If we leave these groups of rooms out of consideration, it is easy to see that the Tuscan atrium and the apartments connected with it—the tablinum (19), the alae (17), and the rooms at the sides—once formed a symmetrical whole. At the rear was a garden on two sides (24, 24'), with a colonnade. A broad window in the rear of the left ala opened into this colonnade ([p. 259]), a part of which was afterwards enclosed, making two small rooms (23, 18). At the end of the latter room a stairway was built leading to chambers; in the beginning the house had no second floor.

Fig. 134.—Plan of the house of Sallust.
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The andron (20), the wardrobe (17') at the side of the right ala, and the small room back of it (28) were made out of a square room corresponding in dimensions with that at the other end of the tablinum (22). The latter was originally entered from the atrium by a door at e, which was closed when the wide door was made at the rear opening upon the colonnade. At the rear of the tablinum is a broad window.

In the corner of the garden is an open air triclinium (25), over which vines could be trained; there was a small altar (l) near by. At n a jet of water spurted from an opening in the wall upon a small platform of masonry; the water was perhaps conducted into the rectangular basin (k) opposite, the inside of which was painted blue. Only the edges of this portion of the garden, which is higher than the floor of the colonnade, were planted; steps led up to it at f and g. A hearth (p) was placed in the colonnade at the left, for the preparation of the viands served in the triclinium. The room at the other end of the garden (27) was connected with the street at the rear by a posticum; back of it was an open space (26) with remains of masonry (m), the purpose of which is not clear.

The large dining room (13) may once have belonged to the bakery; the anteroom (12) leading to it was made from one of the side rooms of the atrium. The arrangement recalls that of the dining room of which the plan is given in [Fig. 124].

The appearance of the atrium in its original form may be suggested by our restoration ([Fig. 135]). The proportions are monumental. The treatment of the entrances to the tablinum and the alae, with pilasters joined by projecting entablatures, the severe and simple decoration (illustrated in [Fig. 261]), and the admission of light through the compluvium increased the apparent height of the room and gave it an aspect of dignity and reserve. At the rear we catch glimpses of the vines and shrubs at the edge of the garden; painted trees and bushes were also seen upon the garden wall.

The series of apartments entered through the room at the right of the atrium (29) present a marked contrast with the rest of the house. They are low, the eight-sided, dark-red columns of the colonnade (31), with their white capitals, being less than ten feet high; and the dark shades of the decoration, which is in the fourth style upon a black ground, give a gloomy impression to one coming from the atrium with its masses of brilliant color.