Roman housing: insulae and the domus - OCR GCSE Classical Civilisation (Roman City Life) Exam Questions

Practise 38 exam-style questions on Roman housing: insulae and the domus for OCR GCSE Classical Civilisation (Roman City Life). Write your answer as you would in the exam and get it marked in seconds against the mark scheme, point by point, with an AI tutor on hand if you get stuck.

38 questions
1–15 marks each
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20 questions, marked as you go

Sample questions with model answers

Here are 4 of the questions in this topic, each with a model answer, an explanation of why it earns the marks and the mark scheme an examiner would use.

Question 1

1 mark

Source A: Juvenal, Satire 3

'We ought to live somewhere with no fires and no terrors in the night. Already Ucalegon is shouting for water, already he is moving out his bits and pieces; your third floor is already smoking - and you do not know it. For if the panic starts at the bottom of the stairs, the last to burn will be the man who has only the roof tiles to keep the rain off him, up where the gentle doves lay their eggs.'

According to Source A, who will be the last person to burn?

Model answer

The tenant who lives at the very top of the block, with only the roof tiles over his head.

Explanation

The cheapest rooms were at the top of an insula. Juvenal's grim joke is that the top-floor tenant burns last only because the fire starts below and climbs: he will not notice until it is too late, and the stairs are his only way out. The passage reflects real dangers - wooden floors, braziers, lamps and only one staircase.

Mark scheme

1 mark
The person who lives at the very top of the building / in the attic, protected from the rain only by the roof tiles.
Accept 'the tenant on the top floor', 'the poorest tenant under the roof', 'the man who lives where the doves nest'. Must be drawn from the source.

Question 2

2 marks

Source A: Martial, Epigrams 1.117 (Martial replies to a man who keeps offering to send his slave to borrow Martial's book of poems)

'There is no reason to trouble your slave, Lupercus. It is a long way if he wants to come to the Pear Tree, and I live up three flights of stairs - high ones.'

What does Source A tell us about where Martial lived in Rome? Make two points.

Model answer

Martial lived high up in an apartment block, three steep flights of stairs above the street, which suggests he rented a cheaper upper-floor flat. His home was also a long way out, in the district called the Pear Tree.

Explanation

Even a well-known poet with wealthy patrons like Martial could live in a rented upper-floor apartment. Upper floors were cheaper because they were smaller, harder to reach and more dangerous. Martial uses his stairs as an excuse: he would rather Lupercus bought the book from a bookseller.

Mark scheme

1 mark
First valid point from the source.
Two from: he lived up three flights of stairs, i.e. on an upper floor (of an insula / apartment block); the stairs were high / steep / tiring to climb; his home was a long way away / far from the centre (at the Pear Tree district); living so high up suggests he was not wealthy / rented cheaper rooms. Max 2.
1 mark
Second, different point from the source.
As above; must be a different point.

Question 3

4 marks

Source A: the garden of the House of Octavius Quartio (also called the House of Loreius Tiburtinus), Pompeii, 1st century AD. Behind a fairly small atrium, the garden fills most of the plot. A water channel (euripus) runs across the top of the garden, with an outdoor dining couch for two people (a biclinium) at one end, painted with scenes from myth. A second, much longer channel runs down the length of the garden, with fountains, small statues and pergolas for vines and shady walks along it.

Select two features of this garden and explain what each suggests about the owner of the house.

Model answer

The long water channels (euripi) suggest the owner wanted to imitate the great country villas of the very rich, turning a fairly modest town house into a miniature estate to impress his visitors. The outdoor dining couch painted with myths such as Pyramus and Thisbe suggests he enjoyed entertaining guests and wanted to be seen as an educated man who knew Greek and Roman stories.

Explanation

The house is often explained as a modest owner 'aping' the villas of the elite: the euripi, statues and biclinium squeeze villa luxury into a town plot. The paintings on the biclinium show Pyramus and Thisbe and Narcissus, stories told by Ovid. Each pair needs a feature from the source plus an explanation about the owner.

Mark scheme

2 marks
First feature with explanation: 1 mark for a relevant feature from Source A, 1 mark for a valid explanation of what it suggests about the owner.
Two pairs from, e.g.: the long water channels (euripi) (1) - he wanted to imitate the grand country villas of the very rich / show off his wealth (1); the outdoor biclinium (1) - he enjoyed entertaining guests and dining outdoors / wanted to impress them (1); the mythological paintings (Pyramus and Thisbe, Narcissus) (1) - he wanted to appear educated and cultured (1); fountains (1) - he could afford piped water from the aqueduct (1); pergolas, vines and shady walks (1) - he wanted to bring the countryside into the town / valued relaxation (otium) (1); statues (1) - he had money to spend on art / wanted to look sophisticated (1); the garden is much grander than the small atrium (1) - he spent his money on display / leisure rather than on the public rooms (1). The second pair must use a different feature.
2 marks
Second, different feature with explanation: 1 mark for a relevant feature from Source A, 1 mark for a valid explanation of what it suggests about the owner.
As above; must be a different feature and explanation.

Question 4

8 marks

Source A: Vitruvius, On Architecture 6.5 (written in the reign of Augustus)

'We must also consider how, in private houses, some rooms should be built for the master of the household alone and others to be shared with outsiders. The private rooms are those which no one may enter unless invited, such as bedrooms, dining rooms and baths. The shared rooms are those which ordinary people have a right to enter even uninvited, such as entrance courts, atria and peristyles. ... But for men of high rank, who hold public offices and magistracies and must perform duties for the citizens, lofty entrance courts fit for a king must be built, and very spacious atria and peristyles ... because in their houses public discussions and private trials and arbitrations are often held.'

To what extent was a wealthy Roman's domus a private family home? Use Source A as a starting point and your own knowledge.

Model answer

Source A suggests that a wealthy Roman's domus was only partly a private family home. Vitruvius divides it into private rooms, such as bedrooms, dining rooms and baths, which outsiders could enter only if invited, and shared rooms, such as the entrance court, atrium and peristyle, which ordinary people had a right to enter. For important men he says the atria and peristyles must be 'very spacious' because public discussions and even trials were held in their houses. So for the elite, much of the house was a public building.

Own knowledge supports this. Every morning clients in togas gathered in the atrium for the salutatio, and the patron received them in the tablinum, so the front of the house was full of outsiders. The design itself was meant for visitors: the view from the fauces through the atrium and tablinum to the garden was planned to impress, and the atrium might display ancestor masks and fine frescoes. Dinner parties in the triclinium were a way of entertaining friends and clients, and the shops at the front opened straight onto the street.

However, the domus was also a family home. The cubicula were bedrooms, the culina was where the slaves cooked for the household, and the lararium was the centre of family worship of the Lares, led by the paterfamilias. The inward-looking design, with few windows and one entrance, protected the family's privacy, and features such as the folding wooden screen in the House of the Wooden Partition could close off the tablinum. The peristyle garden at the back was a place for the family to relax.

Overall, a wealthy Roman's domus was a private family home only to a limited extent. The back of the house and the bedrooms were private, but the front rooms were a public stage for the owner's career and status, and the 'family' itself included slaves and dependants, so the house was never private in the modern sense.

Explanation

Strong answers use Vitruvius' division of public and private rooms as a framework, then add the salutatio, the axial view and family worship from their own knowledge. A good judgement notices that the answer depends on the part of the house and the rank of the owner, and that the Roman familia included slaves.

Mark scheme

8 marks
Levels of response (8 marks). AO1 (4) and AO2 (4) are equally weighted.
Level 4 (7-8 marks): consistently accurate and detailed knowledge of the rooms and uses of the domus, using both Source A and own wider knowledge; very good understanding of the cultural context (patrons and clients, public life conducted at home); a well-argued response with a clear, substantiated judgement on how far the domus was a private family home, supported by a range of well-selected evidence, including critical analysis.
Level 3 (5-6 marks): accurate knowledge, using both Source A and own knowledge; good understanding of the context; a focused response with relevant analysis and a judgement on the question.
Level 2 (3-4 marks): sound, mostly accurate knowledge; engages with the general topic of the domus using a limited range of evidence (may rely mainly on Source A); some analysis; any judgement is asserted rather than supported.
Level 1 (1-2 marks): limited knowledge, may only use the source given; isolated analysis; little or no judgement.
0 marks: no response or no response worthy of credit.
A mainly descriptive or narrative answer with little analysis or judgement cannot go above Level 2.
Indicative content (not a checklist; credit other valid points): AO1: Source A - private rooms (bedrooms, dining rooms, baths) entered only by invitation; shared rooms (entrance courts, atria, peristyles) open to outsiders; important men need grand atria and peristyles because public business and trials are held in their houses. Own knowledge - the salutatio: clients waiting in the atrium in the early morning, received by the patron in the tablinum; the axial view designed to impress visitors; dinner parties in the triclinium; ancestor masks displayed; shops at the front opening onto the street; the household (familia) included slaves and freedmen as well as family; the lararium and family worship; cubicula, kitchen, latrine; the garden as a place of leisure; few street windows, single entrance and the folding screen of the House of the Wooden Partition giving privacy. AO2: the Roman idea of 'family' included slaves and dependants, so the house was never private in a modern sense; the front of the house was public, the back more private; the degree of public use depended on the owner's rank - Vitruvius says ordinary men do not need grand atria; display rooms show the house as a stage for status; judgement on the balance.

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