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.

Baths, Brothels and Phallic Symbols

There were very few baths in Roman homes, the Romans went out to bathe.  The bath included a palaestra, which was an exercise court surrounded by a colonnade.  Going to the bath was a social experience, where people could relax and socialize as well as bathe in the not so clean water, one would not want to enter a bath with an open wound.

The baths were spacious, lavishly decorated and luxurious.  The women’s baths were smaller and had no architectural distinction relative to the men’s baths.  There was a pool, a dressing room with benches and niches, a warm room, a hot room with an apse which held a basin for cold water splashes and a cold room.  The cold room was a round structure with radiating alcoves, the ceiling was a dome with an oculus (round opening in the ceiling).  Pompeii had three bath complexes.

The Palaestra

The Dressing Room

The Hot Room

The Cold Room

Ceiling Decoration Detail

The Hypocaust was the heating system where the floor was raised by small pillars of tile and a furnace provided heat from underneath.

The Romans did not share our sense of privacy; bathhouses and latrines were all public and open spaces. Few houses had toilets, those that did were located off the tiny kitchens, there was no evidence of doors to the toilet room, they were only partially screened off.

The Brothel

We preceded a group of Japanese tourists into the brothel where we photographed everything.  It is a narrow space with the rooms off a small hallway and a lavatory at the back, the tourists flew through it in single file with nary a picture taken.  There are theories regarding the erotic paintings above the doors to the bedrooms, some believe it is a sort of menu, which is unlikely.  There was a lot of graffiti all over Pompeii, men were not reluctant to announce, via graffiti, that they had frequented the brothel.

Phallic Symbols

There are a few theories regarding the prevalence of phallic symbols.  Supposedly, guides will tell people that they mark the route to the brothel, which is rubbish.  The imagery can be found all over town and is often represented in wall paintings and floor mosaics in grand houses.  Therefore, it is more likely that power, status and good fortune were expressed in terms of the phallus.

Pompeii

We are mad.  When we travel, we travel, and overdo it in the extreme.  Today we took the train to Pompeii and walked for about nine hours.  The ruined Roman town is fabulous and we loved every minute of it.  We had to re-charge at one point so we went for a cappuccino, which is a lot less of a jolt than caffe, which is espresso, you get about a thimble full of rocket fuel when you order a caffe.  Italian coffee is really, really good.  We only have cappuccino in the morning, we were already aware that if you order one in the afternoon, the Italians will think you are an idiot.

A local specialty is buffalo mozzarella, which refers to water buffalo.  It comes in a brine in a sealed bag and is astonishingly good, it has a soft texture and the taste is something else.  This is nothing like the rubberized North American version.  We are in a state of food bliss, we walk into a shop and go crazy over the cheese and salami.  The Mediterranean spices are particularly good, we grow oregano but ours just does not have the flavour of the oregano that we get here.

Pompeii is a tourist mecca.  Our first clue was the good signage, we didn’t have to guess, signs directed us right to the site.  The autogrill (cafeteria-type place) is staffed with Italians who speak English.  There were large groups of Japanese tourists and we heard a lot of English.  Even some French people asked our advice on what was good to see.

Okay, about Pompeii.  It was founded in the 8th century BC and overrun by the Oscans, then the Samnites took over.  Pompeii fell to Rome in 89 BC, it was made a Roman colony in 80 BC by General Sulla.  The Samnite property was confiscated and given to Roman veterans.

Pompeii is southwest of Vesuvius, when the volcano erupted the wind was blowing toward the southwest; therefore, Pompeii received a mass of falling ash and pumice which buried the city under 17 feet of ash.

There was warning to flee as tremors led up to the eruption.  Many residents did flee, approximately 1,100 remains have been found, it is unlikely that no more than 2,000 perished in the disaster as only one quarter of the city is not excavated.

There is evidence of looters tunneling through the ash and pumice, then Pompeii was forgotten and discovered in the18th century when Europeans scavenged the city.  Allied bombing in 1943 did a lot of damage, parts of the Large Theatre, the Forum and some of the houses were rebuilt after the war.

John took 485 photos of the Pompeii ruins today, there is just too much to cover so I will only deal with the public buildings in this post.  I could write a book about it but don’t have the time to really do the site justice on this blog.  I am really interested in the domestic architecture as well; however, I will have to write about that tomorrow if there is time.

Streets have high sidewalks and stepping stones are positioned to allow cart wheels through.  The height of the sidewalks and stepping stones is likely due to the rotting debris that filled the streets.  After a rain, torrents of water would rush down the streets as there was not a lot of underground drainage.

Notice the cart tracks, the stones are low enough to provide clearance for carts.

Amphitheatre  80 - 70 BC
The Romans started building the amphitheatre immediately after taking Pompeii.  The oval arena was excavated and earth was piled to support the stone seats.  The entrances and exits are termed vomitoria, the patricians used these while the plebs had to climb the steps and sit further to the back.  Roman society was all about wealth and status.  Women had to sit at the back, while the patricians sat in their own section at the front.

The Pompeii amphitheatre seated 20,000 and it had an awning which was supported by poles.  The amphitheatre held gladiator games and wild beast hunts.  The gladiators were at the bottom of society, they were condemned criminals or slaves.

One thing you notice is how steep and how huge the amphitheatre is, a tremendous amount of earth had to be moved to support the seats.  The amphitheatre is an annular vault, the concrete is faced with opus incertum, which is randomly placed uncut stone.

Basilica - 120 BC
The Basilica was always situated near the forum in a Roman town.  It was the seat of the judiciary and a gathering place.  The Basilica in Pompeii had a colonnade inside and the axial focus was on the tribunal, that was where the official handed down his rulings.

Ancient Romans believed in gods and goddesses, atheism would have been incomprehensible to them.  The number of gods and goddesses were not fixed, emperors were deified and they imported gods from other areas.  There was no religious text to adhere to, adherence was demonstrated through actions rather than words.  Vows were made to the gods, if the desired outcome was achieved, an offering or sacrifice would be paid to the god.  The state religion was that the gods protected and supported Rome as long as the people worshiped them, if the worship was neglected, disaster would strike. The people of Pompeii would have believed that the eruption of Vesuvius was a sign that they did not properly worship the gods.

Temple of Apollo - Notice that the Romans were not as particular as the Greeks.

Temple of Jupiter started 150 BC

Triple cella added by the Romans in 80 BC for the Roman deities Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva.  The temple is an Etruscan plan with Greek elements, the Romans borrowed design principles from both the Etruscans and the Greeks.  The temple was made out of tufa stone.  Notice the really high podium.

Temple of Isis

Isis was an Egyptian goddess, the temple was not open to public view, only initiates were welcomed.  The temple had assembly space and may have had resident priests.  It is said that Mozart visited the temple in 1769 and it supposedly gave him the inspiration for the Magic Flute.

There was no time to blog about the Roman baths.  The baths could take up an entire post.  We will try to blog about the baths tomorrow.  Stay tuned.

Herculaneum

The town was founded by the Italic tribe, the Oscans, in the late 7th or early 6th century BC.  Late in the 6th century BC, the Greeks settled in the town and named it for the god Hercules, the town plan was Greek. The town was then conquered by the Samnites, another Italic tribe.  The Romans took over in 89 BC, the town had an excellent drainage system and underground sewer, water was supplied by aqueducts and wells.

An earthquake damaged Herculaneum in 62 AD, which led to a lot of building for the 17 year period prior to the eruption of Vesuvius.  When Vesuvius erupted in August, 79 AD, the population of Herculaneum was estimated at approximately five thousand, it was a highly desirable seaside resort and much less commercial than Pompeii.

During the eruption, ash fell for 18 hours to a depth of 8 inches and then the town was engulfed in a pyroclastic flow which moved rapidly down the mountain.  The flow was a mixture of ash, pumice stones, limestone and volcanic rock, which buried Herculaneum under 65 feet of volcanic debris.  The volcanic deposit created an airtight seal; unlike Pompeii, the deposit also contained charcoal, which carbonized the wood.  In some areas, items are barely harmed, in other areas, completely destroyed.

Early excavations were horrendous and caused a lot of damage, tunnels were dug at random and buildings were ransacked.  Not many human remains were found until 1982, when dozens of skeletons were found in the marina, those who had not fled must have sought shelter in the stone boathouses.

Only 25% of Herculaneum has been excavated, the modern town of Ercolano is sitting on top.  The public architecture is still buried, but some residential architecture is there to explore.

The first thing one notices when entering the ruin is how far Herculaneum sits below the modern city.

The streets are paved with stone and the curbs are very high.

The Samnite House - 2nd Century BC

More terminology is needed here.  The entrance into the house is called the fauces, you will notice the walls are painted with coloured panels, they were trying to mimic Greek marble and this is called first style Roman wall painting.  The Romans were interested in everything Greek and as time went on, they incorporated many Greek housing design elements into their Roman houses.  This house is referred to as a Hellenized domus, it was originally a Samnite house but has been decorated to look Greek.

This is the atrium of the house, the pool in the centre is called the impluvium, the opening overhead is called the compluvium.  Rain water would come in through the compluvium and fill the impluvium with water.  After experiencing a downpour today, we can understand how the impluvium would fill with rain water.  This water was for household use.  We will get into the purpose of the atrium tomorrow.

The atrium in this house is two-story, with a blind gallery on three sides and then open on the final side.  This is a reconstruction that may be accurate, but it looks a bit fake.

This room with the wonderful mosaic floor is the tablinum.  The tablinum is simply the room between the atrium and the hortus or garden.  The Romans designed their architecture with everything on the axis, fauces - atrium - tablinum -hortus, with other rooms off to the sides.

Mosaic floor in the women’s public bath.

Vaulted ceiling in the women’s public bath

Amphorae, used to store and transport liquid and dry ingredients.

Mosaic of Neptune and Amphitrite

Second style Roman wall painting

Mosaic floor in House of the Beautiful Courtyard

College of Augustales, fourth style Roman wall painting, Hercules standing next to Juno and Minerva

House of the Mosaic Atrium, not open due to repairs, notice the undulating floor, caused by the weight of the pyroclastic flow.

House of the Wooden Partition.  Wooden doors separate the atrium from the tablinum, this indicates there was some consideration of privacy when designing this house.  This house has a huge atrium.

Flour Mill

Thermopolium, an outdoor food takeaway

AltAr

Out of Action

We were basically out of action today after having slept in, sometime in the early morning two men were having a loud argument which went on for some time and only ended when we heard a car roaring off.  The garbage people were along too, making a racket dragging garbage bins or something.  All of this did not matter much as we were really unable to muster for a hike as our leg muscles are attempting to recover from excessive strain.  It was the descent that killed us, steps are far more difficult on the muscles than hiking trails.  Of course we had full sun today, perfect hiking weather and it is supposed to rain for the next two days.

We managed to grocery shop and join the Italians in their passeggiata (walk) on the sea front earlier this evening.  The great thing about this city is the foot traffic on the streets.  We have to wear hiking boots all the time as the stone street paving is brutal on the feet; however, the Italian women cruise along in decently high heels.

Speaking of Italian women, they dress fashionably with lovely shoes/boots and stylish outfits.  According to a book I read, which was written by an American expat who has lived in Rome for 40 years or so, beauty is drummed into the female population from an early age.  The clothing shops are tiny boutique-type shops and the people are always carrying fancy paper shopping bags on the streets.  There is also a lot of street food on offer.

We cut through an interesting courtyard today as it had nice columns, two elderly women stopped us and chatted on in Italian.  We had no idea, then she sort of did a bend of the knees, we figured out she was trying to direct us back across the courtyard into a church.  When we got out of the courtyard and onto the street a long line of elderly people and a few nuns were making their way up the street, we surmised that a church service was about to get underway.

There is a public elevator up the hill to where our apartment is located.  The entrance to the elevator is through a gate, then up a flight of steps to the elevator itself.  There is a room at the gate which is staffed by guards who close the elevator between 2:30 and 3:00 and it closes after 9:00 p.m.  We were rushing along with our grocery bags and although we were on time with a few minutes to spare, the guard was in the elevator ready to go up and lock the gate at the top.  Luckily he waited for us and we rushed to the elevator so we would not have to take a lot of stairs.

We plan to be off on another adventure tomorrow, rain or shine.  We figured out the train tickets we need, and we always have to look up the prior stop so we know when to get ready and move to the doors to get off, as you have what seems like two seconds to make your move.

Ciao.

 A couple of Lucanian tomb wall paintings from Paestum.  They built small houses for their dead, this was also an Etruscan and Roman practise.