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My understanding from historians answering similar questions about ancient Romans is that we really don't know much about the average Roman because almost nothi
by bragr 3y ago
My understanding from historians answering similar questions about ancient Romans is that we really don't know much about the average Roman because almost nothing was written down about them and even less survives to this day.
- woodruffw 3y agoIt's a little nuanced. We know about some aspects of the average Roman citizen's life: the details of their class and labor statuses, their political enfranchisement, the effects of the Roman economy on their livelihood, urbanization trends through the Republic and Empire, etc. We also know a decent amount about what they ate, what they wore, etc. We know many of these things either because they're discussed in comparison to an actual subject, or via inference with described subjects (i.e. descriptions of the lives of political candidates, bureaucrats, soldiers, slaves, and lesser sides of noble families).
- nemo 3y agoWhile literary sources were always produced by aristocrats, they still give a window into their times even if it's biased, so we know some things about some jobs. But also since the mid 20th century there's been a movement in history to learn about the daily lives of everyday people of the past in every period including Rome. Combined with archaeology, we can learn some things, so while we don't have a perfect picture of life for the many free Roman citizens packed into their insulae doing their jobs, there's been work and progress on filling that in, esp. using archaeological sources like Pompeii.