Cosa - Private Houses

Private Houses

The site has played an important role in the interpretation of Roman colonization during the Middle Republican period. The housing has been the subject of two extensive publications. One, by R. T. Scott (1993), deals with a series of small houses in the western part of the site. These occupy street frontages of around 8 metres, with open courtyard spaces and gardens in the rear. They bear a strong resemblance to similar houses of the 2nd century BC at Pompeii. On the forum, the House of Diana was excavated and restored between 1995 and 1999. It was published in full by E. Fentress (2004), and a detailed report on the stratigraphy is available on the web (http://www.press.umich.edu/webhome/cosa/home.html) This was a much larger house, on a standard atrium plan, very similar to that of the House of Sallust in Pompeii. Built around 170 BC, it was entirely rebuilt in the Augustan period, from which we have a fine series of frescoes and mosaics. In the 50s, it seems to have become the house of Lucius Titinius Glaucus Lucretianus, and a small sanctuary to the goddess Diana was added in the rear garden.