Homes and Gardens in Pompeii
After peristyle gardens became fashionable, some atriums began to echo them. Pompeii's House of Epidius Rufus features an example of what Vitruvius called a Corinthian atrium, with a large compluvium surrounded by 32 columns, turning the atrium into a small peristyle.
While a Corinthian atrium could look like a small peristyle, especially if the impluvium was used as a reflecting pool or fountain rather than just a catch basin for rainwater; an atrium was used quite differently from a peristyle. Atriums were central to a traditional Roman home and served the same purpose in Samnite Pompeii. Atriums were a semipublic space where a patron traditionally met his clients every morning, almost certainly greeting them before his tablinum. The tablinum's opening onto the peristyle served to unite the traditional Roman home with the Greek peristyle, which was adopted from the Hellenistic world.
After the peristyle was adopted, the small rooms opening onto the atrium, some of which had been the family's bedrooms, were used for other purposes and the family moved into rooms surrounding their peristyle garden. It was normal to have a triclinium (dining room) opening onto the peristyle and many gardens also featured tables and couches for open air dining, such as the masonry couches in the House of Aulus Trebius Valen's garden.
Ancient Greeks lived in their paved courtyards in much the same manner as the Spanish have lived in their patios for over a thousand years. The Romans transformed Greek courtyards into gardens, but they lived in them at least as much the Greeks did.
Roman homes tended to be rather dark. This was partially because any exterior windows were small and barred against intruders. Even the sky lit atriums had a cavernous feeling. Whenever possible, Romans lived in their gardens and peristyles. The large trees which shaded many old peristyle gardens and the grape arbors which normally shaded outdoor tablinums made gardens more livable during hot summers than paved courtyards. The pools and fountains which graced many gardens were also very inviting on warm days.
Kitchens were especially unpleasant in Pompeian homes. None of them had chimneys; smoke escaped through a small grated window. We can be certain that much of the food preparation took place in peristyles, unless the owner forbade it. In her book "The Gardens of Pompeii", Wilhelmina Jashemski states that she found loom weights in every garden that she excavated. She also
Latest Articles