More than a third of the plot enclosed by the peristyle is taken up by a deep rectangular basin for fish. At the rear are apparently other rooms, adjusted to the slope of the ground, which, however, have not yet been excavated.

It will, perhaps, be easier to appreciate the stately character of the pre-Roman atriums if we give a few of the dimensions which were used in making our restoration ([Fig. 145]).

The atrium is 41 by 29 feet. The tablinum measures 13 feet 9 inches between the three-quarter columns which stand, in place of the usual pilasters, at the entrance; it is thus half as wide as the atrium. The height of the tablinum at the entrance is 18 feet 6 inches; according to the proportions given by Vitruvius it should be 15 feet 4 inches.

The alae and fauces also exceed the dimensions presented by the Roman architect, the former being 12⅔ feet wide and 16¼ feet high, while the height of the broad fauces, 17½ feet, is only a trifle less than that of the tablinum.

The height of the walls of the atrium is easily determined with the help of the data before us; and the arrangement of the roof over the fauces, atrium, tablinum, and colonnade of the peristyle must have been very similar to that shown in our restoration. The entablature seen over the entrance of the left ala is restored in accordance with the architectural forms commonly used in the period when the house was built.

Both the three-quarter columns and the pilasters present a peculiarity of construction found also in other houses, but not easy to explain. The former appear as half-columns on the side of the tablinum, but present fully three fourths of their breadth on the side of the atrium. The pilasters at the entrances of the alae and fauces have, on the inside, a good proportion, the breadth being about one eighth of the height; but on the outside, toward the atrium, they are much more slender.

Fig. 145.—Longitudinal section of the house near the Porta Marina.
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