How did the Romans live, and what did their houses reveal about wealth and status?
Roman housing: the town house (domus) and its layout (atrium, tablinum, peristyle, cubicula), the apartment block (insula) and the country villa, and the decoration of homes (wall paintings, mosaics and furniture) as evidence of wealth and status.
An OCR GCSE Classical Civilisation (J199) study of Roman housing in Roman City Life. Covers the town house (domus) and its layout, the apartment block (insula) and the country villa, and the decoration of homes (wall paintings, mosaics and furniture) as evidence of wealth and status, with the source and essay skills the J199/22 paper rewards.
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What this dot point is asking
Roman City Life begins with how the Romans lived. You need to know the town house (domus) and its layout (atrium, tablinum, peristyle, cubicula), the apartment block (insula) and the country villa, and the decoration of homes (wall paintings, mosaics and furniture) as evidence of wealth and status. Much of this is known from Pompeii and Herculaneum. The paper tests precise knowledge (AO1) and the analysis of archaeological sources plus your own argument (AO2).
The answer
The domus and its layout
The insula: housing for the poor
The villa
Decoration as evidence of status
The rich decorated their homes to display taste and wealth:
- Wall paintings (frescoes) - scenes of myth, landscape, architecture or still life.
- Mosaics - patterned or pictorial floors made of tiny coloured stones.
- Fine furniture and objects.
This decoration is a key source for status: the costlier and more elaborate the decoration, the wealthier the owner, which is why the houses of Pompeii and Herculaneum tell us so much.
Examples in context
A strong essay would argue the elite domus was designed to impress and proclaim status, while ordinary housing (the insula) was mostly practical.
Try this
Q1. What were the compluvium and impluvium in a Roman atrium? [Knowledge recall]
- Cue. The compluvium was the opening in the roof of the atrium, and the impluvium was the shallow pool directly below it that collected the rainwater that fell through.
Q2. Explain why most ordinary Romans did not live in a domus. [Short explanation]
- Cue. A domus was a large, expensive town house only the well-off could afford; most ordinary city-dwellers lived in insulae, multi-storey apartment blocks that were cheaper but often cramped, poorly built and lacking running water and kitchens on the upper floors.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of OCR exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
OCR J199/22 2019 (style)4 marksIdentify two rooms or features of a Roman domus and state the purpose of each. [4]Show worked answer →
A short knowledge question (4 marks, AO1, 2 marks each). Reward two correct features with their purpose.
Feature one. The atrium, the main entrance hall, with an opening in the roof (the compluvium) and a pool below it (the impluvium) to collect rainwater; it was a grand reception space where the owner greeted visitors.
Feature two. The tablinum, the study or office of the master, often set between the atrium and the garden, where he kept records and received clients in the morning greeting (salutatio).
Top marks. Two correctly named features (for example atrium, tablinum, peristyle, cubiculum) each with an accurate purpose.
OCR J199/22 2021 (essay, true tariff 15)15 marks'A Roman house was designed to show off the owner's wealth and status.' How far do you agree? Justify your response. [marked here out of 15; this is the true J199/22 tariff]Show worked answer →
The 15-mark extended response (AO1 and AO2). The marker rewards a clear argument supported by named features.
For (status). The domus was designed for display: the grand atrium impressed visitors, the tablinum let the owner receive clients, and the rooms were decorated with costly wall paintings, mosaics and fine furniture; the garden (peristyle) showed leisure and taste, all advertising the owner's wealth and rank.
Other purposes. The house was also a genuine family home (cubicula for sleeping, a kitchen, a dining room or triclinium) and, for poorer Romans, the insula was simply functional and often cramped, so not all housing was about display.
Judgement. The top band argues a clear line, for example that the elite domus was carefully designed to impress and proclaim status, while ordinary housing (the insula) was mostly practical, so display mattered most at the top of society. Support with named features.
Related dot points
- The Roman family and household: the power of the paterfamilias, the role and status of women, marriage, the upbringing of children, and the place of the household gods in family life.
An OCR GCSE Classical Civilisation (J199) study of the Roman family in Roman City Life. Covers the power of the paterfamilias, the role and status of women, marriage, the upbringing of children, and the place of the household gods in family life, with the source and essay skills the J199/22 paper rewards.
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- Roman leisure and entertainment: the public baths and their social role, the amphitheatre (such as the Colosseum) and gladiatorial games, chariot racing in the circus (such as the Circus Maximus), and what these reveal about Roman society and the role of the emperor.
An OCR GCSE Classical Civilisation (J199) study of leisure in Roman City Life. Covers the public baths and their social role, the amphitheatre (the Colosseum) and gladiatorial games, chariot racing in the circus (the Circus Maximus), and what these reveal about Roman society and the role of the emperor, with the source and essay skills the J199/22 paper rewards.
- Pompeii and Herculaneum as evidence for Roman city life: how the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79 preserved the towns, what they reveal about housing, work, leisure and daily life, and how to use such archaeological evidence with awareness of its strengths and limits.
An OCR GCSE Classical Civilisation (J199) study of Pompeii and Herculaneum in Roman City Life. Covers how the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79 preserved the towns, what they reveal about housing, work, leisure and daily life, and how to use archaeological evidence with awareness of its strengths and limits, with the source and essay skills the J199/22 paper rewards.
Sources & how we know this
- OCR GCSE (9-1) Classical Civilisation J199 specification — OCR (2017)