NOV. 16: SOCIETY AND CULTURE IN THE ROMAN PRINCIPATE
A boy who loved his mother (before he killed her): Nero and Agrippina

Slavery:

Party Time: slaves pouring wine


Roman "decadence" in modern imagination: TOGA!

Imperial Decorum: an emperor should look like this (Marcus Aurelius)...

...and not like this (Caracalla):

Bread and Circuses: the Colosseum

Mass entertainment: the chariot races




Violence and the Entertainment Industry: the Gladiator

Rome gets Tough on Crime, and Amuses the Masses: damnatio ad bestias


Violence and the Entertainment Industry: more gladiators

An emperor dressed for the games: Commodus as Hercules

Animals get some, too: a beast-hunt

"Live Free or Die": Roman fascination with "honorable death", even for barbarian enemies:
