Western Civilization

But for all its sophistication, Rome was an over-

crowded and noisy city. Because of the congestion,

cart and wagon traffic was banned from the streets

during the day. The noise from the resulting vehicular

movement at night often made sleep difficult. Evening

pedestrian travel was dangerous. Although Augustus

had organized a police force, lone travelers could be

assaulted, robbed, or soaked by filth thrown out of

the upper-story windows of Rome’s massive apart-

ment buildings.

An enormous gulf existed between rich and poor in

the city of Rome. While the rich had comfortable villas,

the poor lived in apartment blocks calledinsulae, which

might be six stories high. Constructed of concrete, they

were often poorly built and prone to collapse. The use

of wooden beams in the floors and movable stoves,

torches, candles, and lamps in the rooms for heat and

light created a constant danger of fire. Once started,

fires were extremely difficult to put out. The famous

conflagration of 64, which Nero was unjustly accused

of starting, devastated a good part of the city. Besides

the hazards of collapse and fire, living conditions were

miserable. High rents forced entire families into one

room. The absence of plumbing and central heating

made life so uncomfortable that poorer Romans spent

most of their time outdoors in the streets.

Fortunately for these people, Rome boasted public

buildings unequaled elsewhere in the empire. Its

temples,forums,markets,baths,theaters,triumphal

arches, governmental buildings, and amphitheaters

gave parts of the city an appearance of grandeur and

magnificence.

Though the center of a great empire, Rome was also

a great parasite. Beginning with Augustus, the emper-

ors accepted responsibility for providing food for the

urban populace, with about 200,000 people receiving

free grain. Even with the free grain, conditions were

grim for the poor. Early in the second century, a

Roman doctor noted that rickets was common among

children in the city.

In addition to food, entertainment was provided on

a grand scale for the inhabitants of Rome. The poet

Juvenal said of the Roman masses, “But nowadays,

with no vote to sell, their motto is ‘Couldn’t care less.’

Time was when their plebiscite elected generals, heads

of state, commanders of legions: but now they’ve

pulled in their horns, there’s only two things that con-

cern them: Bread and Circuses.”^11 Public spectacles

were provided by the emperor and other state officials

as part of the great festivals—most of them religious

in origin—celebrated by the state. More than one

hundred days a year were given over to these public

holidays. The festivals included three major types of

entertainment. At the Circus Maximus, horse and

chariot races attracted hundreds of thousands of spec-

tators, while dramatic and other performances were

Military

Amphitheatre

Aelian

Mausoleumof Hadrian Bridge

Septimian

Gate

Aurelian

Gate

Ostian

Gate

Baths of

Caracalla

Baths of

Trajan

Circus Hippodrome

Maximus

Palace of

Augustus

Palace of

Tiberius

Stadium of

Domitian

Baths of

Nero

Baths of

Agrippa

Pantheon

Portico

Triburtine

Gate

Decuman

Gate

Salarian

Gate Praetorian

Gate

Flaminian

Gate

Appian Way

Via Tecta

Forum

Colosseum

TTTiber

RRiiiv

ver

Clauuddian

Aque

duct

(^) Pincian Hill
(^) Esq
uilin
e (^) Hill
Caelian^ Hill
(^) Aventine Hill^
C
ap
itol
ine^ Hi
ll^
Triumphal Way
Praetorian
Camp
Praenestine
Gate
Latin
Gate
Appian
Gate
Vim
ina
l^ H
ill^
Palatine
Hill
Walls of fourth
century B.C.E.
Walls of the
Emperors
MAP 6.3Imperial Rome.A large,
overcrowded, and dirty city, Rome was
the political, economic, social, and
cultural hub of the Roman Empire.
Squalid and desperate living
conditions for the poor contrasted
dramatically with the city’s magnificent
architectural works.
Q How did roads from outside
enter Rome, and what could
possibly explain this?
134 Chapter 6The Roman Empire
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