(insule) which were characteristic of Rome; sometimes, however, a
house seems to have been shared between several families.


25. Rents and House Values.--Most native Athenians own their houses.
Houses indeed can be rented, usually by the foreign traders and
visitors who swam into the city; and at certain busy seasons one can
hire "lodgings" for a brief sojourn. Rents are not unreasonable,
8% or 8 1/3% of the value of the house being counted a fair annual
return. But the average citizen is also a householder, because
forsooth houses are very cheap. The main cost is probably for
the land. The chief material used in building, sun-dried brick,
is very unsubstantial,[*] and needs frequent repairs, but is
not expensive. Demosthenes the Orator speaks of a "little house"
(doubtless of the kind last described) worth only seven minue [about
$126.00 (1914) or $2,242.80 (2000)], and this is not the absolute
minimum. A very rich banker has had one worth 100 minue [about
$1,800.00 (1914) or $32,040.00 (2000)], and probably this is close
to the maximum. The rent question is not therefore one of the
pressing problems at Athens.

[*]This material was so friable and poor that the Greek burglar
was known as a "Wall-digger." It did not pay him to pick a lock;
it was simpler for him to quarry his way through the wall with a
pickax.


26. The Simple yet Elegant Furnishings of an Athenian Home.--These
houses, even owned by the lordly rich, are surprisingly simple
in their furnishings. The accumulation of heavy furniture, wall