The Roman lifestyle
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The simple life
Sometimes Romans lived in simple housing outside of the local cities. Many Romans that lived in small towns relied dependently on their own labor. Many people who were denied of jobs were forced to live in poorer parts of the city. If people were able to get a job it was often difficult and hard to obtain. Slaves often worked as teachers, doctors, surgeons, or architects. Freed men were usually bakers, fishmongers, or carpenters. Women that were poor would work as hairdressers, midwifes, and dressmakers. Housing When Ancient Romans tried to find places to live in the city it was often difficult; because there was simply not much space. Many Roman citizens poor or rich lived in apartments. In Ancient Rome there was at least 46,000 apartments and they were called insulae. In the apartment buildings there was constantly always a risk of hazardous effects such as fires, flooding, collision, etc. The Roman government tried to enforce the apartments to provide safety to the housing; but that did not always work. There were still on occasional fires from carelessness and defaults. The apartments were obviously in bad condition and did not look nice. Each story of the Apartment was based on income. The bottom story was more comfortable than the top story was. The bottom floor of apartments were comfortable because they were more spacious containing more rooms to hold people in, Such as rooms for sleeping, dining, etc. The richer people usually had servant that would tend to the houses. Private Villas Most rich residents had the luxury of living in private housing known as a Villa or domus. People usually had businesses next to their homes in which they sold stuff. Behind the store there was an atrium which included a shrine to a household or ancestral god. On the top of the atrium there was an open ceiling with a rectangular pool beneath it. On rainy days rain would drain down into the villa which would be used in other areas of the building. On each side of the atrium there were small room known as bedrooms or cubiculum, libraries and offices. There was also enough space for kitchens and dining rooms. At the back of the domus there was the family garden. The average food The Romans usually ate grapes, grains, and olives. Everyone in the Italian Peninsula ate these daily. They used grains to make bread, the grapes to make wine, and the olives to make olive oil. Bread was the main course for almost everybody, especially for the poor. Wine was usually served with almost every meal the Romans ate. Wine was often deluded with water to take away some of the alcohol effect. Olive oil was a beneficial and important source of fat. The rich ate whatever they felt like eating. They usually enjoyed eating exotic foods such as jellyfish, ostrich, pork, and fungus which was some of their favorites. The rich usually threw big banquets for their guests that lasted all day. The poor people’s diet was based on bread, vegetables, and porridge. The poor's source of protein was usually meat and cheese. The toga Although the toga was associated with the Roman culture, not all Romans could wear it. Only certified citizens were allowed to wear togas. Togas were usually not comfortable but people still wore them with pride and dignity. The toga was a very large semicircular or a rectangular piece of wool cloth that was wrapped around a Roman body. If the toga was properly worn it required no buttons, pins clasps, or any other fastening device. The average citizen usually wore a white toga but the people with higher importance wore a purple toga. The color of toga was based a person's position according to their significance. For example the emperor wore a completely purple toga. Public Romans usually attended public baths where women and men were separate where they would socialize, exercise, read, relax, and get clean. Before people would go to the public baths they would exercise in the gymnasium, followed by a trip to a warm room, where an attendant would rub oil all over the visitor’s body. Next people would go to a place called the tepidararium, where another attendant would scrape oil, dirt, and sweat off the body with a metal tool. When the Romans got clean they swam in the baths, which included hot and cold water pools. The pools were regularly refreshed with aqueducts and underground furnaces. The Romans would drink special mineral waters that were said to have healing powers after the baths. The main purpose of the baths was for people to socialize with one another. |