Protome is a term derived from the Greek, used in archaeology since the 19th century. It means the very common representation in ancient art of the front, including the head and neck, of an animal or man, though the latter is not seen as often. The significance of the depicted subject is thoroughly...

The pool located in the centre of the peristyle, along the longitudinal axis of the courtyard, consists of three parts. The central part, rectangular in shape, is the largest with curved edges. The other two parts are made up of small symmetrical pools placed on the short sides of the main pool and ...

The ambulacrum is a covered construction, built as a portico running lengthwise, intended for walking or as an intermediate waiting area, depending on its function, which was mostly a connecting corridor....

The Latin word refers to a living room typical of Roman houses, with characteristics of quality, location and decoration, which differentiate it from the common rooms. The Diæta is present in domus or villas belonging to high social classes, it could have been a room for resting or dining or even ...

The term xystus comes from the Greek, meaning a covered passage, used in Roman times to indicate a path covered by a pergola, or tree branches, to form a shaded gallery. The most common model is found in the Roman garden, usually located in the peristyle, around it or even to form internal avenues,...

The architecture of the peristyle is characterised by a colonnaded portico composed of thirty-two marble or grey granite columns, placed evenly on an Attican base of white marble. The corner columns, placed on raised bases, are in Breccia di Sciro or Breccia di Settebasi, stone from the Greek island...

The importance of Vitruvius is due to his treatise on architecture: The De Architectura, a work divided into 10 books, dedicated to Augustus, was probably written between 29 and 23 BC. The work was written during the same years in which Augustus was focused on a general renovation of public buildin...

Marcus Vitruvius Pollio; his date of birth, around 80 BC and date of death, after 15 BC, are uncertain. After retiring from public life and obtaining a pension from Augustus, he devoted himself to drafting the treatise De Architectura, at the very point in time in Rome when Augustus was undertaking...

Ars Topiaria, or topiary, is a decorative technique born in ancient Rome, used for the decoration of garden plants; it consists in pruning certain types of trees or shrubs to give them a geometric or animal shape, for ornamental purposes....

The domus is a classic urban construction of the Roman housing repertoire, which also included the insulae, private houses intended for the people, built on several levels, used in ancient Rome. The domus was a private urban house consisting of several rooms, connected by a portico, with a peristyl...