Areas of the House

Model of the House of the Ocean Gods

The House of the Ocean Gods (3000 m²) presents characteristics common to the large urban homes of Gaul: besides its size (it is contained within a rectangle 100 meters long), it is filled with peristyles, interior gardens surrounded by colonnades. These features occupy more than 2/3 of the ground surface. This “piece of nature” integrated into the domestic space is one of the most original traits of an architecture found throughout the Mediterranean. Numerous basins, fountains, and water jets animated the gardens and some inside portions. The size of the reception halls (100 m²) attests to the wealth of its owner and his taste for ostentation.

The Colonnade (Peristyle) Garden

The peristyle is composed of a pleasure garden, surrounded by colonnades and including at least one basin, or pool. The Roman house was born in the Mediterranean, where water was rare and precious. The water that relieved thirst, irrigated, and washed was the symbol of life, fertility, and purity. The murmur of a source – even an artificial one – or the luxury of aquatic vegetation created an idyllic atmosphere of which Romans were particularly fond. Water was also an essential element of the gardens in which it was constantly present.

The Domestic Sanctuary

In the Roman Empire, conquered populations were not forced to renounce their gods. After conquest, the Gauls adopted certain gods and goddesses from the Greco-Roman pantheon, but kept many of their own gods under their original names. Among them was the god Sucellus, whose cult was very popular throughout Roman Gaul. He is pictured on a relief found in Saint-Romain-en-Gal in a large house. Sucellus is represented in a traditional manner, holding a vase with a dog at his feet and a mallet on his shoulder (Height: 0.69 meters).

The Dining Room (triclinium)

The triclinium (dining room) owes its name to the three beds, forming a U-shaped banquette on which guests stretched out. This room was used for special meals. The beds occupied the back part of the room, while the front was reserved for table service. The composition of the tiling usually represented the following pattern: where there was furniture was a simple geometric decoration, while at the front were figured motifs directed toward the guests. Mosaic known as “Shield Wheels.” Courtesy of the city of Vienne. Vienne, exploratory dig of the St. Martin district, Gère Valley, 1981.

The Bedroom (cubiculum)

As in the dining room, the mosaic floor sometimes indicated the position of the bed, marked by a geometric “rug”, while figured motifs occupied the part free of furniture. Here, sea monsters and dolphins are positioned in semicircles, while the bed covered a rectangle (2.18 x 0.71 m) decorated with repeating black and white circular motifs. This room (total dimensions 4.35 x 2.68 m) belonged to the House of Love and Pan, uncovered in Sainte-Colombe in 1981.

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> Four Centuries of History

> Commerce, a Source of Wealth

> The Thousand and One Vocations of the City

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