Life in Ancient Rome

The Romans had one of the greatest and most

powerful empires in history. They built roads
and canals, and hundreds of elegant cities
full of theatres, markets and enormous sports
stadiums. But what were ordinary Roman
houses like, and what was life like in a typical
Roman home?
Two thousand years ago, the ancient city of Rome had
over one million residents, and there wasn’t enough space
for all the people. When we think of Rome, we think of
magnificent stone buildings like the Colosseum or the
Pantheon, but most of its houses were wooden, especially
in the poorer districts. Poorer people lived in two-storey
houses around three sides of a central courtyard. Families
were larger than today. 1    There was
no privacy inside the house, and, in the summer, it was
often too hot as well as too crowded to sleep indoors, so
younger people often slept on the roofs. Teenagers spent
time with their friends in the courtyard, playing ball games
and board games. 2    The houses didn’t
have kitchens or bathrooms, so people used the courtyard
for cooking and washing. There weren’t many cats in Ancient
Rome, but the most popular pets were dogs, and some
people had monkeys or ducks!
Wealthier people had larger and more luxurious houses.
3    And because rich Romans had so
many servants and slaves, their lives were unbelievably

insight Pre-Intermediate Workbook Unit 4 pp.32–33 © Oxford University Press 2014 1

 comfortable. Their one-storey homes were made of brick,
with attractive red roofs, and the windows of all the rooms
faced towards the courtyard.
4    Rich people wanted to be safe from
crime. They had a big wall at the front of the house with
a huge front door, and they had guards to watch out for
thieves and burglars, especially at night.
Inside a wealthy citizen’s home, there were a lot of things
that we think are modern. 5   They
had pipes* that carried hot water under the floor of their
bedrooms and living rooms, so they were warm in winter
and they had a hot bath whenever they wanted one. There
were a lot of rooms in their homes, including an office, a
kitchen, a huge bathroom, and small rooms for their slaves.
Interestingly, they didn’t have any carpets, or much furniture,
and things like armchairs and desks simply didn’t exist. The
wealthy Romans decorated their walls with mosaics,* or by
painting colourful pictures if the mosaics were too expensive.
They often had a shady garden at the back of the house,
which their gardeners looked after, and they usually tried
to build their dining room opposite the garden so that they
could eat and enjoy looking at the trees and flowers.
People lived in Ancient Rome two thousand years ago, but
were their homes and their daily lives so very different from
the lives of very poor and very rich people today?

pipes = long tubes that carry water around a house

mosaics = wall pictures made from a lot of small stone
pieces
A002001

insight Pre-Intermediate Workbook Unit 4  pp.32–33 © Oxford University Press 2014 2