Most Romans lived in apartment blocks called insulae (singular, insula, island). The poor lived on the upper floors which were the least desirable because of the extra stairs and they were less safe in case of fire and, therefore, cheaper to rent. The apartments on these floors were small and only had small and overcrowded rooms for sleeping. There was no running water, heating, cooking facilities or toilets. The poor went there only to sleep. During the day they and lived outdoors. They ate outdoors, went to outdoors public toilets, and went to the public baths. The insulae were up to six or seven floors. Despite height restrictions, some reached eight or nine floors. They were built with cheap concrete. Fires and collapses were a common problem, made worse by the fact that they were often built cheaply by speculators. Fires could spread quickly because the insulae were densely packed, often separated only by alleys. After the Great Fire of Rome (64 AD) Nero ordered that the insulae were to be spaced out, built in brick, and faced by porticos on wide roads. Even so, they remained prone fires and collapses because of poor building quality.
The middle class lived on the lower floors of the insulae which were larger and more expensive and had running water. On the ground floor there were shops and workshops. The rich lived in the domus,a detached house centred on an atrium (courtyard) and with an enclosed garden (peristilum) .
The Romans got up to go to work at dawn after having had ientaculum, the equivalent of what we call breakfast. It was a light meal which consisted primarily of bread which sometimes was dipped in wine or olive oil or honey. Cheese and olives may have been eaten with the bread. Later they had prandium was a meal which is comparable to our lunch only because it was eaten at 11 am or midday. It was a small meal which was like a snack. Often, it just consisted of leftovers from the night before or cold meat and bread. The working day ended at moon and many Romans spent a couple of hours at the public baths. Then they had cena (dinner) between three and four o clock. This was the main meal. For the poor it consisted of a kind of porridge, the puls. The simplest kind would be made from emmer, water, salt and fat. The more sophisticated kind was made with olive oil, with an accompaniment of assorted vegetables when available. The richer classes ate their puls with eggs, cheese, vegetables and honey and it was also occasionally served with meat or fish. The Roman day ended at dusk. Because the winter days were shorter, in this season the Roman hours lasted 45 minutes. In the longer summer days the hours lasted 1 1/2 hour.
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