The greater part of these objects were not very valuable at the time they were made; they were the ordinary possessions of ordinary persons. Yet one sees on all sides evidence of the skill, careful workmanship, and artistic feeling ungrudgingly spent in making simple, common articles for every-day use. In our own time the situation is very different; to the average person beauty and utility have little or no relation to each other, and he consequently provides for his home useful and necessary utensils which have no beauty, and so far as he is able adds “ornaments” which have no utility and very frequently, it must be said, no real beauty. Again, the period in which we are living has not produced any definite style, either in architecture or in the arts and crafts, though there has been much careful copying and adapting of earlier ideas; but the products of Greek and Roman artists and craftsmen have “style,” not as a result of striving for an effect, but because each workman received the traditional schooling in his craft and, having practised it with satisfaction in work well done, tried to add something to the store of knowledge before handing it on to the next generation. Such considerations alone would make the study of the every-day utensils of classical times a valuable one in the present day. No attempt has been made in this handbook to treat the subject exhaustively; it is intended merely to provide such explanation and commentary as will be helpful toward an understanding of the antiquities. In consequence the length of the sections has been determined by the amount of material available and does not necessarily correspond to the relative importance of the various subjects. [Illustration] THE DAILY LIFE OF THE GREEKS AND ROMANS [Illustration] I RELIGION CASE 1 The religion of the Greek and Roman peoples was composed of many elements, and presents throughout their history a great variety of cults and observances. Religious tenets were not defined, and no priestly hierarchy attempted to coerce the people in their beliefs or actions. A Greek or a Roman was not under the necessity of worshipping the gods, though he might incur the anger of his fellow-citizens by outraging their feelings. To the ordinary man or woman, however, the service of the gods was a daily duty and each important event of human life had its appropriate observance. The head of every family was its priest, and the children his assistants in carrying out the worship of the divine beings who guarded the house and fields and all the living creatures therein. Similarly the great gods of the city were served by the priests and priestesses appointed to represent the city, conceived of as one great family. Each city had its recurring festivals, its rest days sacredly kept, and its days of commemoration of the dead.