How did the rich live differently from the poor in Rome?

Answer 1

The main difference between rich and poor in ancient Rome, as well as in our society, is money. In the early days of Rome, the poorer people could not own land (couldn't afford to buy it) so therefore they were left out of the political decisions, as land was one of the criteria for wealth. The thinking at the time was that if a man had land and the wealth that the land produced, he had the right to direct the government, as he had a bigger stake in the economy. This attitude caused political inequality between rich and poor.

Answer 2

The rich lived in a detached house with a garden called the domus. They had many slaves working for the household and lived an opulent lifestyle.

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, were 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. Originally they were built in timber and mud brick, later chap concrete was used. Fires and collapses were a common problem, made worse by the fact that they were often built cheaply by speculators.