Housing and Houses in Ancient Rome - Domus, Insula, Villa

Housing in ancient Rome brings to mind initially the roman villa, a large country residence. But, houses in ancient Rome also included roman Domus and Villae. However, many Roman citizens lived in so called insulae, urban apartment blocks, which had up to seven floors. Only the wealthiest Romans were able to afford a roman domus, a city mansion, and only the super-rich owned a countryside roman villa.
The home of an average citizen in the city of Rome could have looked like this. These blocks of houses the Romans called “islands”, or insulae in Latin. On the ground floor, there were stores , the so-called tabernae. On the upper floors, there were cenacula, apartments. The roomiest and best-furnished flats were on the first floor. they had, multiple rooms, balconies, toilets and in some cases even running water fed by aqueducts. The residents of the higher floors lived in smaller and poorer apartments without private toilets, but they were cheaper. On the rooftops of insulae, there were sometimes even improvised wooden sheds.
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Sound files that require attribution:
Waterfall sound: freesound.org/s/335992/
Ice crack sound: freesound.org/s/177217/
Coin clatter sound: freesound.org/s/213978/
All Images that need a Creative Commons Attribution are to be found under the following link (the description of KZbin is not enough to put them here):
docs.google.com/document/d/1gMQbMvz_XRpa9VweXhIthQ2EH2NtNwTr4h_9UOOwLp8/edit?usp=sharing
Music:
Music by Kevin MacLeod. Available under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license: creativecommons.org/licenses/b.... Download link: incompetech.com/music/royalty...
Folk Round von Kevin MacLeod ist unter der Lizenz "Creative Commons Attribution" (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) lizenziert.
Quelle: incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100357
#ancientrome #ancienthistory #rome #history
Recommended Reading:
Biermann, V., s.v. Villa, in: Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopedia of the Ancient World.
Delaine, J., Insulae, in: Claire Holleran and Amanda Claridge (editors) A Companion to the City of Rome, 2018.
Höcker, C., s.v. Insula, in: Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopedia of the Ancient World.
Linke, B., s.v. Domus, in: Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopedia of the Ancient World.
Platts, H., The Development and Role of the Roman Aristocratic Domus, in: Claire Holleran and Amanda Claridge (editors) A Companion to the City of Rome, 2018.
Weeber, K.-W., Alltag im Alten Rom. Das Leben in der Stadt, Düsseldorf 2001.

[@Jim-Mc]

That insula would barely look out of place in early 20th century Brooklyn or Chicago. Just replace the aqueduct in the background with an el-train, and put a water tank on the roof. Nothing really changes.

[@andersonklein3587]

Yeah, wealth per capita didn't change too much from Roman Times until the Second Industrial Revolution, a lot of the housing that the insula brings to mind was built during the Second Industrial Revolution. I think it would be fair to say that in the 20th century, the average American would be living in something more that resembles more of a domus than an insula. It's all Malthusian really, the sustained economic growth was just always lower than the potential populational growth, the pie may double but population would grow to catch it up... Nowadays, with fertility rates low and growth rates positive, we should see the average wealth change ever faster in developed nations.

[@MelloOwnsRyuuzaki]

@@andersonklein3587 nothing new under the sun

[@royegabrieli5858]

@@andersonklein3587 You won't see any positive change - Immigration from the 3rd world is being used to suppress wages and keep the lower classes poor.

[@smileitsjustagame2937]

Yup.

[@3John-Bishop]

Just add a bunch of niggaz.

[@Zquirrelthing]

Very morbid ending lol. "He simply had him slain" *happy music*

[@SandRhomanHistory]

hihihihi

[@squidfish7144]

That's our Sulla! *laugh track*

[@spicyspecial333]

Hahahaha, perfect ending...

[@moonless8614]

Lllloooollll

[@moonless8614]

Looooooooll

[@Koivisto147]

its amazing how modern their buildings look.

[@steakinbacon8593]

Imagine what the world would look like if all the knowledge that the Romans had wasnt lost When the medieval era started

[@MaxHohenstaufen]

Actually, is the other way around. Modern architecture is strongly influenced by classic greek-roman.

[@dtmt502]

it wasnt lost Byzantium empire still continued

[@MeanOldLady]

@@steakinbacon8593 - It wasn't lost, the muslims destroyed it in endless conquests. They also destroyed 2 of the world's largest libraries in Alexandria & Nalanda. They don't preserve other cultures despite their claims today, when you just look around at islamic countries that are full of ruins while only mosques & other islamic structures & palaces are preserved.

[@codboss7092]

@@MeanOldLady nah they aint that bad. they built the baghdad house of wisdom, they had many notable scientists such as Ibn al-Haytham and Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi. they also took many ideas from classical greek scientists, they tried to build fyling mechanisms before leonardo. plus if they "destroy " all works of pervious civilizations why are the egyptian temples and summerian ziggurats still there ?

[@noemiekramer7699]

You should make a series out of this! Living in Ancient Rome

[@SandRhomanHistory]

We're on it :) We already did a Food in Ancient Rome video and more is soon to come!

[@moonless8614]

FytcdytcyrIvygucyfuyfcuryyutftyuffyugfcfuycycyfucfuycyucfuycuyfcuyfcufycutfcutfcutrcutrcurtcturcurtcurtcrtucutrcturcurtcrutc You

[@moonless8614]

Noemie Kramer yugvvv UgftfceryrtsCgfyu5tuyctyucytucdurydu🤩😂🤩😅👩‍🚒😃🙏👩‍🚒😇🙏👩‍🚒😅🍈👩‍🚒t

[@tonyhawk94]

The insula is still to this day the best urban model existing and still used in europe after the concept was modernized in France by Napoléon III to build modern Paris and major French cities, in France we call it 'ilôt" (which is the French evolution of the word Insula). And even after the post-war period that saw the building of anarchical constructions, nowadays, urban planner are coming back again at the insula. The Romans were a people centuries ahead of their time.

[@clintmoor422]

this is coming from a person who actually studied ancient history: stellar work. i never thought i'd find a channel that manages to combine history and entertainment in such a way. I love it.

[@SandRhomanHistory]

thank you. We studied it ourselves, we're glad it shows :)

[@loganfox2386]

Well you didn’t obviously

[@TheSuperhoden]

You should also check out history civilis. Different style but good quality too. Good luck with your study. I gotten my bachelor in it a few years ago

[@moonless8614]

SandRhoman History is lying

[@luisphelipecarvalho5990]

Soo... Nothing really changed about housing since Ancient Rome? Nice

[@tristanloveland982]

*tsk* noice.

[@moonless8614]

Poooooooooooo

[@Natalia-pc7fm]

Actually a lot has changed depending on the country. The plebs in Rome only had a room in the insulae to which they would return in the evening to sleep, but would do everything else in the streets: eat, go to the latrines, the baths... Nowadays with TV, a bathroom and take-out food, some people never leave their homes.

[@melchid8448]

You do realize that this video shows about top %1 to %5 so other %95 was your average agricultural labourer.

[@TheMatissV]

@@melchid8448 Rome was a very urbanized society (Alexandria, Athens, Carthage, ROME), it probably had more ppl in insulas and cities compared to other ancient civilizations. Probably not most people overall, but more than usual. Otherwise seems like today the rich live higher up now (elevators, pumped water, buildings that prolly wont burn or collapse etc). BUT the Romans did seem to basically design the best high-density living/working system, just 2000+ yrs ago. Damn.

[@billiondollardan]

I've seen videos on Roman dwellings before but they always focused on the villas. This video taught me much more and I learned new things! Thanks. The pic at 5:36 looks like one of the houses I saw in Pompeii

[@SandRhomanHistory]

The pic is from Pompeii!

[@hedgehog3180]

It's honestly way more interesting to learn about how the average person lived rather than the ultra wealthy.

[@hanahkush3263]

@@hedgehog3180 Yes

[@anoncrazynonevilgooddecent7631]

@@hedgehog3180 Yes because it gives a more accurate and honest not romanticized story of how Ancient Rome really was on average

[@anoncrazynonevilgooddecent7631]

@@hedgehog3180 it’s more interesting learning about random average people living in Roman times than the rich and famous people we only learn about

[@captainufo4587]

"Mentula" graffitied on the insula was a nice touch.

[@SandRhomanHistory]

i love you.

[@gui18bif]

Whats the meaning?

[@gui18bif]

Oh its dick

[@DontThinkso-kb9tc]

​@@gui18bifit's a part of the male anatomy

[@ATINKERER]

Yeah, Sulla was a butcher. During the Social Wars, Sulla distroyed my mom & dad's town in Naples, and killed everyone in it. Only those who escaped into the mountains survived. Ok, it was 2110 years ago, but it's hard not to hold a grudge.

[@jmitterii2]

What if you found out that your ancestors were either related or in commiseration with Sulla?

[@bryanmanuel4945]

Wierd grudge and pretty long,but ok

[@ATINKERER]

@@jmitterii2 That wouldn't surprise me at all.

[@hedgehog3180]

@@bryanmanuel4945 Definitely not out of the ordinary for the Italians.

[@nematolvajkergetok5104]

How did your parents survive?

[@SandRhomanHistory]

Whoever finds our reference to a certain poem by Catullus will be blessed by the gods. Minor spoiler for the video: Plutarch wrote that Sulla had to say the following about Ofella "The lice were very troublesome to a clown, as he was ploughing. Twice he stopped his ploughing and purged his jacket. But he was still bitten, and in order that he might not be hindered in his work, he burnt the jacket; and I advise those who have been twice humbled not to make fire necessary the third time." Also note that the study room is called Tablinum while I say Tablinium by mistake.

[@clintmoor422]

on the insula in the beginning of the video! hah, I even know the poem!

[@willg4802]

Do you say aluminum or aluminium?

[@htf5555]

Ah. little red squares. i feel at home already

[@chadcastagana9181]

The terra cotta roof tiles weren't for aesthetics, but because Rome was gutted by fires twice in the 1st century AD

[@vindamato9969]

I understood that reference.

[@tamaramorton8812]

😄

[@TenOrbital]

Offela should have stayed safe in his domus with no external windows. It’s dangerous out there

[@TheSuperhoden]

Lold

[@Cobrahn]

I heard that age of empires sound effect, great video!

[@Alice-bn7ty]

Very good job!!! Nice yo hear a historic KZbin channel with actual facts and research!!! Thank you!

[@BFDT-4]

Excellent summary and collection of graphical resources!!! Also, I have to compliment the writer of script for the interesting way that the story of Ofella was woven into the distinctions of Domus, Insula and Villa. I knew the differences, kinda, but this story and the way the descriptions were provided in the story really made the difference concrete for me! ;)

[@SandRhomanHistory]

Hey thank you so much man! We're two guys who do these, I'm the narrator typing right now. I also read through the comments ans answer them, so on behalf of the writer: thank you so much! I'll let him know about your comment and I'm absolutely sure, he'll be very very happy to receive this kind of feedback. He puts a lot of effort into these kind of embedded narratives, which are not easy to do. Especially because they ultimately need to fit into a video format, this is to say that we sometimes have to shorten or cut very funny/ creative ideas.

[@BFDT-4]

@@SandRhomanHistory - narrative Again, it's not so often that a thoughtful blending of a personal story with a overall cultural story is done. And I have to say that it really helped. I was in Ostia, btw, and I went there specifically to view the Insulae that were there, including the House of Diana, which I think in the graphic is interpreted (I could be wrong). So, I was there with you, more than you 2 might think, but I still learned from your presentation. Side thought on the three types of structures. It would be amazingly great if some millionaire thought to recreate several examples of domi, insulae and even villae, complete with furnishings, facilities and so on. Either exactly as they were in Roman times, or with slight tweaks for modern conveniences, such as glass windows, bathrooms, kitchens, and of course economical heating/cooling. The first way would be to see the finished product, as we see in digital imaging, but the second, for a way to grok (ala Heinlein) the Roman way of life with a modern twist, which could inspire many new ways of building in the future. Quis amat valeat pereat qui nescit amare bis tanti pereat quisquis amare vetat “May those who love prosper; let them perish who cannot love; let them perish twice over who veto love.” (Inscription in Hse of Caecilius Iucundus)

[@Weirdude777]

15 seconds into the video and I'm already subscribed. Thanks for such great content! The effort, thoroughness and dedication are eviident, so please keep going ;)

[@danielthompson6207]

This was quite informative, and pleasant to watch! Also, I love that you threw in the "House built" sound from Age of Empires II :)

[@SandRhomanHistory]

i'm glad you noticed!

[@katiikN]

I came here after reading Lindsey Davis's Marcus Didius Falco novels. They are brilliant at describing the everyday life in Ancient Rome, the one thing that I found most unbelievable was the concept of him living in a seventh floor apartment. Given that Lindsey took some liberties in assigning some modern psychology and attitudes to the characters I was really curious to see if all the material history was correct. (I know her writing is extremely well researched, but you never know when a writer is just applying their artistic licence) Turns out it was accurate! Great video and really well explained

[@KatharineOsborne]

When I visited Florence several years ago I stayed in the 7th story of a building built around 1500, probably to a similar quality as Roman buildings. It was quite the trek up on a meandering central staircase.

[@lukenewman9485]

Can't believe you have less than 3k subs these are amazing, hope you go big soon

[@JayzsMr]

Many more now, truly desevered, one of the best history channels on KZbin

[@ReasonableRadio]

Nice job mixing architectural and cultural information with the historical example. Helps it stick in memory

[@StefanMilo]

Great video. I love the history of architecture!

[@donrodrigovil09]

I love your channel. Thanks for so much info and the effort for the animations.

[@muscledavis5434]

It always amazes me that for people of today, an ancient Roman town would've looked more familiar than a medieval town. They were so advanced that it took Europeans over a thousand years to reach this level of urban planing and infrastructure again. And when this happened, it only took us like 300 years to get to where we are now. So from a certain point of view, we aren't really that distant from antiquity.

[@chykim1]

Such a great and informative video.... Very well done💞

[@ewp7615]

good job on this video, loved it

[@SandRhomanHistory]

@EWP thank you.

[@tanta3343]

Amazing video, fascinatingly presented. Thank you for this

[@AdolphusOfBlood]

This is a very good program, thank you for making it

[@zenwolf1293]

very cheerful music that ended with a public slaying lol. Great videos btw!

[@dorianphilotheates3769]

Superb presentation, as always. Greetings from Greece!

[@campermortey]

This was amazing. Subbed. Thank you

[@SandRhomanHistory]

thanks for subbing :) I'm glad you liked it.

[@darrylknight2675]

Very interesting thank you for the video

[@markusmoor631]

nice vid! I like this series about ancient rome

[@Julie-jt5pu]

Thank you for this video! I have a test about rome coming soon!

[@myronvenero9371]

Insula looks like 1900 Brooklyn’s

[@FernandoMendoza-dw8nz]

I mean how many ways do you have to put a lot of people together in a finite area?

[@manuelkong10]

This was excellent, thank you

[@tesscountryman9071]

I rarely see texts or videos talk about Roman apartment buildings besides perhaps a token sentence. Thank you for talking at length about how most Romans actually would've lived instead of only the wealthy few.

[@dreamjackson5483]

Nice channel. Keep it up!

[@dustinunnerstall5530]

shout out to the fast start.

[@SandRhomanHistory]

hey how nice of you. It was honestly a lot of fun to create the intro :)

[@menaseven9093]

Nice video the residence of Ancient Roman made of insula, Domus and villa remind me of modern New Yorkers that lives in apartments, condominiums, houses, and mansions. Dramatic end of Ofela at the end.

[@jaysonparkhurst7422]

The visuals were on point 🤌

[@obiwanfisher537]

So pretty much like today. You have flats, penthouses, condos, and villas. Nothing has changed.

[@grisom5863]

Except the penthouse was floor 1 not the top floor. For the Insulas anyway.

[@eugeniobonello418]

Another ancient Roman channel for me to watch :D

[@ZhangLee.]

amazing

[@slundal]

I love how some of these words are still common in normal Swedish. Villa (fancy house), Vestibul (entrance room), Taverna (restaurant or bar), Latrin (military term for toilet).

[@terrirogers7837]

Amazing video. Things are still the same in terms of luxury dwellings versus housing for more disadvantaged people.

[@reticulatedspline5733]

6:04, damn it, man, I thought I had AoE2 up when I heard that lmao. Very nice.

[@jennifertate4397]

Thanks. I wanted to see the interiors of the basic apartment buildings, and compare them to today, etc.

[@mariushunger8755]

I visited the "Grotte di Catullo" and although there are only ruins left it is very impressive!

[@SandRhomanHistory]

it's a true beauty

[@Pandzikizlasu80]

Oh! That explains a lot the famous "Romani ite domum" scene from the Life of Brian. Those nigh patrol soldiers lived in "insulas", so they actually liked the slogan.

[@tryfryingmikejones]

nice little fade out with the plonky ukelele/glockenspiel combo. top class.

[@nozyspy4967]

Hearing Latin pronounced in your accent is very pleasing to the ears.

[@user-ru1ki]

Wonderful video. Thanks a lot. Very interesting. Not much has changed in the world since then except medicine, science and technology.

[@mothball5425]

I adore the animations. Although have you sneaked in the Roman baths at Bath? They were a public bath not a villa.

[@JeffDeWitt]

This is all fascinating, and you have a new subscriber. I'd be really interested in seeing more of what life was like in the insulae. I imagine that like our apartment buildings some buildings were much nicer than others. It also might have been useful to point out WHY the higher floors were cheaper. (no elevators).

[@bagacera91]

Higher floors also get the lowest water pressure. I am not sure if that happened at all, just pointing out something.

[@mothball5425]

Most people would have to get water from a public tap and carry it upstairs.

[@seecanon5840]

Now I understand why and how Rome burned in Nero's time.

[@uofmrebel]

Very unique animation style.

[@SandRhomanHistory]

hey thank you. I hope that's a good thing :)

[@edwardfranks5215]

at 7:28 is the substructure of a GIANT villa in Sirmione at the end of a narrow peninsula that stretches from the southernmost shore of Lake Garda.

[@basteqss8859]

You deserve my SUB!!! :)

[@SandRhomanHistory]

hey, thank you kind Sir. I appreciate it.

[@basteqss8859]

@@SandRhomanHistory It's a pleasure to watch such good materials! Wish you more and more Subs. AVE 'SandRhoman History' !!! ;)

[@andrewkorsakov2631]

Fantastic upload

[@SandRhomanHistory]

thank you.

[@omahabricks]

Can you make a video about the Roman revenge after the massacre of the Teutoburg forest? In particular about the figure of Lucius Apronius, a Roman general that recived the Ornamental Triumphalia in 15AD?

[@groundhelper3]

"simply had him slain" as happy music starts to play 🤣🤣🚘

[@HistorySkills]

Awesome video! Going to definately use this in my classroom.

[@SandRhomanHistory]

Hey, I'm very happy to hrar that! I'm curious, what level do you teach?

[@HistorySkills]

@@SandRhomanHistory I teach high school, from grades 7 to senior. I have made a few videos that work for all of these ages, but yours is awesome.

[@SandRhomanHistory]

Cool, I'm very happy to hear that. I did a bit of teaching myself and appreciate it very much when teachers try to use elearning tools such as KZbin. I'll def check out your stuff!

[@kasimsultonfan]

I'm sorry , it appears to say at one point that Ofella presented Sulla with the head of "his rival Marius". It is very important to make clear that this refers to Marius the Younger.

[@cristianzavala7150]

Nice

[@brokenglassshimmerlikestar3407]

As an art history/archeology major, I regret not finding this last semester...

[@johnwmalesevic]

I simply wish it was a longer video

[@codboss7092]

8:44 why is there a random fish swiming in a house pool where people bathe in

[@andylara5085]

I liked the first music a lot better, the second " happy music" comes off as joyful and out of place.

[@Cipher71]

6:04 that AOE sound effect

[@tribunateSPQR]

Do we have any idea on the average lifespan of an insulae building? How often would they be torn down and reconstructed?

[@Jason-fm4my]

I recall hearing second-hand that Cicero owned apartment blocks and bragged about how run down they were. I'm guessing that there was a wide variation of circumstances, but I don't know how structural integrity compares to modern architecture. They don't have the acid rain issues plaguing modern Italy either tho.

[@AlexCab_49]

The basic designed of insulae is still around, it's common to see in dense cities in the US and Europe and rn here in the US it's making a comeback with the 5 over 1s.

[@TheGoldennach]

RIP Offela. Feels bad for this guy :(

[@v0lt4r1s]

Watching this for school, and honestly, I probably would've watched it even if I didn't have to.

[@craze_music]

from amsa?

[@XxLIVRAxX]

Modern spanish hacienda and hatos seem to continue the tradition of villas rusticas, the housing design and urban planing of cities of both metropolitan Spain and its colonies largely derived from roman standards.

[@ChimpFromSpace]

The apartment blocks remind me of early style New York City.

[@DanMcLeodNeptuneUK]

Do you hide the age of empires house sound effect in many vids? lol

[@Thraim.]

"Only the rich owned a countryside villa." Some things never change.

[@SandRhomanHistory]

seems to be something that barely ever changes for sure.

[@luckyme6888]

Some of those aqueducts are still in use today

[@Cliffworks]

I guess a fella just cant get a break even back then

[@rahadityap2375]

When even ancient Rome urban planning have far better organized then my city where I lived

[@stooge_mobile]

6:03 Dat AoE house building sound, yes...

[@Alex-qj1bf]

You know that the grotte di catullo are not located at the gulf of Naples? It is a bit confusing in the video

[@waynebender7720]

Is that were they get the saying : Did he get the point?

[@Moxxuren]

Im learning Russian and it's cool to see there is similarities between Russian and Latin just like Latin and English. The Russian word for home is дом, or "Dom" in English alphabet. Obviously shares a history with the Latin Domus.

[@dorianphilotheates3769]

Moxxuren - DOM is the common Indo-European root. In Ancient Greek, one of the words for house/home is domos/doma.

[@SonofSethoitae]

@@dorianphilotheates3769 Plus, Russian was influenced by Byzantine Greek. It seems more likely that they got it from the Byzantines than the Latin Romans, if it wasn't already a feature of Russian.

[@dorianphilotheates3769]

SonofSethoitae - No doubt the Russians were heavily influenced - I would even say, shaped - by the dominant Greek culture of the Byzantine empire. But their word for “home” far predates any contact with Greeks or Romans. It is early Slavonic in origin and the root goes back many millennia further to Proto-Indo-European; it is cognate not only with Greek (domos) and Latin ( domus) but also English (dhome = home) and the other Germanic languages, as well as Persian (hom), Sanskrit (om) and a host of others derived from PIE.

[@SonofSethoitae]

@@dorianphilotheates3769 Well yeah, my only point was that Greek is more likely than Latin because of the Byzantines, though it likely came from neither because Proto-Indo-European was a thing

[@dorianphilotheates3769]

SonofSethoitae - Right you are.

[@ThomasSchannel]

And He was slain “Happy music plays”

[@MaxHohenstaufen]

Domus is the word from which 'domain' comes. Dominus: lord.

[@CGSRichards]

I think(?) it went Domus-> House/household, Dominus-> Head of the household, Domicile->the building. Domain comes from Desmense(?), which is the area of land you control/are the head of.

[@MaxHohenstaufen]

The way domus went to become domain I'm not sure, what I'm pretty sure of is that domus is the root word from which domain stems. Condominium (AKA condo) is the shared domain (co-domain), dominium = domain = something owned, by an owner, or dominus.

[@johnshumate8112]

Correct me if I’m wrong, but nominative plural of domus is domi, right. 2nd declension. Sing. Plu Nom. -us. -i Gen -i. -orum Dat. -o -is Acc. -um -os Abl. -o. -is Sorry, I didn’t put macrons, I’m lazy.

[@gustavderkits8433]

Pronunciation of Classical Latin is ver good

[@charleswalker1185]

Rings to mine, should be brings to mind..

[@GetALife4680]

no thought to where all the brick came from...roughly millions...thebrick is structural....average wall thickness please???

[@xyAKMxy]

Wait wasn't marble usage in private housing illegal? As far as I remember it was reserved for public constructions only, so patricians would have painters draw their frescos to look like marbled surfaces.

[@taran5209]

Sulla was a beast damn

[@thesilenthero422]

Great vid. Roman life was so strange, all the sophistication of modern life but you can still kill your rivals in front of a crowd of people. Lol

[@FernandoMendoza-dw8nz]

I mean why would the average person care about rich nobles killing upstart nobles? An assassination is straight forward. Ya don’t have to put up with their rivalry.

[@alessiorenzoni5586]

✋The Roman houses were built very well, because the Romans were excellent engineers. However, the islands, that is the buildings, were often the subject of building speculations, so they were sometimes excessively high and built with poor materials. This is why the collapses were not so exceptional. But fires were more frequent than collapses, because many partitions were made of wicker and wooden beams. Calculating that more or less imperial Rome could occupy the surface of the historic center, that is almost 70 sq km, it certainly could not be enough for a population of 1,200,000 - 1,500,000 inhabitants. A considerable space was occupied by streets, squares, public buildings, temples, basilicas, theaters, circuses, warehouses, barracks, then by the Tiber, parks, gardens, gyms, arcades, public baths, schools and from the thermal baths. The remedy for the insufficient space was the height development of the Roman houses, that is, the islands. Only with the studies published at the beginning of the twentieth century on the archaeological excavations of Ostia and on the remains found under the staircase of the Ara Coeli, as well as on those near the Palatine in via dei Cerchi, it was realized that the Roman house could not be taken to model from the houses of Pompeii and Herculaneum where the classic independent domus prevailed because in Rome the insulae prevailed, in short, more palaces than villas. The insulae had very different apartments, while on the ground floor they had shops, on the first floor they had luxury apartments, generally with running water. then the more you climbed, the smaller and poorer they were. After all, until the twentieth century the first floor was the most beautiful, called the "noble floor", since there were no elevators and escaping from a fire was more difficult on the upper floors. Most of the apartments did not have bathrooms as they did not have water, but each condominium had a fountain in the center to draw it from. There were also no toilets for which they used public toilets, which however were used by all males. It seems strange but the public baths, reserved only for men, were a living room where everyone met, talked and discussed, and where often, as Martial points out, invitations to dinner were obtained or friends met. Often people, instead of cooking, used ready-made food on the stalls, or food cooked on the street, or in local inns, as there was little time to cook. Therefore the Romans lived a lot on the street and little in the house. The domus, on the other hand, were the houses of rich families, with a garden and a floor built around an atrium. The rooms overlooked the atrium, where a fountain collected rainwater from the open roof. A further open space was the peristyle, an area that included a garden and rooms that opened onto it. The decorations of the main rooms had walls in colored plaster and, often floors with mosaics. The most common furniture was reclining chairs and sofas, stools, side tables, cupboards for storing crockery and vases, trunks and safes. The beds had leather straps that crossed the bed frame, with sheets, blankets, mattresses and furs. The houses of the rich had water pipes, carried through lead pipes, on which there was a tax based on the size. Often, an archaeologist has been able to determine a homeowner's level of wealth by looking at the size of the pipes. The domus were also heated with the hypocaust: ovens and cavities under the floors, as well as by various braziers.

[@allanholmes5787]

Fascinating content. Thank you : ) Irritating background tinkling. No thank you : (

[@iaincaillte3356]

Considering Roman prowess in engineering and construction otherwise, it is a little surprising that they did not improve the quality of the insulae, at least enough to prevent fires and building collapse. One question is who owned the insulae? Were they investments for the wealthy or for the merchant class?

[@aidenb3069]

Bump

[@SandRhomanHistory]

Hey, essay we quoted in the video (by Janet DeLaine) answers that questions , i think. Due to a lack of time I'll quote the entire paragraph: "Because of the basic legal principle that whoever owned the land owned what was above it (Dig. 8.2.36 (Papinian); 43.17.3.7 (Labeo in Ulpian), multistorey apartment blocks designed for multiple occupancy had to have been largely rental properties (although we have to allow for some degree of possible occupancy by owners and/or their families and dependents for parts of such buildings), and hence must have accounted for the greater proportion of insulae at Rome. It was also possible to own a proportion of an insula, however defined; Cicero (Att. 15.26.4) owned one‐eighth of one, presumably then taking a one‐eighth share of the total income from rents. Whatever their physical composition, however, insulae were certainly a source of income for their owners, who generally belonged to the upper socioeconomic levels of Roman society, including but by no means exclusively senators (Frier 1980, 23-26). While there is evidence for insulae bringing in high returns from rents, there is also evidence from both literary sources and legal texts that risks could be high as well, due to the continuing danger of destruction by fire and/or of collapse, particularly of multistorey structures (e.g. Gell. NA 15.1.1-3; Sen. Controv. 2.11; Sen. QNat. 6.32.5; Juv. 3.7-8, 193-6)." (Source: DeLaine, J., Insulae, in: Holleran, C., and Claridge, A., a companion to the city of Rome) Let me know whether that helps!

[@SandRhomanHistory]

@aiden b Just leaving a comment so you get a push message to read the comment below.

[@iaincaillte3356]

@@SandRhomanHistory Yes, this is very helpful. But it also highlights the question of why Romans didn't improve the construction to reduce the risk. Of course, I am thinking with the perspective of a 21st century individual living in a capitalist economy. Although the Romans were obviously interested in making money, possibly they did not think in absolutely capitalist terms. Class must have played a larger role in how they thought about directing resources. We also have to consider that even in a capitalist economy, builders make questionable and dangerous choices in order to reduce costs. It is interesting to me how an ancient Roman and a modern individual would evaluate and act given an otherwise identical situation. Again, thanks for the reply.

[@rickrandom6734]

Improving quality of insulae was question of money. Money as we all know, is measure of work. Productivity was very low during those days compared to ours. Ordinary workers and citizens of Rome could not produce enough to make improvements to their living conditions. Roman productivity and economy per capita was worse than any third world country of today, but still it was leader of the world then.

[@shatbad2960]

When Europeans first travelled to sub Saharan Africa, they found no use of the wheel or two story buildings.

[@medievalist8441]

I can't seem to find that video about firefighting in ancient Rome?

[@SandRhomanHistory]

it’s not public anymore. might reupload at some point though

[@agileanalyst214]

Oh, it's just Sulla being Sulla