The style of a house is a representation of the owner's identity, personal tastes, and personal needs. Upon entering a private residence, whether modern or ancient, much is apparent about the owner through size, decoration, layout, and a variety of other factors. Through a compilation of these attributes, the social status of the owner of the house can be extrapolated. Therefore, a house is a strong reflection of social status and, as Wallace-Hadrill states, the desire to convey high status results in the houses of the wealthy emulating public buildings, particularly through the utilization of columns. .
The fact that houses denote social status is quite clear from primary sources and architectural design. Vitruvius, a contemporary of Ancient Rome, describes private rooms as those which nobody has the right to enter without an invitation (such as bedrooms, dining rooms, bathrooms, etc.) and public rooms as those that anybody, even without an invitation, has the right to enter (such as entrance courts, cavaedia, peristyles, etc.). He then continues to state that common men have no use for the public rooms as they are expected to visit others and not entertain. Therefore, it can be inferred that those with public rooms, and especially large public rooms, are of higher stature. From this, one can deduce if a person is of upper strata. It has also been documented that a man of rank was expected to have a house that represented his social standing, and if a house is built that has exceeds his rank, it is possible to enhance his standing. This documentation serves to indicate the clear necessity to have a house accurately exemplify ones position in society, and to an even more exact degree as strong competition between the wealthy existed.
Wallace-Hadrill's article addresses the social patterns that shaped the structure and decoration of the Roman house in the late republic and early Roman Empire.
