Ancient Roman Street Scene

Ancient Rome may not have looked that different from the older areas of modern Rome, if you ignore the electric power lines, cars, and cellphones in everybody's hands. This is my concept of a small open square on a chill, rainy day. Perhaps it isn't crowded enough for a real Roman scene, but the weather is bad, and only servants or slaves are about. A boy leans against a doorway to the left, while a servant girl wrapped in a cloak hurries towards us in the center. The "insulae" or apartment buildings of ancient Rome were very similar to current Roman apartment buildings built since the 18th or 19th century. As I remember from living there, they were very cold in fall and winter, with stone slab stairways to walk up and stucco walls with crumbly surfaces. Efficient heating was nearly impossible. I haven't been back to Rome for decades though and I'm sure many basic things about living there have changed.

"Graphos" technical pen with sepia ink, colored in watercolor, on sketchbook page. 8" x 6 1/2", April 1973. Click for larger image.