Insula (building)

[4] Residents of an insula included ordinary people of lower- or middle-class status (the plebeians) and all but the wealthiest from the upper-middle class (the equites).

The traditional elite and the very wealthy lived in a domus, a large single-family residence, but the two kinds of housing were intermingled in the city and not segregated into separate neighbourhoods.

Among his many business interests, Marcus Licinius Crassus speculated in real estate and owned numerous insulae in the city.

[11][12] Because of safety issues and extra flights of stairs, the uppermost floors of insulae were the least desirable, and thus the cheapest to rent.

[16] Larger insulae at Ostia suggest that the upper floors could have had kitchens, latrines, and even piped water.

[17] Further luxurious features seen in Ostia include ornate pilasters or columns decorating exterior doors to staircases leading up to the apartments.

As seen in the Casa Di Diana, the ground floor contains a narrow corridor with several poorly lit cells that lead to what is believed to be a shared living area.

This type of insula can also be found at Capitoline Hill in Rome which may suggest that this particular design could have been a common solution to high housing demand at the time.

[17] This shared accommodation type meant for the lower classes was likely rented both by short-term inhabitants and also acted as an inn for short-tenure or itinerant workers.