In front of the door was a narrow porch ([Fig. 184]). The door opened directly into the peristyle (3 on the plan), in the middle of which was a garden. At the left is a small triangular court (17) containing a swimming tank (ζ) and a hearth (ε) on which a kettle and several pots were found; the Romans partook of warm refreshments after a bath. The wall back of the swimming tank was in part decorated with a garden scene, not unlike those in the frigidariums of the two older public baths. Over the tank was a roof supported by two columns, and on the other two sides of the court there was a low but well proportioned colonnade.

The arrangements of the bath were unusually complete, comprising an apodyterium (19), a tepidarium (20), and a caldarium (21), from which the tepidarium was warmed by means of an opening in the wall; the caldarium had a hollow floor and walls, and was heated from the kitchen (22). In the tepidarium were found four panes of glass about 10½ inches square, together with the remains of the wooden frame in which they were set. The caldarium, like those of the public baths, had a bath basin and a semicircular niche for the labrum.

A small oven stands on one end of the hearth in the kitchen, and a stone table is built against the wall on the long side. The room in the corner (23) was used as a reservoir for water, which was brought into it by means of a feed pipe and thence distributed through smaller pipes leading to the bath rooms and other parts of the house.

At the left of the peristyle is a passage (15) leading to a garden which has not yet been excavated. The only apartment of special interest in this portion of the house is the semicircular sleeping room (14) built out into the garden. It faced the south, and had three large windows; it was separated from the rest of the house by an anteroom, procoeton (13), at one end of which is a small division (β) designed for the bed of an attendant. In the semicircular room are an alcove for a bed (γ) and a stationary wash bowl of masonry (δ). The plan is similar to that of a bedroom in Pliny's villa at Laurentum. Another sleeping room (9) was provided with both a large and a small door ([p. 261]).

Fig. 184.—Longitudinal section of the villa of Diomedes, restored.
[View larger image]

The large room (8) at the rear of the peristyle may be loosely called a tablinum; it could be closed at the rear. Back of the tablinum was originally a colonnade (26), which was later turned into a corridor, with rooms at either end; the original form is assumed in our restoration. Beyond the colonnade was a broad terrace (28) extending to the edge of the garden. It commanded a magnificent view of Stabiae, the coast in the direction of Sorrento, and the Bay. Connected with it was an unroofed promenade over the colonnade (e, f, g, h) surrounding the large garden below. A rectangular room (27, indicated on the plan but not in the restoration) was afterwards built on the terrace.

Members of the family could pass into the lower portion of the villa by means of a stairway, at b; the slaves could use a long corridor (a), which was more directly connected with the domestic apartments. The flat roof of the quadrangular colonnade (e, f, g, h) was carried on the outside by a wall, on the inside by square pillars ([Fig. 184]). The rooms (i, k) opening into the front of the colonnade were vaulted, and the decoration, in the last style, is well preserved; the ceiling of the corner rooms (l, m) is flat, and the decoration of one of them (l) is noteworthy; green and red stars are painted on a white ground. In the narrow space between i and c a cistern was built, from which water could be drawn by means of a faucet in front.