Daily Life in a Roman Town
Describe the forum, public baths and amphitheatre in a Roman town, and distinguish town houses from villas outside towns. Explain how roads helped travel, aqueducts carried water, hypocausts warmed some rooms, and Hadrian's Wall marked and guarded a Roman frontier in Britain.
What a learner can do afterwards
- Describe at least three features of a Roman town such as forum, baths, or amphitheatre
- Explain what an aqueduct was and why the Romans built them
- Describe Hadrian's Wall and say why it was built
1 · Read
The forum was a town square for shopping, news and meetings. Public baths were places to wash and relax. Some towns had amphitheatres, with seats around an oval arena for gladiator fights. Chariot races were held in a circus, a long racing track.
Many Roman roads had long, straight stretches. Roads helped soldiers and traders travel across the empire. Aqueducts brought water to towns from springs or rivers. Water flowed downhill through channels. A channel could bring a steady supply for many people, including water for baths and fountains. Its water source had to be higher than the place it supplied.
Some wealthy families had town houses. Villas were usually in the countryside or just outside towns. Some baths and homes had hypocaust heating: hot air from a furnace passed beneath a raised floor and warmed the room above. Some homes had painted walls.
Roman soldiers built Hadrian's Wall across what is now northern England. It marked a frontier, or border area, of the empire in Britain. Forts and gates helped soldiers watch the border and control crossings.
Aqueducts supplied water. Hypocausts warmed some rooms. Forums and baths served daily life. Hadrian's Wall guarded a frontier.
Lesson, questions and flashcards written for this dataset. Historical facts about Roman homes and public squares were studied in "7.1 The Daily Life of a Roman Family" and Jeffrey A. Becker's "Imperial fora".
Three readings written for this dataset using historical facts studied in "7.1 The Daily Life of a Roman Family", Jeffrey A. Becker's "Imperial fora", and "The Roman silversmith: drinking cups of the elite".
More to read
Different homes, different lives
Roman homes give different clues about people's lives. A villa in the countryside could have gardens and fountains. In a large city, many people lived in apartment buildings. Some wealthy families had a separate town house.
In some town houses, an opening in the roof let rain fall into a shallow pool. Water could then be stored underground. The hall around the pool also gave the owner a place to welcome visitors.
Enslaved people were forced to work in some homes and on large farms. Their work helped owners live in comfort. A grand house shows what wealth could buy. It does not show how every family lived.
One city, several forums
A town's forum was a public square where people met and dealt with town business. Public buildings, including temples, stood around many forums.
The city of Rome had several forums. Emperors added new ones beside the older Roman Forum. The group is called the Imperial fora. Fora means more than one forum.
These places had different buildings. Augustus's forum gave law courts more room. Trajan's forum had libraries as well as a large square. Statues and monuments told visitors about emperors and their victories. When we study a forum, its buildings help us work out what people did there.
Clues from a silver cup
A Roman silver cup can tell us about its owner and the worker who made it. Fine silver cost money, so cups like these belonged to wealthy people. Some cups showed gods or stories that guests could talk about at meals.
A decorated cup could have a smooth inner layer and a separate outer layer. The silversmith worked the outer metal from both sides to form raised pictures. Handles could be made on their own and joined later. Both free and enslaved workers made fine objects.
A cup's use could change. An owner might drink from it, display it, then give it as a gift to a god. Surviving silver gives us clues about these uses. It does not mean that every Roman household owned it.
2 · Watch
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