DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5009#0032
14 HANDBOOK OF AEOHJEOLOGY.
walls of the rooms were sometimes lined with thin slabs of marble ;
they were also painted in fresco. Their decorative paintings
generally represented mythological subjects, dancing figures, land-
scapes, and ornamentation in boundless variety. Windows (finestrse)
were seldom used in Soman houses. The atria and peristyles being
always open to the sky, and the adjoining rooms receiving their
light from them, prevented the necessity of windows; windows
were only required when there was an upper story. Soman life, as
at the present day, being so much out of doors, windows wore
seldom wanted.
The house of Lepidus was at first considered the finest in Some;
the thresholds of the doors wore of Numidian marble ; but ho was
soon surpassed by others in splendour and magnificence, especially
by Lucullus. At Athens the houses of Themistocles, of Aristides,
differed but little from those of the poorest citizen. The Somans
had many stories to their houses; to prevent the inconveniences
which would result, Augustus restricted their height to seventy feet,
which Trajan reduced to sixty.
It was in their villas or country houses that the Somans displayed
a boundless luxury; objects of art and the productions of the most
distant nations were collected there in addition to the profusion of
other ornaments. Lucullus erected several magnificent villas near
Naples and Tusculum, which ho decorated with the most costly
paintings and statues, in which ho lived in a style of magnificence
and luxury which appears to have astonished even the most wealthy
of his contemporaries. The emperors Nero and Adrian also built
magnificent villas, which the arts of Greece and the luxury of the
East contributed to adorn. It was in the villas of the emperors,
or of the most wealthy citizens, that the most beautiful productions
of ancient art have been found.
A Soman villa, according to the rule laid down by Yitruvius, and
the younger Hiny's description of his Laurentino villa, had its
atrium next the door or porch at the entrance. Opposite the centre
of the peristyle was a cavsedium, after which came the triclinium, on
every side of which were either folding doors or large windows,
affording a vista through the apartments, and views of the sur-
rounding scenery and distant mountains. Near this were several
apartments, including bedchambers and a library. Attached to the
villa were baths, halls for exercise, gardens (xystus), and every
arrangement which could conduce to the pleasiiro and amusement of
a wealthy Soman. The suburban villa of Diomedos at Pompeii
presents a somewhat different arrangement to that of Pliny's Lau-
rontine villa.
walls of the rooms were sometimes lined with thin slabs of marble ;
they were also painted in fresco. Their decorative paintings
generally represented mythological subjects, dancing figures, land-
scapes, and ornamentation in boundless variety. Windows (finestrse)
were seldom used in Soman houses. The atria and peristyles being
always open to the sky, and the adjoining rooms receiving their
light from them, prevented the necessity of windows; windows
were only required when there was an upper story. Soman life, as
at the present day, being so much out of doors, windows wore
seldom wanted.
The house of Lepidus was at first considered the finest in Some;
the thresholds of the doors wore of Numidian marble ; but ho was
soon surpassed by others in splendour and magnificence, especially
by Lucullus. At Athens the houses of Themistocles, of Aristides,
differed but little from those of the poorest citizen. The Somans
had many stories to their houses; to prevent the inconveniences
which would result, Augustus restricted their height to seventy feet,
which Trajan reduced to sixty.
It was in their villas or country houses that the Somans displayed
a boundless luxury; objects of art and the productions of the most
distant nations were collected there in addition to the profusion of
other ornaments. Lucullus erected several magnificent villas near
Naples and Tusculum, which ho decorated with the most costly
paintings and statues, in which ho lived in a style of magnificence
and luxury which appears to have astonished even the most wealthy
of his contemporaries. The emperors Nero and Adrian also built
magnificent villas, which the arts of Greece and the luxury of the
East contributed to adorn. It was in the villas of the emperors,
or of the most wealthy citizens, that the most beautiful productions
of ancient art have been found.
A Soman villa, according to the rule laid down by Yitruvius, and
the younger Hiny's description of his Laurentino villa, had its
atrium next the door or porch at the entrance. Opposite the centre
of the peristyle was a cavsedium, after which came the triclinium, on
every side of which were either folding doors or large windows,
affording a vista through the apartments, and views of the sur-
rounding scenery and distant mountains. Near this were several
apartments, including bedchambers and a library. Attached to the
villa were baths, halls for exercise, gardens (xystus), and every
arrangement which could conduce to the pleasiiro and amusement of
a wealthy Soman. The suburban villa of Diomedos at Pompeii
presents a somewhat different arrangement to that of Pliny's Lau-
rontine villa.