§194. The Vestibulum.--Having traced the development of the house as a whole and described briefly its permanent and characteristic parts, we may now examine these more closely and at the same time call attention to other parts introduced at a later time. It will be convenient to begin with the front of the house. The city house was built even more generally than now on the street line. In the poorer houses the door opening into the _atrium_ was in the front wall, and was separated from the street only by the width of the threshold. In the better sort of houses, those described in the last section, the separation of the _atrium_ from the street by the row of stores gave opportunity for arranging a more imposing entrance. A part at least of this space was left as an open court, with a costly pavement running from the street to the door, adorned with shrubs and flowers, with statuary even, and trophies of war, if the owner was rich and a successful general. This courtyard was called the _vestibulum_. The derivation of the word is disputed, but it probably comes from _ve-_, "apart," "separate," and _stare_ (cf. _prostibulum_ from _prostare_), and means "a private standing place"; other explanations are suggested in the dictionaries. The important thing to notice is that it does not correspond at all to the part of a modern house called after it the vestibule. In this _vestibulum_ the clients gathered, before daybreak perhaps (§182), to wait for admission to the _atrium_, and here the _sportula_ was doled out to them. Here, too, was arranged the wedding procession (§86), and here was marshaled the train that escorted the boy to the forum the day that he put away childish things (§128). Even in the poorer houses the same name was given to the little space between the door and the edge of the sidewalk.
§195. The Ostium.--The entrance to the house was called the _ostium_. This includes the doorway and the door itself, and the word is applied to either, though _fores_ and _ianua_ are the more precise words for the door. In the poorer houses (§194) the _ostium_ was directly on the street, and there can be no doubt that it originally opened directly into the _atrium_; in other words, the ancient _atrium_ was separated from the street only by its own wall. The refinement of later times led to the introduction of a hall or passageway between the _vestibulum_ and the _atrium_, and the _ostium_ opened into this hall and gradually gave its name to it. The threshold (_limen_) was broad, the door being placed well back, and often had the word _salve_ worked on it in mosaic. Over the door were words of good omen, _Nihil intret mali_, for example, or a charm against fire. In the great houses where an _ostiarius_ or _ianitor_ (§150) was kept on duty, his place was behind the door, and sometimes he had here a small room. A dog was often kept chained in the _ostium_, or in default of one a picture was painted on the wall or worked in mosaic on the floor (Fig. 41) with the warning beneath it: _Cave canem!_ The hallway was closed on the side of the _atrium_ with a curtain (_velum_). This hallway was not so long that through it persons in the _atrium_ could not see passers-by in the street.