House of the Tragic Poet

The Triclinium or drawing room


 

 

 The triclinium was the Roman dining room. In earlier days the meals were eaten in the atrium, the tablinum, or a dining room above the tablinum, known as the cenaculum.


But with the introduction of the Greek practice of reclining when eating, the triclinium was set aside as a room especially for dining in.

The floor of the drawing room/triclinium is made of black and white mosaic surrounded by a double border of black.  In the middle is a geometric pattern of fish and ducks in a frame of overlapping triangles.  The walls still retain their magnificent 4th style decoration..