Villa Romana Home for upperclass citizens Poor people

Villa Romana Home for upper-class citizens. Ø Poor people lived in very tiny, cramped apartments. Front view of a villa Romana (reconstruction)

Model of villa Romana from the back. Model of a typical “insula” or apartment building. Where the poor lived. Upper floors were made of wood=fire hazard. 8 -10 people in one of two rooms=disease/filth.

Roman atrium 1. Atrium: formal room for receiving guests.

2. Peristylum: open area with in the center of the house. Contained a small garden.

3. Vestibulum: A Roman house did not open directly onto the road, but into a small passage way, the vestibulum, the corridor which led from the main door onwards into the atrium was called the fauces (#4)

Ø The floor in the vestibulum often had a tiled mosaic with messages for the visitor like “Have!” (Greetings!)

“Salve lucrum!” (Welcome $$$) “Cave canem!” (Beware of dog)

5. Impluvium: pool in the middle of the atrium for catching and storing rainwater.

6. Alae: spare rooms with no known purpose. 7. Triclinium: dining room. Romans reclined and ate in these rooms. A large house would often have several triclinia. Romans reclined while they ate. They lay on lecti which were covered with cushions. Lectus Triclinia (plural of triclinium)

8. Tablinum: a large, open reception room connected to the atrium. The tablinum is where the pater familias (Roman father) would conduct his daily business, meeting business associates, etc. Tablinum

9. Exedra: large dining and party room. The walls were often decorated with garden themes. Mosaic from the floor of an exedra.

Ø 10. Taberna: large room on the front of the house with no access to the interior. Often used as shops, storage areas, even apartments for the poor. Reconstruction of a Roman house with tabernae in the front. View of the ruins of a Roman house with tabernae in the coastal town of Herculaneum.

11. Cubiculum: cubicula (pl. ) were mainly used as bedrooms. Cubicula were often painted to make them seem larger or more elaborate. Reconstruction of Roman cubiculum.

Andron: passageway from the atrium to the peristylum. 13. Posticum: entrance used by slaves or members of the household if they were trying to sneak around. 14. Bathroom 15. Culina: kitchen 12.