In 60 BCE, pay and housing in the @Roman Republic are tightly linked. Where you live reflects what you earn, and what you earn reflects your place in Rome’s social and political order. From the urban poor to the ruling elite, housing costs rise sharply while personal space, safety, and prestige increase just as dramatically.
At the lowest level are the urban poor and unskilled laborers, surviving on irregular wages that amount to roughly 60–100 @Denarius per year. Housing for them consists of cramped rooms in tall insulae in districts like the Subura. Rent is high relative to income, often 30–60 @Denarius per year for a single room shared by a family or multiple tenants. These buildings are noisy, poorly ventilated, and dangerous, prone to fire and collapse. Most income goes to rent and food, leaving little margin for security. Many rely on patronage or grain distributions to survive.
Above them sit skilled workers, artisans, shopkeepers, and lower clerks, earning around 150–300 @Denarius annually. They still live in insulae, but in sturdier structures with fewer floors, sometimes with a small workshop or shopfront included. Annual rent ranges from 60–120 @Denarius, depending on location and size. These households enjoy modest stability, access to public baths and markets, and a degree of social respectability, though upward mobility remains limited.
The middle class, including prosperous merchants, junior officials, retired soldiers, and successful freedmen, earn between 400 and 1,000 @Denarius per year. Housing improves significantly. Many rent or own small domus on the edges of elite districts or well-built apartments with private courtyards. Rent or upkeep typically costs 150–300 @Denarius annually. These homes provide privacy, clean water access, storage space, and room for clients or business. This class forms the economic backbone of Rome and aspires constantly upward.
At the higher level are wealthy equestrians, senior centurions, and major merchants, whose incomes range from 3,000 to 15,000 @Denarius per year. They live in substantial domus within prestigious neighborhoods on the hills. Housing costs are no longer measured as rent but as property investment, often valued at tens or hundreds of thousands of denarii. Annual maintenance, slaves, and household expenses may exceed 1,000 @Denarius, but these homes include gardens, fountains, libraries, and formal reception spaces. Housing here is a tool of status and influence.
At the top stand senators, generals, and Rome’s ruling elite, whose wealth is effectively limitless, running into hundreds of thousands or millions of denarii. Their residences are vast estates on the Palatine or countryside villas outside Rome. Housing costs are irrelevant in the modern sense; construction, renovation, and decoration are expressions of power rather than necessity. These homes dominate their surroundings, hosting political gatherings, religious rites, and patron-client rituals. To live here is to rule.
In 60 BCE, Roman housing is not just shelter—it is a visible declaration of worth. From collapsing insula rooms to marble-lined atriums, where you live tells Rome exactly who you are, what you earn, and how close you stand to power.
@The World:
@Rome
@Asia Minor
@Tripolitania
@Hispania
@Epirus
@Macedonia
@Achaea
@Crete
@Cyprus
@Sicilia
@Sardinia
@Corsica
@Judaea
@Syria
Roman:
@Titus Pullo
@Lucius Vorenus
@Mark Antony
@Gaius Julius Caesar
@Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus
@Mark Antony
@Tullus Vagnius Titillus
@Spurius Rufius Octobrianus
@Drusus Caerellius Porphyrius