcio (+)
“The guests reclined, each in his place, ready to enjoy the feast, where laughter mingled with the clinking of cups and the music of the lyre.”
= hearty and friendly atmosphere of the cena, crucial to social interaction for Romans.
