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In
ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...
, the ''domus'' (: ''domūs'', genitive: ''domūs'' or ''domī'') was the type of town
house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...
occupied by the upper classes and some wealthy freedmen during the Republican and Imperial eras. It was found in almost all the major cities throughout the Roman territories. The
modern English Modern English, sometimes called New English (NE) or present-day English (PDE) as opposed to Middle and Old English, is the form of the English language that has been spoken since the Great Vowel Shift in England England is a Count ...
word '' domestic'' comes from
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
''domesticus'', which is derived from the word ''domus''. Along with a ''domus'' in the city, many of the richest families of ancient Rome also owned a separate
country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...
known as a
villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house that provided an escape from urban life. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the f ...
. Many chose to live primarily, or even exclusively, in their villas; these homes were generally much grander in scale and on larger
acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...
s of land due to more space outside the walled and fortified city. The elite classes of Roman society constructed their residences with elaborate marble decorations, inlaid marble paneling, door jambs and columns as well as expensive paintings and frescoes. Many poor and lower-middle-class Romans lived in crowded, dirty and mostly rundown rental apartments, known as '' insulae''. These multi-level apartment blocks were built as high and tightly together as possible and held far less status and convenience than the private homes of the prosperous.


History

The homes of the early Etruscans (predecessors of the Romans) were simple, even for the wealthy or ruling classes. They were small familiar huts constructed on the axial plan of a central hall with an open skylight. It is believed that the Temple of Vesta was, in form, copied from these early dwellings because the worship of Vesta began in individual homes. The huts were probably made of mud and wood with thatched roofs and a centre opening for the hearth's smoke to escape. This could have been the beginning of the atrium, which was common in later homes. As Rome became more and more prosperous from trade and conquest, the homes of the wealthy increased in both size and luxury, emulating both the Etruscan atrium house and Hellenistic peristyle house.


Interior

The ''domus'' included multiple rooms, indoor courtyards, gardens and beautifully painted walls that were elaborately laid out. The '' vestibulum'' ('entrance hall') led into a large central hall: the atrium, which was the focal point of the ''domus'' and contained a statue of or an altar to the household gods. Leading off the atrium were '' cubicula'' (bedrooms), a dining room '' triclinium'', where guests could eat dinner whilst reclining on couches, a '' tablinum'' (living room or study), and the '' culina'' (Roman kitchen). On the outside, and without any internal connection to the atrium, were '' tabernae'' (shops facing the street). In cities throughout the Roman Empire, wealthy homeowners lived in buildings with few exterior windows. Glass
window A window is an opening in a wall, door, roof, or vehicle that allows the exchange of light and may also allow the passage of sound and sometimes air. Modern windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent ma ...
s were not readily available:
glass Glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline solid, non-crystalline) solid. Because it is often transparency and translucency, transparent and chemically inert, glass has found widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in window pane ...
production was in its infancy. Thus a wealthy Roman citizen lived in a large house separated into two parts, and linked together through the ''tablinum'' or study or by a small passageway. Surrounding the atrium were arranged the master's family's main rooms: the small cubicula or bedrooms, the ''tablinum'', which served as a living room or study, and the ''triclinium'', or dining-room. Roman homes were like Greek homes. Only two objects were present in the atrium of Caecilius in
Pompeii Pompeii ( ; ) was a city in what is now the municipality of Pompei, near Naples, in the Campania region of Italy. Along with Herculaneum, Stabiae, and Villa Boscoreale, many surrounding villas, the city was buried under of volcanic ash and p ...
: the '' lararium'' (a small shrine to the Lares, the household gods) and a small bronze box that stored precious family items. In the master bedroom was a small wooden bed and couch which usually consisted of some slight padding. As the ''domus'' developed, the ''tablinum'' took on a role similar to that of the study. In each of the other bedrooms there was usually just a bed. The ''triclinium'' had three couches surrounding a table. The ''triclinium'' often was similar in size to the master bedroom. The study was used as a passageway. If the master of the house was a banker or merchant, the study often was larger because of the greater need for materials. Roman houses lay on an axis, so that a visitor was provided with a view through the fauces, atrium, and ''tablinum'' to the peristyle.


Interior architectural elements

'' Vestibulum'' ( fauces): the ''vestibulum'' was the main entrance hall of the Roman ''domus''. It is usually seen only in grander structures; however, many urban homes had shops or rental space directly off the streets with the front door between. The ''vestibulum'' would run the length of these front ''tabernae'' shops. This created security by keeping the main portion of the ''domus'' off the street. In homes that did not have spaces for let in front, either rooms or a closed area would still be separated by a separate ''vestibulum''. Atrium (: atria): the atrium was the most important part of the house, where guests and dependents (''clients'') were greeted. The atrium was open in the center, surrounded at least in part by high-ceilinged porticoes that often contained only sparse furnishings to give the effect of a large space. In the center was a square roof opening called the '' compluvium'' in which rain could come, draining inwards from the slanted tiled roof. Directly below the ''compluvium'' was the ''impluvium''. '' Impluvium'': an ''impluvium'' was basically a drained pool, a shallow rectangular sunken portion of the atrium to gather rainwater, which drained into an underground cistern. The ''impluvium'' was often lined with marble, and around which usually was a floor of small mosaic. Fauces: these were similar in design and function to the ''vestibulum'', but were found deeper into the ''domus''. Separated by the length of another room, entry to a different portion of the residence was accessed by these passageways which would now be called halls, hallways, or corridors. '' Tablinum'': between the atrium and the peristyle was the ''tablinum'', an office of sorts for the ''dominus'', who would receive his clients for the morning '' salutatio''. The ''dominus'' was able to command the house visually from this vantage point as the head of the social authority of the '' pater familias''. '' Triclinium'': the Roman dining room. The area had three couches, ''klinai'', on three sides of a low square table. The ''oecus'' was the principal hall or salon in a Roman house, which was used occasionally as a ''triclinium'' for banquets. ''Alae'': the open rooms (or alcoves) on each side of the atrium. Ancestral death masks, or '' imagines'', may have been displayed here.Vitruvius'
De architectura (''On architecture'', published as ''Ten Books on Architecture'') is a treatise on architecture written by the Ancient Rome, Roman architect and military engineer Vitruvius, Marcus Vitruvius Pollio and dedicated to his patron, the emperor Caesa ...
(''On Engineering''), :Wikisource: Ten Books on Architecture/Book VI, Chapter III (translated by Morris Hicky Morgan; public-domain full-text link) Quote: "Let the busts of ancestors with their ornaments be set up at a height corresponding to the width of the alae." (it is not 100% clear that he is saying that they should be placed in an ala)
The wedding couch or bed, the '' lectus genialis'', was placed in the atrium, on the side opposite the door or in one of the ''alae''. '' Cubiculum'': bedroom. The floor mosaics of the ''cubiculum'' often marked out a rectangle where the bed should be placed. ''Culina'': the kitchen in a Roman house. The ''culina'' was dark, and the smoke from the cooking fires filled the room as the best ventilation available in Roman times was a hole in the ceiling (the domestic chimney would not be invented until the 12th century CE). This is where slaves prepared food for their masters and guests in Roman times. ''Posticum'': a servant's entrance is also used by family members wanting to leave the house unobserved.


Exterior

The back part of the house was centred on the peristyle, much as the front centred on the atrium. The ''peristylium'' was a small garden often surrounded by a columned passage, the model of the medieval cloister. Surrounding the peristyle were the bathrooms, kitchen and summer ''triclinium''. The kitchen was usually a very small room with a small masonry counter wood-burning stove. The wealthy had a slave who worked as a cook and spent nearly all his or her time in the kitchen. During a hot summer day the family ate their meals in the summer ''triclinium'' to stave off the heat. Most of the light came from the ''compluvium'' and the open ''peristylium''. There were no clearly defined separate spaces for slaves or for women. Slaves were ubiquitous in a Roman household and slept outside their masters' doors at night; women used the atrium and other spaces to work once the men had left for the forum. There was also no clear distinction between rooms meant solely for private use and public rooms, as any private room could be opened to guests at a moment's notice.


Exterior architectural elements

* ''Ostium'', the entrance to the ''domus''. * '' Tabernae'' * '' Compluvium'', the roof over the atrium, which was purposely slanted to drain rainwater into the ''impluvium'' pool. This was generally sloped inwards, but many designs have the roofs sloping in the opposite direction away from the center opening. * Peristyle * Piscina * '' Exedra''


Archaeology

Much of what is known about the Roman ''domus'' comes from excavations at
Pompeii Pompeii ( ; ) was a city in what is now the municipality of Pompei, near Naples, in the Campania region of Italy. Along with Herculaneum, Stabiae, and Villa Boscoreale, many surrounding villas, the city was buried under of volcanic ash and p ...
and
Herculaneum Herculaneum is an ancient Rome, ancient Roman town located in the modern-day ''comune'' of Ercolano, Campania, Italy. Herculaneum was buried under a massive pyroclastic flow in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. Like the nearby city of ...
. While there are excavations of homes in the city of Rome, none of them retained the original integrity of the structures. The homes of Rome are mostly bare foundations, converted churches or other community buildings. The most famous Roman ''domus'' is the House of Augustus. Little of the original architecture survives; only a single multi-level section of the vast complex remains. Even in its original state, the House of Augustus would not have been a good representation of a typical ''domus'', as the home belonged to one of Rome's most powerful, wealthy and influential citizens. In contrast, the homes of Pompeii were preserved intact, exactly as they were when they were occupied by Roman people 2,000 years ago. The rooms of the Pompeian ''domus'' were often painted in one of four Pompeian Styles: the first style imitated
ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...
masonry, the second style represented public architecture, the third style focused on mythological creatures, and the fourth style combined the architecture and mythological creatures of the second and third styles.


The home in Roman culture

The home's importance as a universally recognized haven was written about by Cicero after an early morning assassination attempt. He speaks of a ''commune perfugium'', a universal haven or the agreed normal refuge of an individual: The concept of legal abode such as ''domicilium'' or today's usage "domicile" is a documented and legal standard, common in Western society for thousands of years. An early reference to ''domicilium'' is found in the Lex Plautia Papiria, a Roman plebiscite enacted in 89 BC. Under this law, Italian communities that had previously been denied could now gain citizenship.


See also

* Roman architecture * Roman villa * House of the Cascade at Utica – typical of most Roman houses excavated in North Africa * Townhouse (Great Britain) – house of equivalent function in early modern and modern Britain * ''
Hôtel particulier () is the French term for a grand urban mansion, comparable to a Townhouse (Great Britain), British townhouse. Whereas an ordinary (house) was built as part of a row, sharing party walls with the houses on either side and directly fronting on a ...
'' – house of equivalent function in early modern and modern France


References

{{Reflist Ancient Roman architecture House types Ancient Roman city planning