By starting analysing the roman city of Volubilis, the ancient capital of Roman-Berber kingdom of Mauretania, we can find a lot of similarities with the primar roman, but also with helenistic way of thinking. It was built around 3rd century BC and grew rapidly under the Berber and Roman rule from the 1st century AD onward. It expanded on about 42 hectares on a raster system with a lot of major public buildings like a basilica, temple and tirumphal architecture.
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Volubilis |
II. DOMUS OF VOLUBILIS
When we look deeper into the functionality of the houses in Volubilis we recognize the Roman Helenistic spirit. The city has taken conditions in account with roads as a nervous system of the city. Volubilis follows 2 topographic forms, the first ist monumental with Hypodamian grid system, the second one is terraced. We can say for sure that the houses were designed for the wealthy people with a taste for decoration known as a PERISTYLE HOUSE or DOMUS.
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The heritage of the Column house
Volubilis now
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Map of Volubilis  Mapping of the Column house |
III. HOUSE OF COLUMNS- Masion aux colonnes
We enter the house through VESTIBULUM(1)- it is the open place before the door of the house, through which we approcah and access to the house. In Vestibulum there was a exchange between the patron and client every morning (Sportuale) and it was visible from the street. It showed status and power, therefore it was decorated in a precise way. Porticus columns created a monumental impression with their Corinthian capitals and acanthus leaves. Also seen as a waiting room and described as “ place full of persons- empty of friends”. We can for sure say that the part of the Column house was in the terraced topographic form- when you enter you enter the level under the street.
Vestibulum hall
Vestibulum entrance situation
Vestibulum- Corinthian capital
Vestibulum- Stylobate entrance
Client came here to enter the ATRIUM. Atrium was in the roman houses the living space but after the 1 century AD it merged to an OPEN CENTER OF THE HOUSE. The most common thing in the Mediterranen climate were air and light and that makes the ATRIUM and PERISTYLE(2) the most important places in the house of Columns.
Atrium and Peristyle- View to Tablinum and Assebly rooms
Atrium and Peristyle- View to Vestibulum and Triclinum
They were central heart of the building and largest around arranged rooms- Atrium as a courtyard and Peristyle as a columns surrounding the courtyard. In many of the houses columns are build in the Corinthian style, made of the limestone and were possibly decorated with yellow sandstone and stucco technique. Peristyle is actually a modification after the 2 century AC in the Roman architecture- it is a secondary open space after the atrium. Also the Hellenistic peristyle shows the same evidence. Some reviews show that in African- Romano houses Atrium was roofed space with central opening- like Impluvatium with the roof designed to assemble water in the middle. In the Column house we have circle Atrium and surrounding Peristyle with 14 columns with corinthian capitals. It is the place where people had attention and looked around so it must have had elegant decorations with the luxuriant vegetation and figures scenes on the specific viewpoint.
Peristyle path
Corinthian column in Atrium
There is also a thought that on the further side of the Atrium was some kind of a interiror garden or VIRIDARIUM/ HORTUS(3). It might have been a garden for a vegetable produce with lover level, covered with packed earth.
Hortus and view to the private area- Cubiculum
The next important, very richly decorated and largest room is TRICLINIUM(4). It has to be big enough to accommodate a lot of furniture for the CENATIO or cena, the important meal eaten in Roman empire. We do not have exact information about the floor mosaics in the Column house, but mosaics were connected to the main interest or activities of the house owner. The most common mosaics are about fishing, sea creatures, gods-like Dionysus, circus, masks, amphitheatre or hunting. When combined with hunting and animals they usually have their own names- the owners animals.They were using technique of OPUS SECTILE- where materials were cut and inlaid into walls and floors to make a picture or pattern. In a house of Ephebe is a decoration of the goddess Nereid which is sea nymph and is often accompanied by Poseidon. This shows connection to the Greek methodology and therefore also synonyms with the greek culture which for sure influenced the African- Roman city of Volubilis.Triclinium was a room with the most optical power. There are also informations about the second triclinium but we can not say for sure if in the Column house had the second dining room. If yes, then we logically say that this were the smaller rooms on the right side of the Triclinium.
View from the Triclinium to Peristyle
Triclinium
Besides the Peristyle, on the left and right side, we find the ASSEMBLY ROOMS(5), which were meant for a accommodation of the various recreational and social activities for the dominus guests. It could be very multifunctional, depends on the wishes of the owner. They can be recognized after size- they are smaller than Triclinium, but larger than other rooms. For sure these rooms were decorated very fine, but sadly again no informations about the decoration of Column house.The assembly rooms on the left side are a bit larger than the ones on the right side- maybe it has something to do with private or public function.
Assembly rooms
View to the Peristyle
 Floor mosaic
Further, on the opposite side of the Triclinium and on the other side of the Atrium we can logically say (if it follows the Roman domino house), there was a TABLINUM(6) or boss office with some TABERNAE or shops. It also consists of the other smaller Atrium.By the entrance we find FAUCES(7) or shops, in symmetry four on the left side of the the entrance and four on the right side. These areas had for sure very public character.
Tablinum
Smaller Atrium in Tablinum
Smaller Atrium from the other side
View from the Tablinum through the garden to the private area of Cubiculum
OUR CONCLUSION: 1- Vestibulum/ 2- Atrium and Peristyle/ 3- Hortus/ 4- Triclinium/ 5- Assembly rooms/ 6- Tablinum/ 7- Fauces/ 8- Private rooms-Cubiculum
Volubilis was the city influenced by the roman and hellenistic architecture which can make for us a little more easier to better understand the areas and functions of the domus romanus in African-roman city. We can clearly see the private and public parts of the house, it is sort of a symmetrical- left side is private side and the right side is meant to be seen- to show the people from outside the wealthy spirit of the house and its mosaics. Sadly a little is known about the decorations in the Column house, it would make it even easier to determinate about which areas are we talking about. Mosaics and iconography were very important use of space and showed the thoughts, beliefs and the main themes and status of the owner of the house. They were very optical in the rooms where they received the guests. Our conclusion can be seen in the map above- it is very rough, but we believe it follows the direction of the functions.
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