Tourism in ancient Rome was limited to the Roman upper class due to its expense and long travel times. Common destinations for ancient Roman tourists were Greece, Egypt, and the coast of Campania. Roman tourists sought out sites in Greece of cultural and historical importance, such as the numerous Greco-Roman temples and the athletic games such as the Olympics. In the Imperial era, Egypt was one of the most popular destinations for Roman tourists; they were enticed by their perception of Egypt as exotic and foreign. Roman travelers toured Egypt to observe sites such as the Pyramids and to visit cities such as Alexandria or Luxor. Wealthy Romans would spend the hottest parts of the year in villas outside of the city of Rome or in resort towns such as Baiae. During the same summertime months, non-Romans would travel to Rome to see the many monuments and structures throughout the city.
During the Roman Empire, tourists were motivated by the Roman concept of , or leisure time. The Romans believed that such time should be spent engaging in intellectual, artistic, or philosophical pursuits. Roman tourism was sometimes motivated by educational pursuits; these tourists sought out famed rhetoricians or teachers at their destinations. Tourists would also travel to other areas in hopes of seeing sites of historical or religious importance, such as the ruins of Troy or temples throughout the Greco-Roman world. Religious tourists sometimes hoped to attain the services of a certain god, such as medical help at a temple of Asclepius or advice from an oracle. After the rise of Christianity, Christian tourists began to embark on religious pilgrimages to sites considered holy.
Methods of travel
Long-distance travel was difficult to access for poorer Romans due to limited time and economic constraints. Shipwrecks, storms, poor maps, and weather conditions also presented challenges for tourists. Usage of the Roman roads was limited by the poorer quality of roads more distant from cities and towns. Roads were primarily intended for the transportation of military forces rather than for tourism.
Piracy may have also been a concern for travelers in antiquity. The status of piracy in the Roman world is difficult to discern. The existence of ancient inscriptions referencing pirates indicates that there was at least a small presence of piracy in the Mediterranean. However, piracy was likely not as widespread as Republican-era authors claimed. Roman authors frequently laud different military or political leaders, such as Pompey, for their supposed eradication of piracy. However, these claims are certainly ideological in nature; they likely served as propaganda pieces intended to justify and promote Roman leadership and governance. In , Cicero cites the supposed elimination of piracy by general Pompey to glorify his leadership capabilities, providing justification for the , which granted Pompey military command over the Third Mithridatic War:Cicero. De Imperio Cn. Pompei. 11.34.
Most ancient authors during the Principate claimed that piracy was suppressed by the emperors. The , a posthumous inscription for Augustus completed around 14 CE, claims that piracy had been eliminated during his reign.Res Gestae Divi Augusti. 5.25. Although piracy was likely reduced during the Principate, the continued maintenance of large and expensive fleets implies that piracy remained a threat, albeit a minor one. Roman tourism peaked in the 2nd century CE due to the easier travel conditions brought by the .
Travelers were aided by the hospitality traditions of the Greco-Roman world. The Romans viewed hospitality, which they termed , as a moral obligation. Guidebooks and tour guides provided additional assistance to ancient Roman tourists. According to Plutarch, a 1st century CE Greek biographer, the tour guides were notoriously loquacious. Plutarch, in a collection of works called the , wrote that "the guides went through their standard speech, paying no attention whatsoever to our entreaties to cut the talk short and leave out most of the explanations on the inscriptions and epitaphs." Nonius, a Roman grammarian, quoted a satirical prayer invoking protection from these guides originally authored by the 1st century BCE Roman polymath Varro: "Zeus, protect me from your guides at Olympia, and you, Athena, from yours at Athens." Ancient Greek tour guides typically regaled tourists with myths and stories about the various attractions. In the , a set of two dialogues discussing the nature of love, Pseudo-Lucian comedically describes an incident at the Sanctuary of Dionysus where numerous opportunists beset one of the characters, offering to explain the stories behind the various sites for a price.Lucian, Amores. 8. Pausanias, a keen tourist in 2nd century CE Greece, wrote, "even the guides of the Argives themselves are aware that their account is not entirely correct."Pausanias, Description of Greece. 2.23.6 Pliny the Elder, a 1st century CE Roman naturalist, wrote satirically of a Roman politician named Gaius Licinius Mucianus, who Pliny viewed as a gullible tourist willing to believe these stories.
Attractions Anatolia and Greece
It was common for ancient Romans to travel to the islands of Lesbos, Samos, Rhodes, Chios, and the islands of Ionia. Greek cities in Asia Minor and renowned cities such as Athens or Sparta were also popular tourist destinations. Sparta became a hub of tourist activity during their yearly festival in honor of Artemis Orthia. During this festival, male adolescents known as were whipped at the altar. Commentators such as Plutarch or Cicero, a 1st century BCE Roman politician, possibly viewed this ceremony as strange and morbid.Cicero. Tusculan Disputations. 2.14-15.Plutarch. Lycurgus. 18.1. The ancient Romans were drawn to attractions such as the Colossus of Rhodes, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, and the Satyr of Protogenes. The ruins of Troy held symbolic significance for the ancient Romans due to the Roman myth that their civilization descended from the Trojans. Julius Caesar visited the site and toured the area with a guide. Afterwards, he erected an altar to his legendary Trojan ancestors. The , the family of Julius Caesar, claimed descent from a mythical founder called Iulus, who they identified with Ascanius. In Roman legend, Ascanius was the son of Aeneas, a mythical Trojan hero.Maurus Servius Honoratus. In Virgilii Aeneidem Commentarii. A. 1.267 Germanicus worshipped at a Trojan site believed to be the tomb of Hector, Hadrian restored the site thought to be the tomb of Ajax, and Caracalla sacrificed at the area commonly thought to be the tomb of Achilles.Herodian. History of the Roman Empire since the Death of Marcus Aurelius. 4.8.2-3.
Roman tourists frequently traveled to Greece to witness the Olympic Games, the Pythian Games, the Isthmian Games, and the Nemean Games, as well as to visit Greek temples. Greco-Roman temples were enticing attractions partially due to their religious significance. Greek temples functioned as the home of their respective deities through the cult statues depicting the gods. However, access to these sites was restricted according to local customs and the specific rules of each temple. Pausanias journeyed across Greece with the explicit motivation of visiting cult sites. Similarly, Cicero describes a visit to a cult statue depicting Heracles. Temples were also analogous to modern museums; they could contain and display large collections of artifacts for sightseers. However, these temples did not collect as diverse an assortment of artifacts as modern museums; they focused on preserving the history of the local deities and communities. Various areas throughout Greece claimed to house the tombs of mythical characters. The city of Megara claimed that it held the remains of Iphigenia;Pausanias. Description of Greece. 1.43.4 Pylos claimed that it held Nestor's remains.Pausanias. Description of Greece. 4.36.2. In some cases, multiple cities claimed to contain the remains of the same legendary figure; Argos and Cyprus both claimed to house the remains of Ariadne.Nonnus, Dionysiaca, 47.665Plutarch. Theseus. 20.
Temples often profited greatly from tourism; visitors were typically required to pay entrance fees—usually in food, money, or objects—to access the temples. These fees served as a source of revenue for temples. Temples of Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine, were often visited by individuals seeking miraculous cures for their ailments. People visited Greece to consult oracles, particularly oracles of Apollo in Delphi, Delos, or Claros. The oracles of Heracles, the oracle of Trophonius near Lebadea, and the Temple of Fortuna at Praeneste were other oracles in high demand. Another type of oracle, called "oracles of the dead," were located in caves and were believed to allow one to contact the dead.
Tourism in Greece assumed heightened importance during the Second Sophistic period, a historical term referring to Greek authors from the 1st to 3rd centuries. Dio Chrysostom, a Greek orator, claimed that Sophistic philosophers attracted tourists to Greece; some allegedly came to the Isthmian games to glimpse Diogenes Laertius.Dio Chrysostom. Discourses. 8.9-10. Second Sophistic writers emphasized classical Greek culture; their ideals possibly motivated the focus on pre-Roman sites found in the Descriptions of Greece of Pausanias. Pausanias, who authored a guidebook for travelers in Greece, refrained from discussing the Roman impact on the sites he describes. This focus possibly derives from anti-Roman sentiments, Pausanias may have been influenced by his own personal tastes; he possibly focused on describing sites that he personally viewed as worthwhile. Another potential influence of Pausanias may have been a desire to record Greek monuments, many of which were decaying.
Egypt Egypt was another popular destination for ancient Roman tourists. Roman writers often portrayed Egypt as exotic, mysterious, and ancient. Diodorus Siculus, a Greek historian who visited Egypt around 60 BCE, claimed that it was intriguing due to its unique traditions which were foreign and strange to the Greeks:Diodorus Siculus. Bibliotheca Historica. 1.69.1-7.