

II.H'SK 



Hot'SK 



741 



those of all the earlier nations of the East, were erected upon nearly 

 the same plans ai were subsequently followed by the Greek* and 

 Komani, in the mm at least of the town residences of the wealthy 

 citizen*. They were usually composed of a forecourt, separated from 

 the itreet by a wall, and containing a few trees, a tank, or a fountain 

 in the centre. Doors opened from this court into a reception room, 

 wherein the master of the house received strangers, and into psssigfm 

 leading on the right and the left to the dwelling rooms or the office*. 

 In some instance* it would appear that there were two, or even three, 

 stories ; but as a general rule the Egyptian houses consisted only of a 

 ground floor, with a few rooms of inconsiderable size, and more like 

 summer houses than dwelling apartment*, upon the level of the 

 terrace which usually covered the building. The doors and windows 

 were closed with wood ponplfi on hinges ; the walls were constructed of 

 crude unburnt bricks, and they were carefully stuccoed with the 

 mouldingR. pilasters, ami cornice* of the door dressings, executed in 

 that material and painted to look like stone ; the floors were either of 

 stone or of a species of mortar, and the roofs were made of wood 

 beams covered with planks, or occasionally of brick, or even of stone, 

 vaulting. In the houses of two or more stories, the rooms upon the 

 ground floor were used as store rooms, and those upon the upper floors 

 were used as bed rooms or as living rooms. 



The houses of Athens of the time of the republic are described as 

 having consisted of a forecourt, or a portico, at the bottom of which 

 was the entrance to the dwelling rooms, and these were divided into 

 two compartments or stories, the lower one for the men, the upper one 

 for the women. In the houses erected in Greece at the period of the 

 Roman dominion, however, the distribution seems to have been more 

 complicated ; and, from the researches of Sir W. Gell, it may be 

 inferred that the plan then adopted was nearly as follows : A court 

 surrounded by a peristyle was entered, either directly from the street, 

 or through a passage between the stables or offices. From this court 

 access was obtained through the Prostas to the Thalamus or Antitha- 

 lamus, where the women worked, and to the Oicos, or the great dining 

 room, around which were arranged the liotpilalia, or strangers' rooms. 

 The sleeping apartments of the women were on the upper floor, and 

 they were approached by a staircase, in such a manner as to separate 

 the yynrconitis effectually from the rest of the house when required. 

 Even to a very recent period of the Grecian history the houses seem to 

 have been constructed entirely of wood, with the exception of the roof 

 covering of tiles ; for it is to be observed, that the Oriental system of 

 terminating the houses by a terrace was not habitually adopted in 

 Greece, where the atmosphere was more exposed to sudden variations, 

 and was at all times less dry than that of Asia Minor or of Africa. 



When Rome had rendered herself mistress of the ancient world, and 

 her citizens began to indulge the monstrous luxury which characterised 

 the later days of the Roman civilisation, the style of house-building 

 participated in the changes introduced in the manners and customs of 

 the nation. There are no remains of the private residences of the 

 Romans of the period anterior to the close of the third Punic war ; 

 but, from passages in Pliny and Vitruvius, it would appear that they 

 were constructed in a very simple manner, and of rude and perishable 

 materials. The walls were built of unburnt bricks, and were only of 

 one story in height ; the roofs were of wood, and covered with reeds 

 or thatch ; and, as might have been expected under such circumstances, 

 whenever a fire did occur, the destruction of whole quarters of the 

 town necessarily followed. During the later days of the republic, and, 

 in fact, so long as the Roman empire lasted, the style of house con- 

 struction, for the purposes of the wealthy portions of that strange 

 society, was affected by the awful excess of luxury amongst the higher 

 classes attendant upon the social organisation of the heathen world ; 

 and we consequently find that the residences of the rich were built 

 with every imaginable refinement, while those of the poor continued to 

 be as rude and as perishable as they were in the earlier periods of 

 Roman history. In the first part of Mazois' ' Ruines de Pompe 1 !,' Paris, 

 1824, folio, the reader will find an elaborate treatise on the habitations 

 of the ancient Romans, with some interesting plans of houses, copied 

 either from the relics of the most perfect remains still to be found in 

 Italy, or from the sculptured plxn of Rome, executed in the time of 

 Septimus Sevenis, now existing in the Vatican ; and he also give* a 

 Kketch of the original Latin dwelling, of which a reduced copy is 

 appended by way of contract. Of course the circumstances of the 



respective parties building would lead to modifications of the details of 

 normal plan adopted by the Roman architects; but it may suffice 



the no 



to observe that, wherever it was possible so to do, the various parU 

 enumerated upon the subjoined plan were introduced, and the house of 

 Panaa, discovered in the ruins of Pompeii, may fairly be taken as the 

 type of the domestic architecture of the masters of the ancient world, 

 in one of the favourite Italian provinces at least. 



* * 1 



In this plan, the entrance from the street takes place through the 

 prothyritm (A), where the porter was stationed, and which served as a 

 passage between the shops (w w) immediately facing the street.ai 

 nected or not with the main building, as might be desired. From the 

 prothyrum the clients, or visitors, of the proprietors passed at once into 

 the caradium, or Tuscan Atrium, surrounded by covered galleries (&), 

 but having an open space in the centre (c), and upon the flu. 

 tank to receive the rain-water from the roofs of the galleries. [Ai ; 

 Around the cavsxlium were the apartments of the domestics (c/K and 

 some small reception rooms (e) for business visitors ; and imtm < 

 opposite to the prothyrum were, firstly (/), the tMiiinin. or summer 

 dining room, separated from the cavicdium by a curtain ; secondly, 

 the (jr) faucet, or passage leading to the inner apartments ; .aid thirdly, 

 the culiiriilum (A), or bed chamber, and perhaps the j,inuc 

 picture gallery : the entrance to both the latter apartments was. linw 

 ever, from the inner court or peristyle. This peritty/t (t) consisted of 

 a large court surrounded by columns supporting a covered gallery, 

 from which access was given to a series of apartments occupied Dy the 

 members of the family, to the store closets, to the shrine of the house- 

 hold gods, and to the triclinia, or private dining rooms. There was, at 

 the rear of Pansa's house, a garden, approached through faucti (t) on 

 the end wall ; and it would also seem that there was a series of apart- 

 ments detached from the rest of the house, together with a number of 

 shops, entered from the side streets. The shops, if wo may judge from 

 the remains of the staircases, contained two stories ; hut the main 

 building was entirely upon the same level throughout. The materials 

 employed were of the most costly description, and painting, sculpture, 

 mosaic, marbles, inlaid woods, Ac., were used with unbounded prodi- 

 gality ; and every precaution was observed for the purpose of regu- 

 lating the uniformity of temperature in the apartments especially 

 devoted to the uses of the family. In short, the general system of the 

 Roman houses may be described as having consisted in the construction 

 of separate blocks, or intnlir, containing one large rilla, and a series of 

 small shops occupied by the tenants of the principal proprietor; and the 

 villa itself wan divided into two distinct parts, one of which was d> 

 to the public or official duties of the proprietor, and the other to his 

 family requirements. 



During the stormy period of transition from the ancient to the 

 modern social organisation, the traditions of Roman art continued to 

 prevail in Europe, and the houses of the kings, and of the monastic 

 institutions of the middle ages, were designed upon nearly the same 

 principles as those of the Itom.ui villas. The porch, the forecourt, the 

 parlours, the refectories, the cloisters, and the' sin ping apartments 

 immediately around tin- litter, were .evidently placet! in imitation of 

 the analogous parts of the Roman villas ; nor was it until the abuses of 

 the feudal system had dm.n the inh.ihit.<nt- of t.. HH- t.> enter into a 

 combination for mutual defence, c.; .1; the freedom of 



the towns, that anything like domestic architecture displayed itself. 

 As might naturally have been expected, the first indications of thin 

 Art in the more modern times were to he traced among the Latin 

 nations of the south of Kuro|K- : for in them the municipal life of the 



