26 THE ATRIUM VESTZ. 
The Cult Rooms: The presence in the rooms on the west’ of certain 
structures held to be ovens,” as well as of a number of amphore and frag- 
ments of other vessels,* has led to the almost universal acceptance of these 
rooms as the private kitchen and storerooms of the Atrium. That they 
were not intended for such a purpose is, however, clear from the primitive 
character of the vessels found and the noticeable absence of any of the more 
common appliances for cooking,‘ as well as from the existence of a regularly 
appointed kitchen’ at the opposite end of the Atrium. It is evident, more- 
over, from the complete isolation of the rooms and from their lack of any 
means of communication® with the other parts of the building, that they 
were not even a part of the Atrium but were intentionally separated from 
it. ‘Their proximity to and direct communication with the temple precinct, 
on the other hand, make it certain that they were instead connected with 
the temple and belonged to it. From the unusual arrangement of the rooms 
themselves and the peculiar character of their contents’ it is evident that they 
were designed for the special use of the cult and for the storing of the instru- 
mentum® belonging to it. In addition to the instrumentum there were no 
doubt preserved in these rooms such of the prgnora imperii® as could not 
conveniently be kept in the temple itself. It is probable that the documents 
of state and the other articles of value which were entrusted to the Vestals for 
safekeeping were kept here rather than in the private rooms of the Atrium. 
Of the objects found in the rooms the pointed amphorz, which are of the 
primitive type prescribed for the use of the cult,” were for the carrying of 
the water used in the sacred rites and in the cleansing of the temple. The 
smaller vessels, of which numerous fragments have been found, were for 
the use of the Vestals in the preparation of the sacred cakes and of the other 
materials for sacrifice and purification over which they had charge." In 
one of these vessels there are still preserved the remains of pastry.” The 
appliances for the grinding of the sacred meal’ and for the preparation of 
the muries* were also of the simplest kind and have been either carried 
away or destroyed. In one of the rooms‘ is a basin of peculiar construction. 
It consists of a square structure 3.11 meters long and a meter wide, which, 
2 Plan B, 24-27. 
2 See p. 44. 
3 A number of these are still preserved in the store- 
room in which they were found. 
‘There are no traces of stoves or of any of the 
ordinary receptacles for water. 
5 The kitchen now seen belongs to a later period. 
The earlier one must have been, however, 
in the same part of the Atrium, where the 
more private life of the household was 
centered. 
®Th: door leading from the Atrium into these 
rooms is not original. 
' Especially the rude pottery and the basin de- 
scribed below. 
8 For the instrumentum of the temple, see Wissowa, 
Religion und Kultus, 406. 
§ The size and arrangement of the temple make it 
improbable that the less important sacra 
were kept there. 
10A number of these are still to be seen in the room 
in which they were found (plan B, 24). 
For the principal duties of the Vestals in con- 
nection with the cult, see Wissowa, /.c., 143. 
Boni (Vaglieri, Scavi Recenti nel Foro Romano, 
71, n. 1) recognizes in this the strues men- 
tioned by Festus (p. 310, n.). 
13Wissowa, |. c. 
M4Plan B, 27. 
