Rome had multistorey (3 to 4 of them) residential buildings, and opposite to today, the lower floors were the prestige floors - less climbing, more robust materials. The top floors were generally poorly constructed, out of lightweight materials.
The first proto skyscrapers were built in the late 19th century. The Equitable Life Assurance Building (1870) and the Home Insurance Building (1885) were office buildings. The idea of a Penthouse appartment [3] dates from the 1920s. And as buildings are only slowly built and renovated, the first floors were still prestige floors well into the 20th century.
1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_nobile
People don't realize what a paradigm shifting technology elevators were.
At ground floor (usually with higher celings than the rest of the house) dining room, sitting room, library, study, most of the "luxury" (marble, columns, paneling, paintings, etc.) was there, as they were the only parts of the house that visitors would see.
In the basement the kitchen and cellar (where cook and other servants worked).
On first floor (what probably our US friends will call second) the bedrooms for the owners.
On second (last) floor, right under the roof, usually with a reduced height AND extremey cold in winter and extremely hot in summer, the servant quarters.