Roman Domestic Architecture

 Domus Italica:  4th and 3rd Century BC

When thinking about Roman town design, keep in mind that the Romans loved symmetry and axiality, these same design principles show up in Roman house design.  Sometimes a vestibulum was the point of entry from the street.  It was under the eaves of the house and that was where a visitor waited for the door to open.  The early domus Italica houses did not have a vestibulum.  Next was the fauces or the entry to the house, on either side of the fauces was a cella or cellae (plural) which could be open to the street and function as shops (tabernae), or they could be closed off from the street and function as interior rooms.

The fauces led to the most important room in the Roman house, the atrium.  In the centre of the atrium is a pool (impluvium) used to collect rain water for household use as the atrium had a rectangular opening in the ceiling (compluvium).  The rooms in Roman houses were multi-functional; the atrium was a audience hall for receiving guests and conducting business, early Roman houses were not retreats in the way we think of our houses.  Archaeological evidence suggests that the atrium was also used for the storage of household items in cupboards, there would have been buckets to draw water from the impluvium and the household loom was likely stationed in the atrium, where there would be enough light for weaving.

The bedrooms (cubiculum) plural (cubicula) opened off the atrium.  The cubicula were very small, the smallest rooms in the house and just a place to sleep.  They were very dark and had no windows or tiny slit windows.

The ala or alae (plural) wings of the house, was where the family kept shrines of their ancestors or statuary of the household gods.  The triclinium (translates as 3 couches) was the dining room, it opened off the atrium.  Roman formal dining involved 3 diners per couch, reclining to eat small portions of food, this was not likely the norm as dining utensils were found all over the houses.

Early Roman houses were dark, stark and closed-in, other than the compluvium and hortus there were no windows or tiny slit windows.  The houses were not unlike the Etruscan tombs, with the progression of one space into another on the axis, also similar to temple architecture.

Most houses didn’t have much of a kitchen, they were small and could not turn out a large dinner.  There were few baths in the house, most water was directed to fountains.

In the 3rd Century BC, Roman houses began to incorporate Greek design elements, these houses are referred to as Hellenized domus.  They started to include columns in the interior of the house and a peristyle courtyard or garden, which was surrounded by a colonnade.  The Romans tried to imitate Greek marble by stuccoing over the walls and painting them in coloured panels and they stuccoed over the columns and painted them white or other colours.

They also started to create views and variations in light along the axis of the house. Starting at the fauces it was dark, then light in the atrium, then dark in the tablinium and then light again in the peristyle garden.

As houses increased in size when owners bought nearby lots, the Roman symmetry was lost as rooms were added and often opened onto the peristyle gardens.  The Villas, which existed outside the city walls, were the most open with large windows and views to the sea.

House of the Tragic Poet

This is the vestibule which has a famous mosaic, the Cave Canem (Beware of Dog), an ancient form of security as the dog appears rather ferocious and forewarns would be thieves of what may lie within.  Apparently all kinds of tourist items are available that include this image but since we entered the site at the far end we did not run the gauntlet of gadget sellers and people offering guide services.

Everything is on the axis but it is distorted, there is not a true line anywhere.  The fountain near the compluvium is offset as well.

House of the Faun

The House of the Faun is so named because of the statue of a faun in the impluvium, the faun situated in the impluvium is a copy.  This house is huge, it takes up an entire city block and is the largest house in Pompeii. When looking at this incredible vista within this house, you have to imagine walls and a roof, until you get to the first peristyle garden.

First Peristyle Garden

Second Peristyle Garden

House of the Gilded Cupids

Modern version of the courtyard, you have to imagine the gardens complete with fountains, statuary and greenery in Roman times.

House of Menander

This is a Hellenized domus, note the columns inside the house and outside in the courtyard.  The house is very large with views as you progress through the house.

 Looking toward the entry, the shrine in the corner would have displayed the household gods.

 This demonstrates the size of this house, it is incredibly large.

The houses were richly decorated with wall painting, Pompeian red was a common wall colour.