Apartment Buildings in Ancient Rome

This drawing depicts what large tenement buildings in Rome or nearby Ostia, the port city of Rome, may have looked like. Such buildings could be several stories high, were generally built around a courtyard, and were surrounded by streets on all sides. A typical tenement had ground-floor rooms that were rented out as a shop combined with living quarters; each had an entrance onto the street. On the second floor were apartments with multiple rooms, often rented by wealthier individuals. The highest floors were filled with rooms of different sizes; the smaller ones were cheaper to rent but were less desirable. Occupants of the upper rooms often had to obtain water from a public fountain and had to use a public bath. The majority of the people in Rome lived in buildings similar to those shown here. No doubt some Christians in Rome lived in such apartments.