Shops

We think of shopping centres as being quite a new invention, but in fact the Romans had something very similar. The local government would own large halls that they would rent out to shop owners. Each hall would be filled with many different shops all selling the same type of product. One would contain meat shops, one grocers, one clothes shops and so on. This made sure that there was competition between shops, keeping prices low and ensuring that people would get good value for money.