Roman Houses Developed Into a Unique and Functional Style All Their Own. There Were Big

Housing

Roman houses developed into a unique and functional style all their own. There were big differences between the housing of the rich and the poor in Roman times.

Poor Romans lived in insulae. An insulae consisted of six to eight three-story apartment blocks, grouped around a central courtyard. The ground floors were used by shops and businesses while the upper floors were rented as living space. The lower class Romans (plebeians) lived above or behind their shops. Even fairly well-to-do tradesmen might chose to live in an apartment-building compound over their store, with maybe renters on the upper stories. Their own apartments might be quite roomy, sanitary and pleasant, occasionally with running water. But others were not that nice. An entire family (grandparents, parents, children) might all be crowded into one room, without running water. They had to haul their water in from public facilities.

Most apartment blocks were made with timber and mud brick, making them prone to fire and collapse. There was no heating or running water and often no toilet. The upper floors were the most unsafe and therefore the cheapest to rent. Fire was a very real threat because people were cooking meals in crowded quarters, and many of the flats were made of wood. They didn't have toilets. They had to use public latrines (toilets). An entire family would often occupy just one or two rooms. Insulae were dirty, noisy and unhealthy places to live.

Shops were a common feature fronting Roman streets, occupying the front portion of many houses and apartment blocks. In some cases, it seems as though the shops were deliberately designed into the buildings, but in many others they were obviously added later. Most were single room tabernae, but a large number also had rooms in the back for storage and/or production, in addition to a mezzanine floor for storage and living quarters. Many shops had large masonry counters with ceramic jars built into them, mouths flush with the counter. These conveniences were used to serve wine and food to customers. Some shops sold imported goods, while others, like bakeries, would make their wares onsite. During the empire, many shops were built in planned, concentrated markets known as macella, while the town forum also acted as a focal point for business. Other types of shops, such as inns and brothels, were common, but unrecognizable unless specifically built for the purpose.

The upper class Romans (patricians) lived very differently. Rich Romans lived in a single-storey dwelling called a domus. A domus was very grand – with marble pillars, statues, plaster or mosaic walls and mosaic floors. Their homes were single family homes, which in ancient Rome meant the great grandparents, grandparents, parents, and kids of one family lived in a home together. The main room in the house was the atrium, a windowless room with a space in the ceiling (the compluvium) through which rain fell into the impluvium, a hollow space in the floor. There were alcoves on either side of the atrium, called alae, in which wax busts of ancestors were kept. There were four types of atrium: Tuscan (in which the roof was supported by two pairs of beams that crossed each other at right angles, tetrastylon (in which four pillars supported the roof beams at the corners of the compluvium), displuviatum (in which the roof sloped to the out walls), and testudinatum. Later the atrium was reduced to being a reception room.

Homes were made, quite often, of brick with red tile roofs, with rooms arranged around a central courtyard. The windows and balconies faced the courtyard, not the street, to keep homes safe from burglars. There were painting on the walls and beautiful mosaics on the floor. There was very little furniture, and no carpeting. The size of a house was a reflection of the wealth of the owner. A nicer house might have the atrium, which served as a type of reception hall/living room, leading into the tablinum, where the family records (tabulae) and portraits of ancestors (imagines) would be kept. Other rooms could include cubiculi (bedrooms), a triclinia (dining room), oeci (reception rooms), a kitchen, and a lavatory. The wealthy might also have accommodations for baths or a library.

/ The Heart of the Empire