147apartment blocks used by prozy to illustrate the living conditions of most roman inhabitants

Larger more luxuriously appointed apartments following common plan – medianum aparments – upper end of rental market

Common feature is hall, wide corridor, lit by large external windows on court or side street (medianum), remaining rooms are grouped on 3 sides

Occupying potentially valuable ground floor spaceelongated form – origins on building on upper floors above rows of tabernae

This kind of large apartment has no known parallel at rome, from the severan marble plan or the excavated insulae at romeonly surviving kind is on upper floor of Casa di via Guilo Romano, foot of the Capitoline, over row of tabernae

Supply of housing at ostia 1973 R. Meiggs – how far did architects build to meet known demands

Fundamental to understanding dynamics of physical development of city, where land and construction represented a considerable investment

Built for rent – as good a return on residential as commercial rents on ground floor level

Built within a 50 year period, from reign of Trajan to mid 2nd century BC

Multiple unit complexes - 2 or more apartments of this type part of single complexes

Physical size of apartments and main spacesorganisation of space in apartment design process

Problem of relationship with Pompeian atrium style apartments

Relationship between label, function and physical structure of a room must be addressed

Labels assigned to spaces based on location within structure – not so simple

Rented apartment – cenaculum – medianum are common form of larger higher status apartments

Medianum describes a room, specific location on the top floor with street windows, specific set of users, all inhabitants of cenaculum

Medianum apartments are ground floor, window sills,1.4m or higher, not necessarily constructed for multiple tenants, even if it might have happened frequently in practice

Medianum room – was it given the same name whether an apartment housed a family or when on the ground floor, unclear.

F. Pirson reading of inscription of Insula arriana polliana at pompei , advertising rental property, small apartments on the ground floor like the medianum apartments without peristyles or gardens

may be considered domus rather than cenaculalegal sources – medianum is a room which relates to objects dropped onto the street below

151. Cenacula – placed on upper floor by legal sources

Absence of kitchens in ostian insulae hermasen argues the medianum was where the meal was cooked and dining room but there are highly decorated room, one in each apartment, might be reception/dining roomfascist imperative to remove evidence of kitchens

Most are characterised by narrow rectangular shape, long side on the outer wall of the block looking over a street garden or internal court

Main organisational feature – 3 rooms arranged along exterior wall, central medianum flanked by 2 major rooms

Is larger and in later stages best decorated, often rises through upper floors

Smaller but still well decorated, sometimes double height

Often indirectly lit, open of medianum, behind rooms or annexes a b, closed rooms with narrow doorways, sometimes include one or more open rooms with wide doorways onto the medianum

Internal staircases layouts deliberate variations on the same theme

Variation through numbe rand arrangement of secondary rooms

Design considerations and functions of large medianum apartment assessed in comparison with domus type apartment included in same structure

152 .Insula of Jove and Ganymede, Case a giardino

These two houses have common features relating to status, earning label domus Pompeian domus – wide entrances into a circulation space around a courtyard, number of grand reception areas, good quality decoration on floors and walls, associated shops with direct access into domus, separate servicediffer from Pompeian atrium houses in the visual separation and restriction of accessd to causal visitors – main reception areas off axis to main entrances

Visitors not well acquainted would catch a glimpse of riches of main reception room, no access for a closer look

Medianum apartments related to the domus type apartments share features – separate service quarters, extra space on upper floor,

Who occupied them – 166hermansen – middle to upper middle class

Ostian apartments have fewer but larger main rooms

Less overt references to public architecture – internal columns found in even small atrium houses

Imposing reception room and tablinium style B rooms similar to the substantial vesuvian domus not small atrium houses- importance of the reception of guests, relatively large households accompanying individuals of fairly elevated socio-economic position

Lack of choice (no seasonal rooms), distance from the exterior of main controlling space, absence of allusions to public architecture – detatchment from public-political life, absence of desire to receive many visitors, need to differentiate master

171 – close inspection of physical spatial and design aspects of medianum apartments

Parallels with similar sized Pompeian domus, part of rental accommodation in the Insula arriana polliana

May not have been rental but owner occupied

Seasonal residences to members of shipping corporations, key role in ostian expansion in 2nd century ad, little need for multiple and carefully differentiated reception rooms of those looking for public office in home communities

Similarities in design process – familiar part of architectural repertoire