Conclusion

In book 6 of the Aeneid Anchises tells his son Aeneas, ‘Remember, Roman, you will govern all peoples by military might; these will be your talents: to impose the rule of law, to spare the submissive, and to annihilate the insolent.'⁵³ These few lines characterise an aspect of Roman identity tied to military exploits, conquest and the domination over others that was proudly displayed in numerous ways.

Representations of war and violence could serve as reminders of Roman power structures: the power of the Roman people over non-citizens; the power of Roman males, as family patriarchs, over households, including women, children, slaves and clients; and finally, the power of the emperor over his subjects, often expressed either as heroic behaviour rewarded by divine favour or transgressive behaviour punished through divine agency. Triumphal monuments, both through allusive and actual representations of battle, prompted Romans to recall the wars fought to expand and maintain their empire and evoked civic pride. Violent scenes adorning tombs, and later sarcophagi, were deemed appropriate commemorations for the dead, perhaps to elicit sympathy and express the pain of grief or sudden loss. In the Roman private house, the images of violence found on its walls and floors or adorning household objects could present multiple messages: moralising tales from mythology, the family's military exploits, or the homeowner's role in providing bloody entertainment in the arena. Every violent image, however, was a means of visualising power that reflected social and political roles in Roman society.

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Source: Fagan Garrett G., Fibiger Linda, Hudson Mark, Trundle Matthew (eds.). The Cambridge World History of Violence. Volume 1: The Prehistoric and Ancient Worlds. Cambridge University Press,2020. — 756 p.. 2020

Conclusion

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