THE REPUBLICAN ATRIUM VESTZ. 13 
bright-colored marble.’ Out of this court, on the south, open five or six 
small rooms,’ which are not more than 4 meters long and vary from 2.50 to 
4 meters in width. On the west are other rooms’ the dimensions of which 
can not be ascertained, since they have been almost wholly destroyed by the 
erection of the later building. In the smaller rooms‘ are pavements similar to 
that in the vestibule, but of a finer quality.» Beyond the rooms on the south 
was an area paved with blocks of cappellaccio, opening probably upon the 
earlier Nova Via.° In a room, or court, on the southwest was a rectangular 
basin,’ resembling the zmpluvium of the private house. 
The Domus Publica: The extent of the Domus publica is uncertain, but 
it is probable from the existing remains that it was much larger than the 
Domus Vestalium. It is likely that it covered almost the entire space between 
the Sacra Via® and the earlier Nova Via. On the west it was united to the 
house of the Vestals by “the common wall” of which we have spoken. On 
the east it may have extended to the precinct which inclosed the ancient altar 
destroyed later by Nero. It is more probable, however, that the group of 
rooms about the court on the east® belonged to another house.”” The general 
plan of the Domus can not be determined. In the center of the earlier 
building was an open court," of which there remain the bases of two columns 
and a gutter of travertine, as well as other smaller fragments. Of the rooms 
opening upon this court but little remains. In the later reconstruction this 
court was replaced by a number of smaller rooms. Beyond it on the east 
there were other rooms. The largest of these,” in which there is an apse, 
was possibly a center for some of the various rites over which the Vestals 
presided. 
In the earlier excavations some fragmentary remains were found of the 
painted stucco with which the Domus publica was decorated. But few 
traces of this are now visible, though the pieces of marble inserted in the 
walls to furnish a hold for the stucco are still to be found in many places 
The style of decoration" is very simple, consisting of panels in plain colors, 
marked off by narrow lines, in which were circles or simple floral designs. 
8 Along the Sacra Via was a row of rooms or shops 
which may have formed a structural part of 
the Domus. 
9 Plan A, xin. 
10Behind the room with an apse (Plan A, x1) there is 
a heavy wall, which may be the division wall 
between the two houses. If this be so, the 
entire building to the west of this wall must 
be included in the house of the Vestals and 
the Domus publica confined to the group of 
the rooms on the east. 
1The pavement in the vestibule of the house of 
Livia at Prima Porta is of the same type 
and probably of the same period. Similar 
pavements found frequently in Pompeii 
belong to the late republican period. 
2 Plan A, 1v-1x, and plate m1, fig. 1. 
3 Plan A, 11. 
4Plan A, rv-1x. 
5 The pavement in these rooms resembles that of 
the private house destroyed by Nero in the 
construction of his Golden House, of which 
a small part still remains below the Baths of 
Trajan. 
6 The course of The Nova Via was originally fur- 
ther towards the north than at present. 
7Plan A, w. 
Plan A, x. 
12Plan A, x1. 
13Middleton, Archeologia, x11x, 400f. 
MSee Middleton, /. c., xL1x, plate opposite p. 402. 
