what feature occupied the center of a roman domus
Atrium (architecture) In a domus, a large house in Ancient Roman architecture, the atrium was the open central court with enclosed rooms on all sides. In the middle of the atrium was the impluvium, a shallow pool sunken into the floor to catch rainwater from the roof. Some surviving examples are beautifully decorated. The opening in the ceiling above the pool (compluvium) called for some means of support for the roof, and it is here where one differentiates between five different styles of atrium.[clarification needed] As the centrepiece of the house, the atrium was the most lavishly-furnished room. Also, it contained the little chapel to the ancestral spirits (lararium), the household safe (arca) and sometimes a bust of the master of the house.