Whilst Rome had no welfare system to speak of, the poor and the hungry, especially children, were not necessarily always left to fend for themselves.
The establishment of benevolent societies was sanctioned under the empire, with the most common form of these being ‘burial societies’. Each one bore the name of a patron divinity and met once a month and on their relevant holidays for collection of dues, religious ceremonies and festival dinners.
Although these societies were largely composed of people engaged in the same profession, such as shipwrights, bakers, weavers and traders, they were not equivalent to modern day guilds or unions; they took no part in organizing better working conditions or lobbying for better benefits.
Instead, they served more like a social club where people, sometimes in considerable numbers, who shared a common identity, humble folk, the free, as well as slaves, could meet for subsidized and sometimes free food, friendship in life and the assurance of a decent burial after it.
If the care of the poor and needy was socialized through benevolent societies, then public benefaction was seen as the civic duty of the wealthier elements of society. The majority of spending on public works was funded by wealthy individuals who not only saw it as expected of them to build temples, baths and fora, but also expected to benefit by increased public standing and the subsequent advancement through the ranks of society that such altruism enabled.
Another way that individuals could express their benevolence was via the establishment of assistance funds, more often than not aimed at poor children, known as alimenta.
These philanthropic gestures are attested in several inscriptions across the southern part of the Empire, normally found in the bequeathment of funds via a will. An example of which is the grant offered by Helvius Basila to his hometown of Atina in Latium:
To Titus Helvius Basila, son of Titus, aedile, praetor, proconsul, imperial legate, who bequeathed to the people of Atina 400,000 sesterces. Out of the income from this bequest their children are to be given grain until they reach maturity, and thereafter 1,000 sesterces each. Procula, his daughter, set this up.
(CIL X.5056, Middle of the 1st Century AD)
As a rough comparison, a sesterce is the equivalent of a dollar.
Elsewhere, we find other examples:
Caelia Macrina, daughter of Gaius, left 300,000 sesterces in her will for the construction of this monument and….. thousand sesterces for its decoration and upkeep. She also left 1,000,000 sesterces to the town of Tarracina in memory of her son, Macer, so that out of the income from this money child assistance subsidies might be paid to one hundred boys and one hundred girls. To each boy, 5 denarii each month, to each girl 3 denarii each month, the boys up to sixteen years, the girls up to fourteen years - in such a way that the payments should always be received by groups of a hundred boys and a hundred girls
(CIL X.6328, Second Century)
One denarius is roughly 4 sesterces.
In Numidia, too, there are examples.
To Publius Licinius Papirianus, son of Marcus, of the Quirine tribe, imperial procurator of revenues of the Emperors Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus [Marcus Aurelius] and the deified [Lucius] Verus, to whom the most illustrious senate of Sicca, because of his services….
”To my fellow townsmen of Cirta Sicca, most dear to me, I desire to give 1,300,000 sesterces. I commit this to your trust, my dearest fellow townsmen, so that out of the five percent interest on this sum, three hundred boys and two hundred girls may be supported each year. The boys from the age of three to the age of fifteen, the girls from the age of three to the age of thirteen. Each boy to receive 2.5 denarii per month, each girl to receive 2 denarii per month. Moreover residents as well as townspeople are to be chosen, provided they are residents who remain domiciled within the confines of our colony. It will be best, if you approve, for them to be chosen by the duovirs of each year and care should be taken to fill the place of each grown-up or deceased child promptly, so that the full number will always be supported”
(CIL VIII.1641, 169/80 AD)
It’s often tempting to portray the Roman world as brutal and uncaring; a jackbooted fascist regime, stomping across Europe, crushing everything in its way. And with some justification. Elements of the Roman world were objectively horrific.
But we often forget that, even though they lived a long time ago, they were human beings, physically and emotionally identical to ourselves. They hated, loved, cared, laughed, cried, joked, killed, argued and hugged just like we do.
When it comes to compassion, from Neanderthals who exhibited care for disabled children to the Romans who fed the poor out of their own pocket, humans have always cared about each other.
Sometimes it seems like we forget this, and that compassion is either none of our business, someone else’s business or a sign of ‘wokeness’.
As we head into the key period of election season, not only in America but across the world, and with a narrative sometimes being driven that we need to blame the poor, needy and desperate in our society for that society’s ills, it’s worth remembering that humans have always been a caring and compassionate species and that it’s vital for our own future that we remain so.
Speaking of compassion for the poor in society, if you’d like to take out a paid subscription, which is only about five sesterces a month, then you too could have your name engraved on something for prosperity, maybe a bathroom tile or something, and access to exclusive content, and a lowly historian can keep the lights on and the tea and sandwiches rolling in.
I’d be eternally grateful.