There were many beautiful buildings in ancient Rome, but the living conditions for ordinary peoplewere bad. Most of their homes were so poorly made that they fell down or were fire hazards (=danger) with their steep, narrow wooden stairways. Most people were packed into apartment buildings that
rose shakily (=unsafely) six to twelve floors above the ground. The apartments were rooms about three
metres square, and each building housed about five hundred people.
These tall buildings faced each other across streets only three metres wide, so no sunlight reached the ground. Even so, apartments were costly, though cheaper places could be had outside Rome. But people wanted to be near their work and entertainment. So the streets became crowded and it was hard to move quickly. At night, the streets were filled with noise as food and supplies were brought inthe city on wagons and carts.