The earliest Romans living on the Palatine hill were essentially farmers and shepherds, wearing animal skins as clothing and building their abodes of whatever construction materialswere readily available. Archeological digs on the hills of Rome have brought to light a number of clues as to what these huts were like and when they were built.
Roman mythology and tradition places the founding of Rome around the 8th century BC but in fact archeological finds suggest early settlements as early as the 10th century BC.
These early huts were generally rectangular or lozenge shaped. They were made by planting large trunks into the ground, say three per side. The walls would be made by filling the space between them with smaller sized wood and straw/mud. …show more content…
Superficially, the evolution of Roman houses is relatively simple to understand and has made even easier thanks to the finds around Pompeii and Herculaneum. Pompeii in particular allows us to see a snapshot of the evolution of Roman houses from the 3rd century BC through to the 1st century AD when the volcano erupted, although other sites also give us some good insights, such as Ostia and other locations across north Africa, middle east etc.
Relatively "modest" Roman houses such as that of Trebius Valens (Reg III, Ins.2, #1) give an impression of the richness which Pompeian architecture reached and its context within city life: at one time it's facade was particularly interesting due to the numerous large electoral inscriptions on it with personal political recommendations of the house's owner and advertisements for the public games at the amphitheatre complete with the name of the "editer munerum" and gladiator pairs, champions and the fact that it would be covered by sails to protect the public from the sun. Inside the house was particularly noteworthy for second style paintings in one of the bedrooms, a room with black painted surfaces, a private bathroom behind the kitchen, a triclinium under a pergola with a chequered decoration, and a play of water pools with 12 fountains laid out radially in the …show more content…
The rainwater was collected into a cistern for household use: there was no piped water yet. The roof could either be flat or inclined inwards to act like a funnel. Various rooms were laid out around the edges of this area. The two rooms either side of the entrance formed a short corridor which ran from door into the central atrium space. The most important room was at the opposite end of the atrium, opposite the front door: The "tablinum" was a sort of master bedroom where the family records were kept. The family dining table ("cartibulum") and fire were in the common space of the atrium between the tablinum and