The objective of this paper is to assess the lighting conditions in houses of antiquity providing the necessary photometric basis and infrastructure for current and future studies on ancient lighting. Lighting in antiquity is a research area that has not yet engaged the attention of many scholars. One of the main reasons is the notable lack of interdisciplinary cooperation on the subject and therefore, of scientific approach and infrastructure (photometric, experimental data) that would have been very helpful. More specifically, this research has investigated experimentally the photometric properties of exact copies of ancient lamps, being the main artificial light source in antiquity. Also, it has evaluated, through accurate lighting simulations, the sufficiency of light inside specific rooms of ancient Greek houses, in relation to typical nocturnal activities recorded in archaeological data, such as participating in a night-time symposium and reading during its conduction (reading is chosen for being a light demanding activity). The results have shown that that artificial lighting in antiquity was both effective and economical, as long as the light sources and the working area were appropriately positioned.