The people of ancient Rome lived in a wide range of housing, from grand urban mansions to crowded flats and makeshift dwellings attached to shops. Where and how someone lived depended on geography, social status and wealth – but Roman housing across the social spectrum looked very different from anything built to modern regulations.
On an episode of the HistoryExtra podcast, Hannah Platts, a senior lecturer in ancient history and material culture at Royal Holloway, University of London, explained what ancient Roman homes would have been like for different members of society.
However, as with many things in history, there’s one big bias: historians know the most about the wealthy when it comes to Roman houses.
Large and better-build homes survive far better in the archaeological record than modest dwellings, but that’s not the only reason. “Archaeologists were very keen to dig out the big and the lavish – or indeed to dig out the urban – because that’s where they would find the mosaics, the big structures and the statues,” Platts explains.
But that doesn’t mean that historians haven’t learned plenty about Roman homes. Here are three essential facts you need to know about Roman housing, with expert insight from Platts.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member