Along the second transverse road, excavations have revealed the remains of an important residential quarter, including three private houses: Domus VI, V, and IV. Built in the 3rd century BC, these houses are preserved today in their final layout. Extensions, reductions, and remodelled rooms reveal how each dwelling evolved over time to meet practical and social needs.
All three follow the classic plan of the Roman atrium house. Just beyond the entrance stood the vestibule and atrium, a spacious central hall with an open roof that welcomed sunlight and channelled rainwater into a basin known as the impluvium. Small, typically symmetrical rooms — often bedrooms (cubicula) — opened off the sides of the atrium, while at the back stood larger, more representative spaces: the tablinum for receiving guests, and the triclinium, dedicated to dining and banquets. In Domus VI, archaeologists have identified a kitchen with an adjoining latrine.
A long counter along one wall and a limestone cooking surface on the floor indicate its function. The later evolution of social customs between the 2nd and 1st centuries BC can be seen clearly in Domus IV, where one room was enlarged, remodelled, and decorated to create a more refined triclinium for entertaining guests at dinner. From this banquet hall come two bronze bed feet, part of an exceptionally refined bed, crafted in Greece or perhaps in Rome by Greek artisans. Intriguing assembly marks engraved on the artefacts likely served as instructions for putting the furniture together.
The feet are now displayed in the Archeological Museum of Norma.
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