The
music of ancient Rome was a part of
Roman culture from earliest times. Music was customary at
funerals, and the
tibia (Greek
aulos), a woodwind instrument, was played at sacrifices to ward off ill influences. Song
(carmen) was an integral part of almost every social occasion. The
Secular Ode of
Horace, for instance, was commissioned by
Augustus and performed by a mixed children's choir at the
Secular Games in 17 BC. Under the influence of
ancient Greek theory, music was thought to reflect the orderliness of the cosmos, and was associated particularly with mathematics and knowledge.