Clothing & Beauty

"Every morning, Aemilia rises early, greeted by her attendants. The day was warm and breezes blew through the open windows of her home, and right then and there Aemilia decided she would like to take a walk in the gardens later. Of course, she would need to get dressed first. She slipped on a plain tunic, assisted by a servant, and fastened the straps closed. After that, she chose a cream-colored stola, tied with a simple belt at the waist and pinned with ornate brooches that had been an engagement gift from her husband. Aemilia had always loved this stola; the hems were embroidered with gold thread that went nicely with the deep brown of her hair. A palla was pulled from her wardrobe as well, one dyed a bright shade of blue that matched the clear sky outside. She wouldn't need that, however, until she went out later in the day.

"Aemilia had visited the hairdressers the day before, so the ornate curls and braids of her hairstyle were still intact, save for the few stray hairs a young servant girl quickly pinned back in place. She strode over to her vanity, her leather sandals already placed on her feet, and sat down on the short stool. After a quick look in the polished mirror at hand, Aemilia reached for her chalk powder and dusted her face generously. Her face fashionably pale, she reached for bright wine sediments and used it to color her cheeks with a 'natural' blush and stain her lips a deep red. Then came the dark kohl, which lined her eyes, making them appear much larger and darker than was natural. 

"Finished with her makeup, Aemilia turned towards her group of attendants, letting them pile necklace after necklace around her neck, followed by a multitude of rings that slid onto her fingers, save for her wedding band that was always present. Bracelets and earrings were donned as well, all of the finest material."

Read about this funerary relief here or here. Courtesy of www.mfa.org.

This funeral relief of a woman named Aththaia from around 150 - 200 A.D. in Syria is an accurate example of the clothing style worn by upper-class women, specifically those who were married.
Most noticeable is the veil-like clothing she wears, known as a himation. This piece of clothing would both wrap around her body and then cover her head, a modest look specific to married women of the time. However, this veil does not cover the symbols of wealth strewn about her body. Necklaces, bracelets, rings, and earrings can be seen here, as well as a diadem that sits below a cloth headdress and a string of jewels that is placed on her hair. The ring on her right finger signifies marriage, a practice still used today.
The typical outfit of a wealthy Roman woman consisted of three layers. The bottom-most layer was a tunic, a simple garment made out of two rectangles of fabric. Though it was scandalous for a woman to wear only this, this garment was the common outfit of men. The middle layer was a stola. This was a full length garment, with a scoop neck and straps that could be buttoned or pinned
 closed. It was usually belted at the waist. The top layer was a palla, an outer garment worn when out of the house. The palla was a large piece of fabric that acted as a cloak, draped around the whole body and then slung over the shoulder. It was sometimes used as a hood as well.

Fresco from the Villa of the Mysteries, courtesy of www.archaeology.org.

Beauty was incredibly important to the rich women of Imperial Rome. They spent large amounts of both time and money on various styles of hair, which were highly intricate, often braided or curled. A single visit to a hairdresser would provide a woman with a hairstyle that would last for days, as it was held in place by a hairnet. Female servants were also tasked with the job of hairdressing.
Makeup was also popular among women. The style tended towards light skin (often done with chalk powder), since tanned skin was the sign of a manual laborer or slave. Women would also color their cheeks and lips red, using red wine sediment or plant dye. It was fashionable to bring attention to the eyes, so kohl was used generously as eyeliner.

SOURCES:

Usborne Internet-Linked Romans by Anthony Marks and Graham Tingay, pages 42-43
http://travelswithnancy.com/women-ancient-rome/women-beauty.htm
http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/funerary-monument-of-aththaia-daughter-of-malchos-151395.
http://www.medieval-rings.com/about-rings/ancient
https://www.archaeology.org/news/3109-150323-pompeii-villa-mysteries

Social Life & Religion

"Aemilia descended the stairs to the bottom floor of the house. Breakfast was a simple, family affair, immediately followed by a time of worship at the house's lararium. It was her husband, Valerius Claudius Aurelius, who initiated this, signaling to her and the children to take the plates of offerings from the waiting servants and follow him to the atrium. There stood the small shrine, beautifully decorated in respect to the lares of the house. A few moments of silence passed as the family each took a piece of fruit and a flower from the plates and placed it on the base of the shrine. Her husband broke the quiet of the atrium with prayers, followed word for word by Aemilia and her children who stood behind him, heads bowed to the shrine and the gods of the household. 
"A short time later, Aemilia was free to go out. She donned her blue palla and led the way out of the house, followed by a pack of attendants. The gardens were only a short walk away, located right outside of the city baths. As they walked, a stall at the side of the street caught Aemilia's eye. It was packed with exquisite fabrics in all sorts of hues. Some silks even hung there, blowing in the wind. Aemilia strode over eagerly, letting her slender fingers brush over the soft, elegant fabric. After exchanging a few words with the shopkeeper, two rolls of silk were packed up and handed to her waiting attendants. Pleased with her purchase, Aemilia continued on her way to the gardens. 
"Bright green grass greeted Aemilia, broken only by brick pathways that wound through the garden and around the walls of the baths. Flowers in bright colors dotted plots of dirt, and trees climbed to the sky like columns. Across the grass, Aemilia spotted two of her friends and gave a wave in greeting before striding over to them."

Women had much more social freedom in the Imperial Era than ever before. They were allowed to attend dinner parties, take advantage of the baths that Rome was so famous for, and even go to the theater or games.
A shopping trip was not entirely uncommon for wealthy women, though they often sent their servants to do the shopping instead. On nice days, a trip to the baths or the surrounding gardens might have been in order. Of course, they could only visit the baths when it was open to women!

Lararium, photo from www.historylearningsite.co.uk

At home, religious activities were run by the paterfamilias.

This shrine, or lararium, was found in a house in Pompeii. Such shrines were built to specific deities, known as lares, who were deemed the protectors of that household. Every day, the paterfamilias would lead the family in prayers at the shrine, accompanied by offerings. Lares were very important to Roman families, sometimes even more revered than the state or public gods. For some people in the Empire, religion was practiced in a different way.Follow this link to watch a clip of a video about a woman's religious life in Ancient Pompeii.

SOURCES:

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/ancient-rome/ancient-rome-and-religion/
https://www.ancient.eu/article/637/roman-daily-life/
Usborne Internet-Linked Romans by Anthony Marks and Graham Tingay, pages 34 & 60-61
https://ed.ted.com/lessons/four-sisters-in-ancient-rome-ray-laurence

Health & Hygiene

"Aemilia smiled at her two friends as she approached. Her own attendants joined the group that trailed behind the two women, letting them walk ahead of their own volition for a bit of privacy. As nice as the day was, the hot sun was still beating down, and Aemilia could feel beads of sweat forming on her forehead. In a few minutes, the three women decided that a trip to the baths next door was in order. The majority of the day was given over to the men at the baths, but the morning was free for the women to relax and clean themselves. 
"Handing over a small fee at the door, the women walked in. They first stopped off at the cloak room, allowing their servants to help them remove their clothing. Next, they took a dip in the cold swimming pool, a refreshing change from the heat of the sun.
"The warm pool next was a shock to their senses, but they soon warmed up, wading in the small pool. Then came the hot room, where they sat in the heat, letting themselves sweat. After all of this, their assistants came and rubbed them down with olive oil to exfoliate the skin. Aemilia took up a strigil and scraped off the oil and the grime that went with it. A nearby stylist fixed up her hair, which had come loose from its curls in the baths, as well as retouched her makeup. The morning had gone by quickly, and Aemilia waved a goodbye to her friends, ready to head home."

The rich of Imperial Rome were the lucky ones when it came to health and hygiene. Where a poor family would have to use public restrooms and drink water from fountains, the wealthy had access to private facilities and running water. Cleanliness was a meaningful symbol for the Romans, especially the upper-class, and so they behaved as such, indulging in the experience of cleaning their bodies. Baths were taken daily, especially when a feast was happening that night.
Soap was discovered, by way of the Germans, in the 1st century AD. However, soap was mainly used to clean clothes, a relief from the past practice of using distilled urine. For cleaning oneself, though, the common practice was using olive oil and a strigil to exfoliate the skin.

Toilet-set, consisting of two strigils and an aryballos, 1st-2nd century AD. Courtesy of www.britishmuseum.org. Read more about it here.

Though this specific set belonged to an athlete, it's a good representation of what the bath tools of the day looked like. The aryballos is an oil flask that would have been filled with olive oil and then poured over and massaged onto the body. After that, the user (or their servants) would have taken the strigils and scraped them down, taking off the oil and exfoliating the skin. As painful as that may sound, it was a healthy practice, and exfoliants are commonly used today, if not in the same manner.
A typical bath house consisted of a collection of rooms and pools, each with a different purpose. At the entrance sat an apodyterian, or cloakroom, where clothes were left before continuing to the pools. The next pool was a frigidarium, a cold swimming pool, and a tepidarium, a heated room that contained a small pool. There was also a caldarium, which was a hot room with a bathing pool. Akin to a modern-day sauna, this room caused its occupants to sweat. Next the caldarium may have been an even hotter room called the laconicum, but it was not used by most.

Medicine and health, however, was another matter. 

Childbirth in ancient Rome: the birthing chair and midwife. From Tomb of Scribonia Attice, Ostia, Italy. Terracotta. 2nd c CE. Photo courtesy of travelswithnancy.com.

A large percentage of children died very young, or even in childbirth, as well as their mothers. Most mothers were very young, as the Romans believed that it was safer the younger the mother was. Births were typically assisted by midwives, who helped the mother through the labor and brought the child to its father after it was born.

SOURCES:

http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=399791&partId=1
https://www.thoughtco.com/hygiene-in-ancient-rome-and-baths-119136
Usborne Internet-Linked Romans by Anthony Marks and Graham Tingay, pages 60-61 & 68-69
http://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/family.html
http://travelswithnancy.com/women-ancient-rome/motherhood.htm

Marriage & Children

"Aemilia arrived home from the baths, feeling fully refreshed. Passing by her husband's tablinum, or study, she heard him conversing with another inside. She peered through the open window.

"He sat at his table, scrolls of papyrus spread out before him. In one hand, he held a pen. Across from him sat a younger man: Julius, his assistant. They were discussing some sort of political matters, Aemilia knew, but she could not catch exactly what.

"For a moment, she watched her husband, a smile on her face. It had been seven years to the month that they had exchanged wedding vows. She had been the ripe age of fourteen then, her husband her senior by nearly nine years. 

"A child's voice rang out from the top floor. Aemilia looked up for a moment, smiling, and sighed. They had had three children since the beginning of their marriage. Claudia Major, the oldest, was six now, and already beginning her lessons as a young woman. Claudia Minor, the younger daughter, sat in as well, but at the age of four, she did not pay much attention. The youngest of the three, Marcus, was the only boy, and though he was only two years old he had begun private lessons with a tutor. That would not be the last of them, Aemilia knew. She was only twenty-one years old, had yet to lose a child, and Valerius was wishing for another son and heir.

"Another shout came from the top floor. Aemilia shook her head, a smile still on her face, and gave her husband one last look before ascending the stairs to the second floor."

Sarcophagus. Marble. 2nd c AD. British Museum. Photo: B. McManus, VRoma Project. Courtesy of travelswithnancy.com.

This statue depicts a wedding ceremony in Imperial Rome. The bride is clothed in traditional wedding garb, wearing a veil (which would have been orange, as well as her shoes) and a white tunic known as a tunica recta.
Though Roman marriage ceremonies were not unlike weddings today, there are some key differences. Marriage was seen more as an arrangement between two families rather than an expression of love, and wealthy unmarried women would have been sought after by many suitors, typically older and upper class themselves, hoping to further their status. Political marriages were common among the upper-class; politicians who wished to have an "in" with a senator or other leader would often try to marry into that family.
In the Imperial Period, marriage and offspring were important, Emperor Augustus even going so far as to enact a law outlining an encouragement of both, called ex Julia de maritandis ordinibus. This especially affected the upper-class, due to the emperor's desire to "better" Rome as a whole by asking the wealthy and powerful to produce more offspring. In fact, as an effort to make childbirth more appealing to the women of Rome, the state gave legal independence to women who had three (living) children, or four for freedwomen. 
This was a major difference from the more restrictive marriage laws of the Republic. Whereas then women were considered meek and the property of men, women now had many more rights and power overall. Women no longer had to feel "trapped"; instead, divorce was accessible for either partner in the marriage. Women also had the ability to control property, which made divorce a better option, as they would not lose their livelihood as well as their husband.

Wall painting from Pompeii: woman with scroll and child reading (Roman, 1st century CE), courtesy of www.vroma.org.

As important as childbirth was, it was no safer than it had been for hundreds of years. A good deal of children died very young, especially during childbirth. 
Those who survived, however, were not necessarily safe. It was tradition to give the decision of whether or not the family would keep the child to the paterfamilias. Babies would be placed on the ground in front of the father; if he picked up the baby, it was accepted into the family; if not, it was left to die of exposure. Unfortunately, the mothers had no say in this matter. But with the laws of the state for large families from the upper-class, it is likely that those children were allowed to stay. In that case, the daughters were raised by the mother, who taught them the skills necessary to be a materfamilias themselves, as well as preparing them for marriage. The boys were taught by a tutor. 

SOURCES:

http://www.stoa.org/diotima/anthology/wlgr/wlgr-romanlegal120.shtml
http://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/weddings.html
http://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/family.html
Ancient Rome: a new history by David Potter, page 23
http://travelswithnancy.com/women-ancient-rome/motherhood.htm
Usborne Internet-Linked Romans by Anthony Marks and Graham Tingay, page 34
http://carlos.emory.edu/ODYSSEY/ROME/writ.html
http://travelswithnancy.com/women-ancient-rome/law-&-identity.htm
http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/rawson.html

The Household

"The loud voices of her two daughters greeted Aemilia as she reached the top of the stairs. The children's quarters was a large, spacious room with windows that looked out into the atrium on one side and the street on the other. The girls were sitting on the floor, rolling a beaten leather ball between them. Aemilia let herself pause for a moment and watch the two as they played. Claudia Minor had dark curls like Aemilia, while Claudia Major's hair was straight and a shade lighter. Marcus could be heard in the other room, giggling at some joke with his tutor. He had Aemilia's curly hair as well. 
"Clapping her hands, Aemilia caught the girls' attention. From behind her two servants brought in a loom and spindles, followed by a large amount of undyed wool. Immediately Claudia Major sat at the loom, waiting as her mother and younger sister began to spin thread."

Although Roman households are known for being run by the paterfamilias, or the father of the house, the wives had a hand as well.

The wife of the paterfamilias was known as the materfamilias (mother of the household), and though she may have been hidden behind the power of her husband, she was in charge of managing the household day-to-day. 
Even wealthy women were tied to household duties. Had likely been taught the ways of managing a household as a young girl, and now held those responsibilities. They still spun thread and wove cloth, but it was more a symbolic than utilitarian practice, one that gave them the image of an ideal Roman woman. In addition, she often served as the teacher of her own daughters - passing on the information she had learned when she was a girl.
However, that was not the end of her duties. Women of the household also oversaw the servants and their various tasks, such as cooking, cleaning, or making clothes. They also controlled and kept track of the money in the household, often doing the accounting themselves.

Roman Painting - Villa dei Misteri - Pompeii - Italia. Courtesy of commons.wikimedia.org.

SOURCES:

http://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/family.html
http://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/women.html
http://travelswithnancy.com/women-ancient-rome/law-&-identity.htm
https://www.ancient.eu/article/870/ancient-roman-family-life/
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Roman_fresco_Villa_dei_Misteri_Pompeii_004.jpg

Food, Drink, & Dining

"After lessons with her daughters, Aemilia hurried to refresh her makeup. Her husband was throwing a dinner party that night for a group of very important guests, and Aemilia was serving as hostess alongside him.
"Just half an hour later, Aemilia heard the sounds of voices at the door. She dashed down the stairs to arrive, perfectly put together, in the dining room. Her husband was there already, showing the guests to their places. Aemilia let herself recline on the low couch, to the right of her husband's place, and plucked an oyster from a plate of appetizers that was waiting on the table. In the corner, a musician struck up, accompanied by a young dancer in extravagant clothing.
"The meal was long, consisting of many courses, and by the end of the night Aemilia was exhausted, her cheeks red with the heat of wine. Good byes were said at the door, and Aemilia breathed a sigh of relief as the house was quiet once more.
"Returning to her quarters, her servants reversed the process of that morning, and Aemilia was soon ready for bed.
"The attendants backed out of the room, and in mere seconds Aemilia Maximius was quietly breathing, fast asleep."

Dining was an important part of Imperial Roman culture. Parties were often held by the wealthy and upper-class, consisting of lots of wine and courses upon courses of extravagant food. In the Roman Empire, women were allowed to join, sitting alongside their male counterparts.

Diagram courtesy of blogs.getty.edu.

This diagram shows the typical set-up at a dinner party. The benches were used for reclining, with the occupants laying at an angle. This way, their heads would all point towards the center table, where the food was laid for each course.
Typical dinner parties in the Empire consisted of three courses. The first was an appetizer course, where dishes such as salad, mushrooms, shellfish, and eggs may have been served, followed by a round of mulsum, which was wine that had been sweetened with honey.
The second course was the main course of the night. It could contain up to seven courses, mostly made up of various meats and fish, along with side dishes of vegetables and sauces.
After this course, the servants would replace the table completely, bringing on the final course that was known as the secundae mensae, or second tables. In our modern era, we would consider this the dessert course, as it came after the main meal and was made up of fruits, nuts, and sweet cakes.
And, of course, large quantities of wine would have been served all throughout the meal.

Roman floor mosaic, courtesy of commons.wikimedia.org.

While the food shared at dinner parties tended towards the unusual (such as peacock tongues), the everyday menus of the rich were a bit more normal. They were able to indulge themselves in a variety of meats like beef, pork, lamb, fowl, and fish, and could easily afford to use the higher quality wheat as opposed to the millet used by the poor. The richest of the Romans also enjoyed exotic spices such as cinnamon, pepper, nutmeg, and cloves, which were brought from India by way of traders. And, of course, the true staples of the Roman diet were olive oil and wine.
All of these foods, however, would have been served as dinner, known as cena. The other meals of the day were much small, simpler affairs, consisting of light fair. A typical breakfast may have been biscuits or wheat, served with honey or fruit. Similar in menu was the prandium, or lunchtime meal.

SOURCES:

http://blogs.getty.edu/iris/reclining-and-dining-and-drinking-in-ancient-rome/
Usborne Internet-Linked Romans by Anthony Marks and Graham Tingay, pages 38-39
https://quatr.us/romans/roman-food-rich-poor.htm
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:0_Mosaico_pavimentale_%E2%80%93_Grotte_Celloni_%E2%80%93_Pal._Massimo.JPG