The family
The family was the base of the Pompeian society; it had a deep religious feeling. The father of the family was the priest of the domestic gods and he had a big authority, originally absolute: only him could speak and act in place of the whole family; by law he was the only owner of the riches of the family, he also could sell the children or to decree death of them. He had of undisputed authority on servitude and on the wife.
No woman had any form of independence: first she was submitted to the guardianship of the father, then of the husband and if orphan she was submitted to the guardianship of the closest adult males of the family. Yet in more recent times the woman gained a kind of independence, until she came to be honoured and considered matron of the house: she accompanied the husband to the games and theater and in the streets he gave way for her.
The woman got married very young and with a man, most of times, selected by the parents, giving up the religion of her home to follow the one of the husband’s; the power that the father had on her moved to the citizen that married her. The use foresaw an engagement, during which the future consorts exchanged promise of marriage and then the bridegroom gave the ring to the bride as present.
No woman had any form of independence: first she was submitted to the guardianship of the father, then of the husband and if orphan she was submitted to the guardianship of the closest adult males of the family. Yet in more recent times the woman gained a kind of independence, until she came to be honoured and considered matron of the house: she accompanied the husband to the games and theater and in the streets he gave way for her.
The woman got married very young and with a man, most of times, selected by the parents, giving up the religion of her home to follow the one of the husband’s; the power that the father had on her moved to the citizen that married her. The use foresaw an engagement, during which the future consorts exchanged promise of marriage and then the bridegroom gave the ring to the bride as present.
A new-born entered in the family only after the ceremony of purification (dies lustricus) that freed the child from the impurities of the birth; contemporarily the pater imposed him the prænomen. In this special occasion, that is the modern ceremony of the baptism, the small one received from parents and relatives, small gifts (crepundia) that the baby had to wear with a chain around the neck. Not rare it was the custom not to recognise the children, above all if these were deformed or female.
It was ancient Roman use to entrust for the first years of the life the education of the children to the mothers; once grown up they were entrusted to the father that taught them the proper work, as an artisan, a farmer, a dealer, a public official.
The scholastic education was reduced to the elements of reading, of writing, of making accounts and of some literature.
It was ancient Roman use to entrust for the first years of the life the education of the children to the mothers; once grown up they were entrusted to the father that taught them the proper work, as an artisan, a farmer, a dealer, a public official.
The scholastic education was reduced to the elements of reading, of writing, of making accounts and of some literature.
The Pompeians loved the good kitchen: there was the use to eat three times a day. Early in the morning they had the first breakfast (ientaculum), toward the midday it was consumed, between an occupation and the other, a fleeting second breakfast (prandium) based, especially, on the leftovers of the previous evening; the supper, the main meal, constituted by three courses, in the house of the rich ones was very sumptuous.
The most famous ingredient of the Pompeian kitchen was the garum, made by the decomposition of fat fishes (mackerel, sardines, eels, salmon, tuna), aromatized with grasses like the fennel, the celery, the mint. The only drink, besides water, was wine, often mixed with honey and water of the sea and aromatized with resin and pitch; a very good wime was the vitis Holconia.
The most famous ingredient of the Pompeian kitchen was the garum, made by the decomposition of fat fishes (mackerel, sardines, eels, salmon, tuna), aromatized with grasses like the fennel, the celery, the mint. The only drink, besides water, was wine, often mixed with honey and water of the sea and aromatized with resin and pitch; a very good wime was the vitis Holconia.