A view from the Cubiculum nocternum of the Peristylium:
Roman houses often fronted the street with shops and workshops, for which the house owner collected rent (if they themselves did not own the shop outright). Below is a Fabrica, or workshop:
In the next door over (Item 16 above) is the Capona, or pub. Cooked food could be purchased here:
Cave canem (Beware the dog):
Altar to the Lares, or household gods:
Both aesthetic and practical. Can't help but admire that.
ReplyDeleteVery much so, Leigh. Other than the lack of some modern conveniences, it seems quite livable.
DeleteI always admire those sorts of open rooms and courtyards to the outside and would like one on my house... if it weren't for the bugs, all but a couple weeks in the early spring and late fall. It makes me wonder if places like that just didn't have bugs, weren't bothered by them or had some way to make them tolerable. Another alternative is that our culture has just become too soft with our indoor air conditioning systems.
ReplyDeleteEd, I am fairly certain that insects were a big thing in the ancient world too. I have never read of any particular technique to keep them away. One would like to imagine that something was done, although perhaps it was just the way things were.
DeleteYou are not the first to note that climate control, while civilizational changing, has also made us less resilient to weather in general.