What It Was Like To Live In Ancient Rome During Its Golden Age

by Panzer
The hottest place to live from the second century BC
through the second century AD was, no doubt, ancient Rome.
Though like any major city, it wasn't always
sunshine and rainbows.
Sometimes it was insanely loud streets and using something
called a communal sponge to wipe your bum with.
Today, we're looking at what was life like in ancient Rome
during the golden age.
But before we dive into the glamorous life of the Romans,
be sure to click and subscribe to never miss out
on a weird history deep dive.
As early as sixth century BC, Rome
began taking census information to assist
with the needs of the growing population.
The population of Rome was generally
believed to be in the hundreds of thousands
during the first century BC and shooting up as high as 800,000
by the reign of Augustus and hitting as many as a cool
million during the second century AD.
Rome was a hodgepodge of free men and women with varying
degrees of wealth and some not so free men
and women who contributed to the population frenzy that
created a very crowded city with not a lot of space
to accommodate its people.
Housing was extremely limited with a population of this size,
so the city developed insula, or tenements.
Insula consisted of numerous apartments
alongside businesses and shops with large numbers of people
living in close confines.
They were several stories high, poorly built,
and home to a variety of income levels
both poor and only kind of poor.
They were also susceptible to being on fire, collapse,
and aided in the spread of disease.
An alternative to the ever appealing dorm room
coffin-like insula was a single family home known as the domus.
The domus was appealing to the wealthier Roman resident.
And the richer the Roman, the bigger the domus.
Domus featured one or two stories with reception,