The Roman Way of Life
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n many ways life in ancient Rome was the forerunner of the best and the worst of modern society. At the time of Julius Caesar the city was a jumble of apartment blocks known as insulae that consisted of three or four rickety floors. These buildings were interconnected by a chaos of narrow alleys and streets that made Rome a dangerous city, particularly at night. The villas of the rich were set apart or were sometimes built in the ground floor of such blocks.
The Streets The poet Juvenal (c. 55–130 CE) complained that “walking down a street meant walking through filth”. The streets of Rome were incredibly dirty underfoot and usually just wide enough for two people to pass. During his reign, Julius Caesar banned all carts and wagons from the streets from dawn to dusk – if he hadn’t it would have been impossible for the citizens of the city to go about their business. But this meant that the nights were packed with the grinding of wagon wheels and the cries of the drivers as they supplied the markets for morning. According to Juvenal sleep was impossible; he reported that “the crossing of wagons in the narrow winding streets, the swearing of drovers in traffic jams would snatch sleep from a sea cow or the emperor himself”.
Opposite: A relief from a marble sarcophagus showing scenes from a child’s life.
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