The Otium in ancient Rome, between villas, books and good food

When You rent an apartment in Rome, during Your stay in the Eternal City, You'll realize the greatness of Rome thanks to the many archaeological wonders that you can visit in the town.

At the time of the Romans, as in our days, the concept of fun during the holidays was linked to the desire to escape from the chaotic life of the City, as recalled by Giovenale. A need also confirmed by Seneca when he felt the need to leave the "foul air of Rome and the 'smell' of steaming kitchens. Which makes it useful to have a villa near Rome as refuge once concluded the business. Here is born the 'suburban villa', usually near Ostia and around Tivoli or the Alban Hills, where are the remains of many Roman villas. The phenomenon was due to the enchanting scenery, healthy climate, but also to attempt to promote agriculture as a return to nature.

A significant contribution was also given by the change of taste, and the emergence of new spiritual and intellectual needs. Catone, who in Tuscolano had his villa, even wrote a treatise. The "De re rustica, in which he expresses love for the land convinced that from it derive not only the physical health, but the moral too. Famous and preferred to the other of his properties, was the villa of Cicero on the Alban Hills where he wrote most of his major philosophical works, one of which is titled precisely "Tusculanae Disputationes," convinced that in a Roman villa he could be realized intellectually his individuality.

Rent one of our Rome apartments, and You'll enjoy the unique atmosphere of the Eternal City.

Daniele Davide, manager of Tredy Sas.

If You rent an apartment in Rome, it will be very interesting to visit this marvellous city, the Eternal City.

Rent one of our Rome apartments to visit the most beautiful monuments in Rome.

The houses of the Romans

When You rent an apartment in Rome, during Your stay in the Eternal City, You'll realize the greatness of Rome thanks to the many archaeological wonders that you can visit in the town.

The houses of the Romans have different characteristics according to the class of membership of the family. In any case, the house was a key issue, as the seat of the family, whose prosperity the paterfamilias was dedicated with great commitment and passion. We distinguish, therefore, domus and insula.

Originally, the house of nobles Patrizi (as they were called the Roman aristocracy) was a construction rather elementary. Across the hall, which opened on the other rooms, no windows, it entered the garden square, bordered by a colonnade (peristyle). in the Atrium the light enters from a wide opening in the ceiling, beneath which was placed a large tub, designed to collect rainwater (impluvio). Here was found a small temple where the deities were placed: the Lares and Penati. Initially, next to them, was the sacred fire fed by the matron.

Large and spacious, the Roman houses were equipped with running water, hot and cold water, central heating, stained glass and decorated with colorful mosaics and frescoes, and statues.

Rent one of our Rome apartments, and You'll enjoy the unique atmosphere of the Eternal City.

Daniele Davide, manager of Tredy Sas.

If You rent an apartment in Rome, it will be very interesting to visit this marvellous city, the Eternal City.

Rent one of our Rome apartments to visit the most beautiful monuments in Rome.

A Brief History of Ancient Rome

When You rent an apartment in Rome, during Your stay in the Eternal City, You'll realize the greatness of Rome thanks to the many archaeological wonders that you can visit in the town.

Rome and its many centuries of history begin officially in 753 BC on the slopes of the Palatine hill, when the Etruscans and Greek settlers were located on neighboring areas. Tradition gives Romulus the paternity of the village, when he traced the perimeter with a plow.

From 509 BC to 27 BC the governing authority, elected year after year by the citizens, founded the foundation of civil law. Rome, initially a village, becomes in a few centuries the capital of an empire and, with the Punic wars, the undisputed ruler of the Mediterranean Sea.

The expansion of territory and of population require a redefinition of the "res publica": the state. The solutions suggested by several influential men who bring new institutional arrangements : "il principato". The "princeps" (from "primum caput" or first citizen) founded the empire into a unified and peaceful arrangement that lasts until the third century AD ( "Pax Romana"). During these centuries the Roman Empire reached its splendor. By the third century AD, Rome gradually lose its central role in the vastness of his reign, until Diocletian divides the empire into two parts, restructuring the economy, finance, politics and bureaucracy. This new arrangement provides to Rome a new century of prosperity and the Christianity, officially approved in 313 AD by Constantine the Great with the edict of Milan, support the regime.

At that time there were in Rome about 4 million citizens (free men, slaves excluded) and in the Empire more than 50 million. In the fourth century, the imperial center of gravity shifts eastward, after successive invasions of barbarians in Italy, the Visigoths and Vandals, who come to plunder even the city of Rome.The sixth century saw the demise of the Roman Empire.

Rent one of our Rome apartments, and You'll enjoy the unique atmosphere of the Eternal City.

Daniele Davide, manager of Tredy Sas.

If You rent an apartment in Rome, it will be very interesting to visit this marvellous city, the Eternal City.

Rent one of our Rome apartments to visit the most beautiful monuments in Rome.

The Gladiators of Rome

When You rent an apartment in Rome, during Your stay in the Eternal City, You'll realize the greatness of Rome thanks to the many archaeological wonders that you can visit in the town.

The Gladiator was a special fighter, during the Roman Empire; the name comes from the sword, a small short sword used very often in the fighting. The practice of gladiator fights comes from Sannio, and like many other aspects of the Samnite culture it was immediately adopted by the Romans. Its origin must be linked to the so called munus (a term that has the double meaning in Latin of: tasking and gift), the habit of the most wealthy to give to the people, at their own expense, public performances during special circumstances: for example duels to the death among slaves at the funeral of some relative.
The training of the gladiators was even deeper than that practiced in the Roman military schools. Practiced fencing, handling of special weapons, and improved their physical condition with a grueling workouts. During the Christian era, the "gladiatura" became a top-level sport in Rome, and the training centers vied with each other in trying to produce the best fighters. Living conditions for the gladiators were exceptional, since they had the doors open to all the events held in Rome and its surroundings. The training was done in the "Gymnasium", which is connected via an underground corridor at the Coliseum. The new gladiators had the privilege of access to the evenings festivities but this reputation was part of life that many young gladiators were pursuing. The revolt of Spartacus in 73 BC took shape in a school of gladiators in Capua, but at the time, the sport was still little and poorly regulated.

Rent one of our Rome apartments, and You'll enjoy the unique atmosphere of the Eternal City.

Daniele Davide, manager of Tredy Sas.

If You rent an apartment in Rome, it will be very interesting to visit this marvellous city, the Eternal City.

Rent one of our Rome apartments to visit the most beautiful monuments in Rome.