Domus (ancient world)
A domus (plural: domūs) was a distinctive type of residence primarily used by the upper classes during the Republican and Imperial periods of ancient Rome, roughly from 509 BCE to 395 CE. Typically situated in urban areas, these homes accommodated extended families, including immediate family members and servants. Domūs were notable for their architectural features, which included intricate ornamentation, spacious atriums, and specialized rooms such as tablinums for business and tricliniums for dining. Unlike the crowded insulae where most urban Romans lived, domūs provided greater comfort and security, often lacking windows facing the street due to safety concerns.
The design of a domus reflected the wealth and social status of its occupants, often with displays of art and ancestral statues in the atrium. Some domūs also served multifunctional purposes, incorporating family businesses or religious shrines. While many well-preserved examples have been discovered in the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum, one of the most famous is the Domus Aurea, Emperor Nero's opulent palace. The domus played a significant role in Roman social life and architecture and transformed over time, influenced by earlier Etruscan designs and the evolving urban landscape of Rome.
Domus (ancient world)
A domus (plural domūs) was a type of home construction used by the upper classes during the Republican (509 BCE–27 BCE) and Imperial (27 BCE–395 CE) eras of Roman history. Generally, domūs were found in Roman cities or towns. They could house extended families, including multiple generations of the same clan, or just a single nuclear family. By definition, the family unit among well-to-do Romans typically included both the immediate family and their servants.
Some domūs even had multiple functions beyond providing living accommodations. Some housed family businesses or complex religious shrines. The most impressive examples of domūs could take up a full Roman city block, although typically they were much smaller and could fit up to eight per city block. The domus was a traditional form of Roman home for several centuries, although this style of building was subject to great variation between the different cities and eras of ancient Rome.
Background
The word domus is Latin for "house." It is also the root word for a number of English words, including domicile and domestic. The domus was reserved for those wealthy enough to afford its construction. This was in contrast to insulae, where most urban Romans lived. Each insulae consisted of six to eight apartment buildings that were three stories high and built around a central shared courtyard. The bottom floors were dedicated to shops, while people would live in the upper floors. Insulae typically used very simple construction and did not have such luxuries as running water, heating, or inside toilets. Such units were often overcrowded and poorly maintained. They were more prone to spreading illness and often caught fire, as they were constructed of wood and mud. By comparison, domūs usually had intricate ornamentation, including marble columns, inlaid paneling, and detailed paintings covering the walls.
The predecessors to the Romans were the Etruscans. Their homes were comparatively simple, even for those from aristocratic backgrounds. The earliest Etruscan homes were huts made of cut logs laid out over the ground. They were patched with mud with a thatch roof placed on top. Based upon painted images on funeral urns from the eighth century, it is thought that the Etruscans shared a love of painted walls and ornamentation with their later Roman ancestors. By the seventh century, the Etruscans had introduced increased decoration into their homes with statues, clay friezes, and terracotta plaques having been found in builds from this period.
Over time, the structures built for the upper classes used more stable materials that added to the comfort and safety of the residents. These included brick foundations and tile roofs. These later structures used some of the same features and floor plans of the Etruscans, including the use of central halls and skylights. As the Etruscans gave way to the Romans, communities became more centralized and urban, while an increase in commercial trade allowed the middle and upper classes to develop. The growth of these social classes led to the construction of larger homes with the characteristic ornamentation of the Roman domūs.
The typical domus did not face the city streets due to concerns about security. As a result, domūs did not have windows facing outside. Instead, they would have skylights, open courtyards, and frescoes painted with outdoor scenes on inside walls that simulated windows. Oftentimes, a family might instead have two to three outdoor stalls that faced the city streets that they would use as a storefront to sell food or make goods or simply to rent out to another vendor.
These buildings were split into the front antica and back postica. The main room of a domus was the atrium that separated the two halves of the building. The atrium was a large central hall with an opening at the top that allowed fresh air into the building. Cisterns would be placed around the atrium to catch rainwater. Atriums were designed to display the wealth of the occupants. Such prominent demonstrations of wealth and status were important elements of aristocratic Roman society. The atrium would resultantly feature statues of prominent ancestors and paintings, frescoes, and mosaics by well-regarded local artisans. The men would conduct business affairs in the tablinum, which was akin in function to a contemporary office. Another key room for conducting social and business affairs was the triclinium. This was the primary dining room where the family would host dinners and parties. Unlike modern dining rooms, tricliniums were less formal, with diners reclining on couches while being served by slaves. Other key rooms included the cubiculums, or bedrooms, and the culina, which served as a kitchen where slaves prepared the family's meals. Sometimes there would be a simple slave quarters, although slaves were often expected to sleep in the doorways of their masters' bedrooms so that they would be available for service if required.
Overview
Several well-preserved examples of domūs have been unearthed in the ruined cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, which were destroyed by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE. Due to the nature of the eruption, most of these domūs lack the traditional second story. However, they still have provided valuable insight into the architecture and social customs associated with ancient Roman homes.
Among the best-known examples of a domus was the Domus Aurea (meaning golden house in Latin). This structure is famous for being the massive home and pleasure palace of Emperor Nero. Nero had this large building constructed after the Great Fire of 64 CE destroyed many of the existing luxury homes on the Oppian Hill found in the heart of Rome. The Domus Aurea was built using gold leaf, ivory, and polychrome marble—among the most extravagant and expensive construction materials of the era. Inside, Nero also had the walls and ceilings painted in ornate frescoes by master artists, while outside, there were large gardens and fine statuary placed throughout the building's several hundred acres of property. The grounds even included an artificial lake and a massive 100-foot (30-meter) bronze statue that Nero had commissioned of himself that was designed to resemble the great Colossus at Rhodes. After Nero's suicide in 68 CE, his successors sought to eliminate his memory and rededicate the extensive grounds back to the Roman people. The Domus Aurea was slowly dismantled over the span of half a century and was filled with earth, leaving only subterranean ruins by 150 CE. The rediscovery of the site and its detailed decoration in the fifteenth century helped lead to a resurgence of the Romanesque style of art in the early Renaissance period.
Bibliography
Becker, Jeffrey. "Roman Domestic Architecture (Domus)." Khan Academy, www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/roman/beginners-guide-rome/a/roman-domestic-architecture-domus. Accessed 6 Mar. 2017.
Cooley, Alison E., and M. G. L. Cooley. Pompeii and Herculaneum. 2nd ed., Routledge, 2014.
Fife, Steven. "The Roman Domus." Ancient History Encyclopedia, 18 Jan. 2012, www.ancient.eu/article/77/. Accessed 6 Mar. 2017.
Gurgone, Federico. "Golden House of an Emperor." Archaeology, 10 Aug. 2015, www.archaeology.org/issues/187-1509/features/3562-golden-house-of-an-emperor. Accessed 6 Mar. 2017.
Kondoleon, Christine. "Signs of Privilege and Pleasure: Roman Domestic Mosaics." Roman Art in the Private Sphere: New Perspectives on the Architecture and Decor of the Domus, Villa, and Insula. Edited by Elaine K. Gazda, U of Michigan P, 2010, pp. 105–15.
Lockey, Ian. "Roman Housing." Metropolitan Museum of Art, Feb. 2009, www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/hous/hd‗hous.htm. Accessed 6 Mar. 2017.
Neeman, Michal Bleibtreu. "Walking among the Etruscans." Epoch Times, 5 Jan. 2014, www.theepochtimes.com/n3/433025-walking-among-the-etruscans/. Accessed 6 Mar. 2017.
"The Romans – Housing." History on the Net, 19 Nov. 2013, www.historyonthenet.com/the-romans-housing/. Accessed 6 Mar. 2017.
Saller, Richard P. "'Familia, Domus,' and the Roman Conception of the Family." Phoenix, vol. 38, no. 4, 1984, pp. 336–55.
Wallace-Hadrill, Andrew. "Houses and Households: Families and 'Housefuls.'" Houses and Society in Pompeii and Herculaneum. Princeton UP, 1994, pp. 103–6.