1. Houses in Pompeii

2. 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

3. Floor Plan of a Typical Domus

4. Later houses had an enclosed garden called a peristylium

5. 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

7. 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

9. 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

10. 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)

11. 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!

12. 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.

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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…

19. 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

20. 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