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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[Decembee, 



reifrn of Titus is said to have carried off 10,000 persons daily. 1 he 

 wealthier classes buying up the land on which to build tlieir man- 

 sions, and lay out their extensive pleasure-gardens, ground and 

 consequently' house-rent, became enormously dear. In the time 

 of Augustus a single suite of rooms in an insula, or detached 

 house, was valued at 40,000 sesterces, between 300/. and 400/. per 

 annum. It was intended bv Nero, on the rebuilding of Rome, 

 that each house sliould be an insula; but this was only partially 

 carried into effect. 



We know little about the plan or elevation of these mansions: 

 they were probably as varied as in modern buildings. They appear 

 to have been surrounded on three sides by colonnades fronting the 

 streets, and occupied by shops for the sale of the produce of the 

 estate and other commodities; but as trade was considered de- 

 grading, the sale was entrusted to freedmen, or slaves, or the shops 

 were let, and brouglit a considerable rental to the proiirietor of 

 the insula. These' Roman mansions must have contained a multi- 

 tude of apartments, as each patrician entertained a train of clients 

 and dependents, besides his servants and slaves. Tliey were built 

 around open courts, like those of the East in the present day, and 

 had few or no windows looking towards the street. 



Though, as before observed, the houses were, no doubt, various 

 in plan, it will save confusion in describing the principal courts 

 and chambers they contained, to follow that given by Vitruvius. 

 First, on entering tlie portico, was the Ve-stibulam, or vestibule; 

 this apartment was generally circular, and derived its name from 

 the goddess Vesta, to whom it was dedicated; it was also sacred to 

 the Lares, whose statues were placed in niches round the wall. 

 Pavements have been found belonging to this part of the house, 

 with the words ^'■Cave canem" (beware the dog) formed in mosaic: 

 this might seem to reflect upon the hospitality of the ancient 

 Romans; but the image of a dog barking was generally placed at 

 the foot of the statues of the Lares familiares, to denote their 

 vigilance: tlie caution, therefore, might be merely a warning 

 against offending the household gods. The Lares were supposed to 

 be the spirits of deceased ancestors, hovering about tlieir former 

 abode for the protection of its inmates; the word is derived from 

 the Etruscan '-/are"— a leader or conductor. A festival in their 

 honour was celebrated every May, when their statues in the vesti- 

 bule were crowned with flowers, and offerings of fruit presented. 



Tlie vestibule led immediately into the Atrium, a large open 

 court or hall, where visitors and 'clients waited. Atria are said to 

 have been of Etruscan origin, and so called from the city Adria; 

 they were of several kinds. The Tuscan atrium was square, built 

 simply with four beams crossing at right angles, leaving the central 

 space exposed to tlie air: when the atrium was so large as to re- 

 <iuire additional support for the beams, four cidumns were placed 

 at the angles; it was then called tetrastyle. Corinthian atria were 

 generally circular, larger, and more sumptuously adorned: those 

 called testudine were small, and had a vaulted roof sometbuig 

 resembling the back of a tortoise, whence tlieir name. The open 

 space in the centre was called compluvium, through wliich the r.i.n 

 fell into the impluvium, or tank, below; when the rafters were 

 made to incline the contrary way, so as to throw the rain off out- 

 side, the atrium was said to be 'displuviatum. The atrium being 

 the most public part of the house, was always decorated to the 

 extent of the proprietor's means: with fresco paintings represent- 

 ing mythological subjects, or passages from history, and master- 

 pieces from the sculptor's hand. The statues and busts of the 

 family were also placed here, when the master of the house had a 

 right' to possess them; but such a privilege was only granted to 

 those who had borne some high oflSce in the state, and was equiva- 

 lent to a modern coat of arms;— he who had pictures and statues 

 of his ancestors, was accounted noble. Suits of armour, and trophies 

 of war, were also suspended in the atrium. On each side of this 

 court were jiorticoes or Ala\ leading into the Ci'lln- funii/iarica; or 

 apartments for domestic use. It is supposed that in town houses, 

 the Ctt/iim, or kitchen, with its accompanying oftices, was in tins 

 division. 



Beyond the atrium, and merely divided from it by a curtain that 

 could be raised or lowered at pleasure, was a sitting-room called 

 the TdM ill urn. On each side of tliis were apartments devoted to 

 emliroidery or otlier work; or perhaps the picture gallery. 



Jieyoud'was the Ciivn-diinn, a smaller court, built in various 

 styles, like the atrium. 'Die cava'dium had generally a fountain 

 in' the' centre, an<l the compluvium was occasionally covered witli a 

 purple awning, tinging the surrounding objects with a warm hue. 

 S(une suppose tlie cavfedium to have been merely the central part 

 of the atrium, but in this plan it is represented as a separate divi- 

 sion of the house. On one side is the Bibliuthecu, or library; on 



the other are Exhedree, or rooms for reading and conversation. 

 The word theca signified any kind of repository— thus there was 

 the biblio-theca for books,' the pinaco-theca for pictures; the 

 oporo-theca for keeping apples and other fruits; the apo-theca 

 for general stores; and so on. Vitruvius recommends that 

 the bibliotheca should look to the east ; because, he says, "hooks 

 are better preserved when the air and light are received from that 

 quarter: when libraries have a southern or a western aspect, they 

 admit those winds which, at the same time that they carry with 

 them moths, instil also damp vapours into the books, wliich in pro- 

 cess of time cause their decay." Roman libraries were adorned with 

 pictures and busts of eminent literary men, and were furnished 

 with shelves or drawers, where the locumenta or boxes were 

 placed, containing the precious manuscrijits: no wonder so much 

 care was taken in their preservation, as a library in those days 

 must have been an expensive luxury, attainable only by the few. 



Proceeding onwards from the ca\ sdiuiii, we enter the Cyzicene 

 occus, with its surrounding gardens. This saloon must have been 

 a delightful summer apartment, with its large windows looking 

 over the flowery parterres, and open also both to the cavfedium 

 and the peristyle. The occi were of several kinds: the tetrastyle, 

 with the ceiling supported by four columns; or the Corinthian, 

 with engaged columns and windows between; or the Egyptian, 

 consisting of two orders. In this last kind of occus, isolated co- 

 lumns supported a second range of engaged columns, having the 

 intervening wall pierced with windows; above all rose the vaulted 

 ceiling ornamented with coffers. These saloons were made lofty 

 to allow of the free circulation of air, so desirable during an Italian 

 summer. Vitruvius directs that the height of all apartments 

 which are longer than they are wide, should be " determined by 

 making it half the sum of 'the length and width added together; 

 when a square, the height is made greater in proportion by the 

 addition of half the width." Another rule he gives is, " Take a 

 square, one side the width, the diagonal the length; height to the 

 trabes three-fourths the length." The occus was furnished with 

 triclinia, or couches, so arranged that the guests reclining on them 

 might have a full view of the garden. 



The Peristyle was another large open court, and, as its name 

 denotes, was surrounded by columns: the Villa Gordiana is said to 

 have had a peristyle of two hundred columns. This court was 

 generally planted with trees and shrubs, and sometimes had a fish- 

 pond in the centre: the low wall, or pluteuni, connecting the 

 c(dumns, was hollowed out for the purpose of containing soil, in 

 which flowers were planted. When the curtains of the tablinum 

 and the cyzicene occus were raised, the perspective view of a 

 lliunan house seen from the vestibule must have been very beauti- 

 ful; first, the richly ornamented atrium; then, through the tabli- 

 num into the cavaidium, with its sparkling fountain; and beyond, 

 tlie sumptuous occus, with the garden of the peristyle terminating 

 the prospect. 



Round the peristyle, and communicating with it, were the more 

 private apartments: the vernal, summer, and winter Triclinia, or 

 eating-rooms, ap|)ropriated to the different seasons, according to 

 their^ispect; the Cnhicnla, or sleeping-rooms, small chambers gene- 

 rally containing a recess for a bed, which was laid on a marble 

 tressel, about six inches from the ground;— and the Bntlut, which 

 were considered an essential in every house, and were arranged 

 similarly to the bathing rooms in the public therm<B. 



.\s tli'e principal apartments of the house were always on the 

 ground floor, there was no grand staircase; where there were upper 

 rooms, they seem to have been cliiefly devoted to the females of 

 the family,' who, however, did not lead so retired a life as that of 

 tlie tirecic ladies: here also were the Vi'stiarii, or wardrobe rooms, 

 and the Peiielralin, or sanctuary devoted to the penates, or pene- 

 trales, as they were sometimes called; tliese gods were either 

 deified ancestors, or any of the superior divinities, under whose 

 especial protection the house was supposed to exist. 



Occasionally a terrace was formed on the flat roof, where the 

 family met to'enjoy the prospect and the cool evening breeze; this 

 terrace was shaded by trellis-work, called pergula, and adorned 

 witli creepers and boxes planted witli flowers: sometimes an aviary 

 added to its attractions. The numerous slaves were lodged lu one 

 common chamber underground, called the Eryastiiliim. 



lu an early stage of civilisation subdivision of labour was almost 

 unknown, and each household had to be in a great measure selt- 

 suflicient, all the principal arts and trades being carried on by its 

 different members. Pignorius mentions more than two hundred 

 kinds of emidoyments that were exercised by slaves or servants m 

 the liou-es of 'the great. Each mansion contained a carpenter, 

 blacksmith, &c.; and not only the spinning and weaving, brewing, 



