Art & Architecture of Pompeii and Herculanium

House of PansaHouse of the Vettii

Villa of the mysteriesHouse of the Faun

“Harbour Scene from Stabiae“the Lost Ram

“Perseus and Andromeda“Death of Penthius“The Trojan horse

Portrait of Terentius neo & wifeDionysiac frieze villa of the Mysteries

Wall from Villa Publius Fannius Sinistor

Portrait of a WomanAlexander Mosaic

Nilotic scene“Sorceress & client

79AD DESTRUCTION

buried under 10m of ash and remained so for 1700 yrs.

A time capsule into the life of 1st century Romans in a holiday area of Campania.

Pompeians didn’t become Roman citizens until 89BC and by 79AD

Roman culture overlay the earlier culture of the Osci and Samnite tribes.

Greeks had occupied the southern part of Italy since 5th century BC

so there was an influence of Hellenism in Pompeii and Herculanium.

PUBLIC BUILDINGS:

Temples, Basilicas (palaces). Fine decoration and architecture

PRIVATE BUILDINGS:

As today, homes reflected socio-economic status:

Poor lived in high rise apartments (Insulae)

in 4th century Rome there were 46000 of them housing more than ¾ of a million people.

In Pompei (pop 20,000) the poor lived in flats above shops and richer houses.

Wealthy lived in Domus

(stand alone houses built around an open atrium – inward looking)

or luxurious villae (grand with seaviews, terrace, porticoes, large windows) on the outskirts of town or surrounding countryside overlooking the bay of Naples.

The Elite Domus

• Typical elite houses evolved from Etruscan atrium-style houses, with the addition of Greek style peristyle (colonnaded) gardens.

• Usually were one floor, with a main reception room (atrium) surrounded by bedrooms (cubicula), dining room (triclinium), record room/office (tablinum).

Palatine Hill, 6th c. BCE House

The Roman domus

DOMUS

Roof opening – letting in light (and rain)

Fauces – or vestibulum

Atrium – visitors room

Outer Wall – Domus was inward facing.

Culina – Kitchens

Peristylium – courtyard with trees, fountains, statues, surrounded by columns (colonnade)

Triclinium – dining room.

Tablinum – Study.

Horta – garden

Triclinium – summer dining room.

Oecus–spare room.

Taberna – rented out shop or workplace.

Cubiculum – bedrooms

Impluvium - pool directly below roof opening

Upper rooms, often sublet to tenants.

Exedra–outdoor sitting or eating

Sample Plan of a Roman House (Domus)

V vestibulum T taberna

C cubiculum/cubicula L latrina

A atrium Al alae

Ta tablinum Cu culina

Tri triclinium P peristylium

E exedra

L

Pompeii, House EntranceThe Faucis The Faucis (entrance way)(entrance way)

Entrance, House of Menander

House of Menander, View from Fauces to Peristyle Garden

• Reception room, often with an opening in the ceiling with an impluvium below.

• Contained the family gods (Lares and Penates), imagines (masks of the ancestors), symbolic marriage bed.

• Women of the house (or their slaves) may have wool-worked there.

The AtriumThe Atrium

Atrium, House of the Silver Wedding, Pompeii

LarariumThe LarariumThe Lararium

Bronze Lar, found in a SW corner of an atrium, Pompeii

Herculaneum Lararium contained lars (symbols or masks of ancestors), & penates (gods of

the household

Loom Reconstruction

The Master’s Study

containing the family records

wax tablets (Tabulae)

the Household Safe (Arca)

Scrolls

The Master’s Study

containing the family records

wax tablets (Tabulae)

the Household Safe (Arca)

Scrolls

The TablinumThe Tablinum

House of the Faun Tablinum

Detail of the Mosaic Floor

Tabula and Writing MaterialsTabula and Writing Materials

Lucernae, Oil Lamps

Scrolls in

Capsa

A tablinum wall-painting

The CulinaThe Culina

Roman Kitchen, Reconstruction

View of an Ancient Kitchen

Ancient Glassware

Roman Cooking

Utensils in Bronze

The Latrina (Ancient Roman Toilet) Fun on a cold

morning!

Latrina Closeup

Cubicula (Bedrooms)

Roman Beds

Pompeii, House of the Centaur, Cubiculum Reconstruction

Triclinium (Dining Room)

Pompeii, Triclinium

Dining Room - Summer

Pompeii, Candelabrum

Triclinium, The Dining Room

Triclinium

Roman Seating

Roman Marble Table

Pompeii, Bronze Table

Pompeii, Roman Glass

Roman Lamps

Roman Couches

Peristyle Court

Peristylium with Birdbath and Hortus

Peristylium with Piscina (Fish Pond)

Walled Peristylium

Outdoor FountainOutdoor Fountain

Frontal View Frontal View of the of the

Fountain and Fountain and Statue. Statue.

Note the Intricate

Mosaic Work

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L a r a r i u m

Tintinnabulum, Pompeii

Villa at Boscoreale, Reconstruction

Cubiculum, Boscoreale

Herculaneum 3 Storey House

Pompeii Street Plan

Pompeii Houses with Vesuvius View

http://pompeya.desdeinter.net/pompeya.htm

Villa at Settefinestre

Settefinestre House Plan

Houses of the Poor

Poorer working people lived in rooms behind or above their places of work.

The elite often rented out the front rooms of their houses, on either side of the entrances, for use as shops, workrooms, or restaurants, often with living space included.

The lower classes also lived in apartment buildings (insulae).

Insulae

Domus Romana