WORLD CIVILIZATION

Detailed explanation-1: -As the main room in the public part of the house (pars urbana), the atrium was the center of the house’s social and political life. The male head-of-household (paterfamilias) would receive his clients on business days in the atrium, in which case it functioned as a sort of waiting room for business appointments.

Detailed explanation-2: -Two strongboxes (arca-essentially lockable boxes for storing valuables), concrete signs of wealth, were placed prominently in the large atrium so that visitors would be sure to notice them.

Detailed explanation-3: -The typical house is variable in size and has a rectangular plan. It is almost totally devoid of windows on the outside, since all the rooms face onto the inner courtyards. Typical house of the first period: “Tuscan” atrium: the entrance or vestibulum, often closed off by a wooden door, gave access to the atrium.

Detailed explanation-4: -The domus were often richly decorated, with bright, colourful frescoes. The houses of middle and lower-class families, on the contrary, were much smaller and had simpler structures. Outside the cities, in the countryside and along the coasts, there were many different villas.