Ancient slave room sheds light on Roman life

AuthorNick Squires
Published date08 November 2021
Publication titleBay of Plenty Times
The beds, made of wooden planks that could be adjusted according to the height of the person sleeping in them, were found in a cramped room that was once inhabited by slaves.

It offers a rare insight into the hard lives of the people who lived on the very lowest rung of ancient Roman society. The room contains a chamber pot and a cluster of eight amphorae, as well as three rudimentary beds — two for adults and a smaller one for a child. “While two of them are about 1.7 metres long (5ft 7in), one bed measures just 1.4 metres and may therefore have belonged to a young man or child,” archaeologists said as they announced the discovery.

The slaves’ room is part of a once-lavish villa known as Civita Giuliana, located on the outskirts of Pompeii, which was buried in ash and volcanic debris when Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79.

Inside the slaves’ quarters, archaeologists found the remains of horse...

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