Roman buildings were essentially unheated. There were no fireplaces, stoves, or furnaces because no one had figured out an efficient way to ventilate the smoke. In their shacks and hovels, Roman peasants clustered around an open fire while the smoke rose through a large hole left in the roof, which also let in rain, snow, wind, and cold.30 Urban Romans even lacked holes in their roofs; as they cooked over wood or charcoal braziers, the smoke was simply allowed to concentrate indoors. Asphyxiation was avoided because the buildings were extremely drafty, since they lacked windowpanes and were
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