Living Like a Roman
Like Duolingo, but for Living Like a Roman. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
For the part of you with thirty open tabs that never became anything.
A deep dive: 108 levels across 6 sections, about 216 minutes end to end, roughly 43 days at five minutes a day. It moves through Surviving the Streets of Rome; Winning on the Battlefield; Building Things that Last; Power, Politics, and Betrayal; The Story of How it All Began; and The End of an Era. It starts from scratch.
Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android
Key ideas in Living Like a Roman
- The poor relied heavily on grain-based porridge or bread
- The grain dole was a political tool to keep the urban masses fed and peaceful
- Most urban poor lacked private kitchens for complex cooking
- Hunger was the primary driver of urban unrest in Rome
- The difference in diet between social classes
- The role of the grain dole in social stability
- Garum provided the essential salty/umami flavor in Roman cooking
- The empire relied on specialized provinces for specific food staples
- The poor ate at street-side bars and taverns called popinae
- Private kitchens were a luxury reserved for the wealthy
- The ubiquity and function of garum
- Where the urban poor actually ate their meals
- The impact of imperial expansion on diet
- The logistics of the Roman food trade
- Wealthy Romans ate varied meats and imported delicacies
- The poor were largely restricted to 'puls' (grain pottage)
You've tried the other tabs
Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.
You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.
One answer, then back to scrolling.
Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.
Tomo gives Living Like a Roman the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.
Here's what playing it feels like
A real question from this course. Take your best guess.
Why did the Roman leaders give away a free 'grain dole' to the people living in the city?
Get it right to open this lesson and 107 more in the app.
Where Living Like a Roman takes you
Step into the sandals of a Roman citizen to see how they conquered the world and built a lasting empire. From gladiator fights to clever engineering, discover why their way of life still shapes ours today.
- 1
Surviving the Streets of Rome
- What's for Dinner in the Empire?
- A Day at the Chariot Races
- How to Dress Like a Senator
- The Secrets of the Public Baths
- 2
Winning on the Battlefield
- Joining the Roman Legion
- The Gear that Won an Empire
- How to Build a Fort in One Night
- Famous Battles and Bold Tactics
- The Life of a Gladiator
- Celebrating a Hero's Return
- 3
Building Things that Last
- Why Roman Roads are Still Here
- The Magic of the Roman Arch
- Bringing Water to the City
- 4
Power, Politics, and Betrayal
- How the Republic Worked
- The Rise of Julius Caesar
- Life Under the Emperors
- Keeping the People Happy
- When Laws Became Fair for Everyone
- 5
The Story of How it All Began
- The Legend of the Twin Brothers
- The Seven Kings of Early Rome
- How a Small Village Became a Superpower
- Gods, Goddesses, and Myths
- 6
The End of an Era
- Why the Empire Got Too Big
- The Great Split: East vs West
- The Barbarians at the Gate
- What the Romans Left Behind for Us
- The City that Never Truly Died
6 sections · 27 units · 108 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
You pick the voice
Living Like a Roman is taught in the Explain Like I'm 5 style: no big words. promise.. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.
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Start Living Like a Roman today.
Download Tomo, search Living Like a Roman, and play your first lesson in under a minute.