Gladiatorial battles were too, very uncivilised. They were a form of entertainment for those people who would go to the coliseums in their thousands to watch the gladiators fight. They would pay to see men fight to their death with some of the most successful gladiators around. Gladiators were seen as celebrities would be today. It was, for some people, a part of daily life to go to the coliseums and watch the fights. Today this sort of activity would be seen barbaric and cruel therefore unaccepted. Although a lot of the Romans enjoyed going to see the gladiators a number of the Romans felt that it was cruel and should be banned.
Another aspect of their life that would now be considered uncivilised is forms of their beauty. The richer of the Roman women would put a white powdery paste onto their face as they believed it opened their paws. They would also wash their mouths out once a month with tortoise blood. Women also stained their lips with red currant juice, like we today would use lipstick. Pale skin was something that most women wanted. Therefore they would go to many extremes to get it. Some ladies would even cover their face in chalk powder. Although, lots of people thought this was great others thought it was disgusting. Also cruel because to get the tortoise blood that meant killing a tortoise.
On the other hand Romans were very civilised, in some ways, too. They loved entertainment in the way of dinner parties. They found that sort of entertainment brilliant as a way of talking to friends and generally socialising. Even though the considerations of what is and isn’t civilised has hanged dinner parties still go on these days. Some families also liked to go to the market on weekends to entertain themselves. They had lots of ways to entertain and some of them, like dinner parties, are still carried out today.
Their food was, too, quite civilised. Admittedly some families had their slaves cook for them but the evening meal was still a way to relax with your family before you went to bed. It was the only meal from Monday to Saturday when the men could be with their families. The evening meal is similar now in the way that it has the whole family sit together when the men return from work. A lot of families enjoyed their food. I think their food was quite civilised.
Fashion in those days was also very civilised. Fashion has been known to make a statement in every culture and civilization throughout the centuries. From the Hellenistic Era to present day, fashion fads and statements evolved from similar backgrounds to make styles that seem new, but are really just "doctored-up" versions that can be traced back to the times of ancient Rome. The women of ancient Rome wore a long tunic called a "stola." The stola, which went down to the feet of the wearer, often had a woollen mantle over it called a "palla”. They would never have worn a ‘mini skirt’!
All in all I think the Romans were very civilised but like every era in time had aspects of their life that were uncivilised. But if coming millenniums looked back on us they would see uncivilised things even though we don’t realise them now.
