The Roman Crowd - The Real Power of Ancient Rome?

The Colosseum of Rome

The Mob of Ancient Rome: was it a very powerful group of classes that could influence the Emperor?

Crowds in Ancient Rome could be very boisterous and brazen. This was were the Plebians could have their say. The Mob of Rome comprised all the social classes under the Patrician class, the Plebians and the slaves. These were the common people of Rome. Although the Emperor had all the power, he did fear the Mob, and for good reason. An angry Mob was a powerful force that if motivated could and would kill the Emperor and put Rome in a state of disorder. A bored Mob could spell disaster. Hence the Latin term panem et circenses, translated to "bread and circuses" or "bread and games". This is basically a metaphor for the appeasement of the Mob. Give the Mob bread and circuses and everyone will be happy. The number of slaves and lower classes outweighed the Patrician class by almost double. By ensuring the Mob, ie: Plebians, were happy, that meant an orderly and prosperous Rome. Without trouble at home, Rome could expand her boarders and worry about external troubles.

Pollice Verso by Jean-Leon Gerome, 1872

We can see the power of the Roman crowd especially well in the Munera or Gladiatorial contests of Rome. These events were usually marked a special occasion, such as a funeral. Munera translates to mean "duty" or "service" and the original munera were duties or services paid to dead ancestors. Later Gladiatorial games lost this connection with funerals and ancestors, but kept the name Munera. In Imperial Rome, Gladiatorial games were used as political tools by the Emperor and high ranking Senators and Politicians as a means of persuasion. There was always much pomp and publicity for these events, with some Gladiatorial contests lasting upwards of 100 days.

To view any of the gladiatorial contests in the Roman Empire, you would go to the local amphitheater, or if you were in Rome, the Colosseum. Women were permitted to the munera, but were required to sit in the uppermost sections of the Colosseum and other amphitheaters with the common poor and certain classes of slaves. As with most things in Ancient Rome, social structure dictated where your place was. The closer you were to the action, the higher your social standing. Two elevated special boxes were reserved at either end of the Colosseum for the Emperor and the Vestal Virgins. These were the positions of honour and were the best seats. On the same level was the Podium where the Senatorial class would sit. The next level was reserved entirely for the equites, the non-senatorial noble class. Levels after these were divided up into various sections for the various social groups of Plebians, ie: boys and their tutors, scribes, priests, soldiers on leave.

Photo by Jean-Pol Grandmont, Interior of Colosseum

By keeping the Plebeian class happy, the Roman Emperors ensured that their power would be untested, for the most part at least. There were and will always be a struggle of the orders, but in the Colosseum, the Plebeians had the power. The Munera were merely publicity tools used by later Roman Emperors to keep their subjects happy and occupied, to keep them wanting the Emperor in power. It was also used to show them what the Emperor had done for the People of Rome by bringing in exotic animals and people.

In the end, the Mob had the power. Although I hate quoting movies, the writers of Gladiator did a decent job. When speaking with one of the Senators about the new Emperor, Graccus states: "Rome is the Mob, conjure magic for them and they will be distracted. Take away their freedom and still they’ll roar. The beating heart of Rome is not the marble of the Senate it’s the sand of the Colosseum. [Commodus] will bring them death and they will love him for it.”