The Romans Showed Us the Way in City Housing

Following the urbanisation of the larger cities, the Romans were the first civilisation to utilise flats and apartments and demonstrate how large numbers of people could live in a small area. This move towards city life caused a large demand for housing, so real estate was at a premium. Private houses and villas became a luxury for the wealthy patricians, whereas the lower classes, or plebeians, lived in insulae or apartment buildings.

The construction of these appartements a Rome was often at minimal expense. The insulae were generally of poor construction using timber, mud bricks, and primitive concrete and were liable to fire and collapse. In view of the inherent safety issues, the uppermost floors were the least desirable, and thus the cheapest to rent. Often those floors were devoid of heating or running water. Only some had lavatories, so most tenants had to make use of the public latrines. Living quarters were typically smallest in the upper floors, with the largest and most expensive apartments being located on the bottom floors.

The insulae were often built up to six or seven stories high although some were even eight or nine stories high accommodating over 40 people. The average insula usually had about six or seven apartments covering around 1,000 square feet.

The great orator Cicero was probably one of the world’s first slum landlords and he owned several insulae in the city of Rome. When one of his properties collapsed from poor construction, he allegedly stated that he was happy that he could charge higher rents for a new building than the collapsed one. The great emperors Augustus and Nero both recognised the dangers of living in the poorly constructed insulae and restricted their height eventually down to 60 Roman Feet. At one time there were probably around 50,000 insulae in the city.

Clearly, the Romans showed modern man the way to all forms of construction and their legacy lives on today in so many ways.

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