{{Short description|Ancient Roman apartment buildings}} {{Italic title}} [[File:Insula Ara Coeli - Rome (IT62) - 2021-08-27 - 2.jpg|thumb|300px|Remains of the top floors of an ''insula'' near the Capitolium and the Insula dell'Ara Coeli in Rome]] In Roman architecture, an '''''insula''''' (Latin for "island", {{plural form}}: '''''insulae''''') was one of two things: either a kind of apartment building, or a city block.<ref name="Aldrete2004">{{cite book|author=Gregory S. Aldrete|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=40AjSfdJXaAC&pg=PA78|title=Daily Life in the Roman City: Rome, Pompeii and Ostia|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=2004|isbn=978-0-313-33174-9|pages=78–80}}</ref><ref name="Dyson2010">{{cite book|author=Stephen L. Dyson|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wfN5dd5wbWgC&pg=PA21|title=Rome: A Living Portrait of an Ancient City|date=1 August 2010|publisher=JHU Press|isbn=978-1-4214-0101-0|pages=217–219}}</ref><ref name="Iyyer2009">{{cite book|author=Chaitanya Iyyer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1Bls24MgPuMC&pg=PA147|title=Land Management|date=1 December 2009|publisher=Global India Publications|isbn=978-93-80228-48-8|page=147}}</ref> This article deals with the former definition, that of a type of apartment building.

''Insulae'' housed most of the urban citizen population of ancient Rome's massive population ranging from 800,000 to 1 million inhabitants in the early imperial period.<ref name="A companion to the city of Rome">{{Cite book|title=A companion to the city of Rome|last1=Holleran|first1=Claire|last2=Claridge|first2=Amanda|date=24 September 2018|isbn=978-1-4051-9819-6|edition=1|location=Hoboken, NJ|pages=318|oclc=1082874027}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book|first=Gregory S.|last=Aldrete|title=Floods of the Tiber in Ancient Rome|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|year=2007|page=213|isbn=9780801884054|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vL2ntMk7j-4C&dq=regionary&pg=PA213}}</ref> The ground-level floor of the ''insula'' was used for ''tabernae'', shops and businesses, with living spaces above. Like modern apartment buildings, an ''insula'' might have a name, usually referring to the owner of the building.<ref>Names known from inscriptions or literary sources include Bolaniana, Sertoriana, Vitaliana, Eurcapriana, Felicles or Felicula, Cuminiana, and Arriana Polliana. {{cite book|first=Hendrik H. J.|last=Brouwer|title=Bona Dea: The Sources and a Description of the Cult|publisher=Brill|year=1989|pages=26–27|isbn=9004086064|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gMwUAAAAIAAJ&dq=insula+Felicula+OR+Felicles&pg=PA26}}</ref> The owners of these buildings were typically wealthy Romans, often senators and those of similar rank.<ref name="A companion to the city of Rome"/> It was also possible for an ''insula'' to be owned by several people, such as Cicero, who owned a one-eighth share of an ''insula'' and presumably took in one-eighth of its revenue.<ref name="A companion to the city of Rome"/> The inhabitants of the ''insula'' paid rent to secure their accommodation.

==Construction==

Strabo notes that ''insulae'', like ''domūs'', had running water and sanitation, but this type of housing was sometimes constructed at minimal expense for speculative purposes, resulting in ''insulae'' of poor construction. They were built in timber, brick, and later Roman concrete, and were prone to fire and collapse, as described by Juvenal, the Roman satirist<ref>Juvenal, ''Satires'' 3.193-211</ref>. Among his many business interests, Marcus Licinius Crassus speculated in real estate and owned numerous ''insulae'' in the city. When one collapsed from poor construction, Cicero purportedly stated that he was happy that he could charge higher rents for a new building than the collapsed one.<ref>Aldrete, Gregory. ''The Roman City'', p 80</ref> Living quarters were typically the smallest in the building's uppermost floors, with the largest and most expensive apartments being located on the bottom floors.

The ''insulae'' could be built up to nine storeys, before Augustus introduced a height limit of about 70 Roman feet (20.7 m). Later, this was reduced further, to about 60 Roman feet (17.75 m).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://heritage-key.com/rome/roman-living-inside-insula |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091218112210/http://heritage-key.com/rome/roman-living-inside-insula |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 18, 2009 |access-date=June 1, 2012 |title=Roman Living: Inside an Insula }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/technology/insula |access-date=October 12, 2021 |title=Insula (Architecture) }}</ref> The notably large ''Insula Felicles'' or ''Felicula'' was located near the Circus Flaminius in Regio IX; the early Christian writer Tertullian condemns the hubris of multiple-story buildings by comparing the Felicles to the towering homes of the gods.<ref>Tertullian, ''Against the Valentinians'' 7, as cited by John W. Humphrey, John P. Oleson, and Andrew N. Sherwood, ''Greek and Roman Technology: A Sourcebook'' (Routledge, 1998), p. 256 [https://books.google.com/books?id=odBaoe3xbZIC&pg=PA256 online]; Lawrence Richardson, ''A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome'' (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992), p. 209. Jerome Carcopino hyperbolically calls it a "sky-scraper" in his classic work ''Daily Life in Ancient Rome'', pp. 26 and 28 [https://books.google.com/books?id=uDnV4FUgf-MC&q=%22Insula+of+Felicula%22 online] in an unknown edition.</ref> It is posited that a typical ''insula'' would accommodate over 40 people in only {{convert|3600|sqft|m2|abbr=on}}; however, an entire structure could comprise about six to seven apartments, each covering about {{convert|1000|sqft|m2|abbr=on}} in floor area.{{Citation needed|date=August 2008}} The only surviving ''insula'' in Rome is the five-storey Insula dell'Ara Coeli dating from the 2nd century AD, which is found at the foot of the Capitoline Hill.<ref name=SouthamptonArchaeologyInsula/><ref name=EarlyChristian/>

Because of safety issues and extra flights of stairs, the uppermost floors of ''insulae'' were the least desirable, and thus the cheapest to rent.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mary Beard |url=https://archive.org/details/history-of-ancient-rome-mary-beard-1_202210/page/446/mode/2up |title=History of Ancient Rome (Mary Beard) |date=2015 |page=447}}</ref>

[[File:Ostia Antica-strada01-modified.jpg|thumb|An ''insula'' dating from the early 2nd century AD in the Roman port town of Ostia Antica]] Other examples outside of Rome are the ''insulae'' at Ostia Antica. They provide an insight into what an ''insula'' may have been like during the second and third centuries AD. These particular structures at Ostia are also unique in that they show evidence of luxurious ''insulae''. Due to the rarity of evidence today it is uncertain as to how common these luxury ''insulae'' were.<ref name="worldcat.org">{{Cite book|title=A companion to the city of Rome|last1=Holleran|first1=Claire|last2=Claridge|first2=Amanda|date=24 September 2018|isbn=978-1-4051-9819-6|edition=1|location=Hoboken, NJ|pages=320|oclc=1082874027}}</ref> The floor plan allows one to determine what constitutes one of these luxury ''insulae''. Firstly, there is a rectangular living space called a ''medianum'' from which all the other rooms can be accessed. These attached reception rooms were different sizes at either end and were typically partitioned further into two separate rooms but sometimes remained each as one.<ref>{{Cite book|title=A companion to the city of Rome|last1=Holleran|first1=Claire|last2=Claridge|first2=Amanda|date=24 September 2018|isbn=978-1-4051-9819-6|edition=1|location=Hoboken, NJ|pages=321|oclc=1082874027}}</ref> Large glazed windows allowed light into these rooms. These windows would often overlook a garden, courtyard or the street.<ref name="worldcat.org"/> On the adjacent sides of the ''medianum'' were the ''cubicula'', usually two of them.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite book|title=A companion to the city of Rome|last1=Holleran|first1=Claire|last2=Claridge|first2=Amanda|date=24 September 2018|isbn=978-1-4051-9819-6|edition=1|location=Hoboken, NJ|pages=322|oclc=1082874027}}</ref> Larger ''insulae'' at Ostia suggest that the upper floors could have had kitchens, latrines, and even piped water.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Holleran|first=Claire|title=A Companion to the City of Rome|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|year=2018|isbn=9781405198196|location=Hoboken New Jersey|pages=321}}</ref> Further luxurious features seen in Ostia include ornate pilasters or columns decorating exterior doors to staircases leading up to the apartments. The decorations suggest that these particular ''insulae'' probably housed wealthy individuals who lived there on a long-term basis.

Simple two to four-roomed apartments are also found in Ostia for the lower classes inhabiting an ''insula''. 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 the Capitoline Hill in Rome which may suggest that this particular design could have been a common solution to high housing demand at the time. The latrine and cistern for drinking water also seem to be shared.<ref name=":0" /> 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.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> However, this is merely conjecture as there is no direct evidence to support whether they were shared, nor how many inhabited the space at a given time.

==Regulation and administration== Augustus instituted reforms aimed at increasing the safety of buildings in the city of Rome.<ref>Strabo 5.3.7 http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0099.tlg001.perseus-grc1:5.3.7</ref> Because of the dangers of fire and collapse, the height of the {{lang|la|insulae}} were restricted by Augustus to 70 {{lang|la|pedes}} (Roman feet, 20.7 m), and again to an unspecified amount<ref name="A companion to the city of Rome"/> by Emperor Nero after The Great Fire of Rome in 64 AD. Emperor Trajan reduced the height to 60 Roman feet (17.75 m).<ref>{{Cite book|title=A companion to the city of Rome|last1=Holleran|first1=Claire|last2=Claridge|first2=Amanda|date=24 September 2018|isbn=978-1-4051-9819-6|edition=1|location=Hoboken, NJ|pages=318|oclc=1082874027}}</ref> According to the 4th-century Regionary catalogues, there were about 42,000–46,000 {{lang|la|insulae}} in the city, as compared to about 1,790 {{lang|la|domus}} in the late 3rd century. Data on the number of {{lang|la|insulae}} and to a lesser extent {{lang|la|domus}} are used for classical demography. The city's population in the late 3rd century is thought to have fluctuated between 700,000 and 800,000, down from more than 1 million, based also on figures for the amount of grain required to feed the population in Rome and surrounding areas.

==References== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name=EarlyChristian> {{cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=VjMdbpzLhRQC&dq=+insula&pg=PA3 | title = Early Christian Families in Context: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue |editor1= David L. Balch |editor2=Carolyn Osiek | author = Andrew Wallace-Hadrill | publisher = Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing | year = 2003 | isbn = 9780802839862 | pages = 14–15 | access-date = 2019-01-25 | quote = Most legible and striking is the fourth floor, which is subdivided by internal corridors into a series of suites of three rooms. <!-- There has been considerable disagreement over their function, and Amanda Claridge, for instance, inclines to an identification as slave quarters. This seems to me to underestimate considerably the size and potential of these units. The end room is lit by two windows -- externally the windows form groups of three of which the third lights the corridor itself. This is surely the main living room, while the rooms behind serve as bedrooms and utility rooms. In present dank and dingy conditions it takes a leap of imagination, but with painted plaster on the walls, and in all likelihood simply white mosaic flooring, such an apartment would rank with the forty-square meter apartments in which many families now live in Rome. --> }} </ref>

<ref name=SouthamptonArchaeologyInsula> {{cite news | url = http://www.southampton.ac.uk/archaeology/research/projects/insula.page | title = Research project: Insula dell'Ara Coeli and the western slopes of the Capitoline | work = Southampton University | access-date = 2019-01-25 | quote = The Insula dell'Ara Coeli is a part of an extensive archaeological area situated on the western slopes of the Capitol that was exposed though demolition work carried out between 1929 and 1933. }} </ref> }}

==External links== {{Commons category|Ancient Roman houses}} {{Commons category|Ara Coeli Insula}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20090306024232/http://www.caed.kent.edu/History/Rome/Houses/ostia.jpg Photo of Insulae in Ostia] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060825033844/http://classics.furman.edu/~rprior/imgs/RCU5/5-059.jpg Model of another insula in Ostia ] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20080317032728/http://www.proxima-veritati.auckland.ac.nz/insula9/ Insula 9, an excavation of a Pompeii insula] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20120204034414/http://depthome.brooklyn.cuny.edu/classics/dunkle/romnlife/insulae.htm Roman apartment building ]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Insula (Building)}} Category:Ancient Roman buildings and structures