Pompeii

Once a beautiful, lively city, in Rome, Pompeii was burnt

down when a nearby volcano, Mount Vesuvius, erupted, in AD
79 covering it in at least 19 feet (6 metres) of ash and
other volcanic debris in just a few hours. The city's quick
burial preserved it for centuries before its ruins were
discovered in the late 16th century as if it was frozen in
time.

Public life and family life

Many citizens took part in running the city. The main place
where meetings and ceremonies were held was the forum
which was a large open space surrounded by important
public buildings.

The family was important in Roman life, with the father

very much the head of the family. Roman wives shared their
husbands’ social position outside the home and his authority
inside it. Children were expected to obey their father even
when they were grown up. Fathers found husbands and wives
for their children during their teens. Girls could marry at
12, boys at 14.

Clothes
Men and women wore short-sleeved tunics, tied at the
waist. These were usually knee-length for men and ankle
length for women. Poor people, workers and slaves would
wear these in the street, but the wealthy would always wear
a toga over their tunic which was a large piece of cloth
wrapped around the body and draped over one shoulder.

Roads
The streets of Pompeii were paved during Roman times with
large polygonal blocks of stone. One interesting feature is
the so-called pedestrian crossings, made from stone slabs
of equal height to the pavement, placed across the street.
These allowed pedestrians to cross the road without getting
their feet wet or dirty as the streets were often filthy due
to the lack of a proper sewer network. However, the slabs
were placed in such a way that carts could still pass.

Drinking Water Systems

Pompeii had a well-developed water system via aqueducts
and water pipes, which brought fresh water from pure
springs into many of the houses in the city. Aqueducts
brought water to a water tower, here there were a series
of settling tanks to help purify it.

Hygiene
Bathing in Pompeii was a public activity, not a private one,
and the public baths were important social meeting places.
They were so important, in fact, that Pompeii (which had
only 12,000 residents) boasted three major bathing
complexes. At the baths, men and women had separate
areas. In addition to the main bathing block, which had
facilities for hot, warm and cold bathing, there was usually
an adjoining gymnasium for exercise.
Houses
Insulae were apartments used by poor Roman citizens for
housing. They were normally five to seven stories high and
had six or seven apartments and accommodated around
forty people. Each apartment had only one or at the most
two rooms. A resident family occupied this room for
sleeping purpose only and did not cook inside the apartment
as it was not safe. In most such buildings the ground floor
rooms were used as market shops and the upper floors were
used as residential apartments. The top floor apartments
were not provided with water, heating and lavatories, hence
the residents were forced to rely on public restrooms.