The Ancient Roman Atrium Ancient Rome’s well-to-do owned sprawling homes (known as a domus

The Ancient Roman Atrium

Ancient Rome’s well-to-do owned sprawling homes (known as a domus). One of the most common and significant parts of the domus was the atrium, a room or open courtyard in the center of the home. The atrium was the most public space in the domus, and often the largest. It was the centerpiece of the home, a place for family to gather as well as the first room guests would enter, and the room in which clients would wait for their patron to invite them into his office. 

The furnishings, painted and sculpted portraits of the patriarch/patron and his family, floor mosaics and richly colored wall frescoes worked to showcase the family’s wealth - and to really drive the point home, elaborate jewelry and other glittering objects of wealth would often be prominently displayed on a small marble table.

Some atriums had a small altar in the corner, dedicated to the particular gods of the family. More practically, the center of the atrium had an impluvium, a small basin sunk into the middle of the room below a hole in the ceiling, which would collect rainwater for household use. Drains would take in excess rainwater during rain seasons and store it for dryer summer months [x].