§208. The House of Pansa.--Finally we may describe a house that actually existed, taking as an illustration one that must have belonged to a wealthy and influential man, the so-called House of Pansa at Pompeii (Fig. 55; and see also Overbeck's _Pompeii_, p. 325; Harper, p. 549; Becker, II, p. 214; Smith, I, p. 681; Schreiber, LIII, 16; the various plans are slightly different). The house occupied an entire square, facing a little east of south. Most of the rooms on the front and sides were rented out for shops or stores; in the rear was a garden. The rooms that did not belong to the house proper are shaded in the plan here given. The _vestibulum_, marked 1 in the plan, is the open space between two of the shops (§193). Behind it is the _ōstium_ (1'), with a figure of a dog (§195) in mosaic, opening into the _ātrium_ (2, 2) with three rooms on each side, the _ālae_ (2', 2') being in the regular place, the _compluvium_ (3) in the middle, the _tablīnum_ (4) opposite the _ōstium_, and the passage on the eastern side (5). The _ātrium_ is of the _Tūscanicum_ style (§196), and is paved with concrete; the _tablīnum_ and the passage have mosaic floors. From these, steps lead down into the court, which is lower than the _ātrium_, measures 65 by 50 feet, and is surrounded by a colonnade with sixteen pillars. There are two rooms on the side next the _ātrium_, one of these (6) has been called the _bibliothēca_ (§206), because a manuscript was found in it, but its purpose is uncertain; the other (6') was possibly a dining-room. The court has two projections (7', 7') much like the _ālae_, which have been called _exedrae_ (§207); it will be noticed that one of these has the convenience of an exit (§202) to the street. The rooms on the west and the small room on the east can not be definitely named. The large room on the east (T) is the main dining-room (§204), the remains of the dining couches being marked on the plan. The kitchen is at the northwest corner (13), with the stable (14) next to it (§203, end); off the kitchen is a paved yard (15) with a gateway into the street by which a cart could enter. East of the kitchen and yard is a narrow passage connecting the peristyle with the garden (§202). East of this are two rooms, the larger of which (9) is one of the most imposing rooms of the house, 33 by 24 feet in size, with a large window guarded by a low balustrade, and opening into the garden. This was probably an _oecus_ (§207). In the center of the court is a basin about two feet deep, the rim of which was once decorated with figures of water plants and fish. Along the whole north end of the house ran a long veranda (16, 16), overlooking the garden (11, 11) in which was a sort of summer house (12). The house had an upper story, but the stairs leading to it are in the rented rooms, suggesting that the upper floor was not occupied by Pansa's family. [Illustration: FIGURE 56. SECTION OF THE HOUSE OF PANSA IN POMPEII]