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Marti Foster
Professor Alec Thomson
Ancient World History
31 May 2016
Pleb Life
Its the middle of July and I woke up drenched in sweat again next to my also sweaty
wife, Aeliana, and our two sweaty children, Octavia and Magnus. We live on the highest floor of
our complex because its all we can afford and the heat never seems to die down up here. Oh
how I wish we could save up enough money to move out of this miniscule apartment but Aeliana
and I can barely keep up with the weekly rent. (Wasson) With that said, its about time for me to
head over to my job as a baker. (Plebeians)
The sun is coming up as Im walking up to the shop where I will eat my first meal of the
day, consisting of a piece of bread that I discreetly took when my boss wasnt watching. I cannot
afford to lose this job because Aeliana makes very little money as a hairdresser, but a mans got
to eat. (Kamm) Thats what my father, Felix, who I am named after, always used to say to
account for the extra grain ration he would snatch to enjoy at the evening wrestling matches we
would attend. (Wasson) Between the heat of the day and of the ovens in the bakery, I am a hot
mess. I am eager to leave work and enjoy some time with my family.
I have worked for about 8 hours and will leave work around 2 PM. This is typically a
long work day, but my boss offered to let me stay for a couple extra hours because the shop will
be busy when it reopens later in the evening. (Wasson) Today at the amphitheater, a chariot race
will be held and I am heading home to meet Aeliana and Octavia, then we will go to the race.

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(Plebians) Magnus is currently on punishment for drawing some sort of graffiti on the exterior
wall of our apartment complex. (Wasson) He is lucky we have not been evicted because of this.
There were many patricians present at the amphitheater so we did our best to stay out of
their way and avoided mingling with them. (Plebeians & Patricians) Now that the race has
ended, our family will meet at the bath for some much needed relaxation time. I am grateful that
the bath in our city is free. (Wasson) We are ever so lucky to have such a trustworthy government
willing to provide these simple leisures for us. I would never trust our past Etruscan rulers to be
this spectacular. (Romans) Our time at the bath has really helped us to work up an appetite,
however the amount of food we have right now is sadly lacking. Our monthly allotment of grain
has rarely been sufficient since the children hit their growth spurts. (Wasson) Despite this,
Aeliana prepared enough food to keep us full for today and Magnus retrieved water at the public
fountain for us to quench our thirst.
Its been an eventful and pleasant day for me and my family. It isnt easy living life as a
pleb, but the simple pleasures we get to enjoy day in and day out make life much more bearable
for a poor family like ourselves. It is time to get to sleep as tomorrow calls for another early day
of baking!

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Works Cited
Kamm, Antony. "The Romans." The Classics Pages: Antony Kamm's '': 1.4 Under the Kings.
Taylor & Francis Books, n.d. Web. 31 May 2016.
"Plebeians." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 31 May 2016.
"Plebeians & Patricians." Plebeians and Patricians. Mr Donn, n.d. Web. 31 May 2016.
"Romans and Etruscans." TheFreeDictionary.com. Farlex, Inc., n.d. Web. 31 May 2016.
Wasson, Donald L. "Roman Daily Life." Ancient History Encyclopedia. Ancient History
Encyclopedia, 10 Dec. 2013. Web. 31 May 2016.