Pompeii, Its Life and Art

by August Mau

In the case of the tetrastyle and Corinthian atriums at Pompeii the height is indicated by that of the columns, but there are rarely adequate data for determining the height of the others with exactness. In regard to length and breadth the proportions harmonize fairly well with those recommended by Vitruvius; but the height, in the cases in which it can be ascertained, is often greater than that contemplated by the rules of the architect.

Looking at the Pompeian atriums in their present condition ([Plate VII], [Figs. 121], [153]) one might easily receive the impression that they were primarily courts rather than rooms. In this respect the restorations of Roman houses in the older books are often at fault, the atrium being generally represented as too low in comparison with the rooms around it.

Fig. 119.—Corner of a compluvium with waterspouts and antefixes, reconstructed.

The references in the ancient writers uniformly point to this as the principal room of the house. In the earliest times the hearth stood here; a hole in the roof served as a chimney. The accumulation of soot on the ceiling and the walls suggested the characteristic name 'black room'; for atrium comes from ater, 'black.' Here the household gathered at mealtime; here they worked, or rested from their labors. In the atrium Lucretia sat with her maids spinning late at night when her husband entered unexpectedly with his friends.

Such the atrium remained in farmhouses to the latest times. The name meanwhile was transferred to the corresponding apartment of elegant city homes, while in the country it went out of use, being replaced by culina, 'kitchen,' on account of the presence of the hearth. In such a room in his Sabine villa Horace loved to dine, conversing on topics grave or gay with his rustic neighbors, and partaking of the simple fare with relish; while his slaves, freed from the restraints of city life, were permitted to eat at the same time, sitting at a separate table. The remains of an atrium of this kind, with its hearth and niche for the images of the household gods, may be seen in the villa recently excavated near Boscoreale ([p. 361]).

Without doubt some houses of the ancient type might be found in cities, even in Rome, as late as the end of the Republic. We read of one in Cicero's time in the atrium of which spinning was done. But at Pompeii the hearth had been banished from the atrium at a comparatively early date, in the Tufa Period if not before; and the room was made uncomfortable to sit in, for a considerable part of the year, by the broad opening of the compluvium.

From the architectural point of view, however, the atrium never lost its significance as the central apartment. In all its dimensions, but particularly in height, it presents so great a contrast with the rooms around it as to remind us of the relation of a Roman Catholic church to the chapels at the sides. The impression of spaciousness was perhaps deepened when the atrium was provided with a ceiling. Few traces of such ceilings are found at Pompeii, and in the smaller houses the inside of the roof seems generally to have been visible.

The atrium of the Corinthian type most nearly resembled a court, on account of the size of the opening to the sky and the use of many columns. A suggestion of the un-Italic character of this type appears in the name; for one can scarcely suppose that atriums in the strict sense existed at Corinth.