What did Rich Romans houses look like?

They were single-storey houses which were built around a courtyard known as an atrium. Atriums had rooms opening up off of them and they had no roofs. A rich Roman house had many rooms including kitchen, bath, dining, bedrooms and rooms for slaves. Lead pipes brought water to the rich people houses.

In what kind of house would a rich Roman live?

The rich lived in single-storey houses which were built around a central hall known as an atrium. Atriums had rooms opening up off them and they were also open to the weather as they had no roofs.

What were Roman houses called?

the domus
The house type referred to as the domus (Latin for “house”) is taken to mean a structure designed for either a nuclear or extended family and located in a city or town. The domus as a general architectural type is long-lived in the Roman world, although some development of the architectural form does occur.

What did a poor Roman house look like?

Poor Romans lived in insulae. An insulae consisted of six to eight three-storey apartment blocks, grouped around a central courtyard. Insulae were made of wood and mud brick and often collapsed or caught fire. There was no heating or running water and often no toilet.

What were the largest Roman houses called?

While the poor and the slaves lived in small shacks or cottages in the countryside, the wealthy lived in large expansive homes called villas. The Roman villa of a wealthy Roman family was often much larger and more comfortable than their city home.

What was Rome’s upper-class called?

Patricians
Patricians were considered the upper-class in early Roman society. They controlled the best land and made up the majority of the Roman senate.

What room did the Romans sleep in?

A cubiculum (plural cubicula) was a private room in a domus, an ancient Roman house occupied by a high-status family. It usually led directly from the atrium, but in later periods it was sometimes adjacent to the peristyle.

What was most commonly used to decorate Roman interiors?

One of the most well known features of the decoration of a Roman house is wall painting. However, the walls of Roman houses could also be decorated with marble revetment, thin panels of marble of various colors mortared to the wall.

What were the houses like in ancient Rome?

The houses of ancient Rome in summary. Ancient Roman houses mainly fell into two classes of Domus and Insulae. The Insulae were the houses of the poor people which consisted of one or two rooms mainly used for sleeping purposes. These houses were not very well protected against fire and water.

What did the wealthy in ancient Rome live in?

As Rome became more and more prosperous from trade and conquest, the homes of the wealthy increased in both size and luxury emulating both the Etruscan atrium house and Hellenistic peristyle house. The domus included multiple rooms, indoor courtyards, gardens and beautifully painted walls that were elaborately laid out.

What was the structure of the houses of the elite class?

These structures of the houses of elite class were very durable and prone to water and fire. The building techniques used for the construction of ancient Roman houses evolved with the passage of time. The earliest houses were built having walls with irregular shaped stones.

What was the social structure of the Roman Empire?

The Roman society, like most other ancient societies, was divided into various social classes, and like every other domain of life, this class consciousness of the Romans was also reflected in their houses and homes.