Remains of the top floors of an insula near the Capitolium and the Aracoeli in Rome.

In Roman architecture, insulae (singular insula) were large apartment buildings where the lower and middle classes of Romans (the plebs) dwelled. The floor at ground level was used for tavernas, shops and businesses with living space on the higher floors. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (2272 × 1704 pixel, file size: 1. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (2272 × 1704 pixel, file size: 1. ... Insula is the Latin word for island. It has other meanings: A Roman building with several stories. ... The Capitoline Triad was comprised of three deities of Roman mythology who were worshipped in an elaborate temple on Romes Capitoline Hill. ... The Colosseum in Rome, Italy. ... Insula is the Latin word for island. It has other meanings: A Roman building with several stories. ... An apartment block (St George Wharf) beside the River Thames at Vauxhall Bridge, London, England An apartment building, block of flats or tenement is a multi-unit dwelling made up of several (generally four or more) apartments (US) or flats (UK). ... In Ancient Rome, the plebs was the general body of Roman citizens, distinct from the privileged class of the patricians. ... A Taverna is a small restaurant serving Greek cuisine, not to be confused with tavern. The Greek word is Ταβερνα and is originally derived from the Latin word taberna (shed or hut, from tabula board). As Greeks have migrated elsewhere, tavernas have spread throughout the world, especially countries such as the...

The urbanization of the larger Roman cities caused a great demand for housing which was within a comparable vicinity of the city center and real estate was therefore at a premium. As such, private houses were a luxury which only the wealthy could afford. This led to a majority of the inhabitants of the inner city living in apartment and tenement housing called insulae. A luxury good is a good at the highest end of the market in terms of quality and price. ... An apartment estate in Singapore; such blocks make up the majority of public housing in Singapore. ...

These houses were often constructed at minimal expenses for speculative purposes. The insulae were therefore of poor construction and prone to fire and collapse, as described by Juvenal. Because of the inherent unsafety and extra flights of stairs, the uppermost floors were the least desirable, and thus the cheapest to rent. The insulae could be up to six or seven stories high (some were even 8 or 9 stories high, these very tall buildings were being built before the height restrictions). A single insula could accommodate over 40 people in only 400 square meters, however the entire structure usually had about 6 to 7 apartments, each had about 200 square meters. Frontispiece depicting Juvenal and Persius, from a volume translated by John Dryden in 1711. ...

Because of the dangers of fire, and collapse, the height of the insulae were restricted by Emperor Augustus to 70 Roman feet (20.7 m), and again by Emperor Nero down to 60 Roman feet (17.75m) after the Great Fire of Rome. There may have been up to 50,000 insulae, as compared to only 2000 domus in the late 200 A.D, when the city was in decline, and the population was smaller. { Augustus (Latin: IMP•CAESAR•DIVI•F•AVGVSTVS;[1] September 23, 63 BC–August 19, AD 14), known as Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (English Octavian; Latin: C•IVLIVS•C•F•CAESAR•OCTAVIANVS), for the period of his life prior to 27 BC, was the first and among the most important of... Nero[1] Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (December 15, AD 37 – June 9, AD 68), born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, also called Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus, was the fifth and last Roman Emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty (54–68). ... According to Tacitus, the Great Fire of Rome started on the night of 19 July in the year 64, among the shops clustered around the Circus Maximus. ... A domus was the form of a house in ancient Rome and all the cities of the Empire that rich families owned. ...

Like upperclass homes, many insulae did have running water or sanitation as described by Strabo. The Greek geographer Strabo in a 16th century engraving. ...

The name of the "insulae" was derived from the Latin for islands. They were called so because of the way they looked from a bird's eye view. It would appear these buildings were spaced out like islands (hence the name), while being surrounded by road. Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ...

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Insula Romana

• Photo of Insulae in Ostia
• Model of another insula in Ostia
• Insula 9, an excavation of a Pompeii insula
• Roman apartment building

The Romans were the first civilisation to come up with flats and apartments. Image File history File links Commons-logo. ...