Lighting · Writing · Pastimes

Lighting

To combat the darkness of roads or public places and during religious ceremonies, the Romans used torches soaked in flammable substances. Inside the house, lighting was provided by candles (candelae) made of beeswax or tallow, and by oil lamps (lucernae); both were used individually or arranged in groups of several units on candelabra, and they were carried outside inside lanterns.

Writing

Reading and writing soon became a necessity for Romans of all classes, including freedmen and slaves. Sheets of parchment and papyrus and wax tablets were the main supports for books, letters, and documents, but laws written on bronze or lead sheets were not rare. At the right moment, a piece of cloth, a ceramic fragment, a door, or a wall could be used to send messages, do accounts, immortalize a thought, insult someone, or make political propaganda.

Pastimes

Besides the pleasures of the table and of reading, the thrill of spectacles, and the relaxation of bathing and swimming, the Romans devoted themselves to simple, almost childlike pastimes: jumping rope, ball games, dice (tesserae) and knucklebones (tali), ludus latrunculorum, a game of soldiers vaguely reminiscent of draughts, and duodecim scripta, the game of twelve lines, similar to backgammon.

To gain access to certain places and public banquets or to receive free food, citizens had to identify themselves with tokens called tesserae. These consisted of counters made of metal, bone, ceramic, or ivory, with designs alluding to the privilege to which they gave entitlement or to the person or institution they identified.