Ancient Roman People

Families living in the Roman Empire took many different forms. In general, there was more equality between men and women under Roman law than there was under the Greeks or under Islamic law. But there was more equality in the western part of the Empire, in Europe and North Africa (including Egypt), than there was in the east, in West Asia, where most people continued to follow Greek traditions.

different cultures travelling around the empire interacting with each other that there seems to have been in general a lot of tolerance for other cultures. On the other hand, this contact did also cause tensions, which sometimes burst out into violent persecutions of minority groups.

People were forced into slavery in every corner of the Roman empire, from the beginning to the end, but again the kind of slavery and the way slaves were treated depended on where you were and also on when. In Italy and Sicily, and maybe in some other places, big farms were worked by slave field-hands, who were very badly treated. But other slaves were house servants, like nannies, nurses, cooks, laundry-women, and stable-boys who took care of the horses. These were generally better treated. A lot of slaves also worked for the Roman government, or for private businesses, as managers, or running a shop, or in small factories. Still other slaves were criminals who had been sentenced to work in the mines or other hard labor as punishment. Even if they were freed, people who had once been enslaved still didn't have the same rights as other people, but their children did, if they had been born free.

All over the Roman empire, many boys in cities seem to have gone to school. Some girls went to school, but most girls were not allowed to go to school. But out in the countryside, in small villages, probably hardly anyone could read or write. Very few people went to college, but those that did often travelled far from home, to Athens or Alexandria in Egypt, for a good education.

Partly at school, and partly through their families or just playing ball games outside, kids all over the Roman empire did have lots of friends. Girls and boys from rich families, however, were not allowed to get romantic together. Most marriages among the upper classes were arranged by the parents. It was probably different, and more like today, for the poor.

To find out more about Roman people, check out these books from Amazon.com or from your library:

Roman schools
Roman slavery
Roman families
Roman food
Roman houses
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