Types of Houses in Roman Architecture .

Modern knowledge of Roman architecture derives primarily from extant remains scattered throughout the area of the empire.Some are well preserved, and other are known only in fragments and by theoretical restoration. Another source of information is a vast store of records. Especially important is a book on architecture by the architect Vitruvius. His De Architectura (c. 27 B.C.) is the only treatise survived from ancient times. It consists of ten books and covers almost every aspect on architecture.

Pervasive Roman predilection was for spatial composition - the organization of lines, surfaces, masses, and volumes in space. In this the Romans differed from their predecessors in the ancient Mediterranean world.

In Roman architecture there were three types of houses: the domus, the insulae, and the villa.

The domus, or town house, consisted of suites of rooms grouped around a central hall, or atrium, to which were often added further suites at the rear, grouped around a colonnaded court, or peristyle. The atrium, a rectangular room with an opening in the roof to the sky, and its adjoining rooms were peculiarly Roman elements; the peristyle was Greek or Middle Eastern. There were few windows on the street, light being obtained from the atrium or peristyle.

In Rome the chief examples of domus are the House of Vestals in the Forum in Rome and that of Livia on the Palatine Hill.

Great blocks of flats or tenements were called insulae. Excavations at Ostia, Italy, have revealed the design of these blocks. Planed on three or four floors with strict regard to economy of space, they depended on light from the exterior as well as from a central court. Independent apartments had separate entrances with direct access to the street.

The Latin word villa pertained to an estate, complete with house grounds, and subsidiary buildings.

Hadrian’s Villa at Tivoli, began about AD 123, was a sumptuous residence with parks and gardens on a large scale. The unevenness of the site necessitated large terraces and flights of steps. There are remains of great brick and concrete structures. All the buildings are Roman in style and method of construction, though with Greek names.

Vocabulary:

# to derive - походити;

# remains - (тут) руїни;

# store - запас;

# treatise - трактат;

# pervasive - проникаючий, що всюди поширюється;

# predilection - перевага;

# spatial - просторовий;

# surface - поверхня;

# to recast - надавати нової форми, переробляти;

# rear - розташований позаду, заднiй;

# peculiarly - особливо;

# to obtain - отримувати;

# tenement - багатоквартирний будинок, що здають в аренду;

# excavations - розкопки;

# to reveal - показувати, знаходити;

# with strict regard - iз строгим розрахунком;

# access - доступ.