Unraveling Roman Identity

For my topic, I chose the idea of a Roman Identity, at first there appeared to be a sense of Roman nationalism, however, upon diving deep into Roman culture and literature I realized that nationalism is often misapplied to Rome and is not the correct word for multiple reasons. The first reason is that there was no nation in Rome ancient Rome was a city-state. A nation allows for a sense of unity that promotes nationalism and allows people to unify under a common cause.

Without a nation bringing the Roman people together, the Romans needed something else to unite them. Romans were often grouped into different social classes varying by whoever was the king at the time, but this was not what helped them come together. The people of Rome were still able to consolidate under a strong Roman identity without a nation while being divided into different social classes. To fully understand the idea of a Roman identity one must start with an understanding of a typical Roman and then cross-examine the Roman with other cultures, nations, and ideas.

In On, the Commonwealth Cicero explores a couple of different mindsets of the Roman identity, by discussing Numa’s relation to Pythagoras and the modification of foreign ideas. Cicero also discusses how many of the leaders of Rome were taught in a manner of the Greeks, however, he refuted the copying of their culture but instead offers the idea the Romans may have learned from them but then built upon their ideas and perfected them.

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The dress of typical male Romans included the toga, tunic, loincloth, one ring, and a short haircut. The different colors of togas had different meanings such as a plain white toga was worn by all adult male citizens, a dark colored toga was worn after someone had passed away, politicians wore a bleached toga, and a purple toga with gold embroidery was worn by late emperors and generals who were victorious. All Roman men including both nobles and slaves wore tunics under their togas. The loincloth worn by Romans was called a subiculum; this was worn under the tunic. Romans primarily wore two types of shoes open-toed sandals and shoes that covered their toes. The first shoes are for inside and the ladder is for outside. Roman men were allowed one ring, this was used to imprint Wax and seal documents. These clothes were similar to the clothes worn in ancient Greece; however, the clothes Romans wore depended on their identity while the Greek’s clothing depended more on necessity.

At the time of ancient Rome, the citizens primarily spoke Latin, however, due to the vastness of the Roman Empire, there were many other languages spoken such as Greek. Greek influence can also be seen in Roman religion. At first, the Romans had many similar deities to the religion of ancient Greek such as Jupiter or Zeus, Neptune or Poseidon, and Mars or Ares. Later Romans transitioned primarily to Christianity. Another interesting note about the Romans was that they did not force their religion upon the people they conquered unlike other civilizations around the same time.

In De re Publica Cicero discusses the idea of the Roman republic throughout the book. In the preface to On the Commonwealth, Cicero discusses what a republic means to him and his fellow Romans. According to Cicero, a republic is “an association of the people for the defense and advancement of the common interest.” This idea means that when people unite for a common purpose of protection and to further improve their society as a whole a republic such as Rome is formed. The ancient Greeks came together similarly; however, they formed a democracy, unlike the Romans. The Greeks appeared to have a lot of influence on the ancient Romans, this is apparent when Cicero discusses Numa Pompilius. Numa was the second king of Rome only following Romulus he was not born in Rome and was chosen to be the king of Rome by the people. This shows that Roman identity is independent of being born in the city of Rome. Numa was a Sabine and many people thought he studied under Pythagoras, which would have suggested a strong Greek influence.

Some Greek influence appears to be present when Numa established Flamen and Salii priests dedicated to the Roman Gods, Mars, and Jupiter who are the Roman equivalents to the Greek Gods, Zeus, and Aries. Numa’s organization of religion was a critical section of the Roman society, along with the religious institutions Numa’s political ideas sculpted the society at a young age. “The common opinion” of people at the time considered Numa (to be???) a “Pythagorean”, however, Cicero argued against this because Numa could not have been a disciple of the Greek philosopher Pythagoras.

In chapter XV of On the Commonwealth Scipio claims it (what’s it) to be false and not just false but “ignorantly and absurdly false.” Cicero moves on to talk about how it would be impossible for Pythagoras to influence Numa because the sixty-second Olympiad along with the start of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus’s reign marks Pythagoras’s arrival. Cicero argues that there was no way it would be possible for Numa to be a Pythagorean because Pythagoras arrived roughly one hundred and forty years after the death of Numa. The next claim that Cicero makes in On the Commonwealth is that he was comfortable with the belief, that “our intelligence has not been derived from abroad, and through foreign arts, but from natural and domestic virtues.” Cicero was claiming that the Romans have their own identity and this identity is unique to Romans, built on Roman virtues, and not based on another society such as the Greeks. He then goes on to say that things taken from cultures outside of Rome have been perfect by the Romans making them Roman and no longer part of another culture. According to Cicero, the excellence of the Roman people is due to their intelligence and hard work, it was not taken from other cultures or happened upon by chance.

Rome was not a nation because it wasn’t a nation (repetitive) it was made up of multiple cultures, which the Romans conquered. When the Romans under King Ancus Martius, grandson of Numa Pompilius, conquered the Latins they were incorporated into the state. This does not mean that they were Romans but were tolerated (wording??), they didn’t identify as Romans nor did Romans accept them. Cicero says that once Martius died a new king rose to power as known as Lucumo. The new king was created because of the united sufferings of the Roman peoples; because of this and the Roman identity, he renounced his Grecian name and changed it to Lucius Tarquinius Priscus. Cicero also says Priscus is credited with instituting the “great games, which we call Roman.”

Cicero quotes Laelius in On the Commonwealth talking about how the constitution of the state is not the work of one moment or one man, but it has been built upon over time building a strong Rome and a strong Roman identity.

According to Cicero “the Roman history is obscure”, this is because only the mother of the founder is known but the father is unknown.

Another thing Cicero describes in On the Commonwealth is the equality and triple nature of the public affairs relating the Roman government to the government of the ancient city of Carthage. He then goes on to talk about the particular difference in the Roman republic and how nothing is more admirable. Cicero is talking about the Roman republic’s government being properly balanced, unlike the Lacedemonians and Carthaginians. Cicero says there is nothing similar found in any government other than the Roman republic because even under a king the Roman people were granted some share of the government under the kings. He also agrees Rome was not always like this when they were under complete control of the kings (what happened when the kings had control???). Having even a minimal stake in the government allows people to have a stronger identity and feel they have more choices and freedom. He argues that when one man has complete power the government is subject to change, could easily fall, and cannot be called anything but a kingdom. He believes that with a king their rights are being infringed upon and the first one (what’s the one???) to go is liberty and people should not be subject to live under one master but no masters at all. When public matters are controlled by a government people are either going to restrain it (new wording) or oppose it says, Cicero. He mentions L. Brutus with high regard for opposing a bad government even though Brutus was a private citizen and being the first one to express that no one was insignificant, this allowed people to come together and express their opinions tightening their bond of Roman identity and preserving public liberties.

Cicero is proud of the Roman republic that many people who have the Roman identity shared view.

Overall Romans have an identity of their own and Cicero proves this through his statements disputing incorrect information such as Numa being a disciple of Pythagoras. He also argues throughout On the Commonwealth that yes Romans may have had some Greek influences but it would only appear that way from the surface because the Romans took the information or ideas and enhanced them to make them better and truly an identity of Rome.

Works Cited

1. Cicero, Marcus Tullius, and James E. G. Zetzel. “Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought.” Cicero: On the Commonwealth and the Laws.
2. “The Romans – Clothing.” History, 19 Mar. 2018, www.historyonthenet.com/the-Romans-clothing.