Abstract
This book revolves around the shaping of Roman domestic space and the cultural issues of privacy and representativeness. At the core is a set of lavish rooms where layout, architecture and décor bespeak the presence of one or two beds suitable for sleep or daytime rest. For such issues the city of Pompeii provides a rare case in point, due to the extraordinary concentration and nuanced readability of contextual archaeological data. Coloured by their exceptional charm, Pompeii's ruins unveil the dynamic interplay of space, décor and lifestyle, and how this shaped and rekindled social communication.