Editing Ancient Roman architecture (section)

=== Insula ===
{{Main|Insula (building)}}
[[File:OstianInsula.JPG|thumb|Insula in [[Ostia Antica]]]]

Multi-story apartment blocks called ''[[Insula (building)|insulae]]'' catered to a range of residential needs. The cheapest rooms were at the top owing to the inability to escape in the event of a fire and the lack of piped water. Windows were mostly small, facing the street, with iron security bars. ''Insulae'' were often dangerous, unhealthy, and prone to fires because of overcrowding and haphazard cooking arrangements.{{Citation needed|date=July 2014}} There are examples in the Roman port town of [[Ostia Antica|Ostia]], that date to the reign of [[Trajan]], but they seem to have been found mainly in Rome and a few other places. Elsewhere writers report them as something remarkable, but [[Livy]] and [[Vitruvius]] refer to them in Rome.<ref>EERA, 134</ref> External walls were in ''[[opus reticulatum]]'' and interiors in ''[[opus incertum]]'', which would then be plastered and sometimes painted.

To lighten up the small dark rooms, some tenants able to afford a degree of painted colourful murals on the walls. Examples have been found of jungle scenes with wild animals and exotic plants. Imitation windows (''[[trompe-l'œil]]'') were sometimes painted to make the rooms seem less confined.

Ancient Rome had elaborate and luxurious houses owned by the elite. The average house, or in cities apartment, of a commoner or [[Plebeians|plebeius]] did not contain many luxuries. The ''[[domus]]'', or single-family residence, was only for the well-off in Rome, with most having a layout of the closed unit, consisting of one or two rooms. Between 312 and 315 AD Rome had 1781 ''domus'' and 44,850 of ''insulae''.{{sfn|Hermansen|1970}}

''Insulae'' have been the subject of debate for historians of Roman culture, defining the various meanings of the word.{{sfn|Storey|2002}} ''Insula'' was a word used to describe apartment buildings, or the apartments themselves,{{sfn|Storey|2004}} meaning apartment, or inhabitable room, demonstrating just how small apartments for plebeians were. Urban divisions were originally street blocks, and later began to divide into smaller divisions, the word ''insula'' referring to both [[Insula (Roman city)|blocks]] and smaller divisions. The ''insula'' contained ''cenacula'', ''[[tabernae]]'', storage rooms under the stairs, and lower floor shops. Another type of housing unit for plebs was a ''cenaculum'', an apartment, divided into three individual rooms: ''cubiculum'', ''exedra'', and ''medianum''. Common Roman apartments were mainly masses of smaller and larger structures, many with narrow balconies that present mysteries as to their use, having no doors to access them, and they lacked the excessive decoration and display of wealth that aristocrats' houses contained. Luxury in houses was not common, as the life of the average person did not consist of being in their houses, as they instead would go to public baths, and engage in other communal activities.