After reading about Roman villas, we compared the homes of the wealthy and poor in Roman Britain.
The Romans lived
in a wide variety of homes depending on whether they were wealthy or poor. The
poor lived in cramped apartments in the cities or in small shacks in the
country. The rich lived in private homes in the city or large villas in the
country.
Rooms
A Roman villa
often had multiple rooms including servants' quarters, courtyards, baths,
pools, storage rooms and gardens. On the other hand, the poor and the
slaves lived in small shacks with only one room.
Flooring
A Roman villa had lovely
mosaics on the floors, yet the poor Romans could only afford to
decorate their homes with animal skins.
Heating
Wealthy Romans
could enjoy warmth in their homes because of the under floor central heating
known as ‘hypocaust’. Whereas the poor Roman only had a fire, which was also
used for light and cooking.
Decoration
Affluent Romans
were able to decorate their homes with painted walls, and intricate mosaics.
However, poor Romans could only decorate their homes with animal skins on
benches.
This is an excellent piece of work. People often think (wrongly) that all Romans were rich and lived in Villas with mosaics in every room. It is a good reminder that we need to look at all the evidence when studying History. Mr Watson.
ReplyDeleteI would definitely rather live in a villa than a wooden hut. It’s interesting to read the differences between the rich and the poor Romans. We often forget not ALL Romans were rich.
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