Daily Life in Ancient Rome

The Romans had a life like ours. They ate food and wore clothes. They lived in houses and had ceremonies. The Romans had a society and a government much like ours. In this essay we will visit the daily life of ancient Rome.

First we will start with the living conditions of Rome. The Romans lived in homes the stretched from the smallest apartment to the biggest mansion. There was a home called a domus which is like a town home. This was a single family home built around a big hall. The size of the home showed others how wealthy or not the owners were. The bigger homes would have a living room, bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom and a reception room. The even wealthier would have a bathtub or a library. There were also apartments. These apartment would reach a few floors off the ground. These came around in the 1st century B.C. There were more apartments then town homes and the apartments stayed the main type of home for Romans until the end of the century.

Next we have the Romans style of clothing. There are three different types of clothing that we will observe today. The men's clothing, women's clothing, and shoes. The toga is what the men usually wore. It was an expensive piece of clothing that was worn especially in public places. The women of Rome wore what are called tunics. The women wore makeup and did their hair how they pleased. As for children they wore miniature clothing of what the adults wore. The shoes of the Romans were different styles of leather shoes. Sandals and boots were worn as well.


There were two types of very important Roman ceremonies. They were the naming of a baby and marriage. The naming of a baby was very important to the Romans. This was the day where they could hand down a name that was in their family to their child. This was a very joyous ceremony. Marriage was another very important ceremony. The man and woman had to be Roman citizens to wed and they had to make their marriage known in order for the children to be legalized.

The Romans had a very well balanced diet. The meals for most Romans was centered around, grain, oil, and wine. If you were richer than you ate better. Fish and oysters were on a high demand. The Romans obviously loved wine but when they drank it they watered it down and heated it. They also put spice in it.

In conclusion the Romans led a life like ours. They just didn't have a lot of the modern conveniences like we do. Our daily life is a lot like the Romans daily life.

Roman Art and Architecture

The Roman art and architecture was derived from two different types of people during their time. The art was derived mostly from the Etruscans, a people in Rome before them. The Architecture was derived mostly from the Greeks, but they put their own twist on it. These two different races helped develope the Romans art and architecture in many different ways. (Hadas 11)

Roman Art was originally derived from the Etruscans. The first Roman art looks alot like the Etruscans and partly the Greeks. Around 500 B.C. is when we start to see the Romans art start to look like its own type. There are many famous Roman Artists known to us today. Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Sandro Botticelli, Raphael, Titian, Donatello, Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, and Giotto di Bondone. The Artists help Roman art flourish.

The Romans truely believed that a statue should look like the real person. This is called portraiture. The Greeks were more interested in the idealistic perspective of the statue. The Romans liked to keep it realistic. They also liked to keep a sculpture of the head of a person after they died. They thought it would keep whoever the person was happy, that way the dead would not haunt you.

The Roman architecture is what has given Rome the most fame. The three very important things that the Romans brought to the Architectural world is the baked brick, use of cement and concrete, and also the arch. The Romans were taught most of their Architecture from the Etruscans. During the Republican period temples and aquaducts were built, along with sewers and basilicas. Ampitheaters were also built.
Some of the most famous pieces of Architecture made by the Romans still exist today. This includes the Colloseum, Pantheon, Arch of Titus, and later the Arch of Constantine. (Barnett 100)

In conclusion the Romans are very famous for many pieces of art and architecture. Their time brought us some of the greatest artists including Michelangelo and Leinardo di Vinci. They also brought us some of the greatest pieces of Architecture our world has ever seen. Including the Pantheon and the Coloseum. These pieces truely define Rome.

Barnett, Mary. Gods and Myths of the Romans: the Archaeology and Mythology of Ancient

Peoples. Smithmark Publishers. New York. 1996

Hadas, Moses. Imperial Rome. Time Inc Publishers. Canada 1965

The Importance of Caesar Augustus

The date was the 23 of September in 63 B.C. and one of the most legendary emperors of Rome was born. His name was Octavian. He ruled form 23 B.C. to 14 A.D. He was adopted by his uncle Julius Caesar but his father's real name was Gaius Octavias and his mothers name was Atia. He had a daughter, 3 sons and two wives. All three sons were adopted. His wives were named Scribonia and Livia. His daughter was with Scribonia. The three sons were adopted with Livia.

Octavian was chosen to be the heir to the throne by his uncle Julius Caesar. Augustus began his ruling when the first triumvarate came to an end. After Crassus died and Julius Caesar was murdered and the death of Pompey brought the end of the first triumvurate. The second triumvirate was formed with Octavian,whose name was later changed to Augustus, Lepitus and Mark Antony.

With the death of Marc Antony, Agustus became the one and only ruler of the Rome. The first thing that he accomplished was letting soldiers return to their lands until needed. He also accomplished the building of public bridges and roads, along with public baths and government buildings. The civil wars during this time were also ended by him. He also brought a time of peace for Rome which was called the Pax Romana.

Octavian was later named Agustus. Agustus means respected one. Many Romans treated him like a god.

Agusustus was a well respected leader, the first sole emperor of Rome. He made many great improvements of Rome and the lives of Romans. He has created a great legacy for himself to be remembered forever.