A glimpse of teenage life in ancient Rome - Ray Laurence
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0:18 - 0:21It's March the 17th in A.D. 73.
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0:21 - 0:24We're visiting ancient Rome to watch the Liberalia,
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0:24 - 0:30an annual festival that celebrates the liberty of Rome's citizens.
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0:30 - 0:36We're looking in at a 17-year-old named Lucius Popidius Secundus.
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0:36 - 0:41He's not from a poor family, but he lives in the region known as the Subura,
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0:41 - 0:48a poorer neighborhood in Rome, yet close to the center of the city.
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0:48 - 0:51The tenants of these apartments are crammed in,
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0:51 - 0:55which poses considerable risk.
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0:55 - 1:02Fires are frequent and the smell of ash and smoke in the morning is not uncommon.
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1:02 - 1:08Lucius, who awoke at dawn, has family duties to perform today.
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1:08 - 1:12His 15-year-old brother is coming of age.
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1:12 - 1:17Half the children in ancient Rome die before they reach adulthood,
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1:17 - 1:21so this is a particularly important milestone.
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1:21 - 1:28Lucius watches his brother stand in his new toga before the household shrine with its protective deities
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1:28 - 1:36as he places his bulla, a protective amulet, in the shrine with a prayer of thanks.
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1:36 - 1:39The bulla had worked. It had protected him.
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1:39 - 1:45Unlike many others, he had survived to become an adult.
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1:45 - 1:50At 17, Lucius has almost completed his education.
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1:50 - 1:53He has learned to speak well, make public speeches,
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1:53 - 1:57and how to read and write both Latin and Greek.
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1:57 - 2:03His father has taught him the types of things you can't learn in the classroom:
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2:03 - 2:09how to run, how to swim, and how to fight.
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2:09 - 2:13Lucius could choose, at 17, to become a military tribune
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2:13 - 2:18and command soldiers on the edge of the Empire.
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2:18 - 2:23But in other ways, Lucius is still a child.
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2:23 - 2:25He's not trusted to arrange business deals.
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2:25 - 2:30His father will take care of that until he is 25.
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2:30 - 2:36And Dad will arrange Lucius' marriage to a girl 10 years younger.
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2:36 - 2:42His dad has his eye on a family with a 7-year-old daughter.
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2:42 - 2:43Back to the Liberalia.
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2:43 - 2:51As Lucius leaves with his family, the shops are open as the population goes about its business.
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2:51 - 2:55The streets are full of itinerant traders selling trinkets
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2:55 - 2:58and people bustling from place to place.
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2:58 - 3:03Large wagons are not allowed in the city until after the ninth hour
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3:03 - 3:06but the streets are still crowded.
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3:06 - 3:10Fathers and uncles take the kids to the Forum Augustus
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3:10 - 3:14to see statues of Rome's famous warriors
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3:14 - 3:19like Anaeus, who led Rome's ancestors, the Trojans, to Italy.
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3:19 - 3:22And Romulus, Rome's founder.
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3:22 - 3:28And all the great generals of the Republic from more than 100 years earlier.
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3:28 - 3:33Lovingly, we can imagine fathers and guardians with their now adult childen
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3:33 - 3:37remembering stories of Rome's glory
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3:37 - 3:42and re-telling the good deeds and sayings of the great men of the past:
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3:42 - 3:48lessons on how to live well, and to overcome the follies of youth.
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3:48 - 3:54There is a sense of history in this place, relevant to their present.
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3:54 - 3:59Romans made an empire without end in time and space.
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3:59 - 4:03Rome was destined to be eternal through warfare.
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4:03 - 4:07Wars were a fact of life, even in A.D. 73.
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4:07 - 4:10There are campaigns in the north of England
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4:10 - 4:11and into Scotland,
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4:11 - 4:14to the north of the River Danube into Romania,
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4:14 - 4:19and on the frontier between Syria and Iraq to the east.
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4:19 - 4:23It's now the eighth hour -- time to head for the baths.
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4:23 - 4:27Lucius and his family head up the Via Lata, the wide street,
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4:27 - 4:32to the Campus Martius, and the enormous Baths of Agrippa.
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4:32 - 4:36The family members leave the clients and freedman outside,
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4:36 - 4:39and enter the baths with their peer group.
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4:39 - 4:44Baths would change from dark, steamy rooms to light ones.
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4:44 - 4:48The Romans had perfected window glass.
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4:48 - 4:51Everyone moves from the cold room
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4:51 - 4:54to the tepid room
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4:54 - 4:57and to the very hot room.
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4:57 - 5:01More than an hour later, the bathers leave
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5:01 - 5:10massaged, oiled, and have been scraped down with a strigil to remove the remaining dirt.
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5:10 - 5:14At the ninth hour, seven hours after they left home,
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5:14 - 5:18the men return for a celebratory dinner.
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5:18 - 5:25Dinner is an intimate affair, with nine people reclining around the low table.
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5:25 - 5:27Slaves attend to their every need
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5:27 - 5:34if the diners, through gestures, demand more food and wine.
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5:34 - 5:38As the day closes, we can hear the rumble of wagons outside.
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5:38 - 5:44The clients and freedmen, with a meal of robust -- if inferior -- food inside them,
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5:44 - 5:49shuffle off to the now tepid baths before returning to their apartment blocks.
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5:49 - 5:55Back at Lucius' house, the drinking continues into the night.
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5:55 - 5:58Lucius and his stepbrother don't look too well.
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5:58 - 6:05A slave stands by in case either of them needs to vomit.
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6:05 - 6:08With hindsight, we know Lucius' future.
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6:08 - 6:13In 20 years' time, the Emperor Vespasian's youngest son, Domitian, as emperor,
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6:13 - 6:18will enact a reign of terror. Will Lucius survive?
- Title:
- A glimpse of teenage life in ancient Rome - Ray Laurence
- Speaker:
- Ray Laurence
- Description:
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View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/a-glimpse-of-teenage-life-in-ancient-rome-ray-laurence
Welcome to the world of Lucius Popidius Secundus, a 17-year old living in Rome in 73 AD. His life is a typical one of arranged marriages, coming-of-age festivals, and communal baths. Take a look at this exquisitely detailed lesson on life of a typical Roman teenager two thousand years ago.
Lesson by Ray Laurence, animation by Cognitive Media.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
closed TED
- Project:
- TED-Ed
- Duration:
- 06:35
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Krystian Aparta commented on English subtitles for A glimpse of teenage life in ancient Rome | |
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Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for A glimpse of teenage life in ancient Rome | |
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Bedirhan Cinar approved English subtitles for A glimpse of teenage life in ancient Rome | |
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Bedirhan Cinar accepted English subtitles for A glimpse of teenage life in ancient Rome | |
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Bedirhan Cinar edited English subtitles for A glimpse of teenage life in ancient Rome | |
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tom carter added a translation |
Krystian Aparta
The English transcript was updated on 2/13/2015.