Roman towns were built in a grid pattern, with streets laid out in straight lines intersecting at right angles. The center of town was usually a large forum space used for commerce and government. Towns contained houses, shops, baths and temples. Wealthier citizens lived in single-family homes called domus, with interior courtyards and rooms surrounding them. Poorer residents lived in cramped multi-story apartment buildings called insulae that lacked amenities. The Roman Empire built many towns across Britain as administrative centers after conquering the region.

1. ROMAN TOWNS
AND HOUSES
-ROMAN ARCHITECTURE

2.  The foundation of Rome goes back to the very early days of
civilization.
 So it is known as 'the eternal city.‘
 Romans believed that city was founded in 753 BC.
 Modern historians believe that it was 625 BC.
 Early Rome governed by kings , but after only seven ruled, Romans
took power over own city and ruled themselves.
 They had a council known as the 'senate‘.
 FOUR CLASS OF PEOPLE:
1)NOBLES 2)EQUESTRIANS
3)PLEBIANS 4)SLAVES
BRIEF ON ROMAN EMPIRE:

3.  In Ancient Roman towns and cities streets were narrow and space
was limited ,so houses were usually small.
 They tried to make a limit to how high
a building could be, and how much
space should be there in between
buildings.
 They built towns all over Britain as a
center to administer the people they
had conquered.
ROMAN TOWNS:

4.  Within 17 years of the invasion, they had several major towns
in place , connected by the famous Roman roads.
 Towns soon became important places for meetings and trade.
 Towns in Rome were made up of streets and blocks called
Insulae which contained
houses
Shops
workshops and
bars.

5. What were Roman towns like?
 The Roman towns were full of fine buildings and temples.
 Streets were laid out in neat, straight lines, like on a chess-board.
 In the middle there was a large
square, called the forum. It was
used as a market place and for
meetings. It had shops and offices
on three sides and government
offices on the other side.

6.  Many towns had running water and sewers. Aqueducts were bridges
for bringing water to the towns.
 Only the rich had water piped to their houses; everyone else used
water from public fountains. The only toilets were public lavatories,
which were built around the town and connected to underground
sewers.
What could you find in most Roman towns?
 Most towns would also have shops as well as the forum.
 At one end of the forum was a large building called the basilica.
 There were temples too where the Roman gods were worshipped.
Some towns had public baths,an open-air theatre and huge
monumental arches.

7. General layout of a Roman town:
 Throughout their empire the Romans built towns in exactly the
same style. They were designed in the form of a grid, with streets
built at right angles to each other and parallel with one of the
two main roads.
 The main streets of Roman towns were between
five and eight metres wide.
 The central part of the town
contained the main businesses
with the homes and dwellings
of the citizens

8. The three largest were
 London,
 Colchester and
 St.Albans was their main town.
Roman buildings made of:
Buildings were made of stone and brick.

9. THE ROMAN HOUSE:
DIFFERENT KINDS OF HOUSES:
 Domus: a single family home
 Villa rustica: the country house
 Insula: a block of flats.

10. THE DOMUS:
 The domus was a single family home with the windows and
balconies facing the interior courtyard.
 In a domus there were different places and rooms: the main
ones are the ATRIUM (A) and the PERSITYLUM (P)

11. VESTIBULUM:
 The exterior of a Roman house, normally quite close to the
street, was relatively plain.
 Entering through the front door, one saw a long, narrow
hallway leading from the front door into the atrium; this was
the vestibulum, also called fauces (“throat”).

12. TABERNAE:
 These rooms had separate doors that opened on to the
street and did not connect with the rest of the house in any
way.
 They were used as shops.

13. THE ATRIUM:
 The atrium was a large airy room lighted by an opening in
the roof
 On either side of the atrium were small rooms (cubicula)
used for various purposes
 In the centre of the atrium, directly
beneath the opening in the roof
(compluvium) was a shallow pool
(impluvium).

14. THE VILLA:
 The villa was the country house.
 There were two kinds of villa:
 The Villa Rustica: for different works in the countryside of the
house. There lived the employees and their families.
 The Villa Urbana: It was a luxurious house of the owners of a big
farming estate

15.  Poorer Roman citizens lived in
apartments or flats. Entire families
shared one room. These apartments
were known as "Insulae” They were
small and uncomfortable, without
running water, and in very bad
conditions.
 They were often three or more floors
high. As the higher floors were only
made of wood, and supported on
wooden beams, there was always a
serious risk of fire and collapse.
INSULAE: