First Ancient Roman House

We saw 2 houses on the tour and this was the first one! The homes we saw were of the richer class which in Pompei a lot of times were actually ex slaves. They had an earthquake 17 years prior that ran many of the elite out so slaves who had been given freedom in some cases took over these houses. This house we saw was 3,000 sq feet (largest in Pompei was around 9,000 it sounded like). We learned here that a lot of times they slept in the main area incase someone came inside to attack them they would be ready. The main area also had a fountain.

We also learned here that the depections of Roman’s laying down to eat was not just for the wealthy they believed it was good for digestion so they had couches out in a public area instead of a dining table. Homes were max of 2 stories.Read more