Rome - Roman Roads - Pont du Gard - Roman Sex Festivities
Tourism in Ancient Rome: Historic Evolution of Tourism
These movements are differentiated by their purpose of other types of travel originated by wars, migratory movements or conquest. But tourism has many historical antecedents.How was the tourism in ancient time?
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How was the tourism in ancient time?
Tourism and travel in ancient times, short or long distances was an important and dangerous business. It required careful planning.
Most of the trips were made for religious reasons, war, diplomacy, health reasons or training in schools of scholars. They also go to festivals such as the Olympic Games or the Dionysian Games,
Traveling in ancient times: Slaves & Tourism
In Ancient Rome free men gave great importance to leisure, and devoted it to culture, entertainment, religion and sport. We must remember that all these activities could only be done by free men of the upper class or the Nobles. Many slaves were also available at that time.
Approximately seven slaves for each free man. It is for this reason that tourism was an exclusive activity of wealthy class that moved with servants, slaves and a considerable guard for protection. The tourist activity that was not religious.
What was it like to travel in the Roman Empire?
During Roman Empire, the Romans frequented thermal waters and great spectacles, like the theaters, and the coliseums. They made trips to the Mediterranean coast in the city of Pompeii and Herculaneum, Campania area (near Naples).Also the island of Capri, where there were summer residences. The Emperor Tiberius had a villa on the island of Capri (today you can visit its ruins). These pleasure trips were possible due to Pax Romana, the development of communication routes. They also influenced economic prosperity due to the trade that allowed the creation of an upper class. And of course free time.
Travel in Ancient Rome: A Bit of Roman History
During the empire (27 BC to 476 AD) begins a period of absolutism in Rome, where the emperor was chosen by the army. With Octavio Augusto (first emperor) the Pax Romana was achieved, which lasted approximately 200 years. In this epoch is where the Roman tourism had its maxima. The empire was divided into provinces that in turn were divided into Municipium and Coloniae. It is depending on their legal hierarchy Each territorial division had services for public enjoyment and entertainment, which were sometimes visited by inhabitants of other territories.
The Roads in Ancient Rome Were for Military Use?
In the beginning the Roman roads were designed for military use. Legions and military equipment could be moved much faster than if they were transferred to cross country. The time of transfer between cities was shortened not only for military use but for trade and tourism. Patrician families used to send their children to Greece to receive rhetoric and philosophy classes. In this case, the route by sea was the most chosen, for the comforts and speed compared to the terrestrial displacement. Accommodation facilities on routes far from the Roman metropolis were very scarce.
Julius Caesar, who was traveling at an extraordinary speed, traveled from the Rhone ( germany) to Rome in about eight days. However, the fastest journey of antiquity was, the one that made Tiberius to Drusus from Tichinum in Germany, a distance of 200 miles, made in 20 hours even though he had only one guide and had to make several changes of mount.
ORBIS - University of Stanford Raod & Network Calculator on Line
How Were the Roads in Ancient Rome?
How Much it Cost Per Mile to Travel in the Roman Empire?
Why Were There Stones on the Side of the Roads in the Roman Empire?
The mausoleum of Glanum is a Roman funerary monument located in the ancient city of Glanum, near the city of Saint-Rémy de Provence (France). Built between the years 30 and 20 BC (August Emperor) It is a tribute to a family of Gallic origin that obtained Roman citizenship fighting in the Roman army. There is an inscription in the mummies
SEX.M.L.IVLEI.C.F.PARENTIVUS.SVEIS
--SEX (your) M (arcus) L (ucius) IVLIEI C (aii) • F (ilii) PARENTIBVS SVEIS--
SEXTUS, LUCIUS (and) MARCUS IULII (Julia) SONS of CAIUS (dedicate this) to their parents
Travel in Ancient Rome: Julius Caesar - Academic Trip and Kidnapping
Julius Caesar, in 75 B.C. He had had to flee from Rome since he was at odds with the Roman dictator Sila. Banished to the Aegean Islands to avoid the assassins of Sila, he devoted himself to study and prepare for when he returned to Rome. It was just on a trip to study at the Oratory and Eloquence Academy of Molon of Rodas was tackled by sackcloth pirates - (Cilicia, on the south coast of present-day Turkey)
History of Tourism map
The pirates valued the rescue to be requested by the crew in a total of 20 talents. Julius Caesar to the astonishment of the pirates, he told them to ask for nothing more and nothing less than 50 talents for his life. Obviously the pirates had nothing to object to.
A talent corresponded to the weight of a cubic foot of water, which in ancient Rome amounted to 75 Pounds / 1200 oz. If we say that gold, today, is U$S 1400 per Oz, Total are U$S 1,680,000 per tatent
Gaius Julius Caesar was transferred to the island of Farmacusa (off the coast of Halicarnassus), where he stayed, together with a friend and two servants held by the pirates. The rest of the crew was sent to seek rescue. It was 38 days before the envoys came with the money, in which the chroniclers (Plutarch, especially) tells that Julius Caesar, rather than being imprisoned, lived like a king
He dedicated himself to sports, writing poetry, studying and writing speeches - which forced his kidnappers to listen - and even silenced the pirates when they wouldn't let him sleep.
During his captivity, Julius Caesar threated that when he was released, he would capture them, recover the money and crucify them. Obviously, the pirates didn't take it too seriously. Once the rescue was obtained Julio César was released
Once released he went to Pergamum, where he got 500 soldiers and 4 ships, returning to Farmacusa and catching the pirates in full celebration for their loot, capturing them without too much trouble. The 350 pirates were taken to Pergamum again. There, Julius Caesar sent everyone to 30, who were crucified as he had promised. of course, as a humanitarian detail made them slaughter before crucifying them.
In this way, Julius Caesar apart from creating a reputation that did not leave him until Bruto murdered him many years later, he managed to keep the 50 rescue talents.
Religious Tourism and Roman Sex Festivities
One reason why the citizens of the Roman Empire mobilized were the religious festivals, to worship a certain god in particular. Some of these parties ended in sex parties, so it could be said that sex tourism already existed in the time of the Romans.
The following were the best known Roman Sex Festivities
The Lupercales
It was one of the rituals of ancient Rome and with more sexual charge, whose purpose was the exaltation of fertility. It was celebrated every February 15 they were held around the Palatine Hill.
Its name derives from lupus (wolf), in reference to Fauno Luperco, Romanization of the irrigation god Pan, god of forests, agriculture and grazing. Luperco was the god of fertility and unbridled male sexuality, endowed with great potency and sexual appetite. More information
Bacanales
Tito Livio assures that the cult of Dionysus originates from the regions of Etruria and Campania. In Etruria originally the cult was secret, diurnal, and celebrated only by women, on March 16 and 17 in the sacred forest of Semele, behind the docks, near the Aventine.
Although this cult underwent important changes after the leadership of Paculla Annia, allowing the initiation into the cult of adolescent men under twenty years of age, although the prohibition to participate in the Bacchanalia was still in force for the rest of the men. In these rites an initiation oath was given to safeguard the secret and sacred unity of the group.
According to the data provided, the initiates, after passing a stage of chastity and abstinence, could be integrated into the famous Bacchic rituals, where they drank and danced in a frenzied atmosphere, with shouts and ritual possessions. We are described how married women possessed by the god Bacchus ran frantically disguised as Maenads.
It also seems that all kinds of lustful acts, both heterosexual and homosexual, took place at the bacchanalia at a time when homosexuality had not yet spread among sober Roman society. More information.
The Floralia
The Floraria was a Roman festival that was celebrated in honor of Flora, goddess of spring, vegetation and fertility in general. This festival was celebrated between April 28 and May 3, and symbolized the renewal of the cycle of life, which is why it became a party of a happy and relaxed nature, marked by dances, drinks and flowers.
She is considered one of the protective divinities of prostitutes since her cult was very popular among Roman prostitutes and during their festivities, they took on great prominence. More information.
Travel in Ancient Rome: Non-Religious Tourism
They also hired local guides and consulted papyri that explained a certain area and their entertainment possibilities. They were the tour guides of that time. Of course they bought something smaller as souvenirs and had a tendency to engrave the traveler's name on the stones of the monuments they visited. This was at the request of the inhabitants, since the prestige of a noble visitor attracted more tourists.
The trips were made for pleasure, business or health or religious issues. Religious tourism and pilgrimages to both Greek and Roman temples became part of almost every tourist itinerary. But it was not about devotion but about entertainment. These temples were visited by tourists who in some cases were no longer sacred places, but monuments to visit. (almost equal to what happens today in the Catholic churches of Europe)
Travel in Ancient Rome & Weekend Roman Villas: Capri & Pompeii
The Romans also liked to spend a leisure time away from the city and used to move to the Campania (Naples). From the time of the empire of Octavius Augustus, the Senate was no longer an institution of power. The emperor reigned and were not consulted.
The senators retired to live in the countryside, near Rome but away from it. The area chosen was Campania, Cities such as Pompeii, Herculaneum, Tivoli, Beneventum and Islands such as Capri, where luxury villas were built. Infrastructure was also built as additional roads, ports, passenger ships, inns and markets.
The houses in the city of Rome became the second residence and the country villa the habitual residence. You find the infrastructure was also built in those country places. Amphitheatres (Pompeii), circus maxima, thermal baths and medicinal baths. all this thanks to the pax romana that lasted approximately 250 years from the reign of Octavius Augustus.
Emperor Caracalla built in Rome the baths that bear his name. They were public baths that had steam rooms, pools of hot water (caldarium) and cold (frigidarium), gymnastics, rest and massage rooms. There were also writing rooms, libraries and gardens.
On the island of Capri, the Tiberian emperor built a luxurious villa with a swimming pool. You can still visit today's day
Pompeii Brothels Sex Painting
Travel in Ancient Rome: Amphitheaters for all
The construction of the Maximum Circus and the Colosseum in Rome, led to tourism also going in the other direction. Inhabitants of the entire empire wished to know Rome. The network of roads, security and the pax romana contributed to a flow of tourists to the Rome.
They also built amphitheatres like the Colosseum in Rome and theaters in other cities, which also enjoyed a fair share of tourists. We can name the theater of Orange (France) and the amphitheaters of Nimes and Arles (France). That amphitheaters can be visited nowadays and in a very good state of conservation.
My Darling, and if We Visit Sparta?
During the Roman domination in Greece, the city of Sparta, powerful and famous in other times became a focus of tourism on the part of the Roman upper class. Sparta no longer had possibilities of any kind, military or economic or political. But focused on their ancestral military education to young people. The education of the It was so hard that it became a tourist attraction in itself
The Ritual
The ritual combats that had traditionally been fought in the Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia, under Roman domination, became the dimastígosis (they existed for a long time) , where the children were scourged and sometimes even death. Also the Romans had a deep curiosity to discover how a city so feared in its time, I am reduced to a town of goat herders and a circus military education.
Cicero tells in the Tusculanas (II 34) how Spartan education and its excesses had become a spectacle that attracted tourists. The crowd that comes to the show is so numerous that it was necessary to build an amphitheater in front of the temple to welcome it. This show attracted tourists until the fourth century of our era. Documented by Libanio in his Discourses, (I, 23).
Travel in Ancient Rome: Related Post
End of the first part : Tourism in Ancient Rome
