Chapter 6 looks at some of the roles played by the domestic buildings of the wealthier and more powerful members of society in Greek communities, particularly during the fourth and third centuries BCE. Over time there was a dramatic growth in the size and opulence of the largest houses. It seems to be the case that the symbolic role of the house began to shift, with owners using their properties as statements of personal power and wealth to an extent which had not been acceptable before. Such changes are most obvious in the late Classical and Hellenistic periods at royal cities such as Vergina and Pella (Greek Macedonia), where monumental palatial buildings covered thousands of square metres. It is argued that, to some extent, their emergence can be viewed as the continuation of a trend already visible by the earlier fourth century BCE in cities like Olynthos and Priene.

Chapter 2 explores archaeological evidence for housing in mainland Greece, the eastern Aegean islands, and Greek settlements on the west coast of Asia Minor. The period covered runs from around 950 BCE to about 600 BCE. The Chapter highlights the fact that a growth in the scale and complexity of the communities themselves during this period was accompanied by the creation of a broader variety of buildings with more specialised roles, as well as by an increase in the size and segmentation of residential buildings. While the exact reason for this change in domestic architecture cannot be pinpointed (and may have been different in different settlements) social factors are suggested as playing a significant role. The Chapter discusses how to interpret the archaeological remains at a number of sites including: Nichoria (Peloponnese), Eretria (Euboia), Lefkandi Toumba (Euboia), Skala Oropou (Attica) and Zagora (Andros). Emphasis is placed on the diversity of house forms in different locations and on differences in the ways in which houses changed through time.

The concept of the single-entrance, courtyard house offers a means of exploring the relationship between cultural expectations about domestic life, and the physical form taken by the house itself. It re-focuses attention away from superficial aspects of the appearance of the buildings themselves and instead places the emphasis on how the spaces they created may have worked as lived environments. At the same time it also provides a frame for thinking beyond the space of the prosperous Classical urban-dweller, to encompass the houses – and the experiences – of other social groups and the residents of culturally Greek communities in other times and places. Broadening the perspective in this way while at the same time distinguishing between these different groups of evidence deomnstrates that although the Classical model is striking for its widespread use and for the variety of architectural forms through which it was materialised, it was actually a relatively socially-restricted and short-lived phenomenon.

Chapter 5 explores the extent to which the single-entrance, courtyard house is found in culturally Greek settlements lying beyond the modern-day Greek mainland and Aegean islands, in the southern (Crete and the North African coast), eastern (Asia Minor) and western Mediterranean (southern Italy) and on the northern Black Sea coast. Discussion focuses on the extent and nature of variation in house forms across time and space, and on what that variation might have to say about these different communities in social and cultural terms. Questions raised include: how the inhabitants seem to have been presenting themselves through the architecture, organisation and furnishings of their homes; and how similar or different their statements were from those being made by their counterparts in mainland Greece. Sites discussed include: Old Smyrna, Miletos, Neandria, Priene, Kolophon, Kavousi Kastro, Azoria, Trypetos, Lato, Euesperides, Megara Hybala, Monte San Mauro, HImera, Sicilian Naxos, Berezan and Olbia.

Chapter 4 considers to what extent housing on the rest of the Greek mainland was organised in a similar way to that in Athens and Attica, during the fifth and earlier fourth centuries BCE. The discussion includes evaluation of excavated houses in northeastern Greece (Olynthos, Thasos, Torone), northwestern Greece (Ammotopos, Kassope, Leukas), and central and southern Greece (Halieis, Dystos, Ano Siphai, Elean Pylos). By exploring the spatial extent of the single-entrance courtyard house, and addressing the potential underlying social significance of some of the continuities or variations in form and organisation, the Chapter addresses how representative this house-form, with its associated social norms, may have been, of Greece more widely. It is argued that the single-entrance, courtyard house is most characteristic of larger households in larger, urban settlements, and that co-existing alongside it were smaller houses which were most characteristic of smaller settlements but were sometimes also found in urban locations. The relative proportions of the different types cannot be estimated due to the fact that the archaeological data are unlikely to provide a representative sample.

Chapter 7 shows how, during the Hellenistic period elite households adopted elements of the architectural vocabulary of the largest fourth-century houses, seeking to align themselves with their peers in other settlements. They thus formed a political, social and economic status group that crossed administrative and cultural boundaries, to reach across much of the Mediterranean and even beyond. At the same time these elites also differentiated themselves from the other members of their own communities who did not (and perhaps in most cases could not) build such houses. Among these households, too, there were changes in the dominant house-forms. The courtyard was often reduced in size and seems to have been less important than in earlier times, either as a location for domestic tasks, or as a communication route for moving around the house – a role which sometimes came to be played instead by an interior space. There is significant diversity across the Mediterranean, however.

Chapter 1 sketches out the nature and scope of the evidence available for Greek housing during the first millennium BCE. Drawing on textual sources (including Demosthenes, Lysias, Xenophon and Plato) the significance of the house in ancient Greek (mainly Classical Athenian) culture is investigated. At the same time the chapter outlines some of the basic structural and decorative features as represented in the archaeological remains of the buildings themselves. Some processes (both human and natural) which shape the material remains of houses are outlined. These include the social context of construction (as far as it can be understood), archaeological formation processes and potential biases introduced during excavation. Emphasis is placed on the need to interpret the archaeology within its own cultural context, setting aside (as far as possible) the urge to draw comparisons with modern, western housing.

Chapter 3 investigates the physical characteristics and social significance of Classical houses from Athens and Attica, comparing structures from the city, outlying villages or deme centres, and rural farms. Houses with four to five rooms or more share some characteristic elements in their basic layout: a single entrance designed to screen the interior from the street; an open courtyard; a portico adjacent to that courtyard; and rooms opening individually from the central court-portico area. These point to a distinctive form of dwelling, the ‘single-entrance, courtyard house’. Underlying this form were social expectations which included: restricting and/or monitoring movement in and out of the house; separation of male visitors from the remainder of the household; and potential for the surveillance of individuals moving around the interior of the house. Together, these elements suggest a desire to regulate contact between members of the household and outsiders. This corresponds with Classical Athenian authors, who imply that the movement and social contacts of citizens’ wives were limited.