*Housing and food and mealtime customs for the various Roman classes* -HOUSING- Plebeians: They lived in apartment houses, called flats, above or behind their shops. In the apartment houses, or flats, an entire family might all be crowded into one room without running water. They had to haul their water in from public facilities, and use public bathrooms and baths because there were no bathrooms in the apartment. Patricians: Their homes were single family homes, which in ancient Rome meant the great grandparents, grandparents, parents, and kids of one family lived in a home together. Rooms arranged around a central courtyard. The windows and balconies faced the courtyard, not the street, to keep homes safe from burglars. There was hardly any furniture. Houses usually had a front door, bedrooms, an office, a kitchen, a dining room,
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