Cubiculum

A cubiculum (plural cubicula) was a private room in a domus, an ancient Roman house occupied by a high-status family. It usually led directly from the atrium, but in later periods it was sometimes adjacent to the peristyle. It was used for the functions of a modern bedroom, sleep and sex, as well as for business meetings, the reception of important guests and the display of the most highly-prized works of art in the house. The cubiculum was used for quiet or secret meetings and could have been used as a library. It was also a preferred venue for murder and suicide. A room used only for sleeping was not classed as a cubiculum.[1]

Cubiculum (bedroom) from the Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York

The private nature of the cubiculum made it a place for contemplation and religious observance, especially when illicit. According to the Actus Silvestri, Constantine the Great first learned of Christianity in his cubiculum and fasted there for a week before his first confession and baptism.[2]

References

  1. Riggsby, Andrew M. (1997). "'Public' and 'private' in Roman culture: the case of the cubiculum". Journal of Roman Archaeology. 10: 36–56. doi:10.1017/S1047759400014720.
  2. Sessa, Kristina (2007). "Christianity and the cubiculum: Spiritual Politics and Domestic Space in Late Antique Rome". Journal of Early Christian Studies. 15 (2): 171–204. doi:10.1353/earl.2007.0038.
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