Tourism in ancient Rome

Tourism was limited to the upper-class of ancient Rome due to its expense. Travel was also difficult because of shipwrecks, storms, poor maps, and a lack of modern means of transport. Tourism was difficult due to the time required to travel long distances in ancient Rome. Common destinations for ancient Roman tourists were Greece, Egypt, and the coast of Campania. Wealthy Romans would also spend the hottest parts of the year in villas outside of the city of Rome or in resort towns such as Baiae. These trips usually boosted the local economy as the locals attempted to supply the tourists with housing, goods, and services.

This article is about tourism in ancient Rome. For tourism of the modern city, see Tourism in Rome.

Methods of travel
Main article: Travel in classical antiquity

Travel was difficult to access for poorer Romans due to limited time and economic constraints. Shipwrecks, storms, poor maps,[1] and weather conditions also presented challenges for tourists, although there was little piracy in ancient Rome.[2] Roman roads were large and extensive networks. However, they were primarily used by the military during the Roman Republic.[2][3][4] The roads were worse the further away one got from towns and cities. Roman tourists and travelers were provided with lodgings in inns. The Romans viewed hospitality, which they termed hospitium, as a moral obligation.[5]

Attractions
The Egyptian pyramids were popular tourist attractions for the ancient Romans

Anatolia and Greece

Roman tourists would frequently travel to Greece to witness the Olympic Games, the Pythian Games, the Isthmian Games, and the Nemean Games, as well as to visit Greek temples.[6][7][8] It was common to travel to the islands of Lesbos, Rhodes, and Chios, and the islands of Ionia. Greek cities in Asia Minor and important settlements such as Athens were also popular tourist destinations. Roman tourists were attracted to sites such as the Colossus of Rhodes and Satyr of Protogenes. People would also travel to Greece to visit the Oracle of Delphi and other "oracles of the dead", which were located in caves and were believed to allow one to contact one's dead friends and family.[9][10] Greece was also popular because the Romans saw non-Greco-Roman cultures as barbaric.[2]

Egypt

Egypt was the most popular area for tourists to travel to. The Romans viewed Egypt as exotic, mysterious, and ancient. Egyptian locals fed misinformation to the Romans to draw them in and profit from them.[9] Alexandria and the Pyramids were the most popular sites in Egypt.[11] Alexandria's most popular attractions were the Serapeum, the Musaeum, and the Pharos. Tourists would also visit the Bull of Apis in Memphis and the cities of Thebes and Luxor.[11] It was a tradition for Roman aristocrats and emperors to sail across the Nile since Julius Caesar sailed across the Nile with Cleopatra.[12]

Italy
Ancient Roman villa in Baiae

It was common to visit the areas by Herculaneum and Pompeii in the Gulf of Naples. Baiae was an ancient Roman town located in modern Bacoli on the Gulf of Naples. It was a popular resort in ancient Rome, primarily during the end of the Roman Republic. It was known for corruption, scandals, and hedonism.[9][13] Bars dotted the area and upper-class women were said to pretend to be prostitutes, men were said to act like boys, and boys were said to act like girls.[9][14] Another resort town called Puteoli was known for its danger and high night-time crime rates. It was a common practice for visitors to bring bodyguards with them. Wealthy Romans would commonly purchase vacation villas outside of the city of Rome, where they would spend the hottest months of the year. They could also be located on the coast of Campania in the Tyrrhenian Sea.[15] Capri is an island in Italy where Emperor Tiberius built his resort villa, the Villa Jovis.[9]

Motives

During the reign of Augustus tourism and leisure assumed a more prominent role in Roman culture. It is unclear if people would take "Grand Tours" in which they traveled across the Mediterranean to see a wide variety of notable tourist attractions such as Athens and Delphi.[11] Traveling this much may have been too expensive and dangerous. However, it is known people would travel across the Empire after winning notable battles or notable achievements.[12] Most people would bring home memorabilia from their destination.[16] People would also travel for the purposes of educating themselves. Greece, Massalia, and Alexandria were common destinations for these tourists.[12] Cicero, a Roman orator, took a vacation to the eastern parts of the Empire to study philosophy and oratory in the 70s BCE.[17] It was common for the influx of tourists to drastically alter the local economy.[2][18] Locals often set up shops, worked as vendors, and provided services such as prostitution and lodgings to the tourists.

See also

References
  1. Adams, Colin; et al. (2011). Travel and Geography in the Roman Empire. New York: Routledge. pp 10–11, 16–19 ISBN 978-0-415-62018-5.
  2. Casson, Lionel (1994). Travel in the Ancient World. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp 76, 78, 149–150, 166–167, 202 ISBN 978-0-8018-4808-7.
  3. Paul Erdkamp, ed. (2013). The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Rome. Cambridge University Press. p 136 ISBN 978-0-521-72078-6.
  4. Talbert, R.J.A. "Gouvernants et Gouvernés dans l''Impérium Romanum'". Cahier des Études Anciennes. Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières.
  5. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Hospitium". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 801.
  6. Thompson, Nancy Lorraine; Montebello, Philippe De; Lydecker, John Kent; Picón, Carlos A. (2007). Roman Art: A Resource for Educators. Metropolitan Museum of Art. pp. 133, 176. ISBN 978-1-58839-222-0.
  7. Deckker, Zilah (2007). National Geographic Investigates Ancient Rome: Archaeology Unlocks the Secrets of Rome's Past. National Geographic Books. pp. 48–49. ISBN 978-1-4263-0128-5.
  8. Conti, Flavio (2003). A Profile of Ancient Rome. Getty Publications. p. 50. ISBN 978-0-89236-697-2.
  9. Perrottet, Tony (2002). Route 66 A.D. : on the trail of ancient Roman tourists. Internet Archive. New York : Random House. pp. 3–348. ISBN 978-0-375-50432-7.
  10. Christou, Prokopis A. (11 February 2022). The History and Evolution of Tourism. CABI. pp. 12–25. ISBN 978-1-80062-128-2.
  11. Norman, Alex (24 November 2011). Spiritual Tourism: Travel and Religious Practice in Western Society. A&C Black. pp. 79–81. ISBN 978-1-4411-5044-8.
  12. Balsdon, J. P. V. D. (John Percy Vyvian Dacre) (1969). Life and leisure in ancient Rome. Internet Archive. London, Bodley Head. pp. 224–244. ISBN 978-0-370-00444-0.
  13. "Parco Archeologico Sommerso di Baia – Campi Flegrei". Parco Archeologico Sommerso di Baia (in Italian). Archived from the original on 22 October 2022. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  14. Ogden, Daniel (2002). Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds: A Sourcebook. Oxford University Press. p. 191. ISBN 978-0-19-515123-7.
  15. Mill, Robert Christie (2008). Resorts: Management and Operation. John Wiley & Sons. p. 2. ISBN 978-0-471-74722-2.
  16. Beard, Mary (20 May 2022). "Evidence of tourism in the ancient world". TLS. Archived from the original on 13 August 2022. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  17. Lintott, Andrew (2009). "Cicero". The Oxford International Encyclopedia of Legal History. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195134056.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-513405-6. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  18. Brandt, J. Rasmus; et al. (2012). Greek and Roman Festivals: Content, Meaning, and Practice. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. pp. 29, 43
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