Social gaffes

[richsc]

Question from my daughter the Latin teacher:

"I am supposed to give a brief statement to a bunch of HS students tomorrow about a potential "social gaffe' which could occur if they ever traveled back in time to ancient Rome.  So far all I can think of is :
 
1. If they went back in time and asked for butter they would be thought to be a barbarian
 
2. Men swore oaths by holding their hand on their genitals - not sure I want to share this one...
 
Any other thoughts?"

[Nathan Ross]

Just a few, off the top of my head mile:

1. Entering a dining room with your left foot first. You should always lead with the right foot, or it's bad luck...

2. Having an even number of people to dinner. Odd numbers only!

3. Leaving unbroken snailshells on the table after dinner - this was supposed to attract the evil eye, apparently...

4. Calling a slave 'citizen', especially in the hearing of the owner - this would imply you believed they had been manumitted...

5. Calling anyone by their first name (praenomen), other than close friends and family members.

6. Wearing black. This was the colour of death and mourning - people might assume you were dressed as a ghost (Roman ghosts were black).

7. Bringing a wreath of cypress twigs to a party - this was a funeral garland. In the case of the emperor Severus, of course, bringing a black person to a party could be a bit of a gaffe too...

8. Letting the fire in front of the family lararium go out. Infamy!


I'm sure there are plenty more!

[john m roberts]

Among the upper classes at any rate, it was consideed scandalous to display affection for one's spouse in public.

[Nathan Ross]

Among the upper classes at any rate, it was consideed scandalous to display affection for one's spouse in public.

Oh yes, and women drinking wine was out too, for the very moral Catonian types. Wasn't it Cato the elder, or somebody of his stripe, who divorced his wife because he smelled wine on her breath?

Ammianus Marcellinus, always ablaze with moral indignation, records several ruling by the late 4th century Prefect of Rome Ampelius, among them the order that "no respectable man should be seen chewing anything in public" (Amm.Mar. 28.4.4)

I suspect this is a class issue (again) - the poor ate at streetcorner popinae, so had little choice but to chew in the street. But for the rich to adopt these manners was shocking...

[M. Demetrius]

I'm glad I'm not an upper class Roman. I enjoy giving my wife a hug in public when the mood strikes. She doesn't mind, either. But I guess in Roman camp or public demonstrations, I'll adopt the Roman custom.

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Hmmmm, can't hug your wife in Public...but it was acceptable to shag a sheperdess in front of the whole legion... :roll: