I.Scale of Wealth
-Plutocracy:
wealth = status
-Concentration
of Land: Latifundia (broad estates); Villae
-Distribution
of Wealth: Price of wheat
II.Plebs Rustica (Rural folks)
A. Peasants:small landowners, tenant farmers, day / seasonal laborers, herdsmen, support industries,
1/3 at subsistence level (Galen On Wholesome Foodstuffs)
B.
The Colonate:Decline of slave supply; rise of slave costs
Shift
to free labor: coloni (tenant famers)
Indebted
to landlords; Bound to land; Beginnings of serfdom
III.Plebs Urbana (Urban folks)
A. Empire of Cities:c. 1,000 cities; most 10-20,000
people; Rome c. 1 million / Alexandria c. 700K
-Pop.
density: 200 per acre
B.
Housing: insulae (apartment
buildings = “islands”)
Ostian insulae: 5 stories; apts. with 6 rooms; fire
/ collapse / falling objects
Open
Life / Games / Public
Life
C.
Corporate identity:
1. Vici (neighborhoods)
2. Collegia (clubs):professional / cult / burial;
food and drink (LR 52); Eumachia and the fullers
IV. Amenities
A.
Annonae (Grain Doles)
-Free grain from 58 BC (250,000 recipients under Augustus)
-Claudius’ incentives for grain shippers
(LR 17); Rebuilds Ostia
-Private
/ Public: Nonius the Baker; Mills
>>> Public Only
B.
Thermae (Baths) (LR 39)
-Agrippa’s
Baths 25 BC >>> Many imperial Baths
-Multipurpose complex (recreation centers); Caldarium
in Pompeii
-Baths of Caracalla
(211-217):Begun 212; Gymnasia, gardens,
libraries, swimming pool; Scale; Remains
