Houses in Pompeii

A city house was called a domus A country house was a villa City blocks were called insulae, which was also the term for blocks of flats but none were found in Pompeii

Floor Plan of a Typical Domus

Later houses had an enclosed garden called a peristylium

The Atrium This was the most important room in the house, off which all the other rooms were positioned It was entered from the street via the fauces Set in the middle of the floor was the impluvium a basin of rain water, which fell from the compluvium, the hole in the roof above the centre of the atrium

Many simple, small cubicula (bedrooms) adjoined the atrium It was probably painted in 1 of the 4 styles of Roman painting Usually positioned in the atrium was the important shrine to the household gods or lararium

Here the pater familias would perform a brief daily ceremony to honour the spirits that protected the home Objects such as death masks of relations were kept here to remind the living of their great ancestors

Directly across the atrium from the hallway was the tablinium, the master’s study or meeting room which often had the family’s documents etc. It was divided from the atrium by a wooden screen or curtains The tablinium then led on to the garden (hortus or peristylium)

Other Rooms Culina (kitchen) was usually also off the atrium & had an oven/cooking area & a sink Open fires were lit & pots sat over them on small tripods Smoke left through the window The cooks were slaves Toilets were often near or even in the kitchen!

Triclinium – Dining Room Got their name from the 3 couches for diners who ate reclining Summer triclinia were often located in the peristylium All sorts of foods have been represented in mosaics & paintings E.g. Lobster, octopus, rabbits, poultry, fruit & veg etc.

House Decor Houses of the wealthy were richly decorated Walls were often elaborately painted, mosaics were common & fine furniture has been discovered Roman painting has been split into 4 styles based on the finds at Pompeii – we’ll just mention the 1st & 2nd style

1st Style (up to 80 B.C.) Also called the ‘masonry’ style Its effect was to make a plastered wall appear to made up of different blocks of coloured marbles Bright colours were favoured Light & shade were used to make the flat surface appear like 3-D blocks

2nd Style (c. 80 B.C. – 0 A.D.) This continued on from the 1st with coloured marble blocks but included ‘architectural features’ e.g. columns, pillars, plinths These features achieved an illusion of depth & space Later in this style the colourful marble gave way to distant backgrounds with buildings & trees

Mosaics These were mainly used as floor decoration They made of thousands of tiny tessera (pl. tesserae) – coloured tiles Famous mosaics include: ‘cave canem’, the unswept floor & the Alexander mosaic

D.P.s (Dinner Parties) The main meal (cena) was eaten in the evening Roman diners reclined to eat The 3 couches of the triclinium made for a cramped eating environment for up to 9 people Food was served in several courses by a slave and placed between the diners

Wine was an important part of the party & literature tells us that some dinners could get quite rowdy Wine was very strong but usually then diluted with water (often warm) to get the right strength Roman food favourites: dormice, thrushes, any seafood, chicken, goose, hare…

Some Notes on Garum Garum was a wildly popular fish sauce which Roman used to flavour their food Perhaps it was like our tomato ketchup? Certainly it may have been handy in concealing the flavour of stale or tasteless food We know M. Umbricius Scaurus made his fortune as a garum manufacturer in Pompeii

Recipe Mix the entrails of sardines with fish pieces, roe (fish eggs) & eggs Pound & stir mixture & leave to ferment in sun 6 weeks later strain off the liquid & store it, this is garum The remaining ‘mush’ was also considered edible