What Life in Ancient Rome Was Really Like

What Life in Ancient Rome Was Really Like

No other civilization in human history has fascinated the world quite like the Roman Empire. On the battlefield, the Romans were a force the world had never seen before, an unparalleled war machine that could sweep through cities and absorb entire countries into its borders. 

At the heart of it all was Rome, the epicenter of the world. But what was it really like to live there? Where did the common Roman person live? What were the Roman games really like? And just how bad were some of those Roman emperors? 

From the streets to the senate to the games, this is what life was like in ancient Rome.

Most Romans lived in tall (up to 100 feet), rectangular apartment buildings called insula, meaning "island." Rome was crammed with these buildings, which were spaced very closely together, creating a labyrinth-esque network of narrow alleys.

These buildings were built so close together that one man wrote that he and the man in the apartment across from him could stretch their arms out and shake hands from their windows. And unlike today, the worst apartments were on the top floor, where it was darker, more cramped, and less safe. If the building burned, you'd need to haul it down those stairs. Richer citizens lived on the bottom floors. 

There was no running water or sanitation in the insulae. Poorer folk had to rent apartments with several other roommates, who were day laborers, so the places stunk. It also was not uncommon to hear the agony of childbirth if your neighbor was a pregnant woman, as women gave birth at home in Rome.

And the buildings were cheap, so the insulation was terrible

Insulae were made of mud-brick and wood and had a reputation for being unsafe. A total collapse was possible, especially if the builder cheaped out on cost. Here's how Cicero described one of the buildings in "Letters to Atticus":

"Two of my buildings have fallen down, and the rest have large cracks. Not only the tenants, but even the mice have moved out!"

There was a lot of wood in these buildings, with wood floors and even a wooden roof covered in tiles. To make matters worse, fire-preventative building codes enacted by Nero appeared to have gone ignored, according to professor , who holds a Ph.D. in ancient Greek and Roman history and runs  "Questions About Ancient Greece and Rome You Were Afraid to Ask in School." 

While Romans did not have ovens, they did have portable braziers with hot coals. So you could imagine why there were so many fires.

Rome did have firemen, the Vigilies, who watched for fires. To contain fires, they tore down adjacent buildings with ballistae to create firebreaks and carried water buckets to douse the flames. 

The Romans were some of the first people to use fire insurance. Naturally, this would only be for people who could afford it. 

And, of course, with insurance, comes possible insurance fraud. The poet Martial, in his "Epigrams,"  fraud in a tongue-in-cheek manner:

"You had purchased a house, Tongilianus, for two hundred thousand sesterces; and a calamity but too frequent in this city destroyed it. Contributions poured in to the amount of a million sesterces. May you not, I ask, be suspected of having set fire to your own house, Tongilianus?"

Even though fire and shoddy buildings meant a lot of displaced (if not dead) people, there were no public shelters where people could go and spend the night. 

"You were on your own," says Ryan. "At best, you might hope for help from friends or relatives, or perhaps a wealthy patron." 

This also meant all of your stuff was gone, too. The average Roman citizen did not have access to the banks, which were typically for the wealthy. 

Romans Went to the Bathroom Together, and Sometimes the Toilets Exploded

Romans may have had a chamber pot in their bedrooms, but it was more comfortable to use a toilet with running water. Roman bathrooms were large, multi-toilet structures made up of benches. There were no dividing walls.

Romans walked in, lifted toga, sat down and did their business. Their waste was washed away into the sewers, but all that defecation in an ancient sewage system meant the accumulation of dangerous gasses.

"Methane and other gasses sometimes built up in Roman toilets, causing sudden explosions and bursts of flame," says Ryan. "I don't know of any stories about someone being killed by an exploding toilet, though it probably happened to some poor plebe."

Add exploding toilets to the list of things that could kill you in ancient Rome. When Romans were finished going to the bathroom, they would brush themselves with a communal sponge on a stick, which also doubled as a disease spreader.

While Roman working conditions may have been awful, at least the day wasn't too long. Although it did start at the crack of dawn, or around 6 a.m.

A Roman's internal clock and the sun would have to be enough to wake them, but if that wasn't enough, the noise of the streets would do it. Precise time wasn't kept by pretty much anyone in ancient Rome, so getting to work meant getting to work at a reasonable hour, not by the minute. 

From there, a typical Roman would leave their insula and head to the streets and pick up a quick take-out breakfast at a — the ancient Roman equivalent to fast-food. Work would last until the afternoon, which was a time devoted to leisure. This was prime time to hit up the baths.

While some shops would remain open, most would be closed for the night, leaving taverns as a place to eat. 

Boots Were Expensive. Or Were Wages Just Poor?

While the Roman Empire spanned several centuries and the Roman denarii's worth went through periods of inflation and deflation, we do have solid information on how much Romans were paid during the time of Diocletian, who reigned from 284-305 C.E. 

During his reign, inflation was so out of control that Diocletian made an edict declaring the maximum price for certain goods. Those caught charging more could be punished by exile or death. While this edict proved impossible to enforce and was later rescinded, it left us with some cool little tidbits about Roman pay during this time. 

Mule drivers and farm laborers earned 25 denarii daily, while a wall painter made 75 denarii a day (these wages also included meals). It's practically impossible to translate the worth of a denarii to the modern dollar or pound, but for perspective, a pair of good leather boots (without hobnails) cost 120 denarii — meaning you would have to work five full days to afford a pair as a laborer or mule driver.

A pound of fattened goose was for the rich. One pound of that cost 200 denarii. 

Roman Clothes Were Washed in Urine

The public toilets were large structures, and only existed in certain places. Romans needed more bathrooms, so large chamber pots placed in certain places throughout the city did the trick. At least it did for urinating. Plus, they served a dual purpose: laundry detergent.

Roman laundry workers would collect this urine and head on over to their laundry shop, where they would dilute it with water and pour it over the clothes in a tub. They would then stomp on the clothes, trading the dirt and oil for urine, then rinse the togas with water.

It's gross, but pee contains ammonia, which is a cleansing agent. It also

Rome had its fair share of eccentric and/or completely mad emperors, and many of them liked to own exotic pets. The original tiger king was the emperor Elagabalus, who ruled for just four years before people became fed up with his insanity and murdered him. 

If you happened to be at one of Elagabalus' parties, you'd likely be viewing orgies. In one tale of something he did in public, Elagabalus gathered all of Rome's prostitutes in the Forum, and then instructed the crowd to have their way with them, barking orders like a general, promising prizes. Oh, and he was 14 years old when he became emperor. 

Elagabulus owned "dozens of tame lions and tigers" and "liked to amuse himself by unleashing his pets on unsuspecting guests during parties," says Ryan. 

Another emperor, Valentinian I, owned two beloved bears, whom he named Innocence and Snowflake. Sometimes Innocence and Snowflake had their master's political enemies for dinner. 

"Innocence was always his favorite, and eventually — since he couldn't stand to see her caged — he released her back into the wild," says Ryan. 

Another emperor, Caracalla, kept a lion named Scimitar in his bedroom.

The Streets of Rome Were Dangerous, and Not Just Because of the Thugs

Rome's city streets were terribly narrow. They were stuffed with humanity, too. Not only did you have to watch your feet, but you also had to watch the sky. 

A 13-year-old tourist was killed by a falling roof tile, and it wasn't unusual for a chamber pot to be emptied from a window. Juvenal in "Satires" wrote, "You would be considered thoughtless and careless about sudden accidents if you were to go out for dinner without first making a will." He's joking, but there's truth in his words. 

There are reports of people being crushed to death by crowds as well, although it's not clear if there was something to cause so much movement (like running away from a crumbling building). 

The Streets Were Also Dangerous Because of All the Thugs. And Emperor Nero

When the sun set, Roman streets were shrouded in shadows and frequented by dangerous people. 

"Most Romans simply tried to avoid crime by not going at night, when thieves haunted the unlit streets," says Ryan. 

A person who chose to brave the streets for a game of dice and a pint may even have had the misfortune of bumping into Emperor Nero. According to the historian Suetonius, Nero would disguise himself with a hat or a wig and attack men "coming home from supper" and beat them up. If they put up a fight, he would "wound them, and throw them in the common sewer."

Nero would break into shops and pilfer their contents, then sell them from his house. He finally stopped going out into the streets after he took a severe beating from a senator, who put the disguised emperor in his place after Nero groped his wife. 

Part of the crime problem in ancient Rome was due to the fact that the Romans had no real police force. While there were paramilitary forces on the street level, their duty was to keep mobs in check and quell possible uprisings.

The Vigiles, Rome's firemen, doubled as night watchmen and were supposed to enforce some semblance of policing, but they were either too few or too ineffective to be considered an actual force.

Of course, if you were rich, you were fine. 

"Important men sometimes traveled with bands of armed slaves, or even with hired gladiators," says Ryan. 

For the common folk, it came down to people policing themselves. And it could work. Ryan notes that even though there was crime and no police, Roman society "was less lawless than this might suggest, since the face-to-face nature of social interactions in Roman neighborhoods helped to build local solidarity." 

Yet if something terrible happened to you and a loved one, you were on your own. 

Romans Were Cool With Vigilante Justice

Today, if someone is murdered, there's an investigation. In Rome, if one of your loved ones was murdered, you would most likely be seeking vigilante-style justice. 

"Justice was remarkably informal in Rome. If your wife was murdered, you and your relatives would be responsible for finding the killer," says Ryan.

It would be up to you and your gang of vengeance seekers to find the man and bring him to justice — which would most likely mean killing them. Unless the killer was someone more important than you. You weren't going to get away with murdering someone powerful. 

However, in the late Roman era (circa 146 B.C.), there was a court system where you could attempt to prosecute someone, even if they were rich. Of course, you'd have to hire a lawyer to argue for you, and chances are that the rich person has a better lawyer, or could just pay off the judges. 

"Your chances of success in court would depend largely on your status vis-a-vis the accused murderer," says Ryan. 

Some things don't change. 

Actual Justice Was for the Rich

The absence of police didn't mean the Romans had no laws. There were harsh punishments, but again, they were mainly directed at the lower class.

Laws were explicitly designed to give Roman's more powerful citizens, the honestiores, even more room to break laws. The honestiores included people such as senators, local officials and army officers, who were given an entirely different scale of punishments because they "did more" for society. 

Everyone else was a member of the humiliores, regular Roman citizens who could be sentenced to work in the mines, which was essentially a death sentence. The worst sentence would be crucifixion, although that fate was almost never given to Roman citizens. 

When Julius Caesar was still a lawyer, he was captured by Mediterranean pirates. After escaping, he hired men to hunt them down and bring them back to Rome, where he had them crucified. But rather than let them suffer on the cross, he had their throats slit.

Some Death Sentences Were Brutal

While crucifixion was considered  "the ultimate punishment" (summum supplicium), there was another curious and dreadful fate that awaited the most serious of offenders: poena cullei, or "punishment of the sack."

A person sentenced to the sack had their arms and feet bound and shoved in a leather sack. And then came the animals: a dog, a monkey, a snake and a rooster, all together. The sack was then tied shut as the animals bit and clawed at one another, and then the sack was thrown into a body of water.   

This execution appeared to have been reserved for parricide. So if you lived in ancient Rome, you really would not want to kill a relative. 

The Roman Baths Were Incredible

One Roman's epitaph has this line: "Baths,  wine, sex ruin our bodies, but baths, wine and love make life work living." If someone mentions something along with wine and sex, you know it means a good time.

So what were the baths like? 

The largest of the baths were multi-structure units the size of entire neighborhoods, or even small towns. The Baths of Caracalla, located near a working-class area in the northeast of ancient Rome, enclosed around 27 acres and could accommodate 1,600 bathers or 8,000 people at time.

It included two 19-foot-long fountains, a library and gymnasium. It was lavishly decorated with mosaics, artwork and marble statues. It likely included a brothel (or was at least frequented by prostitutes, like all public baths) and possibly even a restaurant. 

In the Roman baths, you were "just as likely to get your coat nicked as you were to catch the clap," Mary Beard said in the three-part documentary series "Meet the Romans."

Like seeing a celebrity at a basketball game, even the emperors might show up to the baths for a public appearance. The rich came with an entourage of slaves to carry their clothes and rub them down with olive oil and scraped their skin with a strigil, while the poor rubbed themselves down and rubbed their bare backs on the stone walls. 

Need a Laugh? Crack Open a Joke Book

Humans have always loved a good joke, and the Romans even had their own joke book. Called "Philogelos," which translates to "The Laughter Lover," the book dates to around the third or fourth century A.D., during the collapse of the Roman Empire — a time when every Roman could use a good laugh.

Here are a few of them:

"Someone needled a jokester: 'I had your wife, without paying a dime.' He replied: 'It’s my duty as a husband to couple with such a monstrosity. What made you do it?'"

"A man with bad breath asked his wife: 'Madame, why do you hate me?' And she said in reply: 'Because you love me.'"

"When an intellectual was told by someone, 'Your beard is now coming in,' he went to the rear-entrance and waited for it. Another intellectual asked what he was doing. Once he heard the whole story, he said: 'I’m not surprised that people say we lack common sense. How do you know that it’s not coming in by the other gate?'"

"'An intellectual bought a pair of pants. But he could hardly put them on because they were too tight. So he got rid of the hair around his legs.'"

We didn't say they were good jokes. 

More jokes from "The Laughter Lover," translated by John T. Quinn, can be found at Diotima.

And speaking of pants…

You Couldn't Wear Pants

For a period of time, Romans saw pants as barbaric clothing because other nations' people — like the Gauls and Persians — wore them (the ancient Greeks hated pants as well).

As Rome's culture expanded with its borders, trousers became more and more common among its people, something the powers that be didn't want to see. 

In 399 A.D., a law was passed banning the wearing of pants and/or boots. Those who donned the barbaric clothing would be exiled.

It didn't really matter though. The Visigoths sacked Rome 13 years later, and Rome already was far into its decline. 

Slavery Wasn't a Life Sentence

Slavery was part of Roman culture, but if you had to pick, it may have been better to be a slave in ancient Rome than in pre-Civil War America. Sometimes. 

Slavery was not a life sentence in Rome. Slaves could earn their freedom or be granted manumission (their release from slavery) by their masters, and, once freed, became full Roman citizens.  

There is evidence of Romans buying slaves in another land, taking them home, and freeing them. One gravemarker for a freed slave tells the story of this. Her husband bought her, took her home, freed her and married her.

Slaves also could buy their freedom if they could accumulate enough money, usually as gifts. "Familia," the Roman word for family, included slaves, too, and it was not uncommon for slaves to be buried alongside their masters.  

Slaves were, of course, property, and if a master wanted to have sex with their slave, the slave couldn't say no. And masters could abuse or kill their slaves at will. 

Some slaves had power, too, like one who belonged to Caligula. He was said to hold two huge scrolls under each arm, one marked "dagger" and the other "sword." They were lists of who Caligula was to have killed, and how.

Slaves Had a Holiday

Antoine-Francois Callet/Wikipedia

The Romans liked to party, and for a few days each year, they let their slaves partake in the parties, too.

Saturnalia occurred on Dec. 17 and, by the late republic period, extended over several days. It was one of the most popular festivals of the year. Shops and businesses closed so everyone could attend the free public banquets at the temple of Saturn and partake in the revelry.

During Saturnalia, owners waited on their slaves and gave them gifts. Slaves, in turn, could dine with their masters, gamble with them, and speak freely — well, relatively freely. It would be quite stupid for a slave to be too critical of their owners. 

But one thing's for sure: If you were sober at Saturnalia, you'd be the odd one out. 

But Slavery Could be Horribly Brutal

That's not to say slavery was without its horrors. Like slavery in pre-Civil War America, how you were treated entirely depended on who bought you and what you had to do. Slaves owned by the state did hard labor constructing public buildings, and slaves owned by landowners did back-breaking work in the fields. Slaves were commonly forced into prostitution, too.

Roman law was particularly harsh on slaves. If a slave needed to be questioned, they were required to be tortured first. If a slave owner died, every single slave he owned would be tortured before questioning. If one slave was convicted of murdering his master, every slave that master owned could be crucified. The emperor Augustus would throw slaves sentenced to death in a pool full of eels because he enjoyed seeing a man torn apart in an instant. 

Slave conditions did improve going into the imperial period, and slave owners were encouraged to treat their slaves properly. Hadrian outlawed the ability of a master to murder their slaves. It also outlawed the selling of slaves to pimps and gladiator schools. 

There Are So Many Marble Heads for a Reason

Musée Arles Antique/Wikipedia

Ever wonder why there are so many heads of emperors, philosophers, senators and other influential Romans, but so few bodies? It's because the statue bodies were a placeholder and the heads were swapped out. 

Many emperors had short reigns that ended bloody. Why bother committing so many resources to a ruler who was going to get stabbed to death in an alleyway? That's what happened to Caligula, whose marble head wasn't even preserved when he was murdered.

When the throne went to his uncle, Claudius, sculptors cut Caligula's face in the shape of Claudius. 

Romans Made a Mountain Out of Trash

If Rome were a machine, olive oil would have been its fuel. Romans imported an unfathomable amount of the stuff. They rubbed it on their bodies, used it as fuel in their lamps, used it in meals, mixed it in perfumes, and used it as medicine. Olive oil was imported from around the Mediterranean and came to Italy in amphorae, large terracotta jars that could be as tall as five feet. 

But these jars couldn't be reused, because the leftover olive oil turned rancid, leaving a fetid smell. The Romans came up with an ingenious way of disposing of these pots. They made an entire hill out of it. Officially called Monte Testaccio, which means "broken pot mountain" in Latin, the hill is 150 tall and ventures 45 feet below the ground, with an estimated 25 to 80 million shards of amphora carefully laid.

It wasn't just a garbage dump. It was a kind of shrine to the power of the Roman Empire.

There Were So Many Exotic Goods

With one million people, Italy was far too small to sustain the entire populace of Rome. So Rome imported nearly everything — grain, olive oil, food, ropes, copper, lead, spices, jewels, perfume, flaxseed, silk, wine, ceramics, tin, wood, glass, ivory, pigs, salt, man-eating animals. Every country in the Mediterranean world provided Rome with something. 

Living in Rome meant access to an incredible amount of goods and services that must have been impossible to buy elsewhere. Of course, you'd need to have the money or enough brass to get what you wanted. It was the world's first consumer city. 

Branding Was Alive and Well in Rome

Bread was stamped with an official marking, as each loaf needed to weigh as advertised. Selling underweight loaves was a punishable offense. Roman artisans put their mark on glassware and pottery.

One man, Umbricus Scaurus, who lived in Pompei, was a famous producer of fish sauce who marked each of his bottles. And he is thought to have controlled a third of the ancient fish sauce market.

Not Every Roman Received Bread

Approximately 200,000 Romans received monthly stipends of 35-40 kilos of grain, about enough to make bread for a month for two people. The rations went only to full Roman citizens and were one of the main selling points of why you wanted to be a Roman citizen. You might live in a craphole apartment and do low-wage work every day, but at least you wouldn't starve, even if you lost that job. 

But the crazy thing is, Romans received their grain all at once. That's close to 90 pounds of grain per Roman citizen, which needed to be moved, milled and baked if bread was to be had. According to Ryan, grain arrived in Ostia via ship along the Tiber River, where the grain was then sent to neighborhood distribution centers. Ryan says they would haul their grain directly to a miller, who would grind it into flour. 

But most people did not have an oven in their apartment. So they would have to take that flour to the baker, whom they would have to pay to bake them bread. The poorest Romans, who couldn't pay for bread, would boil their grains and turn it into porridge. 

It actually wasn't until the third century A.D. — when Rome's glory days were well behind her — that the empire gave out bread instead of all that grain. 

Bread Baking Was a Big Deal

It's no surprise, then, that being a Roman baker was a damn good job to have. Everyone had flour, but nobody had the ovens. Bakers could make a ton of money. One man, Eurysaces the baker, made enough money that he built himself a lavish tomb.  Even more interesting, Eurysaces was a freed slave. Again, being a slave wasn't a life sentence.

His epitaph reads in part: "This is the monument to Marcus Vergilius Eurysaces, baker, contractor get it?" or "isn't it obvious?" according to a translation by Beard.  

A Roman Dinner (and Ancient Recipes)

If you were better off and could afford more expensive ingredients, a Roman might have roasted ostrich for dinner with dessert afterward. Here are three recipes from Apicius' cookbook (the oldest known cookbook) as translated by Patrick Faas in "Around the Roman Table: Food and Feasting in Ancient Rome." The cookbook dates to the first century A.D.

Ostrich ragout

"For boiled ostrich: pepper, mint, roast cumin, celery seed, dates or Jericho dates, honey, vinegar, passum [raisin wine], garum [Roman fish sauce], a little oil. Put these in the pot and bring to the boil. Bind with amulum [a thickening starch], pour over the pieces of ostrich in a serving dish and sprinkle with pepper. If you wish to cook the ostrich in the sauce, add alica [a semolina flour made from spelt]."

Roast tuna sauce

"Sauce for roast tuna: pepper, lovage, mint, onion, a little vinegar, and oil."