Housing in pompeii and hurculaneum ranged greatly in size from the small, few roomed houses of the poor to the 50 roomed mansions of the very wealthy.
             the poor people usually lived in small apartments or above the shops and workshops built into thee front of the wealthier houses. the wealthier houses were never set out the same nut all had many simular features.
             the outside walls of the houses were painted white and usually had a coloured pannel, about 2 metres high, which was normally painted red. the windows into the house were placed very high and were very narrow to provide maximum security.
             the door from the street leads intoa narrow hallway called a fauces which is usually decorated with mosaics. this entrance lead into the atrium, a courtyard that contained an impluvium, a large rectangular basin that collected water from the hole in the roof which was pumped to the houses water storage, and an altar to the household gods.
             to either side of the atrium were the bedrooms. these were usually small and didnt have any windows to the street outside.
             towards the back of the house was the tablinum. this was the reception where the head of the house recieved clients and visitors. this was also where the family paper work was kept.the tablinum is thought to originally be the master bedroom but was changed before vesuvious erupted.
             there were normally one or two dinning rooms called tricliniums. these are very different from our modern day dinning rooms because it contained three reclining couches and the table in the middle for food. the people would lie on these couches and lean on their left arms while eating with their right hand. in many of the houses there was also a triclinium in the garden or in a room that opens to the outside which was used in summer.
             the kitchen didnt have a set place in a house and it was usually very small with only room for an oven and a bench. in some houses the toilet was situated in the kitc...