Roman Towns and Homes

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Roman Towns and Homes

• 8B History

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Background Information Roman Towns

• In Ancient Roman towns and cities streets were
  narrow and space was limited so houses were
  usually small.
• They tried to make a limit to how high a building
  could be, and how much space there was between
  buildings. Roofs had to be flat and go between
  buildings to help when fire fighting.

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Roman Towns cont.

• Towns in Rome were made up of streets and blocks
  - called insulae - which contained houses, shops,
  workshops and bars.

Roman Insulae
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Roman Towns cont.

• At the centre of the town there was usually a
  forum, or market place, where people went to
  conduct business and gossip. Next to the forum
  was the basilica or town hall, dedicated to the
  old Roman Gods. Other temples around the town
  were dedicated to a variety of Gods.

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Roman Towns cont.

• Bath houses were another type of building
  important to the life of town dwellers.

Roman bathhouse
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Roman Towns cont.

• Most Roman towns were smaller than modern cities,
  with populations ranging between a few thousand
  people to perhaps 30,000. Only great trading
  cities and capitals of the Empire were bigger
  than this. Rome was home to a million or more.

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Task 1

• In your history books, draw an aerial view of a
  typical Roman city, using the information
  provided in the notes above.

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Task 1 cont.

• Include
• Streets
• Insulae apartments, shops, bars
• Forum/ market place
• Basilica/ temple to the old Roman Gods, and to
  others
• Bath houses
• The city wall

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Task 1

• Make sure you label your maps.
• Colour code the buildings and write a key. In
  your key, explain in 1-2 sentences what each
  building was used for.

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Task 2

• Divide into groups of 4.
• Allocate each group member a task to find out
  about
• Where the rulers lived
• Where rich people lived.
• Where poor people lived.
• Where slaves lived.

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Task 2 cont.

• Separate and go to expert groups. Work together,
  using the links on the next slide, to find out
  information about where your people lived.
• Record the information in dot points in your
  books.

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Task 2 cont.

• Return to your original group. Each member has 3
  minutes to share their information with the rest
  of the group.
• Use this information to draw up a table in your
  books comparing the way rich people lived and the
  way poor people lived.

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Helpful Links

• Ancient Roman Homes
• Roman Houses and Villas
• Roman Houses
• Roman Slaves Homes
• Roman Apartments
• Roman Domus
• Roman Villas
• Roman Palaces
• Roman Homes
• Roman Insulae
• A Roman House

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Homework

• Draw a floor plan of a typical Roman House.
• Label each room.
• Choose 3 rooms and describe what they were used
  for.

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