Friday Night!

[Titus Marius Secundus]

Hey guys, I was wondering... What do Romans do on a "Friday" night?! I mean, they probably already get drunk most nights so...
Just a thought

[Epictetus]

The Romans had their “time off” periods just like we do, but where ours are based upon week-ends theirs was based upon religious festivals. Depending upon the festival, all sorts of communal activities went on. There might be games, races, plays or “parades” to watch or in which to participate. These were, almost always, communal activities, meaning that the entire community took part instead of just something you do with close friends, like what we do on “Friday nights.”

And, of course, most of these events happened during the day, not at night, because they didn’t have adequate lighting. Besides for an odd religious festival here or there, probably the only thing they could do at night was have dinner. The upper classes could make a dinner into an event, with poetry readings or “symposiums” where learned guests drank themselves silly while talking about philosophy, for example. This is probably the closest to what we tend to do a lot, meaning a gathering among friends with food and entertainment.

[Titus Marius Secundus]

I see, meh, sounds fun enough... thanks

[M. Demetrius]

I don't get the drift that a typical Roman family got drunk every night. Drunkenness was not only looked down upon, it could damage a person's reputation and perhaps social standing.

[Titus Marius Secundus]

Really?! I did not know that. Although I was thinking soldiers would do that sort of thing to a controlled level, I didn't think of that...meh...so it is a stupid question, also taking into account the consequences they would have...execution..If a soldier was drunk OFF duty, would the punishment be worse than that of ON duty?