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Everyday Life in Ancient Greece and Rome
How ordinary Greeks and Romans lived: households, work, meals, clothing, learning and leisure, and the main ways the two societies differed in daily practice.
Greece, Rome and Europe
Daily Life in Greece and Rome
Food, homes, baths, festivals and travel in ordinary Greek and Roman lives.
Gladiators and Roman Public Entertainment
How Roman gladiator shows, chariot races and staged hunts were organised, who took part, and what spectators actually saw and experienced in the arena and circus.
Living in the Roman City: Domus and Insula
The contrast between the Roman townhouse and the crowded multi-storey apartment block, from atrium and garden to rented rooms, fire risk and collapse.
Saturnalia and the Roman Festival Calendar
The main Roman holidays through the year, from Lupercalia and the Parilia to Saturnalia, the midwinter festival of feasting, gifts and temporary role reversal.
The Greek Symposium and Dinner Party Customs
How the Greek symposium worked: the men's drinking party after dinner, with its wine-mixing rules, couches, songs, poetry, games and the guests who took part.
The Roman Public Baths as Social Clubs
How Roman bath complexes worked, from heated rooms and the bathing routine to the crowds, entertainment and mixed company that made them everyday meeting places.
Travel and Inns in the Roman World
What travelling on Roman roads was like: how far people went in a day, where they stayed, how the imperial relay system worked, and the dangers on road and sea.
What the Romans Ate and Drank
The staples, sauces, wine and street food of Roman meals, and how the diet of the rich and the poor differed across the Roman world.
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