Daily Life in Ancient Rome

1. Daily Life

1.1. Most times when you think what life must have been like for Romans, you think it was lush ,and full of jewels, but this is not the truth. The rich make up only a small percentage of Rome. Good are traded often, and many of the people living there are slaves. Most people lived in the countryside.

2. Housing

2.1. Like everything else, housing depended on if you were rich or poor. The rich in big spacious houses, airy homes. While the poor lived in small apartments crammed next to each other. The first hall of a rich Roman's house (called the atrium) was the room that the Romans greeted visitors. This room had an indoor pool to make sure the room was cool. Since the poor's living condition was so crammed, fires were prone and rats who carried diseases were present.

3. Education

3.1. Most children could not attend school, they had to do work. Only the very rich could afford for their kids not to work. In richer families, the father or a slave tutored kids until the age of 6. Boys typically became soldiers, doctors, politicians, or lawyers. Girls might become dentists, real estate agents, or tutors. Some Girls become midwives.

4. Recreation

4.1. Wealthy people had a lot of leisure because of the slaves did all of the work. Music usually played a big part in entertainment. The roman emperor made sure to give the poor food and entertainment, to keep them happy and busy. Some forms of entertainment includes steam baths, gladiator fights, chariot races, and musicals.

5. Country Life

5.1. 90% of the people who lived in the Roman empire lived in the country. Wealthy Romans often owned large country estates with large houses. These wealthy Roman's rarely permanently lived in their country houses. The slaves who worked on these estates had "overseers" who watched over their work, they often treated the slaves cruelly.

6. Food and Drink

6.1. Like all empires, the foods the people ate depended on if they where rich or poor. The main foods were bread, beans, honey, spices, a few vegetables, cheeses, and meats. Common drinks were plain water, and boiled water with herbs and honey. The Romans had a "fast food" place of sorts called "thermopolia" where people rich and poor, could buy ready to eat cold and hot food.

7. Law and Order

7.1. As in many great empires throughout history, most power came from the emperor. While there where senates, and assemblies. What the emperor wanted, happened. The emperor could bend the rules to his will. Crime was common, even though laws where often enforced.

8. Religion

8.1. Most of Roman religion, came from the Greeks. They adopted many Greek gods, and gave them Roman names. They also adopted gods from other religions. Sacrifices where a common occurrence. Romans encouraged bringing new things to their religion, as long as they didn't encourage disloyalty to the emperor.

9. Family Life

9.1. In Roman Families, the father was the one who made all the decisions. In richer families, only the father needed to work, but in poorer families, both men and women had to work. Boys had a ceremony when they reached manhood, this was not the same for women, who "became" an adult when they got married. When the boy became a man, he offered his childhood toys to the houshold gods.