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All Things Ancient Rome
All Things Ancient Rome
An Encyclopedia of the Roman World

Volume 1: A–L
Anne Leen
 BLOOMSBURY ACADEMIC
Bloomsbury Publishing Inc
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First published in the United States of America 2023
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have changed or sites have ceased to exist, but can accept no responsibility for any such changes.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Leen, Anne, 1953- author.
Title: All things ancient Rome : an encyclopedia of the Roman world / Anne Leen.
Other titles: Encyclopedia of the Roman world
Description: New York : Bloomsbury Academic, [2023] | Includes
bibliographical references and index. | Contents: v. 1. — v. 2.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022045698 | ISBN 9781440862908 (v. 1 ; hardcover) | ISBN
9781440862915 (v. 2 ; hardcover) | ISBN 9781440862885 (set) | ISBN
9781440862892 (epdf) | ISBN 9798216170808 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Rome—Social life and customs—Encyclopedias. |
Rome—Civilization—Encyclopedias.
Classification: LCC DG16 .L44 2023 | DDC 937/.0603—dc23/eng/20220923
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022045698

ISBN: HB: 978-1-4408-6290-8 (vol. 1)

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978-1-4408-6288-5 (set)
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Contents

VOLUME 1
Guide to Related Topics xi
Preface xv
Acknowledgments xix
Introduction xxi
Timeline xxvii

Entries A–L
Abortion 1
Abstract Gods 5
Actium 9
Adoption 12
Aeneas 14
Agriculture 20
Alba Longa 24
Amphitheater 27
Aqueduct 30
Arch 33
Army 36
Art and Architecture 43
Ascanius 47
Asia Minor 51
Assemblies (Comitia) 54
vi Contents

Astrology 57
Athletics 59
Basilica 63
Baths 66
Bilingualism 70
Bridges 73
Britain (Brittania) 76
Building Programs 81
Calendar 87
Campania 91
Campus Martius 94
Cannae 98
Capua 101
Carthage 104
Chariot Racing 108
Childhood 111
Christianity 114
Circus 120
Citizenship 123
City Planning 126
Coins and Coinage 129
Colonization 133
Column 136
Cosmetics and Perfumes 139
Crime and Punishment 142
Cumae 145
Cursus Honorum 148
Death and Afterlife 151
Dido 154
Disease and Medicine 158
Dress 163
 Contents vii

Education 167
Educators 171
Egypt 174
Emperor and Empress 179
Empire 187
Encyclopedias 193
Epicureanism 198
Ethos 201
Etruscans 204
Family 207
Festivals and Holidays 211
Food and Drink 214
Forum 218
Freedmen and Freedwomen 221
Funerary Monuments 225
Furniture 228
Games (Ludi) 231
Gardens (Horti) 234
Gates 239
Gaul (Gallia) 243
Gender and Sexuality 249
Gladiators 252
Glass 256
Graffiti 259
Greece 261
Herculaneum 265
Housing 268
Hygiene and Sanitation 273
Imperial Cult 277
Inscriptions 280
Italy 283
viii Contents

Janus 287
Jewelry and Gems 289
Juno 292
Jupiter 295
Lares and Penates 299
Latin Language 302
Latin Literature 306
Law 315
Literary Criticism 321
Lucretia 325

VOLUME 2
Guide to Related Topics xi

Entries M–Z
Magic 329
Magna Graecia 332
Manuscript Studies 334
Marriage 339
Mars 343
Medieval Latin 345
Mediterranean Sea 349
Minerva 351
Mines 353
Monarchy 356
Mosaics 360
Music 363
Mystery Religions 366
Mythology 372
Names 377
Native Italian Gods 382
 Contents ix

New Academy, The 387

Non-Italian Gods 389
Numidia 393
Oplontis 397
Ostia 400
Paganism 405
Palatine Hill 408
Patricians and Plebeians 411
Patronage 415
Pets 418
Philhellenism 422
Philosophy 426
Political Offices 431
Pompeii 437
Pottery 441
Priesthoods 445
Prodigies and Portents 450
Provinces 453
Pythagoreanism 458
Rape 463
Religion 466
Republic 471
Rhetoric and Oratory 475
Roads 481
Rome 484
Romulus and Remus 494
Sculpture 497
Second Sophistic 501
Senate 504
Sibylline Oracles 508
Sicily 511
x Contents

Slavery 515
Spain (Hispania) 521
Status 524
Stoicism 529
Taxation and Finance 535
Technology and Engineering 538
Temple 542
Theater 545
Trade and Commerce 548
Tribes 552
Triumph 555
Troy 559
Venus 563
Vesuvius 565
Votive Offerings 568
Wall Painting 571
Walls 574
Warfare 578
Wealth and Poverty 581
Women 585
Work 592

Primary Source Documents 597

Authors Cited 631
Bibliography 635
Index 641
Guide to Related Topics

ART AND ARCHITECTURE

Amphitheater Funerary Monuments
Aqueduct Glass
Arch Inscriptions
Art and Architecture Jewelry and Gems
Basilica Mosaics
Baths Pottery
Bridges Sculpture
Building Programs Temple
Circus Theater
Coins and Coinage Wall Painting
Column

CITY PLANNING
Amphitheater Funerary Monuments
Aqueduct Gardens (Horti)
Arch Gates
Basilica Hygiene and Sanitation
Baths Roads
Bridges Technology and Engineering
Building Programs Temple
City Planning Theater
Forum Walls

DAILY LIFE
Abortion Athletics
Agriculture Baths
Astrology Bilingualism
xii Guide to Related Topics

Calendar Hygiene and Sanitation

Chariot Racing Jewelry and Gems
Coins and Coinage Law
Cosmetics and Perfumes Magic
Crime and Punishment Marriage
Disease and Medicine Mines
Dress Pets
Ethos Rape
Family Slavery
Festivals and Holidays Status
Food and Drink Taxation and Finance
Furniture Technology and Engineering
Games (Ludi) Trade and Commerce
Gardens (Horti) Warfare
Gender and Sexuality Wealth and Poverty
Gladiators Women
Housing Work

EDUCATION
Education Philosophy
Educators Pythagoreanism
Encyclopedias Rhetoric and Oratory
Epicureanism Second Sophistic
The New Academy Stoicism
Philhellenism

ENTERTAINMENT
Amphitheater Games (Ludi)
Athletics Gladiators
Chariot Racing Music
Circus Theater
Festivals and Holidays

LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

Bilingualism Graffiti
Encyclopedias Inscriptions
 Guide to Related Topics xiii

Latin Language Medieval Latin

Latin Literature Rhetoric and Oratory
Literary Criticism Second Sophistic
Manuscript Studies

MYTH
Aeneas Minerva
Ascanius Mystery Religions
Dido Mythology
Juno Native Italian Gods
Jupiter Non-Italian Gods
Lucretia Romulus and Remus
Mars Venus

PHILOSOPHY
Christianity Philosophy
Epicureanism Pythagoreanism
Ethos Stoicism
The New Academy

PLACES
Actium Italy
Alba Longa Magna Graecia
Asia Minor Mediterranean Sea
Britain (Brittania) Numidia
Campania Oplontis
Campus Martius Ostia
Cannae Palatine Hill
Capua Pompeii
Carthage Provinces
Colonization Rome
Cumae Sicily
Etruscans Spain (Hispania)
Gaul (Gallia) Troy
Greece Vesuvius
Herculaneum
xiv Guide to Related Topics

POLITICAL ORGANIZATION
Army Patronage
Assemblies (Comitia) Political Offices
Citizenship Provinces
Cursus Honorum Republic
Emperor and Empress Senate
Empire Slavery
Freedmen and Freedwomen Status
Monarchy Tribes
Patricians and Plebeians

RELIGION
Abstract Gods Paganism
Christianity Priesthoods
Death and Afterlife Prodigies and Portents
Imperial Cult Religion
Lares and Penates Sibylline Oracles
Mystery Religions Triumph
Native Italian Gods Votive Offerings
Non-Italian Gods

SOCIAL ORGANIZATION
Adoption Patricians and Plebeians
Army Patronage
Childhood Rape
Family Slavery
Freedmen and Freedwomen Status
Gender and Sexuality Wealth and Poverty
Marriage Women
Names
Preface

All Things Ancient Rome deals with the social and cultural history of one of the
great civilizations of Western European antiquity. The book follows the origins of
Rome in the eighth century BCE to the founding of the city in 753 BCE through
the establishment of the Roman Republic in 509–27 BCE and the rise (and some
say fall) of the Roman Empire in 27 BCE–476 CE. The work’s geographic scope
covers a vast territory that centered on the Mediterranean Sea—the body of water
the Romans called Mare Nostrum (“Our Sea”)—and ranged across the continents
of Europe, Asia, and Africa.
The encyclopedia consists of two volumes of 156 alphabetically arranged
entries on diverse aspects of the Roman world. Military and political events and
the individuals that shaped them are neither privileged nor ignored, but they are
not the main interest; the focus is on society and culture. Readers will find entries
devoted to the daily lives, achievements, institutions, beliefs, values, and locales
of everyday Romans who had the babies, grew the crops, built the roads, and
manned the armies that made Roman imperial hegemony possible. Entries cover
topics readers should expect, like art and architecture, city planning, the army,
mythology, Pompeii, religion, and roads, and new and unanticipated items that
they will not find in short form elsewhere, such as disease and medicine, hygiene
and sanitation, pets, status, trade and commerce, and wealth and poverty. Inevita-
bly, readers will question my selection of certain topics and my omission of oth-
ers, and for that I assume full responsibility.
Eighty-seven sidebars accompany entries to expand on specialized topics,
including short biographies of select men and women, definitions of important
terms and concepts, and lists of rulers, events, and places. Thirty of these sidebars
include excerpts from primary Latin sources to give voice to ancient authorities.
At the end of each entry, readers will find a list of cross-references and a short
bibliography of relevant items for further reading. The “Guide to Related Topics”
organizes entries by theme for easy access. An alphabetical index at the back of
the second volume provides another way to search the text. The first volume con-
tains a detailed timeline. At the end of the second volume, readers will find twelve
primary source documents in English translation and a list of Greek and Roman
authors cited in the text, followed by a select general bibliography for further read-
ing and research. Maps and images in both volumes will help readers to visualize
and locate people, places, and things.
xvi Preface

This encyclopedia is addressed to general readers, advanced high school stu-

dents, and college undergraduates and does not assume prior knowledge or under-
standing of ancient Rome or the field of classics that studies it. Latin words with
brief etymologies appear regularly, on the theory that the best way to understand
a civilization is through its language, but these words are always translated. Spe-
cialized terminology is rare. The work uses the abbreviations BCE (“before the
Common Era”) and CE (“Common Era”) to denote historical periods elsewhere
labeled BC (“before Christ”) and AD (“anno Domini”). Historical figures are reg-
ularly identified by their full name as well as their birth and death dates, when
these are known; Roman emperors are identified by regnal periods. When precise
dates are not known, the abbreviation ca. (circa, “about”) indicates an approxima-
tion. When only the broad period of activity is known, the abbreviation fl., for
floruit (“he flourished”), precedes the century. Literary passages are cited using
canonical textual notation to permit easy location in any Latin or translated text.
Aeneid 1.1–11, for instance, designates the first eleven Latin lines of Book 1 of
Virgil’s poem. Place names vary between the ancient name and the modern, with
a preference for the better-known term.
Since Roman civilization lasted a thousand years, most of the topics discussed
covered centuries, resulting in entries that are necessarily synthetic. Both the
scope of the work and the nature of the evidence dictate the level of detail. There
is some attempt to identify key characteristics and trends within and between his-
torical periods, but space does not permit fine analysis of the difference, for
instance, between an archaic Italian shrine and an imperial Roman temple or
between the city of Pompeii when it was a Sullan colony or at the period when it
was destroyed by Vesuvius. The city of Rome is the touchstone for the discussion
of politics, social life, and culture, as it is the place best documented in the ancient
sources and by modern scholars. Yet, readers should bear in mind that cities and
towns in the provinces, former Greek city-states, North Africa, Asia Minor, and
elsewhere processed Romanization through their own local histories, cultures,
and enduring traditions.
My objective in every entry is to keep the focus on Roman civilization, center-
ing the Roman experience of political, social, and cultural tradition and innova-
tion within a wider historical framework. Egyptian, Greek, Etruscan, and other
civilizations were undeniable influences on Rome throughout its history and are
noted as such where appropriate, but they are not the subject of the book. Discus-
sion of topics remains within the same parameters; entries do not extend beyond
the Roman period or sphere of interest, although they sometimes allude to signifi-
cant postclassical Roman influence. So, for example, the entry on Christianity is
not a full treatment of its history and doctrine but a summary of the Romans’
experience and understanding of it and what happened under their watch that
influenced its aftermath.
The Romans carry a storied and a fraught past, some of it magnificent, much of
it brutal, and a good deal of it unknown. To the extent that the evidence will bear,
this encyclopedia is designed as a sourcebook of factual information about Roman
antiquity; it does not engage the arguments of scholars, the issue of the extent to
which the study of Rome has been privileged in the West, or the various ways in
 Preface xvii

which Roman civilization and its symbols of power have been appropriated or
vilified by later admirers or detractors. Those are important topics, but they lie
outside the scope of this work. But wherever appropriate, the book aims to address,
in a clear-eyed way, not only the glorious achievements of the Romans in law,
architecture, literature, and technology but also harsher aspects of their world,
such as slavery, poverty, food insecurity, and child labor. To the extent that they,
like us, were at once deeply accomplished and deeply flawed people, we are all
Romans.
Acknowledgments

No one writes a book alone. I have been extraordinarily fortunate to have had the
help and support of colleagues, friends, and family throughout the research and
writing process. For their expert advice with portions of the manuscript, I owe
gratitude to Ann Raia, Rich Letteri, and Gibson Smith. A special thanks goes to
Carris Campbell, my invaluable Furman University research assistant, who per-
formed exhaustive and extensive bibliographic research that I relied on through-
out. Mark Leen provided legal guidance. My editors at ABC-CLIO and at
Bloomsbury offered patience and expertise in equal measure and caught many
mistakes. Any remaining errors, omissions, or deficiencies are entirely my own.
I would like to dedicate this book to my father, Henry Moore Leen, departed
too soon, but thanks to whom I studied Latin.
Introduction

Ancient Rome (Roma in Latin), located on the Tiber River about fourteen miles
from the Tyrrhenian Sea, was the seat of power of Senatus Populusque Romanus,
the Senate and People of Rome, one of the most storied nations of the ancient
world. At the height of its hegemony, Roman civilization emanated from a small
city founded on the Palatine Hill in the eighth century BCE across the continents
of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Like that original urban community of Latins, Etrus-
cans, and Sabines, the Roman state grew into a global empire of multilingual
peoples, some brutally subjugated, others peacefully assimilated, but all united by
government, law, and the cultural fabric of Romanization. Rome dominated the
Mediterranean world for almost a thousand years until the end of its imperial sov-
ereignty, marked by the deposition of the last emperor in 476 CE.
Rome and its civilization are studied by scholars of antiquity termed classicists.
Classics or classical studies are heritage terms that refer to the academic investi-
gation of the history and culture of Greece and Rome from the Bronze Age to the
fifth century CE. Modern historians divide Roman history into three constitu-
tional periods, the Monarchy or Regal Period (753–509 BCE), the Roman Repub-
lic (509–27 BCE), and the Roman Empire (27 BCE–476 CE). The discipline of
Classics was founded by German scholars in the nineteenth century, who called it
altertumswissenschaft, the “science of antiquity,” a method of objective and sys-
tematic analysis of textual and physical remains. Classics comprises three areas:
history, the study of political, military, cultural, and social events and significant
individuals; philology, the study of language, literature, and the transmission of
texts; and archaeology, the study of the material remains and the physical culture
of past civilizations.
Classicists have traditionally shaped a continuous narrative of Roman history
around the three constitutional periods, taking the political and military ambi-
tions and achievements of the ruling classes of senators, generals, and emperors as
its theme, noting, not incorrectly, that the Roman constitution changed not by
peaceful transition but by force, and the expansion of the Empire followed. The
monarchy ended when kings were expelled, the Republic ended when a strong-
willed consul took sole power from the Senate and people, and the Empire ended
with its rout by invading tribes. Yet, that teleological narrative of political ascen-
dancy masks other ways of historicizing the nation and often erases the contribu-
tions and labor of ordinary men and women, immigrants, freedpersons, and slaves.
xxii Introduction

Sometimes referred to as “invisible Romans,” because they left little trace in the
literary or historical record, these individuals were fully visible to one another,
locked into the tight familial units, social patronage networks, and political and
economic communities that account equally well for the successful growth of the
Roman state from its earliest years and its longevity as a western Mediterranean
power.
Early Roman history, shrouded in prehistoric myth and legend, was shaped into
malleable and discretely instructive events by later writers, thinkers, and artists,
who embraced them as defining narratives of Roman cultural and political iden-
tity. Traditional tales of the city centered on two foundation stories, one about the
Trojan prince, Aeneas, son of the goddess Venus, who immigrated to the site of
Rome in the twelfth century BCE, and the other about the abandoned twins,
Romulus and Remus, sons of the god Mars and a royal Vestal Virgin; they founded
the city 400 years later, as chronicled by Virgil in Rome’s national epic, the Aeneid.
Myth and legend were valuable ideological and cultural touchstones: they pro-
vided an irrefutable ancient backstory to Rome and an Olympian lineage for its
people, who claimed to rule the world in war and peace by divine mandate.
Ancient writers and historians located the origin stories of traditional Roman
religious practices and cultural values in the regal period. Priestly colleges, divi-
nation rituals, and cults of state gods were a few of the institutions attributed to
the earliest kings and were maintained by later political leaders in the enduring
and deeply held belief that the success of the Roman state depended on the pax
deorum, the peaceful benevolence of the gods. Romans looked back on this time
 Introduction xxiii

as the formative period of the national character, when their forebears lived by a
code of conduct known as the mos maiorum, the “customs of the ancestors,” the
traditional social norms and ethical virtues of pietas (“piety”), gravitas (“dig-
nity”), fides (“integrity”), castitas (“purity”), and especially virtus (“manliness”
or “moral excellence”).
Political and social institutions that structured Roman public life began to take
shape during the monarchic period. Chief among these were the Senate, an advi-
sory body of elder statesmen, and the two main social divisions of ancient and
wealthy patricians and equally old but less wealthy plebeians. The multigenera-
tional family headed by the paterfamilias was the defining social unit, organized
into the wealthy gentes (“clans”) that became the noble and powerful families of
the Republican period. From the beginnings of Roman life, there was conse-
quently little difference between political and social status. Patricians and plebe-
ians clashed with increasingly brutal Etruscan monarchs until 509 BCE, when the
people drove the last king into exile and established the Roman Republic—the res
publica, literally, the “public thing.”
The experience of monarchy left Romans with no desire to repeat it; the new
Republican leaders banished the political title rex (“king”) and attempted to design
a government with strong constitutional curbs to limit the ambition of powerful,
charismatic individuals. A pair of elected consuls took charge, aided by the Senate
and assemblies of the people, who voted on legislation. But despite repeated strug-
gles for power, the lower orders saw little improvement in their political or eco-
nomic status, although they bore the brunt of the duty to serve in the army, often
losing their property and livelihoods and amassing large debts. The seeds were
planted for civil unrest.
Despite its internal issues, Rome became a formidable international military
power. In the third century BCE, a series of wars in Italy with local tribes expanded
Rome’s territory and established it as an emerging power. After lengthy military
campaigns in the western and eastern Mediterranean, Roman hegemony reached
a new height in 146 BCE, when armies leveled the cities of Carthage and Corinth.
Although not every threat had been eliminated and both internal and external
conflict defined the remaining years of the Republic, the major foreign threats had
been neutralized.
During the period known as the late Roman Republic (133–27 BCE), political
and economic crises spurred increasingly violent struggles for power between
patricians and plebeians and within the senatorial class. Powerful individuals,
buoyed by cash, troops, and potent reputations, threatened what had become a
delicate balance of power in Rome. The Senate was unable or unwilling to address
the pressing needs of the people for debt relief, food security, and land grants.
Internal dissension broke out into civil war. With the victory of Octavian, the
adopted nephew of Julius Caesar, a different form of government arose whose
outward trappings recalled traditional Republican institutions but ultimately
proved a thin disguise for the new reality of one-man rule.
Octavian, who became the first emperor, Augustus (r. 27 BCE–14 CE), largely
shaped the government for the next 500 years, styling himself princeps (“first
man”) to distinguish his primary role in government and hide the extent of his
xxiv Introduction

power. He and his successors held the consulship and other formerly elective
offices, controlled foreign policy, administered provinces, and collected revenues.
As imperator, originally an honorific military title and now a personal praenomen,
the emperor was commander in chief of the Roman army, an institution that
became professionalized under the Empire, creating both a pathway to citizenship
for veterans and a means to power for future emperors who rose to the purple with
the support of their troops.
With a strong central bureaucracy in place, Augustus inaugurated an era of
prosperity known as the Pax Romana (“Roman Peace”) that would hold for two
centuries. Rulers exercised the famous Roman genius for political administration
and urban design by securing borders, planting colonies of citizens and veterans,
and continuing to organize provinces, which were territories outside of Italy under
Roman administrative and military control. Among the more famous were Gallia,
Hispania, Britannia, Aegyptus, and Judaea. Many provincial inhabitants enjoyed
full Roman citizenship (civitas), a right initially possessed by the original resi-
dents of Rome but then extended in the first century BCE to Rome’s Italian allies
and later by the Senate or emperor to friends and allies of the Roman state. In 212
CE, the emperor Caracalla (r. 198–217 CE) granted Roman citizenship to every
free person in the Empire. But regardless of their legal or social status, Romans in
Italy and the provinces guaranteed the success of the imperial project by estab-
lishing families, serving the state, and contributing labor.
Founded on a society of citizen farmers, Republican Rome built a strong econ-
omy in trade and commerce, creating a class of wealthy merchants. The peace and
prosperity of the Roman Empire expanded the opportunities for business and
industry, as more men and women, including former slaves, known as freedper-
sons, went to work to provide goods and services. Urbanization and an excellent
transportation network created robust regional economies. Land and sea routes
connected cities and ports to commercial centers throughout the Mediterranean.
Agriculture and viticulture were the economic mainstays, producing the cash
crops of grains, grapes, olives, and fruits. A growing industrial sector produced
pottery, textiles, and glass for export, in exchange for dyes, silks, oils, and other
high-end items from Greece, Africa, and Asia. Mining and shipping were lucra-
tive sources of investment and income. The trade in enslaved people was an active
industry throughout Roman history, as all sectors of the economy sought to profit
from the bodies and free labor of men, women, and children.
During the imperial period, while the senatorial classes in Rome bemoaned
their loss of power, the social and economic status of formerly marginal groups,
such as women and freedpersons, improved, as did the lives of provincial citizens.
Free women of all classes benefited from looser family control of marriage and
from legislation that rewarded procreation, earning the right to manage their own
financial affairs without male tutelage. Yet female domesticity was publicly cele-
brated, beginning with the empress Livia (58 BCE–29 CE), wife of Augustus,
whose portraits exemplified the aristocratic ideal of the Roman matrona, the mar-
ried woman. Ineligible for public office, freedmen found a role in public life by
serving in administrative positions and imperial priesthoods created by the emper-
ors exclusively for their class. Along with freedwomen, they often owned or ran
 Introduction xxv

successful commercial enterprises that made them wealthy and visible, as they
actively participated in the public philanthropy that was historically the duty of
the upper classes. Municipal buildings, honorific statues and altars, and elaborate
funerary monuments rivaling the tombs of aristocrats now bore the names and
achievements of formerly enslaved individuals, inscribing their lives into the his-
torical record.
The money that poured into Rome from successful military campaigns, profit-
able businesses, and unpaid labor underwrote support for national art and culture.
Latin writers, stepping out of the shadows of Greek literature, found their voices
in the third century BCE. Latin literature, rooted in the classical rhetorical educa-
tion of the upper classes, reached its height within 200 years, producing an aston-
ishing output of prose and poetry that would set the aesthetic and formal standards
for Western literature. Roman architects and engineers created a monumental
imperial style by applying innovative engineering and technology to the borrowed
elements of the column, colonnade, and arch and boldly exploiting the vault and
dome to give visual expression to the might of the new world power. Aqueducts
carried water; baths provided hygiene and social culture; arenas, circuses, and
theaters fed the appetite for public spectacle; and triumphal arches and columns
celebrated the victories of generals and emperors. The plastic arts were dominated
by portrait and historic relief sculpture, although arguably the most distinctive
Roman artistic medium was Campanian wall painting, the frescoed depiction of
myth, landscape, and architecture that decorated the interiors of homes in Pom-
peii, Herculaneum, and other thriving cities along the Bay of Naples that was
buried by Vesuvius in 79 CE.
In the third century CE, political instability and economic crises again threat-
ened the Roman state. Competition for power, civil insurrection, and external
pressures culminated in decades of anarchy. In the fourth century CE, the able
administrators Diocletian (r. 284–305 CE) and Constantine (r. 306–337 CE), rul-
ing from capitals in Greece, stabilized the government, but enduring fractures and
fissures spelled the coming end of the Empire. In the fourth and fifth centuries
CE, Germanic peoples invaded the western provinces and Italy, sacked the city of
Rome, and deposed the last Roman emperor, Romulus Augustulus (r. 475–476
CE). Rome, long abandoned as a capital city, fell into ruins.
Timeline

EARLY ROME BCE

ca. 800/750 Roma Quadrata; Iron Age settlement on Palatine
ca. 750–670 Septimontium: union of settlers of Palatine,

Cermalus, Velia, Fagutal, Cispius, Oppius, and
Caelius
Seventh Century City of the Four Regions: addition of Quirinal,
Viminal, and part of Forum
Sixth Century “Servian” city, including Capitol and Esquiline

TRADITIONAL DATES: MONARCHY (753–509 BCE)

753 Traditional date of foundation of Rome (April 21)
753–715 Romulus
715–673 Numa Pompilius; Cult of Vesta and other reli-
gious institutions introduced
673–641 Tullus Hostilius; destruction of Alba Longa
641–617 Ancus Marcius; extension of Rome’s power to the
coast
617–579 Lucius Tarquinius Priscus; Forum drained
579–534 Servius Tullius; “Servian” organization begun;
treaty with the Latins; Temple of Diana on
Aventine
534–509 Tarquinius Superbus; Capitoline Temple; treaty
with Gabii; Roman territory extended to ca. 350
square miles

REPUBLIC (509–27 BCE)

509 Expulsion of Tarquinius and fall of the monarchy;
formation of Roman Republic; consulship cre-
ated: two annual magistrates (consuls); dedication
of the Capitoline Temple; treaty between Rome
and Carthage
xxviii Timeline

501 First dictator appointed

496 Battle of Lake Regillus; cult of Ceres, Liber, and
Libera introduced
494 First Plebeian Secession
493 First Tribunes appointed
482–474 War with Veii
458 War with Aequi; Cincinnatus
450 The Twelves Tables published
449 Tribunes increased to ten; sacrosanctity guaran-
teed by law
443 Office of censor established
437 War with Etruscans
433 Temple of Apollo
421 First plebeian quaestor
396 Destruction of Veii; military pay introduced
390 Gallic sack of Rome
390–393 War with Latins
378 “Servian” Wall begun
367 Licinio-Sextian laws; curule aedileship created
366 First plebeian consul; praetorship created
358–351 Wars with Etruria
356 First plebeian dictator
351 First plebeian censor
343–341 First Samnite War
338 Latin League dissolved; cities granted full or half
Roman citizenship
337 First plebeian praetor
328–302 Second Samnite War
321 Roman defeat at the Caudine Forks
312 Censorship of Appius Claudius; Via Appia and
Aqua Appia begun
311–303 War with Etruscans, Umbrians, Aequi, and
Marsi
303 Temple of Salus at Rome
300 Priestly colleges open to plebeians
298–290 Third Samnite War
293 Cult of Aesculapius introduced
287 Lex Hortensia: plebiscita become law
 Timeline xxix

280–275 War with Pyrrhus of Epirus

272 Tarentum surrenders
269 First silver coinage minted at Rome
264–241 First Punic War
264 First gladiatorial show at Rome
261–260 Romans build naval fleet
242 Praetor peregrinus (praetor for foreigners)
instituted
241 Sicily becomes the first Roman province
240 First Latin play performed
220 Via Flaminia built
219 First Greek physician in Rome
218–201 Second Punic War
218 Hannibal crosses the Alps
217 Roman defeat at Lake Trasimene
216 Roman defeat at Cannae
214–205 First Macedonian War
212 Introduction of the denarius
211 Hannibal marches on Rome
204 Ennius brought to Rome by Cato the Elder; cult
stone of the Magna Mater brought to Rome from
Asia Minor
202 Roman victory at Zama; Scipio Africanus defeats
Hannibal
200–197 Second Macedonian War
197 Spain organized as two provinces
192–189 War with Antiochus
185 Senate forbids permanent theater
181–179 First Celtiberian War
179 Basilica Aemilia begun
177 Sardinia pacified
175 Corsica annexed
172–168 Third Macedonian War
167 Tributum discontinued
166–159 Production of Terence’s Comedies
163 Roman protectorate of Syria
161 Greek philosophers and rhetoricians expelled
from Rome
xxx Timeline

155 Greek philosophers Critolaus, Carneades, and

Diogenes visit Rome
153–151 Second Celtiberian War
149–146 Third Punic War
149 Publication of Cato’s Origines
146 Destruction of Carthage; Africa becomes a prov-
ince; sack of Corinth
144–140 Aqua Marcia built
143–133 Third Celtiberian, or Numantine, War
142 Stone bridge built over Tiber River
135–132 First Servile War
133 Pergamum becomes province of Asia Minor; tri-
bunate of Tiberius Gracchus; his assassination
133–121 Gracchan reforms
129 Province of Asia organized
123–122 Tribunate of Gaius Gracchus; his assassination
121 First use of the senatus consultum ultimum; Via
Domitia built; province of Gallia Narbonensis
107 Consulship of Marius; defeat of Jugurtha
104–100 Consulships of Marius; defeats f Cimbri and Teu-
tones; Second Servile War
102 Annexation of Cilicia; Marius defeats Teutones
and reorganizes Roman army
91–90 Social War
90–82 Civil War: Marius vs. Sulla
88 Sulla marches on Rome
88–85 First Mithridatic War
87 Marius captures Rome, dies January 86
83–81 Second Mithridatic War
81–79 Dictatorship of Sulla; reforms and proscriptions
75–63 Third Mithridatic War
74 Cyrene made a province
73–71 Third Servile War: Spartacus’s revolt
70 Consulship of Crassus and Pompey; birth of Virgil
63 Pompey defeats Mithridates; Bithynia et Pontus,
Syria, Cyrene, and Crete added as provinces; con-
sulship of Cicero; Catilinarian conspiracy; birth of
Octavian (Augustus)
62 Syria made a province
 Timeline xxxi

60 Alliance, or First Triumvirate, of Caesar, Pompey,

and Crassus
59 Consulship of Caesar
58 Free grain (annona) for 350,000 Romans
58–49 Caesar in Gaul; invades Britain 55 and 54
53 Crassus defeated and killed at Carrhae; standards
lost to Parthians; death of Crassus
49 Caesar crosses the Rubicon
49–31 Civil Wars
48 Caesar defeats Pompey at Pharsalus; Pompey
killed in Egypt
46 Caesar’s victory at Thapsus
45 Caesar’s victory at Munda
44 Assassination of Caesar
43 Triumvirate of Antony, Octavian, and Lepidus;
murder of Cicero
42 Battle of Philippi; death of Brutus and Cassius;
Julius Caesar deified
39 Asinius Pollio founds first public library at Rome
31 Battle of Actium
30 Suicide of Antony and Cleopatra; Egypt added as
province
29 Octavian’s triple triumph; dedication of the Tem-
ple of Divus Iulius
28 Dedication of the Temple of Apollo Palatinus;
construction of Mausoleum of Augustus begins

EMPIRE OR PRINCIPATE (27 BCE–476 CE)

27 BCE–14 CE Augustus
27 Octavian takes the title of Augustus; constitutional
settlement; Augustus creates praetorian guard;
Agrippa builds the first Pantheon
20 Roman standards returned by Parthians
19 Arch of Augustus in Rome
17 Ludi Saeculares; Horace’s Carmen Saeculare
12 Augustus becomes pontifex maximus
9 Dedication of Ara Pacis
7 Rome divided into fourteen regiones
2 Augustus becomes Pater Patriae; dedication of
the Temple of Mars Ultor
xxxii Timeline

CE
9 Defeat of Varus at Battle of Teutoburg Forest
14 Death and deification of Augustus
14–37 Tiberius; Sejanus made a praetorian prefect
19 Jews banished from Rome
21–22 Castra Praetoria built in Rome
27 Tiberius withdraws to Capreae (Capri)
31 Sejanus put to death
33 Crucifixion of Jesus (probable date)
37 Death of Tiberius
37–41 Gaius (Caligula)
41–54 Claudius
43 Invasion of Britain
46 Thrace made a province
47 Ludi Saeculares
49 Seneca made tutor of Nero
51 Burrus made praetorian prefect
54–68 Nero
54 Claudius deified
60 Neronia established; Boudicca’s rebellion
62 Death of Burrus; exile of Seneca
64 Great Fire of Rome; persecution of Christians;
Domus Aurea begun
65 Conspiracy of Piso; suicides of Seneca and Lucan
66 Suicide of Petronius; Temple of Janus closed
68 Murder of Nero
69 Civil war; “Year of the Four Emperors”: Galba,
Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian
69–79 Vespasian
70 Destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem; restora-
tion of the Capitoline Temple begun
71 Astrologers and philosophers expelled from Rome
79–81 Titus
79 Eruption of Vesuvius; destruction of Pompeii and
Herculaneum
80 Fire in Rome; destruction of Capitoline Temple;
inauguration of Colosseum
81–96 Domitian
82 Dedication of the restored Capitoline Temple
 Timeline xxxiii

86 Inauguration of Capitoline Games

89 Edict against astrologers and philosophers
92 Imperial palaces on Palatine finished
95 Expulsion of philosophers from Italy
96–98 Nerva
Dedication of the Forum of Nerva
98–117 Trajan
100 The Panegyricus of Pliny the Younger
106 Dacian made a province
112 Dedication of Trajan’s Forum
117–138 Hadrian
122 Hadrian’s Wall begun
130 Hadrian founds Antinoöpolis; Aelia Capitolina
founded on site of Jerusalem
131 Jewish revolt under Bar Kokhba
135 Temple of Venus and Rome dedicated
138–161 Antoninus Pius
139 Dedication of Hadrian’s Mausoleum
142 Antonine Wall in Britain completed
148 The 900th anniversary of the foundation of Rome
161–169 Lucius Verus
161–180 Marcus Aurelius
167 Pandemic in Rome and the Empire
180 Greatest expansion of the Empire
180–192 Commodus
193 Pertinax; Didius Julianus
193–211 Septimius Severus
196 Fall of Byzantium
197 Britain divided into two provinces
202 Anti-Christian measures
203 Dedication of the Arch of Septimius Severus
211–217 Caracalla
211–212 Geta
212 Constitutio Antoniniana of Caracalla extends citi-
zenship to all free inhabitants of the Empire
217–218 Macrinus
218–222 Elagabalus
222–235 Severus Alexander
xxxiv Timeline

235 Regulations against Christians enforced

235–270 Military anarchy: fifteen emperors
248 Millenary Games in Rome
249–251 Persecution of Christians
257 New persecution of Christians by Valerian
(253–260)
260 Gallienus (253–268) ends Christian persecution
270–275 Aurelian
271–272 Aurelian Wall built around Rome
274 Temple of the Sun built in Rome
275–284 Six emperors
284–305 Diocletian
286–305 Maximian
293 The Tetrarchy: two Caesars appointed under two
Augusti
301 Diocletian’s Edict on Prices
303 Persecution of Christians begins at Nicomedia
305–314 Six emperors
306–337 Constantine the Great
312 Battle of the Milvian Bridge; praetorian guard
disbanded
313 Edict of Milan legalizes Christianity
315 Arch of Constantine erected at Rome
320 Licinius takes measures against Christians
324 Founding of Constantinople begins
325 Christian Council of Nicaea
330 Constantinople becomes the imperial residence
337–353 Four Constantinian emperors
361–363 Julian
362 Paganism restored
363–392 Five emperors
378–395 Theodosius I
382 Altar of Victory removed from the Senate house
391 Edicts against paganism
393 Christianity sole official religion
395–475 Ten Western Roman emperors
408 Alaric invades Italy
410 Capture and sack of Rome by Alaric and the
Visigoths
 Timeline xxxv

455 Sack of Rome by the Vandals

472 Sack of Rome by Ricimer
475–476 Romulus Augustulus
476 Deposition of Romulus Augustulus, emperor in
West; Odoacer king in Italy; Zeno emperor in East
and West
A
Abortion
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy after, accompanied by, resulting in, or
closely followed by the death of the embryo or fetus. In Latin, the word abortio
signifies a premature delivery or miscarriage. A related noun, abortus, means
abortion or miscarriage. The addition of verbs described the process of inducing
abortion: partum (medicamentis) abigere literally means “to drive out a birth,”
that is, to procure an abortion (with drugs or medicines); abortum facere means to
suffer abortion or miscarry but also to produce or cause abortion. Therefore, Latin
medical vocabulary is vague on the distinction between miscarriage and
abortion.
A large body of extant Greek medical literature of the Roman imperial period
sheds light on gynecological medical practice. It shows some ambivalence about
abortion and does not always distinguish clearly between abortion and miscar-
riage or between contraception and abortion, but medical writers possess a learned
grasp of the methods and means of avoiding or ending pregnancies, often attended
by an active concern for maintaining a woman’s ability to bear children. One of
the most useful authorities is the physician and writer Soranus of Ephesus (fl.
98–138 CE), who in his Gynaecology, a balanced discussion of female health that
includes reproduction, made a distinction between spontaneous and deliberate
abortion and between abortion and contraception. Although he noted that some
medical professionals cited the Hippocratic oath as forbidding the administration
of abortifacients, on the grounds that it was the task of medicine to preserve what
nature had engendered, he gave equal weight to those who found it permissible to
do so for medical reasons, although not to avoid the consequences of adultery or to
preserve one’s looks. The pharmacology of abortifacients appears in his writings
and those of the physician Galen (129–216 CE) and the medical writer Dioscorides
(fl. first century CE).
Contraceptive methodology ran the gamut from drugs to food and drink, to
physical position, to magic. Women frequently combined several contraceptive
methods and resorted to amulets and other magical practices as well. The timing
of the menstrual cycle was important both to conception and to contraception,
although menstruation and ovulation were poorly understood. Soranus, along
with other ancient medical authorities, believed that fertility was greatest just
before or after the monthly period. Flipping this advice to avoid conception would
thus have been poor prevention. Women resorted to nonmedicinal interventions to
prevent insemination, including changing their position during sexual intercourse.
Although coitus interruptus is not mentioned by name in the ancient sources, it is
widely believed to have been practiced, and something similar is described by
2 Abortion

Soranus, who advises women to withdraw slightly just before ejaculation so that
the semen is not planted too deeply into the uterus; afterward, they should squat,
sneeze, wash the vagina, and have a cold drink (Gynaecology 1.20.61). Pliny the
Elder (ca. 23–79 CE) anticipated Soranus when he wrote that a woman induced
abortion if she sneezed immediately after sex (Natural History 7.5).
Despite Soranus’s careful distinction between contraception, something that
did not let conception take place, and abortion, a destruction of what had been
conceived, writings on contraceptive pharmacology were not as clear-cut.
Although most of the medicines were plant-based, some worked either as contra-
ceptives or as early-stage abortifacients. They were administered in at least three
ways: as barriers applied around the outside of the uterus, as suppositories inserted
into the vagina to kill sperm, or as potions taken orally. Sponges soaked in vine-
gar, honey, olive oil, or cedar resin, often mixed with white lead or a compound of
wax, myrtle oil, and white lead, were applied to the opening of the womb as sper-
micides. Cold or astringent vaginal suppositories made from various barks and
fruit peels or flesh combined with gum and oil were thought to cause the uterus to
contract before coitus, preventing insemination, whereas hot mixtures expelled
the semen. A drink of honey water was believed to increase the effectiveness of
spermicides (Gynaecology 60–62).
Soranus placed the methods for deliberate miscarriage in the same category as
those for abortion. To induce miscarriage, he advised women to move around,
often violently; he recommended being shaken by draft animals but left the details
of this process unspecified. Women were to use diuretics; inject olive oil, alone or
with honey, iris oil, absinthium, and other herbs; take warm baths after a drink of
wine; and eat pungent foods. Failing that, they must apply strong poultices of
lupine, ox bile, and absinthium (Gynaecology 64). To plan for an abortion, the
patient was advised to take long baths, ingest little food or wine, and use softening
vaginal suppositories and then be bled until the uterus dilated and the fetus fell
out. To ensure this outcome, she must again be shaken by draft animals and use
softening vaginal suppositories. If the venesection failed, the woman was advised
to bathe, use vaginal suppositories, and limit food and water before applying an
abortive vaginal suppository. Various herbal mixtures were molded into lozenges
or mixed with wine, as drinks were recommended. Other medical authorities pre-
scribed plants from the genus Aristolochia, pomegranate skin, pennyroyal, wil-
low, and squirting cucumber, used either orally or as vaginal suppositories, to
induce abortion. Soranus alluded to but did not detail mechanical means by which
abortions were performed; he only urged that nothing too sharp-edged be used to
protect the womb (Gynaecology 65). Tertullian (ca. 160–ca. 240 CE), a Christian
theologian who was not a doctor, described surgical implements that were used in
a procedure similar to the modern dilation and curettage. One tool had a flexible
frame, ring-shaped blade, and a blunt or cover hook; another was a copper needle
or spike.
Abortion was a medical procedure in ancient Rome and was not subject to
Roman law for much of Roman history; there is no evidence for laws against
abortion in the monarchy or during the Roman Republic. During the Republic
and Empire, abortion was common enough to be mentioned in the literary
 Abortion 3

sources; it was practiced to limit families, to terminate a pregnancy that resulted

from adultery, or to maintain physical beauty. To force an abortion upon a woman
was apparently a morally repugnant concept, to judge from the ways in which it
figured in rhetorical invective. The imperial biographer Suetonius (ca. 70–ca.
160 CE) reported that after impregnating his own niece, the loathed emperor
Domitian (r. 81–96 CE) forced her to have an abortion, resulting in her death
(Domitian 22).
Laws in the form of imperial rescripts, edicts issued by the emperor in answer
to a legal inquiry, only appeared in the late second and early third centuries CE.
Both Septimius Severus (r. 193–211 CE) and Caracalla (r. 211–217 CE) issued
rescripts that penalized abortion, although neither declared it a crime per se. Ver-
sions of both laws were recorded in the Digest of Justinian (r. 527–565 CE). The
first case involved a wife who had aborted after divorce; this was not treated as a
crime against the fetus but as damage to a parent, on the grounds that the former
husband had a right to children, and the woman was punished with temporary
exile (Digest 48.19.39), citing a similar case in Cicero (106–43 BCE) (Speech for
Cluentius 12). In the second case, the law dealt out penalties for persons who pro-
vided either drugs that caused abortion or love potions, even if unknowingly; if
the woman or man died, the penalty was death (Digest 48.19.38.5). Christianity
changed attitudes profoundly. Once the fetus (literally “offspring” or “progeny”)
was fully formed, which Christian authorities calculated at forty days after con-
ception, abortion was considered the murder of a living being. In the fourth cen-
tury CE, both abortion and infanticide were outlawed in the Roman Empire.
Philosophical and literary sources betray some anxiety around the issue of
abortion, although criticism arose more out of male outrage that a woman could
control her own body than that she was doing anything criminal, within the con-
text of Roman law in which women belonged to fathers, husbands, or guardians
and therefore had no legal autonomy. (Under the same system, however, a paterfa-
milias had the legal right to expose an infant.) Yet, the law did not regulate the
body of a free citizen female. Stoicism, a Greek philosophy that was widespread
and influential among the ruling classes in the late Republic and early Empire,
believed that the fetus was part of a woman’s body, resembled a plant, and achieved
life only upon birth, which made abortion acceptable. But Seneca the Younger (4
BCE–65 CE), an early imperial philosopher who practiced an otherwise restrained
Stoicism, was harsh on women who chose abortion if they did so out of vanity.
Writing to his mother, Helvia, he praised her womanly virtues, among these her
fecunditas (“fruitfulness”). She never, he noted proudly, hid her pregnancy or ter-
minated one because of vanity (Tumescentem uterum abscondisti quasi indecens
onus, nec intra uiscera tua conceptas spes liberorum elisisti; “You never hid your
swelling womb as if it were an indecent burden, nor thrust out between your womb
the conceived hope of children” (“Consolation to His Mother Helvia” 16)). What
female vanity entailed, much less what lay behind a woman’s decision to disguise
or end a pregnancy, was left unsaid.
Seneca was not the only writer to subject women to moral censure over their
reproductive choices. The Augustan poet Ovid (43 BCE–18 CE), fearing the loss
of his mistress, criticized her for risking death by resorting to the weapons (tela)
4 Abortion

and horrible poisons (dira venena) of abortion, using poetic rather than medical
vocabulary to reference the common methods of inducing abortion with surgical
instruments or drugs. Death was not too extreme a punishment for her (Amores
2.14.27–28). Whether the reader of this work of playful erotic elegy was meant to
take such reproach seriously or not did not negate the social attitudes that entitled
Ovid to level it, nor did Ovid, like Seneca, interrogate the reasons his mistress
chose to end her pregnancy.
Given the absence of women’s voices from the extant medical, literary, and
legal sources written by elite males, their decisions to elect abortions beyond the
general reasons of family size, issue of adultery, or personal appearance are left
unexplained, as were such determining factors as income and access, with some
limited exceptions. The social satirist Juvenal (ca. 60–second century CE), writ-
ing a century after Ovid, recognized the resources available to the rich who found
themselves electing abortion. Impoverished sex workers, he bitterly noted, were
compelled to endure dangerous pregnancies, births, and child-rearing that
deprived them of income, but the wealthy woman eliminated the problem by
resorting to drugs and the assistance of skilled practitioners (Satire 6.592–600). It
is also unclear how much access girls and women had to basic information about
menstruation, sex, fertility, and reproductive options. Professional midwives
attended many births, but they left no written evidence of the range of services
they provided nor histories of their experiences. Mothers and, in the case of the
wealthy, slaves and doctors were other sources of advice and expertise, but even
wealthy women suffered in a culture that did not educate them about their own
bodies. Pliny the Younger (ca. 61–ca. 113 CE), a very rich man, attributes his
young wife’s miscarriage to her youth and inexperience; she did not even know
she was pregnant and apparently had no one to advise her of such (Epistle 8.10.1).
See also: Disease and Medicine; Family; Law; Marriage; Women
Further Reading
Kapparis, Konstantinos. 2002. Abortion in the Ancient World. London: Duckworth.
King, Helen. 1996. “Contraception.” In The Oxford Classical Dictionary, edited by Simon
Hornblower and Anthony Spawforth, 385. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lefkowitz, Mary R., and Maureen B. Fant. 2016. Women’s Life in Greece and Rome: A
Sourcebook in Translation. 4th ed. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Riddle, John M. 1992. Contraception and Abortion from the Ancient World to the Renais-
sance. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Sallares, J. Robert. 1996. “Abortion.” In The Oxford Classical Dictionary, edited by Simon
Hornblower and Athony Spawforth, 1. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Seneca (Minor). 1997. Seneca: Dialogues and Letters. Edited and translated by C. D. N.
Costa. London: Penguin Books.
Abstract Gods
Abstract gods—that is, gods that expressed qualities or values and were not
necessarily represented in human form—played a significant role in the political and
cultural life of the Roman people. Abstract gods embodied forces, functions, and
values that represented Roman society’s most profound beliefs and aspirations
and became integral to the public expression of Roman political ideology.
The inclination to perceive a deity in the abstract grew in part out of the nature
of Roman religious experience, for which the world was rich in deities, with a god
or gods for every object and activity. Belief in these formless gods was rooted in
animism, the conviction that natural phenomena such as woods, trees, rivers,
mountains, and so forth were alive, possessed souls, and exercised numen, or
divine power, within highly specific spheres of influence. Although sometimes
personified, these gods were not individuated, that is, endowed with personalities,
characteristics, and relationships that lent themselves to myth, although it is
entirely possible that a fully anthropomorphized Olympian god like Venus or
Mars originated as an abstract fertility force. That process would have taken time.
During the early centuries of the Roman Republic, religion developed under the
influence of native Italian, Etruscan, and Greek beliefs and rituals, and new deities
were introduced, some in human form and others as abstractions. They were wor-
shipped in cults alongside—and sometimes together with—the civic gods vener-
ated by the Romans. Their names were often feminine, a practice deriving in part
from the gendered nature of the Latin language in which abstract common nouns
also tend to be feminine. These deities were as ubiquitous as the state gods,
appearing either as names or personifications on coins that circulated widely
throughout the Empire, in sculptures in forums and towns, at dedicated temples,
and on altars, arches, and columns in municipalities and provinces, serving as a
form of mass communication of Roman ideology and values. Among the most
important of these abstract gods were Concordia, Fides, Fortuna/Fors, Honos,
Spes, Victoria, and Virtus.

CONCORDIA
Concordia, or Harmony, was a goddess to whom several temples were dedicated
at Rome, usually after periods of social and political unrest. The oldest was founded
by Marcus Furius Camillus (ca. 445–365 BCE) after a round of civil strife between
patricians and plebeians ended in 367 BCE. It was rebuilt late in the second cen-
tury CE and then once again in 10 CE when the emperor Tiberius (r. 14–37 CE)
rededicated it as Concordia Augusta. In the late Republic, the orator and statesman
6 Abstract Gods

Cicero (106–43 BCE) espoused

the political ideal in the formula
concordia ordinum, the “har-
mony of the orders,” which he
argued was essential to the sur-
vival of the state. The personi-
fied deity appeared as a
somewhat forbidding older
woman wearing a long cloak and
holding a sacrificial bowl and a
cornucopia, the horn of plenty
symbolizing prosperity.

FIDES
Fides, or Faith, represented
the Roman values of good faith,
integrity, honor, and trust
between individuals, friends, and
states. According to legend,
Numa Pompilius (r. 715–673 B
CE), the second king of Rome,
established the cult, making
Fides one of the oldest of the
abstract deities. In 254 BCE,
Romans built a temple to Fides
on the Capitoline Hill near the
Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus.
Fides was represented as a
woman wearing an olive or lau-
rel wreath and carrying either
sheaves of wheat or a basket of
fruit or other food items.
This bronze statuette of Fortuna dates from the
first century BCE to the first century CE. Large
FORTUNA/FORS
numbers of such statues have been found,
suggesting the popularity of the goddess of luck Fortuna, also Fors, was the
or chance, whose cult offered luck in politics togoddess of chance or luck; in
men and in fertility and conception to women. Greek, she was Tyche. The cult
(The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, of Fortuna offered luck in politi-
Purchase, 1896) cal achievement to men and in
fertility and procreation to
women. Several cults celebrated the Fortuna that won battles or wars. While
important in Italian and Roman religion, Fortuna was not an archaic goddess, as
evidenced by the oldest calendars. The legendary king Servius Tullius (r. 579–534
BCE) is credited with introducing her cults to Rome. Her earliest temples stood on
 Abstract Gods 7

the right bank of the Tiber River and in the Forum Boarium, where her cult was
combined with that of Mater Matuta, the goddess of the dawn worshipped by
women. Two togas covered her cult statue. Outside Rome, oracles of Fortuna
existed at Antium and Praeneste, where she was worshipped as Fortuna Primige-
nia (“Firstborn”). At the end of the third century BCE, Romans adopted Fortuna
Primigenia as Fortuna Publica Populi Romani (“Official Good Luck of the Roman
People”) in a shrine on the Quirinal Hill.

HONOS
Honos was the Latin word for honor or respect earned by rank or status, a mark
of distinction awarded to gods or men, and, in a highly specialized sense, a public
office earned by appointment or vote. In a religious sense, Honos captured all that
but particularly recognized military distinction and its reward, embodied in Vir-
tus, with whom it was joined in a cult. Marcus Claudius Marcellus (ca. 270–208
BCE) vowed a temple to the cult after his capture of Syracuse in 212 BCE, and
Gaius Marius (ca. 157–86 BCE) built a second temple after the Cimbric War (113–
101 BCE). Honos was personified as a male god clad in armor with a cornucopia
in his left hand and a spear in his right. Sometimes he stood on a globe. Worship-
pers venerated Honos with uncovered heads.

SPES
Spes, or Hope, was originally a nature goddess worshipped in Rome as the per-
sonification of hope, with particular reference to the safety of children, as early as
the fifth century BCE. Aulus Atilius Calatinus (d. 216 BCE) built a temple to Spes
in the Forum Holitorium in the third century BCE. The Augustan imperial family
adopted the goddess as Spes Augusta, whose cult was concerned with the impe-
rial succession, hoping to ensure a smooth dynastic from one generation to the
next, with the promise of future achievement and success. Spes was depicted as a
young woman wearing a long robe whose hem she lifted by the left hand while
carrying a flower in the right.

VICTORIA
Victoria, or Victory, derived from the Greek goddess Nike, the symbol of mili-
tary success, and was worshipped by the Roman legions. Victoria was associated
in a cult with Jupiter, Mars, and other state gods. Her temple, built in 294 BCE,
stood on a slope of the Palatine Hill. In 193 BCE, an aedicula, or small shrine, was
added. In 29 BCE, Augustus (r. 27 BCE–14 CE) erected an altar to Victoria in the
Senate house that attributed the final victory over Antony and Cleopatra in the
Battle of Actium in 31 BCE to himself, but the altar later became famous as a
symbol of paganism when it was repeatedly removed by Christians and replaced
by pagans in the fourth century CE. Victoria was depicted as a young woman,
sometimes winged, standing either on or near a chariot.
8 Abstract Gods

VIRTUS
Virtus, or virtue, was the quality of moral perfection or virtuousness, the most
important ethical value in the Roman canon. Etymologically, it derived from vir,
Latin for “man,” and literally denoted the quality of being a man, especially the
attributes closely associated with ideal manhood, such as bravery and steadfast-
ness, especially as these were displayed in war. But women possessed virtus also,
and in its broader moral sense, it signified the goodness and excellence of charac-
ter, mind, or spirit of either gender. Virtus was worshipped in Rome together with
Honos in temples erected by victorious generals in the third and second centuries
BCE. Virtus was represented as either a woman or a young or old man wearing a
cape and holding a javelin.
See also: Mythology; Native Italian Gods; Paganism; Religion; Rome
Further Reading
Altheim, Franz. 1938. A History of Roman Religion. London: Methuen & Co.
Beard, Mary, John North, and Simon Price. 1998. Religions of Rome. Vol. 1, A History;
Vol. 2, A Sourcebook. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Dumézil, Georges, and Philip Krapp. 1966. Archaic Roman Religion. Vol. 2. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press.
Ely, Talfourd. 2003. The Gods of Greece and Rome. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications.
Glare, P. G. W., ed. 2006. Oxford Latin Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Hornblower, Simon, Antony Spawforth, and Esther Eidinow, eds. 2012. The Oxford Clas-
sical Dictionary. 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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 Mutta hyvä, että ovat edes kourat tallella, niillä kelpaa yrittää
eteenpäin. Ja Taavetti yritti.

Oli tullut mökiltä lähtö juuri talven selkään, parhaana tukkipuun

kaatoaikana, ja läheiseltä tukkityömaalta meni Taavettikin leipäänsä
hakemaan. Mikäpähän siinä, kyllähän mies kelpasi.

Mutta joka paikassa saa aloittelija maksaa oppirahat. Jo

ensimmäisenä päivänä huomasi Taavetti että hänet oli osoitettu juuri
pahimpaan paikkaan, jossa puut olivat suuria, oksaisia könttyröitä,
kun taas toiset, vanhemmat puulaakin miehet, kaatelivat muutamien
satojen metrien päässä solakoita honkia siihen nähden kuin leikillä.

Läpiväsyneenä kuin uuvuksiin ajettu koni palasi Taavetti illalla

suolavesikupilleen, josta oli muodostunut hänen eroamaton
elämäntoverinsa. Mutta hän oli vakaasti päättänyt hankkiutua
seuraavana päivänä toisten luokse helpompaan souviin.

Taavetti oli jo seuraavana päivänä metsässä jättiläistensä juurella,

kun tukkipomo saapui uutta miestä katsomaan.

— No, mitenkä käy kaato? — kysyi pomo;

— Käyhän se miten käy, mutta ei tässä leiville pääse, — vastasi

tukin kaataja, — kovin tiukan urakan annoitte, pitäisi päästä tuonne
toisten miesten sakiin.

— Jaa, se on meillä sellainen tapa, että uusi mies saapi aina

vähän lujemman eteyksen selvitettäväkseen, — myhähti pomo
partaansa. — Kun tässä kuntoasi näytät ja viikon veistelet, niin
sittenpähän katsotaan.
 Mutta sellaiset kokeilut Taavettia harmittivat. Hän oli saanut jo
tarpeensa näistä jättiläishongista. Mikä hän oli, että hänellä kokeeksi
kaadatetaan. Pidettäköön mies miehen väärtinä.

— Se on nyt katsottava, — sanoi hän päättävästi, — tämä loppuu

heti hakkuu tältä paikalta.

— So so, kuka täällä määrää? — muljautti pomo vihaisesti

Taavettiin päin.

— Minä määrään oman työni kohdalta. Lasketaanko toiseen

paikkaan vai ei?

— Ei lasketa.

— Sitten lyön kirveen tuohon kantoon ja minun puoleltani saa

riittää puskemista puulaakin hyväksi. Jos on mitä saamista, niin
maksa pois! — tussahti Taavetti ja kiilasi kirveensä kannon päähän.

Pomon oli sääli menettää miestä.

— Mitä sinä turhista, — puheli hän lauhtuneena — muuta nyt

sitten tuonne muitten pariin, koska pääsi pitää tahdot. Eihän nyt toki,
tällä tavalla erota.

— Erotaanpahan. Kun kerkesin kirveeni kantoon lyödä ja sanoa,

että lähden, niin en puhettani peru. Meillä ei yhtä asiaa moneen
kertaan setvitä.

Ja erohan siitä tuli siinä paikassa. Se oli kopeata siihen aikaan

köyhäkin väki. Kun mitä sanoi, niin sanassaan pysyi.
 Kovin ihmetteli eukko kotona, kun Taavetti niin lyhyen rupeaman
perästä loisen karsinaansa talsi. Potattihauvikkaat sentään pyöräytti
ja suolavesikupin pöytään kantoi, köyhän särpimen.

Sattui siinä niukan aamuateriansa ahmaisseen käsiin sanomalehti,

jota joutessaan silmäili. Työtön mies aina mieluummin ilmoitussivuja
tähyilee, jotta jos niinkuin sieltä avun äkkäisi. Ja löysihän se Taavetti
ilmoituksen, johon katse pysähtyi. Muuan helsinkiläinen valokuvien
suurennusliike haki asiamiehiä jokaiseen pitäjään.

Siinähän se nyt oli. Piti vain lähettää liikkeelle kaksitoista markkaa

viisikymmentä penniä mallikuvaa ja näytteitä varten. Sadannen
tilauksen lähetettyään saisi sitten summan pois, mutta siihen asti se
pidettäisi panttina. Taitaisi tästä hyväkin homma tulla, mutta mistä
ottaa rahat? Yhden päivän tili tukinkaadosta ei tehnyt ihmeitä.

Mutta ken etsii, se löytää.

— Eukko, minä menen myömään potatit, tähän onkeen tartutaan.

Epäillen suhtautui eukko puuhaan, mutta arveli että kun kerran

Taavetti tyytyy leipään ja kalansuolaveteen, niin omapa on asiansa.

Taavetti pääsi perunoistaan ja muutamien päivien kuluttua oli

hänellä asiamiespaperit käsissä.

Kymmenkunnan kilometrin päässä sijaitsi suuri tehdaslaitos, ja

sinne tallusteli Taavetti Särkkä mallikuva kainalossaan. Siitä se sitten
varsinaisesti alkoi se oman onnen takominen, joka muutamien
vuosien kuluessa antoi Taavetille ammattia loppuiäkseen.

Näytti olleen oikea onnenlehti se mallikuva. Sitä kun näytti ja

hinnan ilmoitti, niin jo piti olla kovasydäminen, joka ei suurennusta
tilannut. Isonnettiin isovanhempia, tavallisia isiä ja äitejä, sulhoja ja
morsiamia, vieläpä kasvavia vesoja ja pikku penskojakin. Taavetti
kirjoitti tilauslippuja kuin hätäapukomitean sihteeri katovuonna
avustuslappuja ja pisteli taskuunsa ennakkomaksuja. Jokaiselta
kuvalta sai asiamies kolmekymmentäviisi penniä itselleen ja
tilauksen täytettyä tuli vielä prosentit.

Ihan kaukaisimpaan nurkkaan piti palattua kutsua eukko

laskemaan hankkeita. Eikä se ollutkaan mikään leskenropo, joka
näin oli asiamiehelle alkutaipaleellaan kertynyt, vaan teki Suomen
silloin hyvässä kurssissa olevassa valuutassa viisikymmentäkaksi
markkaa kahdeksankymmentäviisi penniä.

Oli siinä rahaa, oli totta toisen kerran! Taavetti ei kuitenkaan jäänyt
lepäilemään laakereilleen, vaan suunnitteli uusia matkoja.

Pian tavattiin hänet hiihtelemässä Pohjanmaan ja Savon

rajapitäjissä samaisissa asioimispuuhissa. Mikäpähän siinä, olisi kai
kauppa käynyt sielläkin ja hyvin olisi käynytkin, mutta useammassa
paikassa oli tiellä yksi paha vika: ei ollut valokuvia. Suomen kansa ei
siellä päin ollut muistanut käydä valokuvaajalla, kun sellainen asui
kaupungissa. Sillä oli ollut liian paljon muuta muistamista. Tämä oli
sitä nälkämaan laitaa, jossa kuluu runsaasti kallista aikaa
hengenpitimen hommaamiseen. Asian tärkeys kyllä ymmärrettiin oiki
selityksin, mutta kysyttiin samalla, eikö herralla olisi sellaista kojetta,
jolla voisi ottaa koko kuvan elävästä mallista.

Eihän herralla ollut, valitettavaa kyllä, ja asia ei edistynyt. Mutta

Taavetti sai tästä uuden ajatuksen: pitää ruveta valokuvaajaksi,
koska kansa tahtoo saada naamataulunsa paperille.
 Tämä Taavetti oli jo poikasena ollessaan Särkän mökillä oppinut,
että asiat pitää hoitaa äkkinäisesti.

Isällä, samoinkuin äidilläkin oli ollut sellainen kasvatusteoria, joka

oli punottu norjista koivunvitsoista, eikä se teoria tiennyt lainkaan
löytyvän suomalaista sananpartta: Jumala loi maailman, mutta ei
puhunut kiireestä mitään.

Pian oli Taavetti Särkällä kuvakone ja kaksi tusinaa levyjä

hyppysissään, ja niin alettiin uusi ammatti. Ainoa asiantuntija
valokuvauksen alalla koko pitäjässä oli lukkari, jonka puoleen uusi
kuvantekijä kääntyikin päästäkseen konstin perille vähän syvemmin
kuin koneen ja levyjen mukana seuranneitten osviittojen avulla oli
mahdollista. Lukkari tahtoi kuitenkin pitää salaisuutensa itse ja sanoi:

— Kun kerran rupeaa kuvia ottamaan, niin pitää osata kanssa.

Ja Taavetti, joka muisti, miten raskasta oli elämä ollut ennen

mökissä ja kuinka vähän houkuttelevalta tukinjymiläitten kaataminen
oli tuntunut, jatkoi alistuvaisesti lukkarin ajatusta: kun kerran herra on
koneen antanut, niin tottapahan konstinkin opettaa.

Niin tuli kuin tulikin Taavetti Särkästä valokuvaaja verraten pienillä

oppirahoilla. Hän on oppinut sen taidon niin hyvin kuin joku
toinenkin, ja hänen kopioimaansa naamavärkkiä kelpaa katsella.
Vaikkei hän osaakaan kaupunkilaisen kuvaniekan ammattihymyä
eikä kumarra näppäämisen päälle yhtä näppärästi, niin tekee hän
näköisen turhia sievistelemättä ja kaunistelematta. Ja maalaiskansa
on mielissään, kun näkee itsensä ihan Luojan laatimana.

*****
 Mutta ei se ollut tämä valokuvaaminen, joka antoi Taavetti Särkälle
hänen oikean yhä vieläkin käytännössä olevan ammatillisen
arvonimensä. Kohtalo oli näet määrännyt, että hänelle oli kuuluva
vielä jalompi ammatti.

Sen varsinaisen tittelin toi mies, jonka nimeä Taavetti ei muista,

vaikka tämä oli aseena kaikkivaltiaan kohtalon kädessä.

Kun Taavetti eräänä päivänä askarteli kehittämiensä

valokuvalevyjen kanssa, työntyi sisälle mies herätyskello kainalossa
ja kysyi:

— Olisikohan kelloseppä hyvä ja korjaisi tämän kellon, kun se on

ruvennut ronklaamaan.

Taavetti ensiksi hiukan hölmistyi, ja sitten hymähti, sillä hän ei

osannut aavistaakaan, mikä kumma oli miehen hänen luokseen
lähettänyt. Hänen päässään kerkesi kuitenkin välähtää ajatus, että
tässä saa uuden ammatin, kun ottaa kellon korjatakseen. Ja sen
ajatuksen vallassa hän vastasi:

— Ooja, kyllä niitä tässä meillä korjataan.

Ja sillä puheella jäi kello Taavetille.

— Nyt tässä tuli tuoreeltaan uusi ammatti, — virkkoi Taavetti

muijalleen, kun tämä pyykiltä palasi. — Mies toi kellon ja käski
korjata.

— Anna olla kajoomatta, säret kuitenkin vieraan vehkeen, —

vastusteli eukko.

— Elä joutavia, kai tuommoisen rakkineen miehinen mies korjaa.

 Taavetti purki kellon huolellisesti huomaamatta siinä mitään vikaa.
Sitten tuli kokoonpanon vuoro. Se olikin paljon kätevämpää puuhaa.
Näppipelillä ei saanut kaikkia pieniä muttereita ja vipusimia
paikoilleen. Täytyi tehdä ensin pihdit ja meisselit. Hikipäin viilaili mies
naulanpätkiä, vanhoja kellonavaimia ja mitäpähän sattui romua
kellosepän työvehkeiksi.

Meni siinä päivä ja meni toinenkin, mutta kärsivällisesti näperteli

Taavetti vieraan vekkarin kanssa, kunnes sitten yhtenä päivänä, kun
kone oli jo melkein koossa, kuului paha parahdus ja pari
hammasratasta kimposi lattialle. Niistä olivat hampaat porahtaneet
poikki.

Silloin tuli vastaleivotulle kellosepälle hätä käteen. Mutta hätä

keksii keinonkin. Taavetti muisti, että eukon veli on kaupungissa
kellosepän sällinä.

Mitäpä siinä muuta kuin viisipenikuormaiselle matkalle kello

nyytissä. Tulivathan ne siellä rattaat uudestaan hammastetuiksi, ja
Taavetti istui koko ajan ulosoppineen sukulaisen vieressä
katselemassa, miten se oikein konsti tottuneelta sujuu.

Kalliinpuoleinen tuli tästä Taavetin ensimmäisestä opinnäytteestä.

Asiakasta ei tietysti voinut täydestä velottaa, joten mestarille jäi
joukko kustannuksia oppirahoiksi.

Mutta kellosta tuli pätö kalu, ja sanoma levisi pian kautta kylien
mainiosta kellonkorjaajasta. Työtä tuli tulvimalla, ja työ tekijänsä
neuvoo.

Nyt asuu Markkulan pitäjän kirkonkylässä kelloseppä Taavetti

Särkkä omassa mökissään. Sinne saa huoleti tuoda kellonsa
korjattavaksi ja naamansa jäljennettäväksi, kumpaakaan ei pilata.
Kiireellisissä tapauksissa annetaan apua myös muille vikaantuneille
masiinoille.

Kelloseppä Särkkä on kunnan luottamusmiehiä, ja hänen

harteilleen on laskettu raskas yhteiskunnallinen taakka. Hän ei ole
kuitenkaan ylpistynyt, vaan muistaa alati, että hän on oman onnensa
seppä. Hänen myötätuntonsa on kokonaan vähäväkisten puolella.

Hänen kunnallisesta toiminnastaan voisi kirjoittaa pitkän luvun,

mutta se on toistaiseksi tarpeetonta, koska hän on vielä mies
parhaissa voimissaan ja hänen yleishyödyllisen työnsä historiaa
piirretään parhaillaan kunnanvaltuuston ja sen alaisten laitosten ja
lautakuntien pöytäkirjoihin.
IHMISASUNTO

Siitä on jo lopuilleen toistakymmentä vuotta. Meitä oli kolme nuorta,

iloista ja reipasta poikaa sorsastamassa. Oli sellainen huolettoman
sees elokuun ensimmäinen päivä, joka tietää vielä täyttä suvea.
Heinäkuu on keskikesän kehkeimmän kukoistuksen kuukausi, ja
usein on elokuu loppupuolilleen sitä samaa, ainakin keskipäivällä.
Elokuun aamussa sensijaan on jo jotain uneliasta, syksymäistä.

Se elokuinen päivä oli tosiaankin kaunis ja kimmeltelevä. Aurinko

paistoi kuin omaa riemuaan, ja lahden poukamissa, joita me
veneinemme kolusimme, värähteli ihana rauha. Tuulenhenki oli niin
hiljainen, että se tuskin kaislaakaan liikutti. Joskus vain vienosti
hyväili poskea ja leyhähti avoimesta paidanrinnasta sisälle
leikittelemään auringon polttamalla iholla.

Ilmassa leijaili ihmeellinen raukeus. Joku mies souti ohitse, veteli

verkalleen tasaisessa tahdissa, pysähtyi meidän kohdallemme ja
sanoi:

— Katsokaahan, pojat, että pääsette selän ylitse, tästä tulee

ukonilma.
 Meillä oli selkävesi soudettavanamme, kaikki sen puolen
poukamat olimme jo kierrelleet.

— Mitäpä tuosta, eihän sade sulata, vastasimme me itsetietoisesti.

— Eipä taida, mutta tällaisen hioittavan raukeuden perästä tulee

ukkonen myrskyn kerällä.

— Onpa veneessä varaa.

— Onpa on… — Ja soutaja jatkoi matkaansa.

Me soutelimme suurta selkää päämääränämme toisella rannalla

näkyvä talo, sillä aloimme uskoa ukkosen tuloon ja mielimme päästä
kuivin nahoin. Ne pyssytkin olivat silloin sellaisia poikaisten käsiin
annettuja halpoja vehkeitä, joiden lukot sade helposti ruostutti, ja
sitten niillä ei ollut juuri ampumista; laukesivat jos lystäsivät.

Kotvan kuluttua ilmestyi kaakkoiselle taivaalle kuin mahdottoman

suuren mustan härjän niska. Sitten tuli esille koko ruumis, ja se
härkä puski hartiat kyömyssä meitä kohti. Kuului kumea möyrähdys,
ja vähitellen alkoivat salamoiden tulipuikot sähähdellä kuin
ilotulittajan raketit.

Niin olimme keskellä ukonilmaa ja myrskyä, joka läheni hirmuisella

kohinalla. Olimme parahiksi ehtineet suuren selän puoliväliin, taloon
me emme mitenkään kerkeäisi kestämättä pitkää kamppailua
rajuilman kanssa.

Mutta siinä olikin pikku saarenkumpare melkein nokan edessä. Ei

siis muuta neuvoksi kuin soutaa siihen. Autiolta se näytti, mutta
eihän ainakaan tarvitsisi tapella myrskyn kanssa. Ja kyllä kesä
kuivaa jos kasteleekin.
 Myötäinen aalto paiskasi meidät hyvän matkaa rannalle. Veneen
vetovaiva oli verraten vähäinen. Saisiko nyt edes hiukan suojaa juuri
alkavaa rankkasadetta vastaan?

Kas ihmettä, siinähän on ovi, kallellaan lähjöttävä ovi, joka johtaa

jonnekin maan sisälle. Potattikuoppako lie tehty
hiekkatöyränteeseen? Mutta kuka kumma täällä potattia viljelee?
Kuka viljelleekin, mutta tuossa vierellä on pienoinen lämpäre peltoa,
hiekkaista ja hiukan kivistäkin. Astutaan sisään perunakuoppaan!

Eipä se olekaan perunakuoppa, vaan ilmetty ihmisasunto,

maanalainen tupa. Pari metriä suuntaansa, nelikulmainen tötterö,
jossa lyhyenläntä mies tuskin sopii suoraksi ojentautumaan. On siinä
takkakin nurkassa, mutta se muistuttaa melkein herrasväen lasten
leikkiuuneja, vaikkei se ole läheskään niin siisti ja siloiteltu, vaan
onpahan kuin pieni kiuas tai yleensä vain säännötön kivikasa.
Ukkosen pimentämästä ulkoilmasta ei oven auetessa jaksa paljon
valoa levitä huoneeseen, joten sen piirteet jäävät aluksi varsin
epämääräisiksi. Mutta silmä tottuu pian hämärään ja toteaa helposti,
ettei siinä mitään erityisiä piirteitä olekaan. Pienestä
ikkunapahaisesta katon rajassa tuijottaa musta ilta, jota vain aika-
ajoin välähtelevä salama valaisee. Lattiaa ei juuri lainkaan erota,
mutta jalka tuntee, että siinä on joitakin irtolautoja, jotka askeleen
alla pahasti notkahtelevat. Seinän viereen sijoitettu vuode, ikkunan
tapaisen alla laudoista kyhätty rottelo, joka luultavasti edustaa
pöytää. Katosta vilkkuu turve harvojen lautojen välistä.

Se on ihmisasunto, totisesti ihmisasunto,

kahdennenkymmenennen vuosisadan ensimmäisen kymmenen
loppupuolella, sivistyneessä Suomessa, muutamia kilometrejä
kirkonkylästä, suuressa ja touhuisassa pitäjässä, jossa on
kolmetoista kansakoulua, kaksi — välistä kolmekin — pappia ja
huomattavasti kunnallista varallisuutta. Ja siinä asunnossa istuu
ihminen, vanha vaimo, joka lukee jotakin luultavasti vanhasta
virsikirjasta kotoisin olevaa virttä tai rukousta raju- ja myrskyilmassa.
Se vaimo on itsekin jollakin tavoin vanhasta virsikirjasta, ainakin
sellaisten nuorten ja hirveän viisaitten lyseopoikien mielestä kuin me
kolme hänen majaansa säänpitoon joutunutta.

Mutta mitä tässä auttaa sivistyksen läheisyys, kun kerran mökissä,

maanalaisessa kuopassa asustaa köyhyys. Yhteiskunnassa ovat
alati valo ja varjo vierettäin, ja niiden raja kulkee niin lähellä, ettei
arvaakaan.

Rankkasadetta kesti koko yön. Ukkonen meni ohitse, mutta unohti

sulkea taivaan ikkunat lähtiessään. Meidän oli yövyttävä siihen
mökkiin. Minä ja toinen toveri otimme haltuumme sängyn lautakasan
yhdellä seinämällä — ja kolmas sai oikaista luunsa lattialle, jonnekin
sen vanhasta virsikirjasta otetun eukon viereen. Yöllä hän kuitenkin
hiipi meidän luoksemme valittaen, että lattialla kulkevat muurahaiset
eivät anna hänelle pahaakaan rauhaa.

Mutta ennen maatamenoa kertoi se eukko kasvattaneensa tässä

samaisessa töllissä viisi lasta, jotka nyt ovat maailmalla ja lähettävät
aina välistä apua. Se oli hyvin lyhyt ja intohimoton kertomus, vanhan
virsikirjan nuotilla esitetty. Minä vain ihmettelin mielessäni, miten
tässä tuvassa on sopinut asumaan seitsemän henkeä. Ja sen
kertomuksen aikana minä katselin, kuinka sammakko ulkona koetti
nousta märkää ikkunaa vasten, mutta luiskahti aina takaisin.

Ja minä muistan vieläkin sen eukon sanat:

 — Tästä töllistä on ollut hyvä apu, kun tämä saari ei ole
kenenkään kartassa. Tämä on ilmainen asunto. Ja mies on melkein
koko ikänsä palvellut renkinä talossa tuolla rannalla. Siellä hän on
nytkin.

Voi voi, mitä varten tässä maailmassa on niin paljon tyytyväisyyttä!

*****

Viime kesänä minä kävin samassa saaressa. Töllin sijalla oli nyt
kuoppa, jossa kalastajat olivat pitäneet yötuliaan. Sen asukkaat
olivat muutamia vuosia sitten muuttaneet toiseen maakuoppaan,
jossa ei ole takkaa nurkassa.
ISÄ JA POIKA

Eheh, vai ovat veljekset taas vesillä?

Se oli omituinen pari, joka kulki pitkin kirkonkylän lävitse johtavaa

tietä. Hyvin mataloilla rattailla, »rilloilla», istua kyhjötti kummallinen
käärö, jota pitemmältä matkalla olisi voinut luulla jauhosäkiksi, mutta
lähempää katsoen huomasi, että sillä säkillä oli isopartaiset miehen
kasvot ja kädet, jotka melkein velttoina riippuivat sivulla. Muuten se
todella olikin aivan täyden jauhosäkin näköinen harmaine
puolipalttoineen. Jaloista ei ollut jäljellä muuta kuin tyvet; molemmat
olivat menneet melkein juuresta. Ihmeellisintä oli, miten se säkki istui
niin tanakasti ahtailla »rilloilla», joitten pyörät pahasti loksahtelivat ja
heittelehtivät kovalla maantiellä. Mutta hyvin se siinä istui, eikä
yhtämittainen nytkytyskään näyttänyt sitä mitenkään häiritsevän.

Tosin kulkukaan ei ollut varsin kovaa. Lyhyestä hihnasta veti

rattaita vähänläntä, hintelä ja suuripäinen nuorukainen, jolla näytti
olevan juuri sen verran ruumiillista voimaa, että sai pienet rattaat
kuormineen liikkeelle.

Tämä ihmeellinen valjakko kulki pari kertaa viikossa kirkonkylällä.

Kesäisin näillä rattailla ja talvella kelkalla. Kesäkulku oli hitaampaa ja
vaivaloisempaa, sillä puujalaksinen kelkka juoksi paljon keveämmin
talven nuoskeassa lumessa kuin nämä louskuttavat »rillat».

Niin, he tekivät pari kertaa viikossa kiertokulkunsa kirkonkylän

herroihin, saivat kahvikuppinsa, jossain hiukan aterian tähteitä
pussiinsa ja palasivat sitten takaisin hoitolaan, pitäjän vaivaistaloon.

Heidät nähdessään pysähtyivät ihmiset kohdalle ja sanoivat:

Jopas taas ovat veljekset esillä.

He eivät kuitenkaan olleet veljeksiä, vaan isä ja poika. Ihmiset

koettivat ottaa heidän vaelluksensa leikillisesti, vaikka siitä oli leikki
kaukana, kyllähän se nyt oli sellaista kuin oli, hiljaista mihinkään
muuhun kykenemättömän nyhjäämistä, eräänlaista verryttelemistä
yksitoikkoisen koitossa istumisen jälkeen, mutta kerjääminen on aina
kerjäämistä, eikä siinä ole leikkiä.

Sen jauhosäkin suusta pääsi joskus nauru, lyhyt ikäänkuin pienellä

pakolla esiin sysätty, mutta isopäinen, vaalea nuorukainen ei
nauranut koskaan. Hänen huulensa tuskin kuontuivat muuhun kuin
yhteen asentoon: mitään-sanomattomaan liikkumattomuuteen, joka
sopi erinomaisesti yhteen silmien valottomuuden kanssa.

Mutta tuo käärö, tuo säkki tuossa »rilloilla», oli kerran ollut terve
mies, ja poikakin oli leikkinyt, nauranut ja laulanutkin lasten tavallisia
lirityksiä. Siitä on kyllä kauan, ehkä viisitoista vuotta, eikä poika
muista mitään sellaisesta ajasta, mutta ukko muistaa, vaikka hän ei
mielellään kerro. Tietääpä sen pitäjäkin.

Ukko oli ollut sahatyömies jossain kauempana suurilla

teollisuusseuduilla, jonne hän täältä oli muuttanut jo nuorena. Siellä
oli akoittunut ja saanut pojankin. Vaimo oli kuollut kohta, mutta hyvin
olivat toimeen tulleet kahdenkin pojan kanssa, joka oli siinä ihan
silmin nähden kasvanut ja vahvistunut. Joku pyykkieukko oli asunut
heillä kotona ja kortteeriaan vastaan pesunsa lomassa hoidellut
taloutta. Työlästähän se on sellainenkin elämä, kun on omituisen
vaimoisen ihmisen talossa-oloon tottunut, mutta eipä tuota ollut
sattunut toista sellaista, jonka olisi oikein omiin nimiinsä ottanut. Ja
menihän se näinkin.

Sitten tuli onnettomuus. Poika taisi olla siinä viiden, kuuden

korvilla ja kulki jo sahalla tuomassa isälleen kahvia.

Samanlaisella matkalla se oli ollut silloinkin sinä kohtalokkaana

päivänä. Oli naureskellut siinä isänsä vieressä ja kysellyt, milloin
mennään isän kotipitäjään, josta tämä oli niin paljon puhunut. Ensi
kesänä mennään, oli isä luvannut, koska hän ehkä saa lomaa, ja
talouskin on jo silloin sillä kannalla, että kannattaa pieni loma pitää
näin monen pyöreän työvuoden perästä.

Silloin oli pudonnut hihna vauhtipyörän päältä ja isä oli rientänyt

sitä korjaamaan.

Siinä oli tapahtunut onnettomuus. Kukaan ei tiedä, kuinka se oli

oikein sattunut. Jos sellaista rupeaisi kuvaamaan, niin kirjailija panisi
varmaan omiaan, hän kun on kaikista vähimmän sellaisia
onnettomuuksia nähnyt. Eivätkä niistä osaa kertoa nähneetkään; ne
vain tapahtuvat, niin äkkiä ja huomaamatta, että tajutaan vasta
seuraukset.

Pikku poika sen parhaiten näki, mutta hänkään ei milloinkaan ole

osannut siitä kertoa. Hänet korjattiin isän mukana tajuttomana
sairaalaan, eikä hän sen koommin ole puhunut juuri muistakaan
asioista, saatikka siitä onnettomuudesta. Oli saanut kauan aikaa
jälkeenpäin kummallisia puistatuksia ja lopulta jossain määrin
selvittyään jäänyt kitukasvuiseksi. Sen pää vain on kasvanut
suhteettomasti enemmän kuin muu ruumis.

Isä oli kyllä seuraavana kesänä palannut kotipitäjäänsä, mutta oli

tuotu sinne jalattomana ja mukanaan vaitelias poika, joka otettiin
yhdessä hänen kanssaan hoitolaan.

Se oli sellainen kohtalo. Yksi silmänräpäys oli tuhonnut koko

elämän, jota tosin saattaa jatkua elä pitkällekin, mutta se ei ole
oikeata elämää, isälle eikä pojalle, joissa kummassakin elää vain
riutuva ruumis. Heidän henkisestä elämästään ei kukaan ole
huomannut juuri mitään merkkejä sen perästä, kun heidät
kotipitäjänsä hoitolaan tuotiin.
HULLUN KIRJOISSA

Niin hiljaista miestä minä en muista toista tavanneeni kuin oli se

Iisakki… niin, hänen sukunimeään minä en milloinkaan kuullutkaan.
Kaipa hänellä oli sellainenkin, vaikkei se ole köyhälle mikään
tarpeellinen kapine, sillä hänelle riittää paljas Iisakki tai Herkko j.n.e.
Sukunimeä vanhempaan aikaan tuskin kaivattiin muualla kuin
verokuiteissa ja kauppiaan tilikirjoissa.

Iisakki hän nyt kaikessa tapauksessa oli ja hyvin vaitelias. Hän ei

ryhtynyt kenenkään kanssa puheisiin, vaan vilkaisi omituisesti
juttusille yrittäjän sivuitse ja vetäytyi arkana syrjään.

Hän oleskeli hoitolassa, pitäjän vaivaistalossa, mutta kävi

mielellään ruokapalkkaa vastaan kirkonkylässä töissä, mikäli se
sallittiin. Hän ei polttanut edes tupakkaa, joten hänellä ei ollut
työstään muita vaatimuksia kuin ruoka. Muuten hän oli erinomainen
työmies, pystyi melkein vaikka mihin.

Sanalla sanoen: hänessä ei ollut mitään muuta vikaa kuin että hän
oli hullu. No, siinäkin kyllä on vikaa kerrakseen, jos hullu on
raivopää, mutta Iisakki ei kuulunut riehaantuneen koskaan. Hän oli
aina ollut hiljainen ja säyseä.
 Hän oli jo ikäpuoli mies silloin, kun minä hänet ensi kerran näin.
Joku varotti minua, poikasta, menemästä lähelle Iisakkia, koska hän
muka saattoi tehdä pahaa. Ihmisillä on nyt kerta kaikkiaan sellainen
käsitys, että kaikki hullut tekevät pahaa. Mutta äitini, joka
erinomaisesti tuli toimeen hoitolan hullujen kanssa, sanoi, että Iisakki
on peräti siivo mies, kun vain kukaan ei härnää häntä. Minä taas
näin pojanvekarain juoksentelevan hänen ympärillään rallattaen:

li… ii… Iisakki, Iisakki verkon varasti, Iisakki vietiin

vankilaan kalakeittoa popsimaan.

Mutta Iisakki ei siitäkään suuttunut. Minusta näytti, että hänen

kasvoilleen lehahti vielä tavallista pelokkaampi ja syvästi kärsivä ilme
ja että hän pyrki mahdollisimman nopeasti pakoon.

Minä olin kuullut hyvin usein tuon saman ratkutuksen poikien

suusta ja kysynyt heiltä, mitä se merkitsi, sillä selvästi sillä oli jotain
yhteyttä Iisakin kohtalon kanssa.

Vasta myöhemmin sain kuulla hänen tarinansa. Jos se nyt yleensä

on mikään tarina. Sehän oli vain tavallinen vastoinkäyminen, vaikka
se niin raskaasti koski köyhään ja kunnialliseen mieheen.

Niin, olihan se sanottu tuossa poikien värsyssäkin, sillä todellakin

oli Iisakki kerran varastanut verkon ja viety siitä linnaan.

Hän oli ollut mökinmies ja tietysti suuriperheinen, sillä

pieniperheisiä mökinmiehiä ei tuonnoisina aikoina juuri tavattu.
Eteenpäinpääsyssä oli ollut tietämistä. Yleensä vain kuiva kannikka
ja suolakala pöydässä, eikä sitten lopulta enää ollut kalaakaan
särpimeksi, sillä edellisenä kesänä olivat verkot hukkuneet myrskyn
kouriin. Siihen oli vielä kaiken muun kurjuuden lisäksi eukkokin
joutunut vuoteen omaksi, ruvennut saamaan kovia kouristuksia. Se
oli juuri keväällä synnyttänyt viimeisen lapsen, eikä ollut saanut
kunnollista ruokaa, minkä vuoksi oli potemaan paneutunut.

Ylen oli eukko ruikuttanut, että kun saisi edes kerran tuoreesta
kalasta keiton, niin ehkä tästä vielä kuontuisi jalkeille. Iisakki oli
aikansa kuunnellut sitä voivottelua, ja lopulta se oli käynyt niin
luonnolle, että oli lähtenyt vieraita verkkoja kokemaan.

Mutta kun on ensi kertaa luvattomilla teillä ja vielä semmoinen

mies, joka ei halusta toisen omaan koske, niin eipäs osannut ottaa
lahnaa tai paria vieraan verkosta, vaan koko verkon hätäpäissään
nosti ja kotiinsa kantoi. No, niin oli tullut synti tehdyksi, mutta ei ollut
vielä ehtinyt kalakeittoa tulelle panna, vielä vähemmän verkkoa
takaisin viedä, kuten oli ollut vakaa aikomus, kun tulivat oikeat
omistajat. Miten lienevät heti jäljille päässeet? Vaikka niinhän se on,
että köyhää aina epäillään. Omansa saivat, sekä kalansa että
verkkonsa, mutta eiväthän ne siihen tyytyneet, vaan lakitupaan
veivät ja linna peri.

Eihän se kyllä ollut pitkä, se istuminen, mutta kuitenkin oli

vankilassa tullut Iisakista sellainen hiljainen hullu, jollaisena hän yhä
hoitolassa ja väliin kirkonkylälläkin esiintyi. Kun oli linnasta palannut,
oli eukko jo ollut haudassa. Äkkiä olikin mennyt surusta ja muusta
taudista. Lapset olivat kunnan niskoilla, ja itse Iisakki joutui
hoitolaan. Sillä tavalla hävisi perhe sen yhden syömättömän
kalakeiton takia. Ja parhaan ikänsä joutui Iisakki vähämielisenä
vaeltamaan mokoman vaivaisen verkon vuoksi, jota hän ei edes ollut
aikonut varastaa. Mutta kun se laki on niin ankara köyhää kohtaan.

Nyt olivat lapsetkin jo kasvaneet suuriksi ja päässeet omille

jaloilleen. Joskus kävivät katsomassa hullua isäänsä hoitolassa, kun