The Roman House
THE ROMAN HOUSE 1. FAUCES, the main entrance, consisting of a passageway between the front door and the ATRIUM, sometimes with a vestibule. 2. ATRIUM, the social and religious center of the house. It is the first open space that confronts the visitor entering from the street, and was often colonnaded and decorated to impress upon the visitor the importance of the family that owns the house. 3. IMPLUVIUM, located in the Atrium directly beneath the COMPLUVIUM (open skylight) in the ceiling, collects rainwater. 4. ALAE, recesses often used for the display of imagines or ancestor portraits. 5. TABLINUM, or reception room, where the leader of the household (almost always the pater familias , or father of the family) conducts business and meets clients. It is the axis of the house, in the sense that the rooms that preceded it were public or semi-public, and the rooms behind it (below) were for more private use. 6. PERISTYLE, often with a small reflecting pool or garden 7. PRIVATE / SERVANT ENTRANCE 8. CUBICULUM, a bedroom. In fact, the function of the rooms in the private area of the house vary greatly from house to house, or even season to season, so most of these rooms could also be used as a cubiculum. 9. TRICLINIUM, the dining room. Again, the location varies, and any of numerous rooms could have been used for dining, with seasonal considerations in mind. But the hallmark of a dining room in Roman (and in Greek) architecture is the off-center door. Central doors do not allow for an optimal spacing of dining couches.
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