What type of home did the plebeians live in?

Answer 1

I did my college thesis on plebs of rome, and it turned out to be one of the hardest possible subject to find information on due to the scarcity of it, so hope this helps.

If your talking about rural population, the plebs were farmers.

However, if your talking about the city of Rome specifically. they were many different trades and skills with varying degrees of wealth. The poorest of the plebs lived in top floor 1 room apartments. Why the top floor you ask? Well there seems to be two predominate reasons, one is that the building in this period often collapsed, and second fire was very prevalent, which meant, if you lived on the top floor during a fire, you may not get out alive, and even if you did, you would likely lose a lot of your personal possessions.

Now, that I have explained where they live, I have to say that this was a bit misleading, because as it turns out, the plebs (and elite) lived most of their life outside, and only used these areas for occasional gatherings and sleep. Often times, the plebs would operate shop outside of their place of residence, which was itself subject to specific districts based on skill-types.

The pleb's work day was around 6-7 hours, and even by today's standards, the wealth of plebs particularly in Rome was actually more than we often think. There is an account I recall finding that mentioned that that a top level apartment in Rome went for the same place as a large house outside the city. This should give you an idea of the excitement it must of been to live in the city.

Besides what I have listed, it should be noted that Rome had plentiful water, where the distribution often had fountains next to the apartment complexes. The the Romans loved to go to the pool as well.

The education of a typical pleb in Rome was also higher than you might think right off. Firstly, they were taught simple mathematics, which, was purely for necessity of their occupation, to be able to add/subtract/multiple/divide. Secondly, a good percentage (still less than 40% if I was to make a wild guess), could write at some level. This is evidenced by just how much graffiti has been uncovered on the walls of Pompeii.

Beyond this, the plebs loved to host feasting parties with extravagant invitations for others to joins them for days on end. These events varied by economic class, but in general, the occasions often involved eating meat, which was somewhat of a delicacy for plebs. In addition the plebs had about 20 holidays per year.

Beyond this, the plebs organized themselves into associations, these associations were not mutual help organizations, however they would pay for your burial, and help protect your profession to some extent. The actual income is hard to classify, but based on my own research, I would say that the typical pleb in the city Rome had a considerable income even for today's modern standards.

Now a little bit about slaves..

Nero had a slave, that made so much money from his side business that he would be considered a millionaire even today. The duty of slaves in Rome was different than most might think. A slave was somewhat respected by his owner, and the owners would often invite their slaves to dinner parties and such. A slaves "duty" to his owner was to be an "Actor" which is to say, the a slave was suppose to fulfill all duties of the master, as if he was him. This in practical terms meant that the slave was the person at the front desk of a business so to speak. However, in Rome, it was custom to also let slaves have their own side business, which is how Nero's slave became so wealthy. In fact, slaves could buy their own freedom from the money they make from this side business.

There is much much more that I don't have time to speak about. But it's quite an interesting subject matter.

Answer 2

Hmm, interesting question but you won't get a black and white answer. The Plebeians were traditionally the lower caste. Meaning they were not the "original" Romans or part of the nobles, rather they consisted of the people who were conquered centuries earlier and absorbed into the growing city, peasants, poor..etc . That does not mean that simply because they were the lower caste that all Plebians were poor, on the contrary there are records of very rich Plebians and lots of middle and high income earning Plebians who had risen up through trade amongst other things.

Therefore, to answer your question, it is rather safe to say that the majority of Plebians lived in small houses with little or no servants/slaves. They may have lived in appartments. They also lived in relatively poor conditions. However there were some Plebians who lived in luxury. In fact, Ceaser allowed some very rich Plebian families to become Patricians.

Answer 3

From mansions to hovels. The Plebs were those who were not Patricians (old original noble families). They included some of the richest men in Rome, as well as the middle class and poorest (there were also poor Patricians). A very rich man like Cicero was plebeian. Julius Caesar, a patrician claiming descent from Venus, was a poor man and lived in a sleazy apartment building in his youth, was always in debt until he enriched himself in the Gallic campaign.

Answer 4

they were treated bad had to cook and clean for the king had to plant crops {farm}