5] these were
muniment-rooms, where all the family archives were kept, and their
position is midway between the semi-public part of the house, which
lay towards the front, and the strictly domestic and private part,
which lay in the rear. At the sides of the atrium in the larger houses
were placed small rooms, which served as sleeping chambers.

[Illustration: FIG. 142.--THE ATRIUM OF A POMPEIAN HOUSE.]

From the end of the atrium a passage, or sometimes two passages,
called the _fauces_, running by the side of the tablinum, led to the
_peristylium_,[26] which was the grand private reception-room; this
also was a court open to the sky in the centre, and among the wealthy
Romans its roof was supported by columns of the rarest marbles. Round
the peristyle were grouped the various private rooms, which varied
according to the size of the house and the taste of the owner. There
was always one dining-room (_triclinium_), and frequently two or more,
which were arranged with different aspects, for use in different
seasons of the year. If several dining-rooms existed, they were of
various sizes and decorated with various degrees of magnificence; and
a story is told of one of the most luxurious Romans of Cicero's time,
that he had simply to tell his slaves which room he would dine in for
them to know what kind of banquet he wished to be prepared. In the
largest houses there were saloons (_aeci_), parlours (_exedrae_),
picture galleries (_pinacothecae_), chapels (_lararia_), and various
other apartments. The kitchen, with scullery and bakehouse attached,
was generally placed in one angle of the peristyle, round which
various sleeping-chambers, according to the size of the house, were
arranged. Most of the rooms appear to have been on the ground-floor,
and probably depended for their light upon the doorway only; though
in some instances at Pompeii small windows exist high up in the walls.

[Illustration: FIG. 143.--WALL DECORATION FROM POMPEII.]

In the extreme rear of the larger houses there was generally a garden;
and in those which were without this, the dead walls in the rear were
frequently painted so as to imitate a garden. The houses of the
wealthy Romans were decorated with the utmost magnificence: marble
columns, mosaic pavements, and charming pieces of sculpture adorned
their apartments, and the walls were in all cases richly painted (Fig.
143), being divided into panels, in the centre of which were
represented so