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For half a millennium, Rome was the biggest, 
richest, and most spectacular city on Earth.

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It was also the most dangerous. Every bath 
and alleyway had its thieves and thugs,

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and even after Augustus put a stop to the 
street-fighting gangs of the late Republic,

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violent crime remained a problem. Ancient 
authors mention murderers, guilds of criminals,

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and even a mysterious group of assassins who 
killed their victims with poisoned needles.

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Firemen patrolled Rome’s streets at 
night, and soldiers of the urban cohorts

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were stationed in public places during the day. 
Neither did much to suppress the crime rate.

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The urban cohorts, in fact, routinely contributed 
to the problem by extorting protection money.

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The Praetorian Guard – who were sometimes 
called in as riot police – were even worse,

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and became notorious for casually 
beating and abusing innocent citizens.

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Crime was not focused in any 
one part of ancient Rome.

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Although some neighborhoods, as we’ll see, 
were richer than others, there was nothing like

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the rigid separation of high- and low-income areas 
found in many modern cities. Throughout Rome,

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the mansions of the elite stood side-by-side with 
low-rent apartment buildings and modest shops.

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Let’s take a closer look. This is 
a map of Rome around the year 300.

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The outer dark line represents the Aurelian 
walls, which marked the edge of the imperial city.

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The inner line traces the old Republican walls, 
long disused and built over by this point.

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Much of the city center was off-limits to housing: 
the Roman Forum and imperial Fora, the Capitoline

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Hill with its temples, the Palatine Hill with 
its palaces, the Colosseum in the valley below.

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Few Romans, likewise, lived in the Campus 
Martius – the low-lying area in the bend of

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the Tiber – since this district was 
also filled with public buildings.

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The huge imperial bath complexes took 
up neighborhood-size swaths of land.

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So did the vast imperially-owned 
gardens along the edges of the city.

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In short, everyone in Rome besides the emperors 
and the wealthiest aristocrats had to live in

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the spaces between all those red circles.
The houses of the elite, as mentioned,

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were scattered throughout the city. But there were 
clusters of mansions in a few areas, usually on

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the summits of hills, which were likelier to 
catch a breeze during the sweltering summer.

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One such cluster was on the 
crest of the Quirinal Hill,

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where aristocratic residences lined an ancient 
thoroughfare called Alta Semita – high street.

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There were other groups of mansions along 
the parks of the Esquiline and Caelian

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Hills. And during the first and second centuries, 
in an early version of gentrification, elite

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houses displaced the historically working-class 
neighborhoods atop the Aventine Hill.

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So, where were the less salubrious parts of 
the city? Rome’s iconic “rough neighborhood”

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was the Suburra, in the swampy valley 
between the Esquiline and Viminal Hills.

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Roman authors dwell on the neighborhood’s filthy 
streets, cheap taverns, and cheaper brothels.

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But as in most parts of the city, 
there were pockets of affluence;

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for years, Caesar himself had a house there.
The emporium, Rome’s warehouse district,

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was another unsavory side of town, inhabited 
mostly by dock workers and itinerant merchants.

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It didn’t help that the whole neighborhood 
smelled like rancid olive oil,

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since it stood beside a gigantic 
mound of broken oil amphorae.

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Trastevere, across the river, was 
a crowded working-class district,

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home to many recent immigrants from the provinces. 
It wasn’t an especially rough neighborhood,

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but it wasn’t respectable either. Everybody who 
was anybody lived on the other side of the Tiber.

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The Vatican, outside the Aurelian 
walls, was a patchwork of clay pits,

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working-class cemeteries, and scraggly 
vineyards that made the worst wine in Rome.

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It wasn’t dangerous, but it 
wasn’t a place linger either.

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This video belongs to the “time traveler’s 
guide to ancient Rome” series, which provides

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advice to those hypothetically possessing means, 
motive, and opportunity to visit the ancient city.

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So let’s talk practicalities. If you were 
to somehow time travel to ancient Rome,

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which parts of the city would 
you be best advised to avoid?

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Obviously you’d be much more likely to be mugged 
in the Suburra than on High Street. But it’s not

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so much neighborhoods you’d have to watch out for, 
as it is trouble spots within those neighborhoods.

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Time travelers who find themselves in ancient 
Rome’s seedier areas should avoid bars, barbers,

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and brothels. Bars first. Roman bars – tabernae or 
cauponae – were places to get a quick bite or long

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drink. They served simple hot foot and cheap wine, 
and were popular neighborhood watering holes.

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They often doubled, however, as brothels, and were 
centers of illegal gambling and other chicanery.

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In a neighborhood like the Suburra, entering 
one would likely attract unwanted attention.

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Second, barbers. What, you ask, was wrong with 
barbers? Just one thing: they talked too much.

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Most Roman barbers worked outside, often 
on a street corner, where they tended to

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keep a steady stream of chatter going with 
their clients, with neighborhood idlers,

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and anybody else within earshot. Hanging out 
near a barber would thus be a surefire way

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to let every criminal in the neighborhood know 
where to find to the confused-looking foreigner.

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Finally, brothels. If you happened, purely 
by accident, to stumble into a Roman brothel,

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you would do best to stumble right back 
out. Quite aside from the other hazards

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of patronizing such places, you would 
stand an excellent chance of being robbed.

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If you planned to spend a substantial part of your 
visit in dangerous situations, you might want to

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hire a bodyguard. A good bodyguard – preferably 
a retired gladiator – would deter all but the

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most determined thieves. Unfortunately, 
some bodyguards were thieves themselves,

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so you’d have to choose your 
associate very carefully.

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Regardless of whether you decided to hire 
a bodyguard, you could avoid most problems

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simply by not drawing attention to yourself 
and – above all – not venturing out at night.

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Ancient Rome was a no-man’s land after dark.
You’ll find other useful tips about surviving a

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hypothetical trip to ancient Rome and much more in 
my forthcoming book Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators,

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and War Elephants. You’ll find time travel gear 
on the toldinstone Patreon page. Stay tuned

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for the next installment of a Time Traveler’s 
Guide to Ancient Rome, and thanks for watching.