Roman Homes
Villa
The hall's roof had a squared opening
in the middle to let the smoke out and gather the rainwater, in a basin in the
middle of the floor. Around the hall there were the bedrooms, and on the front
wall there was the entrance to a large living and dining room. Then you entered
a garden surrounded by a colonnade, rich in statues, fountains and flowerbeds.
Various rooms, among which the dining room
led to the peristilio. The kitchen, storeroom, the portico, the back exit
and rooms rented as shops completed the house.
Insula
The poor people of Rome lived in shabby, dirty houses.
Those who had little money could live in the insula, buildings of two or more
stories, overcrowded, without any light and comfort. In those houses life was
often hard, they lacked water that thus had to be carried in from an outdoor
fountain; nearly all of them were without a bathroom; furthermore they were
made of wood and therefore constantly at risk of fire.