The Origin and Relation
of Greek and Roman
Housing
If a house could speak,
it would have a very clear story
-Aeschylus, Agamemnon 37-38
Elspeth Wengren
AHI 190a
Winter 2011
Abbreviated Background of Greek Housing
Domestic organization and spatial segregation became especially
significant to Greeks during the 5th century BCE.
-This coincides with the establishment of Pericles citizenship law.
Spur of Hippodamian city planning in mid-5th century BCE
Domestic architecture in Greece and Greek settlements began
conforming to new standards based off organization, practicality and
social acceptance.
The Hellenistic period marks a change in Greek life. Early Greek citystates had been run by citizen elites, but with the rise of Alexander
and through out his campaign in the 4th century BCE, Greek citystates became operated by kings.
As Greek and middle-eastern culture merged in the Hellenistic world,
there was an increase in palatial construction. This trend was echoed
in Greek domestic architecture as well, resulting in the establishment
of the Greek prostas, pastas and peristyle type houses.
Greek Influence On Roman Housing
During the Republican Period, Roman traditionalists feared that the
‘over-exuberance’ of Hellenistic cultural and its increasing influence
would have a negative impact on the traditionally modest Roman
way of life.
However, elements of Greek domestic design, especially the Greek
peristyle, would eventually be incorporated into the Roman
architectural vernacular.
Side note: The Roman dining room,
called the triclinium, came from the
Greek word for couch, klinê, which
were the couches used for eating in a
reclining position, a ritual the Romans
had inherited from both the Greeks
and the Etruscans.
The RomanRegia today. (ARTstor.org)
Greek Pastas
Style Houses at
Olynthus
c.400-348 BCE
Typical Olynthian House, House A vii 4 (Cahill
76)
An Olynthian Pastas House in a
Paragraph or Less…
The typical Olynthian house can be encapsulated as,
“An individual structure occupied around 290 square
meters in ground area and consisted of around ten
rooms on the ground floor, space which was often
supplemented by further apartments in an upper
storey. The house as a whole is inward-looking and
centered around an open court at the centre or south
of the building. There is a strict separation from the
street. Each house was normally entered via a single
street door” (Nevett 46).
Additional Housing Information
“Pastas,” like a veranda, were prevalent
features throughout Greece and could
run the length of the house.
Houses were founded on stone socles
(bases) but the super structure was
primarily mud-brick.
Closed off to the public, presenting blank
walls to the streets.
Window, seen in the upper left
Apulian Calyx Krater (Cahill
77)
Court yard often doubled as a work
space.
Small, or no, windows.
Some had an attached shop or space that
was either leased out or in some way
used to increase income.
http://depthome.brooklyn.cuny.edu/classics/dunkle/athnlife/
domestic.htm
Some houses had a second
story, which is believed to
have been the women's
quarters, the gynaikonitis.
Distribution of two storied houses in Olynthos
(Cahill 83)
Reconstruction of House A vii 4 at Olynthus (Cahill 105)
Left: Key to house plans and
artifact distribution (Cahill 86)
Below: Artifact distribution for
House A vii 4 (Cahill 104)
Variations of the Pastas House
Villa of the Bronzes, Olynthos (Cahill 98)
The House of Many Colors, Olynthus
(Cahill 87).
Greek Prostas Houses at
Priene
(ARTstor.org)
Left: The basic Prostras house in Priene
during the 3rd century BCE (ARTstor.org)
Shared characteristics with
Pastas Houses:
-A central court yard open to
the sky
-A men’s andron (but typically
smaller)
-Small and high, or no,
windows
-A gynaikonitis, when a second
story was present
-Loosely defined functions of
space (other than the andron)
(ARTstor.org)
House plans and layout at Priene
(ARTstor.org)
Greek communal
planning of grid
streets and aligned
rectangular block
housing in Priene
in the mid-4th
century BCE.
(ARTstor.org)
Peristyle Houses of
Delos
Mosaic Court in Dellos House of the Dolphins, by
Asklepiades c.100BCE (ARTstor.org)
Delos Peristyle, House of the
Colline (ARTstor.org)
Delos, House of the Trident
c.150-100BCE
(ARTstor.org)
(PerseusDigitalLibrary.tufts.edu)
(ARTstor.org)
Views of the remainder of the
peristyle court in the House of the
Trident, Delos. Above: shows the
main entryway into the house.
To
the Left: shows the view from what
would be within.
(PerseusDigitalLibrary.tufts.edu)
Revisiting Greek House Types
Pastas
Prostas
Peristyle
The Emergence of a Roman Atrium Housing in History
History's Two Main Sources on Roman Domestic Architecture:
Vitruvius, in his On Architecture, Book 8, discusses the Roman House, but
in a theoretical nature.
Pliny the Younger who authored two letters in the early 2nd century,
giving detailed descriptions of two of his villas at Tusculum and
Laurentium, in Italy.
Cicero, Martial, Petronius, Statius and Sidonius make passing references to
Roman housing, while Petronius was the most influential author to discuss
Roman behavior within houses.
From the writing of Vitruvius two main points stand out:
1. That the type of house a man lives represents and needs be appropriate to
his social status. Furthermore, that a member of the elite who played a role
in public life was expected to have clientes.
2. That there should be a distinction between intimate spaces occupied solely
by the residents and those open to guests and visitors.
Thus, Roman Atrium Houses were developed to accommodate these criteria.
Inside an Early Atrium House
A main entryway leading to an interior central atrium court.
An Atrium court differed from a peristyle in that most of the court was
covered by extending the surrounding downward sloping roofs. The central
area left uncovered and open to the sky corresponds to the size of the central
impluvium.
At the far end of the atrium would be the main reception room of the house
the tablinum. This room could be left open to both the front and rear, but
would then have had wooden partitions to close off the openings when desired.
The tablinum was flanked by two other rooms the alae, and then the assorted
cubicula.
The tablinum also acted as the area for the display of family archives. Here, the
dominus would receive guests.
The triclinium (dining room) was located to one side of the atrium, often in the
corner of the house.
The lararium (household shrine) was often located in the atrium, or an adjacent
room.
It is sometimes difficult to locate specific kitchens in Roman households of all
periods, as often the family had portable braziers that could be easily set up in
any part of the house.
Additional Atrium Information
Though we lack definitive evidence, the favored consensus regarding the
origins of the atrium house, consider the atrium to have been derived from
the Greek idea of central courtyards houses, dating back to the 6th century
BCE at Megara Hyblaea, in combination with the Etruscan temple porches
formed by large over-hanging eaves.
The early Atrium houses, in the ‘Atrium-Tablinum’ arrangement show close
relation to the oecus-prostas arrangement, exemplified by the ‘prostas houses’ in
Priene.
There were still no columns serving as structural support in early ‘AtriumTablinum’ houses.
The addition of alae with the lararium
-Rooms added specifically for display
The three main rooms were directly aligned across the back, as in Greek
peristyle houses.
-But the tablinum at the center was open to the atrium for its full width,
flanked by the triclinium to one side and domestic space to the other.
*Increased amount of domestic/public space, both visible and accessible.
The Atrium style house became a marker or Roman culture and spread
throughout the entire Roman Empire.
Early example of Roman ‘Atrium-Tablinum’ Design
The House of the Surgeon, Pompeii
3rd century BCE
Plan and Reconstruction (ARTstor.org)
Within the atrium (ARTstor.org)
Impluvium within the atrium
(ARTstor.org)
Incorporating the Peristyle in Atrium Housing
Born of Roman desire to add a domestic part to their homes, but
without sacrificing the atrium-tablinum layout that was so fitting to the
daily lives of the Roman elite.
The solution was to attach to the rear of the atrium complex a peristyle
court, an popular idea that became the new Roman standard from the
2nd century BCE onward.
Roman peristyles were consciously arranged to be symmetrical and
revolve around a central feature.
Columns entered the Roman domestic architecture vernacular.
-As seen in the tetrastyle atria.
General trend towards more decorative architecture within private
houses.
Remains of a tetrastyle atrium at the
House of the Faun, Pompeii 2nd
century BCE (ARTstor.org)
House of the Faun
Pompeii, 2nd-1st century BCE
-Developed Roman Atrium style, with the
inclusion of a peristyle, the design type that
remained prevalent in Roman culture from the
2nd century BCE onward.
-tetrastyle atria
-preferred axial layout
-informal room arrangement (with the
exception of the tablinum)
Plan and view
from the
garden in the
peristyle
(ARTstor.org)
Faun statue in
courtyard, for which
the house has been
named (ARTstor.org)
Floor mosaic, cupid
riding a a lion
(ARTstor.org)
View from exterior looking through main
entryway (ARTstor.org)
Reconstruction drawing of
interior atrium (ARTstor.org)
Interior view of atrium
(ARTstor.org)
Closing Notes
Roman Atrium housing developed through the process of selecting Greek
design ideas that were fitting for their own cultural, social, and practical needs
at a specific time.
Both Greek and Roman house designs are not resolutely defined and
unyielding. Traditional standards did exist, but there was much variation.
In both the Greek and Roman examples, the house plans discussed belonged
to middle and upper class citizens.
It is important to “bear in mind
that only a few houses are
preserved out of the many
thousand that once existed. A
unique design could thus be the
surviving representative of a
widespread trend, or alternatively
the product of an eccentric
owner" (Ellis 6).
(ARTstor.org)
Bibliography
Philippe Bruneau and Jean Marcadé. "Delos." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. 11 Jan.
2011<http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T022044>.
Thomas Braun, et al. "Greece, ancient." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. 11 Jan.2011
<http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T034254pg2>.
Cahill, Nicholas. Household and City Organization at Olynthus.New Haven, CT: Yale UP,2001.
Print.
Ellis, Simon P. Roman Housing. London: Duckworth, 2000.Print.
Gardner, Ernest. "The Greek House." The Journal of Hellenic Studies 21(1901): 293395.
JSTOR.Web. 10 Jan. 2011.<http://www.jstor.org/stable/623877>.
Graham, J. Walter. "Origins and Interrelations of the Greek House and the Roman House.”
Phoenix 20.1 (1966): 3-31. JSTOR. Web. 11Jan. 2011.
<http://www.jstor.org/stable/1086313 .>.
Wolfram Hoepfner and Joseph Coleman Carter."Priene." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art
Online. <http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T069568>.
Kulözu, Neslihan, and Melda Açmaz. "Transformation of House Typology in the Ancient
Priene City." Google Documents. Faculty of Architecture, Middle East Technical
University, Turkey. Web. <http://docs.google.com/>.
Nevett, Lisa C. Domestic Space in Classical Antiquity. New York:Cambridge UP, 2010. Print.
Rider, Bertha C. The Greek House. London: Cambridge UP, 1916. Print.
Tomlinson, Richard. From Mycenae to Constantinople : the Evolution of the Ancient City. London:
Routledge, 1992. Print.