A day in the life of ancient Rome

Go shopping at the Roman Forums

Every town had a big open space where people met, heard the latest news and went shopping.

This was the ‘square’, or ‘fora’ in Latin, hence the Roman Forums.

High streets were lined with lots of shops and farmers markets. Shops sold olive oil, pottery, cloths, food, wine, meat and spices. Romans love their bakeries too.

Farming was important to ancient Romans, farmers grew grapes and olives, much like today in Italy.

Honey, also huge, as they didn’t have Sugar, so honey sweetened their food.

 

 

Gods and goddesses

The Romans worshipped, among others, Vesta, the goddess of fire. Here in this illustration you see a young girl looking at the flame, she is a Vestal virgin, (a female religious order of ancient times), who were hired to interpret the movements of the flame, giving them the answers to lots of questions, eg the future of Rome.

Duties included tending the fire to make sure the flame was always lit. Good option for a lady in ancient Roman times, as it was a highly respected role in society.

At home

In Rome, most people rented rooms. Only the rich Romans could afford houses.

Lots of apartment buildings in ancient Rome had shops at street level, and living quarters above shop level.

Romans hadn’t gotten around to wallpaper, they were serious interior designers and loved frescoes adorning their homes. Rich Romans had mosaics on their floors, and often has large villas.

Romans often had underground for storage levels for food and wine.

On the Streets

The streets of Rome were often packed with people. Horse and cart were only allowed at night.

At dawn, street cleaners swept the streets and sellers arrived with their goods.

By noon, the streets were very busy. Rich Romans were carried in boxes called litters.

At night, the horses and carts arrived.

Romans streets would have been busy with lots of street sellers, lots of haggling and hustle and bustle.

 

Games and races

Slaves and gladiators fought each other in huge stadiums, often against wild animals, such as Lions.