Insula

A Roman Slum with a Tavern. (circa AD 100) (Peter Connolly/insulae /user: Aethon)

Daily life around a Roman insula. Roman apartment buildings contained vendors on the first floor and living quarters on the floors above. The apartments in the insulae lacked most basic amenities, such as kitchens and bathrooms. As a result, Romans lived a highly communal lifestyle. The lower classes used public baths and toilets, ate in restaurants, and spent leisure time in common spaces, like the forum.

A macellum is an ancient Roman indoor market building that sold mostly provisions. The building normally sat alongside the forum and basilica, providing a place in which a market could be held. Image from "City: A Story of Roman Planning and Construction" by David Macaulay.

Rome, Forum of Caesar: Cut away view of the Temple of Venus Genetrix in the Forum of Caesar, early 1st Century A.D.

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