A room for semi-public use, on the other hand, had to have the
quadrangular peristyle
, the large portico, embellished with columns, on whose perimeter the rooms of the main nucleus of the villa overlook.
From this area of connection and passage begins the descending or private path in the west that contrasts with the opposite and ascending path in the east, which leads to the public spaces, although the distinction is not so strict. It is useful to remember, from recent studies, how the term “private” differs from the most common meaning associated with the Latin world.
In the case of this late antiquity domus with its extensive volumes,
it is possible to identify reserved places, such as the
ovoid peristyle
and the
triapsidal triclinium
,
used to host important guests, and not necessarily limited to an official setting.Moreover, in both public and private paths, the presence of geometrically decorated 
floor mosaics in the central nucleus distinguishes the service spaces arranged around sections that can be identified as apartments reserved for the dominus and his family.
Finally, there are rooms with a dual use, such as the thermal baths, 
open to the public thanks to an external entrance, 
but which can also be accessed through the residential area of the villa that runs along the descending path.
