The Roman House and You

A Roman house was not like amodern-day house.

A Roman house did not have a front yard and came up right to the sidewalk.

There were very few windows due tothe fact that large windows would havemade the house incredibly hot during the summer and cold during the winter.

The front of a Roman house usually had a front door (ianua) with two shops (taberna) on both sides of it.

ianua

taberna taberna

taberna

ianua

The Roman house was divided into two parts, each with a courtyard surrounded by rooms.

Courtyard#1

Courtyard#2

Once through the ianua, one would proceed through the entry hallway (fauces) to the first “courtyard” – the atrium.

ATRIUMThis was the reception hall where the family received and welcomed guests. In the atrium were the impluvium and the lararium.

IMPLUVIUMThis was a shallowrectangular pool which collectedrain water from a hole in the ceilingof the atrium.

impluvium

LARARIUM

To the right of theImpluvium was thelararium – the shrine to the household gods.

fauceslararium

impluvium

atrium

Around the atrium were the bedrooms(cubiculum). The bedrooms did not have doors, but rather were closed off with a heavy curtain.

cubiculum

The first area of the house (atrium) was separated from the second part by the study (tablinum). Here, most importantbusiness was conducted.

tablinum

The second courtyard area consisted of open colonnade of pillars (peristylum)surrounding the garden (hortus).

The peristylum and hortus area was elaborately decorated and often families would relax here with guests or on their own.

peristylum/hortus

Surrounding the peristylum were

• the slaves’ quarters

• the kitchen (culina)

• the bathroom (latrina)

• the dining room (triclinium).

The kitchen (culina) and the bathroom(latrina) were located next to each other due to the need for running water.

culina

latrina

The last room of the Roman house was the dining room (triclinium) which means “three couches”.

triclinium

FINIS