Blueprint for Youth
Polybius, a Greek, was one of the few outsiders to have access to the Roman corridors of power through his friendship with power brokers at Rome. He provides first hand knowledge about how the Romans prepared their aristocratic youth for success and glory during the second century BCE. He was clearly impressed. Roman Republican politics were family politics and competition for glory and power among the great families was always an important part of the scene. Ancestor worship was one practice that helped remind young Romans about what was expected of them by their families and country. Such sentiments may be laudable but one wonders how this kind of pressure affected Rome's privileged youth. Desire without talent does not necessarily produce success.
Polybius writes:
Whenever one of their celebrated men dies, in the course of the funeral procession his body is carried with every kind of honor onto the Forum to the so called Rostra, sometimes in an upright position so as to be conspicuous, or else, more rarely, recumbent. The whole mass of the people stand round to watch, and his son, if he has left one of adult age who can be present, or if not some other relative, then mounts the Rostra and delivers an address which recounts the virtues and successes by the dead man during his lifetime. By these means the whole populace - not only those who played some part in these exploits, but those who did not - are involved in the ceremony, so that when the facts of the dead man's career are recalled to their minds and brought before their eyes, their sympathies are so deeply engaged that the loss seems not to be confined to the mourners but to be a public one which affects the whole people. Then after the burial of the body and the performance of the customary ceremonies, they place the image of the dead man in the most conspicious position in the house, where it is enclosed in a wooden shrine. This image consists of a mask, which is fashioned with extraordinary fidelity in both its modelling and its complexion to represents the features of the dead man. On occasions when public sacrifices are offered, these masks are displayed and are decorated with with great care. And when any distinguished member of the family dies, the masks are taken to the funeral, and are there worn by men who are considered to bear the closest resemblance to the original, both in height and in their general appearance and bearing. These substitutes are dressed according to the rank of the deceased: a toga with a purple border for a consul or praetor, a completely purple garment for a censor, and one embroidered with gold for a man who had celebrated a triumph or performed some similar exploit.
They all ride in chariots with the fasces, axes, and other insignias carried before them, according to the dignity of the offices of state which the dead man had held in his lifetime, and when they arrive at the Rostra they all seat themselves in a row upon chairs of ivory. It would be hard to imagine a more impressive scene for a young man who aspires to win fame and to practice virtue. For who could remain unmoved at the sight of the images of all these men who have won renown in their time, now gathered together as if alive and breathing? What spectacle could be more glorious than this?
Moreover, the speaker who pronounces the oration over the man who is about to be buried, when he has delivered his tribute, goes on to relate the successes and achievements of all the others whose images are displayed there, beginning with the oldest. By this constant renewal of the good report of brave men, the fame of those who have preformed any noble deed is made immortal, and the renown of those who have served their country well becomes a matter of common knowledge and a heritage for posterity. But the most important consequence of the ceremony is that it inspires young men to endure the extremes of suffering for the common good in the hope of winning the glory that waits upon the brave.
(Histories, 6.53-54)