Roman houses came in different types - the domus for wealthy families, multi-story apartment buildings called insulae for the poor, and rural villas. The domus centered around an interior courtyard and usually included rooms for receiving guests (atrium, tablinum), living spaces (cubicula, triclinium), and a garden (peristylum). Poorer Romans lived crammed together in poorly-built insulae that lacked amenities, while wealthy owners resided in luxurious rural villas or divided their urban homes between housing and businesses.

1. THE ROMAN HOUSE
El Ágora del Neri

2. DIFFERENT KINDS OF HOUSES
- Domus: a single
family home
- Villa rustica: the country
house
- Insula: a block of flats.

3. THE DOMUS
The domus was a single
family home with the
windows and balconies
facing the interior
courtyard.
In a domus there were
different places and
rooms: the main ones are
the ATRIVM (A) and the
PERSITYLUM (P)

4. VESTIBVLVM
The exterior of a
Roman house, normally
quite close to the
street, was relatively
plain. Entering through
the front door, one saw
a long, narrow hallway
leading from the front
door into the atrium;
this was the
vestibulum, also called
fauces (“throat”).

5. TABERNAE
• These rooms had
separate doors that
opened on to the street
and did not connect with
the rest of the house in
any way.
• They were used as
shops

6. THE ATRIVM
• The atrium was a large airy room
lighted by an opening in the roof
• On either side of the atrium were
small rooms (cubicula) used for
various purposes
• In the centre of the
atrium, directly beneath the
opening in the roof (compluvium)
was a shallow pool (impluvium).
This had the practical purpose of
collecting rainwater but also
added greatly to the
attractiveness of the room

7. CVBICVLA
• Cubicula were small
rooms used for a number
of different purposes; on
the upper storey and in
the interior of the house
they often functioned as
bedrooms, while the
small rooms off the atrium
may have been used for
private
meetings, libraries, etc

8. THE TRICLINIVM
• The triclinium was
the dining room
and was named
after the three
couches typically
found in the dining
rooms of upper-
class Romans

9. THE CVLINA
The culina or kitchen was
usually small, dark, and
poorly
ventilated, relegated to an
obscure corner of the
house. Wealthy matronae
did not prepare meals;
that was the job of their
numerous household
slaves, so it did not
matter if the room was
hot and smoky.

10. La vivienda de lujo
El enriquecimiento de
la clase dominante, la
influencia de lo griego
y las nuevas
profesiones del pater
familias influyeron en
la generalización de
un nuevo tipo de casa
urbana más
lujosa, mitad romana
y mitad griega.

11. Tabernae
La parte que daba a la
calle mantenía la vieja
estructura de la
domus, pero estaba
dedicada a los
negocios y en sus
locales había tabernae
(a veces alquiladas a
otros); también era el
lugar del tablinum, o
despacho, así como de
almacenes y
despensas.

12. THE TABLINIVM
• Directly behind the atrium
was a room open on two
sides, though both sides
could be closed with
curtains or folding doors
• Here also elite families
would display the
imagines, busts of
famous ancestors. In this
room, too, the master of
the house, the
paterfamilias, would greet
his many clients on their
morning visits

13. THE PERISTYLVM
• The peristylum was an
open courtyard within
the house; the
columns surrounding
the garden supported
a shady roofed portico
whose inner walls
were often
embellished with
elaborate wall
paintings

14. THE EXEDRA
• The exedra was a
large, elegant room
usually located off the
peristyle garden. It was
used for formal
entertainments and
lavish dinner parties

15. INSVLAE
• Poorer Roman citizens
lived in apartments or flats.
Entire families shared one
room. These apartments
were known as "Insulae”
They were small and
uncomfortable, without
running water, and in very
bad conditions.
• They were often three or
more floors high. As the
higher floors were only
made of wood, and
supported on wooden
beams, there was always
a serious risk of fire and
collapse.

16. THE VILLA
• The villa was the country
house.
• There were two kinds of
villa:
– The Villa Rustica: for
different works in the
countryside of the
house. There lived the
employees and their
families.
– The Villa Urbana: It
was a luxiorous house
of the owners of a big
farming estate