The housing of ancient Rome had three main modalities: domus and insulae as urban dwellings (rich and modest, respectively) and villae in the countryside. The casae") or primitive homes, and later the most humble, of slaves and lower classes, built with very precarious means, have been preserved with greater difficulty.[1]​.

The Latins of pre-Roman Italy lived in casae: round or elliptical huts, topped by a conical thatched roof. They had square doors and windows with one or two panes. They were arranged on a "Plinth (architecture)" base that isolated them from humidity. This would be the casa Romuli") or tugurium Romuli") (the primitive hut of Romulus"), which for centuries was venerated on the Palatine) and the other homes of the first settlement of Rome.[2]​.

Under the influence of the Etruscans, these houses became rectangular and, to house the entire family, they formed an enclosure around a central patio that overlooked a garden (hortus), also included in the enclosure. At the back of the central courtyard was the tablinum, originally the room where the father of the family slept. In this room was also located the small sanctuary (lararium) dedicated to the Lares "Lares (mythology)") and Penates, often located in a niche in the wall. There could be other rooms (cubicula) that were used as bedrooms for other family members.

This form would barely evolve to become a rustic villa (pars rustica).

The homes of Ancient Rome made it possible to accommodate all statuses of Roman society, which, especially during the Roman Empire, became a very hierarchical society.

In Rome, due to the scarcity of land, the central courtyard was reduced to the atrium. Housing was socially differentiated: the insulae (apartment blocks) for the poor; for the rich, the domus, which would lead to urban palaces or villae outside the cities.