Abstract
The domus is the ancient Roman single-family urban house type, best known from the excavations at Pompeii and Herculaneum. Analysis of a number of houses at these sites suggests that two simple geometric systems, both based on the square, underlie the design of the Roman house at all scales. One of these is the ad quadratum, or square root of 2 progression. A related system is known as the “sacred cut.” These geometric systems explain the proportional relationships that are found in the overall shape of the house site and its organization and subdivision. The geometry and dimensions based on the “regulating square” of the house as a whole appears to determine the proportions of volumes of space throughout the house. These systems apply to the composition of the wall painting and pavement patterns within the rooms as well.
First published as: Carol Martin Watts, “The Square and the Roman House: Architecture and Decoration at Pompeii and Herculaneum”, pp. 167–181 in Nexus I: Architecture and Mathematics, ed. Kim Williams, Fucecchio (Florence): Edizioni dell’Erba, 1996.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Case study houses included the houses of the Labyrinth, L. Ceius Secundus, Tragic Poet, M. Lucretius Pronto, Vettii, Faun and Sallustius at Pompeii, and the houses of the Carbonized Furniture, Samnite, Tuscan Colonnade, Wooden Partition, and Bicentenary at Herculaneum. For the larger study of which the geometric analysis forms a part, see Watts (1987).
- 2.
- 3.
The Oscan foot, used in the earliest houses at Pompeii and Herculaneum, is 0.275 m = 1 ft. The Roman foot in use at these sites is 0.297 m = 1 ft. See Mau (1982, p. 280).
- 4.
Lawlor gives a geometric demonstration of this principle in (1982, pp. 38–43).
References
Brunès, Tons. 1967. The Secrets of Ancient Geometry and its Use. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Rhodos.
Lawlor, Robert. 1982. Sacred Geometry, Philosophy and Practice. New York: Crossroads.
Mau, August. 1902. Pompeii, its Life and Art. Francis W. Kelsey trans. (reprinted 1982) New Rochelle, New York: Caratzas Bros.
Vitruvius. 1960. The Ten Books on Architecture. Morris Hicky Morgan trans. New York: Dover Publications.
Watts, Donald J. and Carol Martin Watts. 1986. A Roman Apartment Complex. Scientific American 255, 6 (December 1986): 132–139.
Watts, Carol Martin. 1987. A Pattern Language for Houses at Pompeii, Herculaneum and Ostia. Ph.D. Diss. The University of Texas at Austin.
Watts, Carol Martin and Donald J. Watts. 1987. Geometrical Ordering of the Garden Houses at Ostia. Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 46, 3 (September 1987): 265–276.
Weiskittel, S. Ford. 1979. Vitruvius and Domestic Architecture at Pompeii. In Pompeii and the Vesuvian Landscape. Washington: American Institute of Archaeology and Smithsonian Institution.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Watts, C.M. (2015). The Square and the Roman House: Architecture and Decoration at Pompeii and Herculaneum. In: Williams, K., Ostwald, M. (eds) Architecture and Mathematics from Antiquity to the Future. Birkhäuser, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-00137-1_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-00137-1_14
Published:
Publisher Name: Birkhäuser, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-00136-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-00137-1
eBook Packages: Mathematics and StatisticsMathematics and Statistics (R0)