Roman Villas
The article discusses the principles of construction and decoration of the villas of Roman nobility during the Republican era. This topic is complex, as these types of structures represented a compilation of Greek and Italic house types. To understand this, we first consider the Italic type using the example of the Etruscan house, then we turn to the plan of the Greek house, and only then do we proceed to a detailed examination of the villas of the Roman nobility. As mentioned above, let's start with the Etruscan house. Typically, the center of Etruscan houses was the atrium – a square, central room around which other rooms were located: living quarters were behind the atrium, smaller auxiliary rooms were at the front, and a high roof rose over the whole structure (Brunov N.I. Sketches on the History of Architecture, p. 67). Initially, the atrium (meaning "black") housed the hearth and had a roof, but since the lighting in the house was poor and the atrium, being the central room, could not have windows, the hearth was soon moved to the kitchen, and the atrium roof was made sloping with a rectangular opening. This opening illuminated the main room of the house and provided greater light access to other rooms. Because the atrium roof sloped inward (compluvium), all the rainwater flowed into the room, necessitating the construction of a basin called an impluvium in the center. The atrium no longer served as the central room but became a place where guests waited for an invitation to the new central room of the house called the tablinum.
Next, we turn to luxurious Greek houses. Greek houses did not have atriums; instead, they had porticos and peristyles. The houses of wealthy urban dwellers consisted of two connected buildings, one intended for the family and the other for guests and visitors. Each had its service rooms arranged around a courtyard with a portico, connected by a long corridor (Choisy O. History of Architecture, p. 380). It should also be noted that Greek houses were divided into women's quarters (gynaeceum) and men's quarters (andron). Having considered Etruscan and Greek houses, we now turn to the Roman type and see what elements from the above were present in the Roman house and what were not. It should be noted that the Romans, having conquered the Greeks, were greatly impressed by Greek houses with peristyles and, accordingly, boldly borrowed this architectural element. Therefore, to the existing Italic type of house with an atrium, a peristyle was added. These two architectural elements were connected by the tablinum, which retained its status as the ceremonial part of the house. The atrium did not undergo significant changes; living rooms were still arranged around it, and it should be noted here that the division of the house into male and female halves did not find acceptance.
Plan of a Roman Villa
When discussing the interior decor of houses, it should be noted that many examples of decorative painting from the period in question have survived. It is most appropriate to refer to the houses in Pompeii, where many such examples have been preserved. Despite the fact that due to the high temperatures during and after the eruption of Vesuvius, many colors changed (e.g., yellow turned red from heating), modern scientists have managed to reconstruct the original appearance thanks to their knowledge of chemistry. The entire classification of Roman decorative painting is divided into four styles. The first style is called the "incrustation style" and dates back to the 3rd-2nd centuries BCE, characterized as direct imitation of marble in plastic stucco facing (Hartmann K.O. History of Architecture, Vol. 1, p. 88). The second style, similar to the first, also imitates marble using painting. This style is known as the "architectural style" or "perspective style." The socles, columns, or pilasters and entablatures or friezes were depicted in perspective, as if they protrude forward from the surface of the wall. Gradually, the walls of the second style began to depict broader vistas, opening views of nature, buildings, squares, and city streets (Brunov N.I. Sketches on the History of Architecture, pp. 228-229).
The third style is called "ornamental or Egyptianizing," dated to the late 1st century BCE - early 1st century CE. Walls painted in this style were decorated with ornaments, many elements of which originated from Egypt, whose cultural influence was evident in Rome during this period. The fourth painting style has several names - "illusionistic," "fantastic," "perspective-ornamental" - and does not pertain to our period of interest, as its development belongs to the 60s CE.
Now let's turn to the examples of residential houses in Pompeii. Examples of the first "incrustation style" can be seen in the House of the Faun and the House of Sallust. The House of the Faun, built in the 2nd century BCE, is one of the largest and most richly decorated houses in Pompeii. According to its plan, it consisted of two atriums, the first of which was Etruscan, and the second - tetrastyle, two shrines, and two peristyles. At the entrance to the house was a mosaic with a welcoming inscription. It should be noted that in many Pompeian houses, a mosaic depicting a leashed dog and the inscription "Cave canem" (Beware of the dog) was laid out at the entrance. In the House of the Faun, the famous mosaic depicting Alexander the Great and Darius II with soldiers at the Battle of Issus was also found. This mosaic is a copy of a painting by an unknown Greek artist. The mosaic is now in good condition; the parts depicting the faces of the main characters (Alexander and Darius) were not damaged. This artifact, like many others removed from Pompeii, Stabiae, and Herculaneum, is now housed in the Archaeological Museum of Naples. As mentioned, the house consisted of two atriums and two peristyles, and it got its name because the Etruscan atrium's impluvium was adorned with a bronze figure of a faun, which has survived to this day and is actually Greek in origin. Around this atrium were several rooms, two of which were winter dining rooms decorated with mosaics, one depicting marine fauna and the other Dionysus sitting on a panther. It should be added that mosaic floors were common in all houses of the Roman nobility; those who could afford it decorated the floor with colored mosaics, while the less affluent used black-and-white mosaics. Another house with first-style paintings is the House of Sallust, built in the 3rd - early 2nd century BCE. This house was not as large as the previous one; it had no peristyles, only one atrium. However, the owner set up two shops for his own trade and additional rooms for a bakery and several shops not connected to the house, which were rented out. Sergenko M.E. Pompeii, p. 186). In many houses of Pompeii, the paintings of the second style, also known as the "architectural" or "perspective" style, have been preserved. Houses that feature this style include the House of the Silver Wedding, the House of the Labyrinth, the House of Julius Polybius, as well as villas in the nearby towns of Boscoreale and Oplontis. Now let's take a closer look at the layout of one of these houses. The entrance to the House of the Silver Wedding began with a vestibule, the floor of which sloped upwards towards the atrium, decorated in the second style. The impluvium was surrounded by four Corinthian columns. The next room according to the plan was the tablinum, decorated with paintings in the fourth style ("illusionary"/"fantastic",/"perspective-ornamental" style). The next room that the tablinum led to was a square-shaped peristyle. The peristyle was of the so-called Rhodian type, as one of the portico wings exceeded the others in height: the columns with a smooth lower part of the shaft and a hexagonal upper part had later plaster covering (A. de Franciscis, Pompeii, p. 30). It should be added that this house had a bath complex and an upper floor located above the rooms around the atrium. Samples of the third "ornamental or Egyptianizing" style can be seen in the House of Marcus Lucretius Fronto, the House of the Theatrical Paintings, and in the rooms of the Imperial Villa.
The House of Marcus Lucretius Fronto was named after its owner. The house consisted of an atrium, the marble impluvium of which was decorated with black and white mosaic with a double braid pattern. The next room according to the plan was the tablinum. It was decorated with many wall paintings: in the center of the wall was an image of the myth of Venus and Mars, with images of candelabra and seascapes on the sides. This house did not have a peristyle, but it did have a tablinum, the walls of which were also painted in the third style. They depicted scenes of "The Love of Mars and Venus" and "The Triumph of Bacchus". The house had a second floor and many rooms painted in the fourth style.
We have examined the houses in Pompeii chronologically by the development of decorative painting. Now let's turn to similar buildings in the capital. Houses of this type in Rome have hardly been preserved to us, for the same reasons as many other architectural structures, they perished as a result of countless fires and reconstructions. For example, aristocratic villas were located on the Palatine, places of which from the 1st century AD began to be occupied by the dwellings of the emperors (Pilyavsky V.I., Rome, p. 22). These include the so-called House of Livia, the ruins of which have been preserved on the Palatine Hill. Now it is necessary to summarize: as we can see, the Greek influence on the construction of the Roman residential house was indeed quite significant, especially noticeable by the presence of an inner courtyard-peristyle in many houses in Pompeii. But on the other hand, the presence of the atrium proves that the Italic tradition was also taken into account in the planning of residential houses.
Related topics
Architecture in Ancient Rome, Roman temples, Circus Maximus in Rome, Roman Forum, Insula
Literature
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5. Pilyavsky V. I. Rome: Stroyizdat Publ., 1972
6. Sergeenko M. E. Pompeii. Moscow-Leningrad, Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1949
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