DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61617#0309
POMPEII
252
into the more secluded rooms about the peristyle. The tab-
linum, lying between the front and the rear of the house, was
used as a reception room for guests who were not admitted into
the privacy of the home ; and here undoubtedly the master of
the house received his clients.
In the house of the Vettii the tablinum is omitted on account
of the abundance of room; but at the rear of the atrium there
are wide openings into the peristyle (Fig. 151).
IV. The Alae
The alae, the ‘ wings ' of the atrium, were two deep recesses
in the sides (Fig. no). They were ordinarily at the rear, but
were sometimes placed at the middle, as in the house of Epidius
Rufus (Fig. 143). Vitruvius says that where the atrium is from
30 to 40 feet long, one third of the length should be taken for
the breadth of the alae ; in the case of larger atriums the breadth
of these rooms should be proportionally less, being fixed at one
fifth of the length for atriums from 80 to 100 feet long; the
height at the entrance should be equal to the breadth.
At Pompeii the alae, as the tablinum, are narrower and higher
than required by these proportions. In the Tufa Period the
entrances were ornamented with pilasters, and treated like the
broad entrance of the tablinum.
With reference to the purpose and uses of these rooms we
have no information beyond a remark of Vitruvius in regard to
placing the images of ancestors in them. This throws no light
upon their origin ; for only a few noble families could have pos-
sessed a sufficiently large number of ancestral busts or masks to
make it necessary to provide a special place for these, while the
alae form an essential and characteristic part of the Pompeian
house. Now and then an ala was used as a dining room ; more
frequently, perhaps, one was utilized for a wardrobe, as may
be seen from the traces of the woodwork. A careful study of
the remains only deepens the impression that at Pompeii the
alae served no definite purpose, but were a survival from a pre-
vious period, in which they responded to different conditions of
life.
252
into the more secluded rooms about the peristyle. The tab-
linum, lying between the front and the rear of the house, was
used as a reception room for guests who were not admitted into
the privacy of the home ; and here undoubtedly the master of
the house received his clients.
In the house of the Vettii the tablinum is omitted on account
of the abundance of room; but at the rear of the atrium there
are wide openings into the peristyle (Fig. 151).
IV. The Alae
The alae, the ‘ wings ' of the atrium, were two deep recesses
in the sides (Fig. no). They were ordinarily at the rear, but
were sometimes placed at the middle, as in the house of Epidius
Rufus (Fig. 143). Vitruvius says that where the atrium is from
30 to 40 feet long, one third of the length should be taken for
the breadth of the alae ; in the case of larger atriums the breadth
of these rooms should be proportionally less, being fixed at one
fifth of the length for atriums from 80 to 100 feet long; the
height at the entrance should be equal to the breadth.
At Pompeii the alae, as the tablinum, are narrower and higher
than required by these proportions. In the Tufa Period the
entrances were ornamented with pilasters, and treated like the
broad entrance of the tablinum.
With reference to the purpose and uses of these rooms we
have no information beyond a remark of Vitruvius in regard to
placing the images of ancestors in them. This throws no light
upon their origin ; for only a few noble families could have pos-
sessed a sufficiently large number of ancestral busts or masks to
make it necessary to provide a special place for these, while the
alae form an essential and characteristic part of the Pompeian
house. Now and then an ala was used as a dining room ; more
frequently, perhaps, one was utilized for a wardrobe, as may
be seen from the traces of the woodwork. A careful study of
the remains only deepens the impression that at Pompeii the
alae served no definite purpose, but were a survival from a pre-
vious period, in which they responded to different conditions of
life.