"Every­one in ancient Rome wore togas, sur­round­ed them­selves with pure-white mar­ble stat­ues, bayed for blood as glad­i­a­tors fought to the death in the Colos­se­um, pro­gram­mat­i­cal­ly imi­tat­ed the Greeks, and, after each and every debauch­er­ous feast, excused them­selves to the vom­i­to­ria, where they rit­u­al­ly vacat­ed their stom­achs. Or at least that's the pic­ture any of us here in the twen­ty-first cen­tu­ry might piece togeth­er out of the impres­sions we hap­pen to receive from a steady flow of sword-and-san­dals movies and TV shows"
"The ancient Romans lived in a world in which men kissed each oth­er as a stan­dard greet­ing (at least until a mas­sive out­break of her­pes put a stop to it it), stat­u­ary was paint­ed in all man­ner of gar­ish col­ors (though just how gar­ish remains a mat­ter of schol­ar­ly inquiry), cit­i­zens rich enough to wear togas need­ed the assis­tance of slaves even to get dressed in the morn­ing, and Greece took cul­tur­al influ­ence as well as gave it."
Common images of ancient Rome are often inaccurate. Togas were not everyday dress for everyone; they were complex garments that required assistance from slaves to don. Public statuary frequently carried painted surfaces rather than pure white marble. Men commonly exchanged kisses as greetings until disease outbreaks altered practices. Gladiatorial spectacles existed but are often sensationalized in modern entertainment. The word vomitoria refers to architectural exits, not ritual purging after feasts. Cultural exchange between Rome and Greece was bidirectional, with Rome both borrowing from and influencing Greek traditions. Popular media contributes to persistent misconceptions.
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