The Floor Above the Fire

The Floor Above the Fire investigates rent, filth, and survival in Rome’s Subura. Its Subura Load Test follows location, building structure, services, necessary fire, escape, and the distribution of recovery. The book connects high rents, water access, cooking, maintenance, noise, household vulnerability, and rebuilding with the unequal risks of urban life. Satire, law, biography, administrative testimony, archaeology, and interpretation are distinguished, and comparisons from other cities are identified rather than silently relocated...