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| GENERAL INFORMATION | 
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| INTERNAL LAYOUT | 
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| Myths and Legends in Daily life |
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| Position of beds in a triclinium |  |
INTERIOR LAYOUT
The fronts of the houses were often occupied by workshops, rented out by the homeowner to other people or run directly by himself. Owners who had a vast clientele (people paid in money or in kind and/or who helped him in his business) fitted out spaces at the house entrance where they received their clients every day. These areas, (atrium, hall or offices) were richly decorated to show the rank of the owner of the house. Sometimes opening onto a garden, they openly suggested the luxury of the rest of the house which was only open to friends, guests and important distinguished visitors.The big reception rooms, vast dining rooms or triclinium were laid out around the open areas, and, during the summer months, they were opened wide to the pleasures of the garden and its fountains. The dining rooms can be recognised from their central position in relation to the garden, their large size, and, if they have been preserved, the nature of their mosaic floors. The principal motifs are placed so as to be readable from the guests' couches. Sometimes the floor is in the form of a T, with the couches arranged around it in a U shape so that the eye would be drawn to more richly decorated T. The decorative motifs always referred to the room's function. The tables holding the food were set out in the centre.
The houses of the rich could possess several dining rooms, the biggest ones being used for guests, the smaller ones for private use. Similarly, there seem to have been summer dining rooms, opening wide to the outside and facing north, and winter dining rooms which were more insulated and heated with braziers. Some gardens were equipped with a summer triclinium allowing people to dine outside during the summer.
There were also smaller drawing rooms where people could relax and talk. These rooms, furnished with tables and chairs, were always richly decorated and sometimes had under-floor heating.
On the ground floor there were service rooms such as the kitchens. They were often rudimentary and had a fireplace for cooking. For technical reasons they were often next to the latrines and the baths: the heating installations, water entry and evacuation points were thus grouped together in the same place. There were also bedrooms in the house, often upstairs or at least isolated from the reception rooms. These were often smaller, and can be recognised from the floor which is made up of two parts. The bed was placed on the least decorated part, leaving the more decorated part free. The bedrooms must have been furnished with seats, tables, and even cupboards or chests. The employees also slept upstairs. In the big houses there must have been a great many of them (cooks, table servants, gardeners, secretaries, tutors...).
