The expansion and stabilization of the empire created great wealth, much of which flowed into Rome. The city, with a population of over a million, may have been the largest city in the world at that time. Although Rome could boast of stately palaces, noble buildings, and beautiful residential areas, most people lived in shoddily constructed houses. They took whatever work was available, making food, clothing, construction materials, and the many other items needed by the city’s residents, or selling these products from small shops or at the city’s many marketplaces. Many residents of the city of Rome were slaves, who ranged from highly educated household tutors or government officials or widely sought sculptors to workers who engaged in hard physical tasks.

Fire and crime were perennial problems even in Augustus’s day, and sanitation was poor. In the second century urban planning and new construction greatly improved the situation. For example, engineers built an elaborate system that collected sewage from public baths, the ground floors of buildings, and public latrines. They also built hundreds of miles of aqueducts, most of them underground, to bring fresh water into the city from the surrounding hills. The aqueducts, powered entirely by gravity, were a sophisticated system that required regular maintenance. Building aqueducts required thousands and sometimes tens of thousands of workers, who were generally paid out of the imperial treasury.

Rome grew so large that it became ever more difficult to feed its residents. Emperors solved the problem by providing citizens with free oil, wine, and grain for bread. By doing so, they also stayed in favor with the people. They and other sponsors also entertained the people with gladiatorial contests in which participants fought using swords and other weapons. Games were advertised on billboards, and spectators were given a program with the names and sometimes the fighting statistics of the pairs, so that they could bet more easily. Some gladiators were criminals or prisoners of war, but by the imperial period increasing numbers were volunteers, often poor immigrants who saw gladiatorial combat as a way to support themselves. All gladiators were trained in gladiatorial schools and were legally slaves, although they could keep their winnings and a few became quite wealthy. The Hollywood portrayal of gladiatorial combat has men fighting to their death, but this was increasingly rare, as the owners of especially skilled fighters wanted them to continue to compete. The Romans were even more addicted to chariot racing than to gladiatorial shows. Winning charioteers were idolized just as sports stars are today.