The ancient Romans had 2 types of houses. Large airy houses with beautiful artwork, and elegant furniture inlaid with jewels, were built side by side with houses that were cramped, dark, filled with smoke by the small cooking grills, and were also visited by rats carrying diseases.
The houses of the wealthy Romans were made of stone and marble. They had many rooms and the walls were thick to keep out the city noises. The dining room was the fanciest and was called a triclinium. Sometimes the Romans even put a fountain in the center of the room. While eating, guests reclined on couches and slaves played music for them. The music was played from the moment the guests arrived to the moment they left.
These houses were like Mansions. |
On the other hand poor Romans lived in tall apartment buildings. There were sometimes even as many as 10 floors. Some poor Romans lived in one or two room apartments above the shops where they worked. Illness and fires were constant threats because of unclean waste disposal, rickety wooden construction, portable cooking grills that caught fire easily, and the lack of proper water pipes. Plus the noises, fumes and refuse from the shops on the ground floors added to the amount of unpleasantness in the apartments.
These were almost like condos. |