¦U Reading Check
W-:M What were some of the features of a Roman domus?
In the early years of the empire, about 1 million people lived in Rome. It suffered from many of the same problems as cities of today. There was too little housing. The air was polluted. There was crime in the streets. The cost of living was high. Many Romans could not find jobs and had to pay taxes on almost everything.
A rich person in Rome lived in a domus (do' muhs), or house, with marble walls, colored stone floors, and windows made of small panes of glass. A furnace heated the rooms, and pipes brought water even to the upper floors.
Most Romans, however, were not rich. They lived in apartment houses called islands that were six or more stories high. Each island covered an entire block. At one time, there were 26
ROMAN FLOOR PLAN This is a typical floor plan of a damns. What class of
Romans would live in a house such as this?
The Atrium Many shopping malls today have an atrium, a sky-lit central court. The idea for the atrium comes from ancient Rome. In a Roman house, the atrium was the central room. It was often open to the sky and had a pool to collect rainwater.
Blocks of islands for every private house in Rome. The ground floor of most islands was given over to shops. These opened onto the street from large arched doorways.
Rents were high in Rome. They varied according to the apartment floor—the higher up the apartment, the lower the rent.
The Family In Rome, the family was all-important. The father was head of the household. His word was law. He arranged the children's marriages to improve social position or to increase wealth. Cousins were expected to help one another politically.
Until they were 12 years old, most Roman boys and girls went to school together. Then, the sons of poor families went to work, while the sons of rich families began their formal education. They studied reading, grammar, writing, music, geometry, commercial arithmetic, and shorthand. When they were 15 years old, they entered a school of rhetaric (ret' uhr ik), or speech and writing, to prepare for a political career. Some went to schools in Athens or Alexandria for philosophy or medicine.
Girls received a different kind of education. When they were 12 years old, their formal education stopped. Instead of going to school, the daughters of the rich were given private lessons at
Painting of Roman Couple
¦U Reading Check
W-:M Which groups of people were trained as gladiators?
World History
