The spaces of private life

The domus, guardians of private life

Like today, even in the times of the ancient Romans houses were where people spent their private life. For this reason, the houses reflected not only the personality, but above all the wealth of their owners, a typical aspect of the culture of ancient Rome.
The houses generally had two entrances: the first, the ostium, overlooked the main street and through a corridor led to the atrium, the inner courtyard with the actual entrance that had an impluvium in the centre to collect water.
From here you could access the typical rooms of a Roman dwelling, which had access directly from the courtyard and from here took in light through the compluvium, an opening on the roof that also allowed water to be collected in the impluvium below.
The beating heart of the domus was the tablinum, a place used for receiving guests, designed to amaze visitors as soon as they entered: it was tradition to furnish it with images of ancestors and sumptuous objects .
The atrium also gave access to the triclinium, the most famous space of the Roman domus in the collective imagination, where the family would drink and eat lying on the characteristic beds, the triclini; and to the cubicula, the bedrooms. A fundamental element was the lararium, the place dedicated to the worship and prayer of the Lares .
The remains of internal staircases have also been found in some domus, showing how the buildings developed vertically over several floors.

The ancient port of Agrigentum

Vegetation in the Gardens

The Oratory of Phalaris

The provincial layout of Sicily

The Kolymbetra Garden

The centre of politics in Agrigentum

A Sanctuary for the Latin gods

The Hellenistic-Roman quarter

Hellenistic heritage on the streets of Agrigentum

The Punic Wars and the final conquest of Akragas

The tomb of Theron

The domus, guardians of private life

The theatre of origins

The driver of Agrigentum’s well-being

The Roman necropolis

The Living Almond Museum

The sarcophagus of the Child

The Romans settle in Agrigentum

An exceptional discovery: the thermal baths of Agrigentum

Breathing in world heritage together

The gods of Agrigento

The life of young people in Roman times

The forum in the city of the Akragantines

Roman affairs

Moments of leisure: the theatre

The wellness centres of the Romans

The cult of the Emperor

Politics comparison: Akragas and Agrigentum

Cicero’s account: Agrigentum in In Verrem

Works for the muses: the mosaics of the Hellenistic-Roman quarter

From Akragas to Agrigentum

Mens sana in corpore sano: the gymnasium of Agrigento