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If a house could speak, it would have a very clear story -Aeschylus, Agamemnon 37-38
Spur of Hippodamian city planning in mid-5th century BCE Domestic architecture in Greece and Greek settlements began conforming to new standards based off organization, practicality and social acceptance. The Hellenistic period marks a change in Greek life. Early Greek city-states had been run by citizen elites, but with the rise of Alexander and through out his campaign in the 4th century BCE, Greek city-states became operated by kings.
As Greek and middle-eastern culture merged in the Hellenistic world, there was an increase in palatial construction. This trend was echoed in Greek domestic architecture as well, resulting in the establishment of the Greek prostas, pastas and peristyle type houses.
Side note: The Roman dining room, called the triclinium, came from the Greek word for couch, klin, which were the couches used for eating in a reclining position, a ritual the Romans had inherited from both the Greeks and the Etruscans.
The typical Olynthian house can be encapsulated as, An individual structure occupied around 290 square meters in ground area and consisted of around ten rooms on the ground floor, space which was often supplemented by further apartments in an upper storey. The house as a whole is inwardlooking and centered around an open court at the centre or south of the building. There is a strict separation from the street. Each house was normally entered via a single street door (Nevett 46).
Window, seen in the upper left Apulian Calyx Krater (Cahill 77)
http://depthome.brooklyn.cuny.edu/classics/dunkle/athnlife/d omestic.htm
Some houses had a second story, which is believed to have been the women's quarters, the gynaikonitis.
(ARTstor.org)
Left: The basic Prostras house in Priene during the 3rd century BCE (ARTstor.org)
(ARTstor.org)
Greek communal planning of grid streets and aligned rectangular block housing in Priene in the mid-4th century BCE.
(ARTstor.org)
(ARTstor.org)
(PerseusDigitalLibrary.tufts.edu)
(ARTstor.org)
Views of the remainder of the peristyle court in the House of the Trident, Delos. Above: shows the main entryway into the house. To the Left: shows the view from what would be within.
(PerseusDigitalLibrary.tufts.edu)
Pastas Peristyle
Prostas
Early example of Roman Atrium-Tablinum Design The House of the Surgeon, Pompeii 3rd century BCE
Remains of a tetrastyle atrium at the House of the Faun, Pompeii 2nd century BCE (ARTstor.org)
Faun statue in courtyard, for which the house has been named (ARTstor.org)
Closing Notes
Roman Atrium housing developed through the process of selecting Greek design ideas that were fitting for their own cultural, social, and practical needs at a specific time.
Both Greek and Roman house designs are not resolutely defined and unyielding. Traditional standards did exist, but there was much variation. In both the Greek and Roman examples, the house plans discussed belonged to middle and upper class citizens.
It is important to bear in mind that only a few houses are preserved out of the many thousand that once existed. A unique design could thus be the surviving representative of a widespread trend, or alternatively the product of an eccentric owner" (Ellis 6).
(ARTstor.org)
Bibliography
Philippe Bruneau and Jean Marcad. "Delos." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. 11 Jan. 2011<http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T022044>. Thomas Braun, et al. "Greece, ancient." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. 11 Jan.2011 <http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T034254pg2>. Cahill, Nicholas. Household and City Organization at Olynthus.New Haven, CT: Yale UP,2001. Print. Ellis, Simon P. Roman Housing. London: Duckworth, 2000.Print. Gardner, Ernest. "The Greek House." The Journal of Hellenic Studies 21(1901): 293395. JSTOR.Web. 10 Jan. 2011.<http://www.jstor.org/stable/623877>. Graham, J. Walter. "Origins and Interrelations of the Greek House and the Roman House. Phoenix 20.1 (1966): 3-31. JSTOR. Web. 11Jan. 2011. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/1086313 .>. Wolfram Hoepfner and Joseph Coleman Carter."Priene." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. <http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T069568>. Kulzu, Neslihan, and Melda Amaz. "Transformation of House Typology in the Ancient Priene City." Google Documents. Faculty of Architecture, Middle East Technical University, Turkey. Web. <http://docs.google.com/>. Nevett, Lisa C. Domestic Space in Classical Antiquity. New York:Cambridge UP, 2010. Print. Rider, Bertha C. The Greek House. London: Cambridge UP, 1916. Print. Tomlinson, Richard. From Mycenae to Constantinople : the Evolution of the Ancient City. London: Routledge, 1992. Print.