Poor Roman Homes

An insulae consisted of six to eight three storey apartment blocks grouped around a central courtyard.

Poor roman homes. The ground floors were used by shops and businesses while the upper floors were rented as living space. Apartment blocks were not a significant feature of pompeii or herculaneum but when discussing the architecture in these towns the term insula is used in its more accurate sense to. Landlords would rent out the very bottom. Most roman citizens lived in small apartments called insulae these were often cramped and smelly as many people would live.

These flats were known as insulae and only contained two rooms at the most. The romans lived in a wide variety of homes depending on whether they were wealthy or poor. The roman society like most other ancient societies was divided into various social classes and like every other domain of life this class consciousness of the romans was also reflected in their houses and homes. Many poor and lower middle class romans lived in crowded dirty and mostly rundown rental apartments known as insulae.

The insulae often consisting of six to eight apartment blocks built around a staircase and central courtyard housed poor workers who couldn t afford a traditional domus or house. 1 overview of roman housing roman houses fall into three main types. Let s take a little trip to a roman villa if you had lived during ancient roman times going to a country villa would be like staying at a five star hotel. Rich people and wealthy freedman had elaborately constructed large houses while the poor people lived in small quarters or.

Poor romans lived in simple flats. A long covered porch or verandah with a low wall and pillars was built along the front of the house to keep the rooms cool in the summer. The insulae apartment buildings were found in main cities such as rome where there was a dense population. A rich roman house had many rooms including kitchen bath dining bedrooms and rooms for slaves.

Where did poor romans live. Roman houses were so well built if you were rich that many examples of roman houses exist throughout the roman empire. Click here for a plan of a roman house. If you were poor in rome you lived in simple flats or apartments the inside of these places was symbolic of your lack of wealth.

These multi level apartment blocks were built as high and tightly together as possible and held far less status and convenience than the private homes of the prosperous. Ancient roman homes to most people ancient roman homes bring to mind the beautiful roman villas seen in roman peplum movies with a courtyard or an atrium and beautifully decorated rooms these villas were called domus and only the very rich could afford to live in them. Poor romans lived in insulae. The poor lived in cramped apartments in the cities or in small shacks in the country.

The rich lived in private homes in the city or large villas in the country. Homes in the city most people in the cities of ancient rome lived in apartments called insulae. Insulae were made of wood and mud brick and often collapsed or caught fire.