According to a pbs.org article about
Ancient Roman life, Romans lived at extremes in terms of social status.
Even two people living in the same city could be having completely different
experiences with a huge financial gap between them. The wealthy enjoyed
luxurious furnishings and parties while the impoverished had it much harder.
Yet, they both enjoyed entertainment, lived in families with the man as the
head of the house and interacted with one another in social situations.
I grew up in Southern California in a city in Los Angeles
County. My house was planted in a low to middle income salary area full of
ethnic and social diversity. My neighbors and I lived with enough to get by and
then some to experience enough of the luxuries of American life. However, even
a few streets down from us were people—often immigrants—struggling to make ends
meet with multiple families living under the same small roof.
Then, about 10 minutes away from my neighborhood, past
parks, schools, fast food and shopping plazas were very large houses and gated
communities where lawyers and doctors lived with their families, pets and
tennis courts.
Oddly enough, all of us (those of low, middle and high income),
ended up at the same schools, shopping at the same mall for leisure (although I
wouldn’t say we all shopped at the same grocery stores) and driving the same
streets. Needless to say, we all interacted with one another on a daily basis.
We all had friends in living under various circumstances.
Although Roman customs were obviously very different than
those of modern Southern Californians, I feel as though I kind of have an idea
of the interesting social positives and negatives they may have faced in terms
of disputes among friends, pride and prejudice. In fact, the classic Pride
and Prejudice illustrates this social set-up pretty well, too. When I think
about it, this kind society is timeless with only period traditions and
fashions that really made the difference.
I absolutely loved your article. The direct relation that we can see between our modern living and the Romans is fascinating. I also really liked the undertone that even if both we and some of the Romans don't have ALL the luxuries of life, we still enjoy a good, ordered society.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in Washington State where pockets of high-, middle-, and lower-class citizens are neatly laid out across the map. In Yakima, you knew you were in a rich area when your drove through west valley, middle-class in east valley, and poverty all down 16th Ave. But I have a friend who lived in St. Louis for a while and he told me that there, it is very common for social and economic classes to live right across the street from each other. So, for me, there was a clear separation between the sub cultures of Yakima, WA, but in other places, there is definitely more diversity.
ReplyDeleteI am from Washington as well, but where I'm from (Woodland, WA, near the Oregon state border), there are only lower to middle class people, with a random mansion up on a hill. We from the town would see this mansion and would think that the people living in it must have a great life, but in reality, they are just like us, normal people with the same human needs. It seems that society separates us based on income, but we are all equals in the human race, and as children of God.
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