In ancient Rome, the domus was the type of town house occupied by the upper classes and some wealthy freedmen during the Republican and Imperial eras. It was found in almost all the major cities throughout the Roman territories. The modern English word domestic comes from Latin domesticus, which is derived from the word domus. Along with a domus in the city, many of the richest families of ancient Rome also owned a separate country house known as a villa. Many chose to live primarily, or even exclusively, in their villas; these homes were generally much grander in scale and on larger acres of land due to more space outside the walled and fortified city.
A late 19th-century artist's reimagining of an atrium in a Pompeian domus
The exterior of the domus depicting the entrance with ostium
House of Augustus, Palatine Hill, Rome
A Roman villa was typically a farmhouse or country house in the territory of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, sometimes reaching extravagant proportions.
Villa Poppaea at Oplontis (c. 50 BC)
Villa Regina, Boscoreale
Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii
Entrance to the Villa San Marco, Stabiae