Remembering And Romans

You Must Remember This

Jonathan Weiner | American Scholar | 1st June 2026

On autobiographical memory and its two basic types. “In the first type, episodic memory, you remember a scene from your past with a sensation called ‘mental time travel’. In the second type, semantic memory, there is zero time travel. A classic example is the colour of milk. There are vast numbers of facts and concepts that you’ve filed away in your memory as things you just know” (6,700 words)

Inside The Roman Apartment Building

Stefan Al | Common Edge | 28th May 2026

Notes on real estate in ancient Rome. To make room for the high demand, Rome pioneered a form of high-density, vertical living called insulae, apartments that may have been up to eight stories high. Communal staircases, vaulted arcades, balconies, and spaces combining residential, commercial and religious uses were some of its innovations. Insulae were lucrative for real estate moguls (2,000 words)