Expert: Maria - 1/1/2008

Question
Could you suggest some websites and books that would give details of the everyday lives of average people (perhaps mostly noncitizens) in various regions of the Roman empire in the 4th century C.E.? Their clothes, housing, food, utensils, etc. Thanks much.

Answer
Hello,

Actually it’s not so easy to find books / web sites  which focus all their attention  on the  everyday life of  average people in the  4th century C.E. only, when the Roman Empire was not so far from  its  fall  which happened in 476 C.E., while we have many books that deal with this matter in general, without reference to the 4th century in particular.

So I can suggest the following books:

-'Everyday Life in Ancient Rome'  by Lionel Casson

-'Life in Ancient Rome' by F. R. Cowell

-'Daily Life in Ancient Rome: The People and the City at the Height of the Empire' by Jerome Carcopino

-'Daily Life in Ancient Rome' by Florence Dupont

-'Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome' by Lesley Adkins

-'History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' by E. Gibbon

-'Ancient Rome and the Roman Empire' by Michael Kerrigan.

  
As for the  websites, see at:
http://www.historyguide.org/ancient/lecture13b.html
http://library.thinkquest.org/26602/entertainment.htm#leisure
http://www.educationforum.co.uk/KS3_2/romefam.htm
http://www.uvm.edu/~classics/webresources/life/
http://fathom.lib.uchicago.edu/1/777777121908/

Hope these suggestions can be helpful to you.
Best regards,
Maria