Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary/Compluvium

Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary, and Greek Lexicon (Rich, 1849)

COMPLU'VIUM. A large square opening in the centre of the roof which covered the four sides of an Atrium in Roman houses, and towards which these sides converged for the purpose of carrying down the rain into a reservoir (impluvium) in the floor immediately under it; as is clearly shown by the illustration (Compluvium/1.1), representing the interior of a Pompeian Atrium restored. (Varro, L. L. v. 161. Festus, s. Impluvium. Vitruv. vi. 3. 6.) In a passage of Suetonius (Aug. 92.), the whole of the open space, or area surrounded by the colonnade, is designated the compluvium.

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  Compluvium/1.1