Domus

The domus, or single family home, in the days of the First Punic War probably consisted only of a central atrium, with an opening in the ceiling to admit light and emit smoke and a few dark cell like chambers radiating from the great living room. This hall earned the name of ater or 'black place' from the soot from the open hearth which was perpetually caked around the rafters. The walls were of rubble, the floor of simple tiles or even merely of pounded earth. Such a house would stow away the many children and the few servants of a senator who helped to humiliate Carthage.

By the end of the Republic, though the plan of the old home had not quite vanished, the homes more resembled the stately mansions we have come to associate with the Roman aristocracy. The Roman house was always, like its Greek counterpart, essentially the typical southern dwelling built around courts and getting its light from the courtyard. What has changed is that the old living room has expanded into a magnificent light bathed hall or atrium, with sun streaming through an ample opening (compluvium) instead of through a smoke hole. From the second century BCE the atrium often had a basin or impluvium below the compluvium to collect rainwater. The rooms leading from this court have multiplied in number and have increased greatly in size. Though a series of passages, one would enter a second court even larger and more impressive with another array of chambers. Such a house might have only one doorway and one or two windows opening onto the street, which presumbably increased security and reduced noise and other nuisances. In small provincial cities, such as Pompeii, the proportion of people who could afford to live in separate houses was much greater than in Rome. The Pompeiian houses were usually of two stories and decidedly smaller. In Rome itself, the cost of real estate limited the ownership of such a home to the wealthy. Cicero paid 3,500,000 sesterces for his domus.

The main apartments are on the first floor with the second story reserved for the lodging of the retinues of slaves. In the back of the domus, the house garden was usually found. Every domus had its own particular plan and pretentions but for the most part, they conformed to the general scheme of two main courts just as the modern house demands its dining and living rooms.

The atrium was a reception hall and living room, leading off which was the tablinum which was a small room or alcove containing the family records (tabulae) and portraits (imagines) of ancestors. There might also be cubiculi (bedrooms), triclinia (dining rooms), oeci (reception rooms), diaetae (outdoor rooms for relaxation) a kitchen and a lavatory. The size and number of rooms is a reflection of the owner's wealth. The more lavish houses might have luxuries such as bath suites and libraries.

Daily Life in Ancient Rome, Jerome Carcopino, Yale University Press, 1968

A History of Private Life, Philippe Aries and Georges Duby, General Editors, Harvard University Press, 1992

Roman People, Second Edition, Robert B. Kebric, Mayfield Publishing Company, 1993

The Oxford History of the Classical World, John Boardman, Jasper Griffin, Oswyn Murray. Oxford University Press, 1986

Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome, Lesley Adkins and Roy A. Adkins, Facts on File. 1994