Private Spaces in Pompeii

House of the Vettii• The house takes its name from the family offreedmen who owned the house. Evidence oftheir ownership is taken from campaignslogans found on the walls and a number ofseals bearing the names A. Vettii Convivaand A. Vettii Restitutus. They were likelyinvolved in trade of wine and otheragricultural products.• Excavation of the house takes place in 1894-1895, though preservation work does notreally take place until 1905-1906, whichcaused some of the colors in the atrium andperistyle to fade.

House of the Vettii• At the time of the eruption, the house wasclearly the combination of at least two earlierhouses, both of which opened to the east.They were likely combined in the early 1 stcentury A.D. and were extensively restoredafter the earthquake of 62.• The plan of the house involves a modestatrium and large Tuscan peristyle along witha number of other rooms, both public andprivate, which are not seen in all Romanhouses.

House of the VettiiA plan of the House of the Vettii

House of the Vettii• The atrium of the house is immediatelyindicative of the style of the rest of the house.Decoration is elaborately done in 4 th style wallpainting, showing scenes of boys carryingvarious items which were connected withdomestic cult religion against a blackbackground. On the borders of the paintingsare cherubs involved in circus andamphitheatre activities, and the highest pointof the wall shows candelabra.

House of the VettiiAtrium, House of the Vettii

House of the VettiiDecoration in the Atrium, House of the Vettii

House of the Vettii• The atrium floor, like the floors in the rest ofthe house, are done in opus signinum, whichinvolved a layer of small fragments of tilesand broken amphorae (wine or oil jugs)embedded in mortar and sometimes coatedwith a red paint. This cheap but classylookingtype of floor was the most common inPompeii. In the House of the Vettii, thetesserae of the floor were white.• On either side of the entrance are twocubicula, each of which have 4 th styledecoration, but of a lower quality than thatfound in the atrium.

House of the Vettii• The cubiculum on the left side of the entranceis of some interest. The painting includes theuse of faux marble with a middle section ofalternating red and white panels showing theabandonment of Ariadne by Theseus andother mythological scenes. A frieze shows afishpond, the the uppermost region showsimaginary buildings.• The room is sometimes referred to as the“fish room.”• It is unclear how this particular cubiculumwould have been used.

House of the VettiiDecoration in the “Fish Room,” House of the Vettii

House of the Vettii• Some of the most beautiful decorations in thehouse are located in the so-called “whiteoecus.”• An oecus was generally a sort of parlor orsalon within a Roman house, though itsometimes could double as a triclinium,according to the Roman architect Vitruvius.• This particular oecus has decorationsinvolving theatrical buildings as well asvarious love-related myths, including Bacchusand Ariadne, Leda and the swan (Juppiter),and Danae and the shower of gold (alsoJuppiter).

House of the VettiiThe White Oecus, House of the Vettii

House of the VettiiDecoration in the White Oecus,House of the Vettii

House of the Vettii• One unique feature of the house was aviridarium, which was a 4-sided porticosurrounding a small fountain which wouldhave echoed in the small space. There wassome greenery planted here as well, almostin the manner of a small peristyle or pleasuregarden.• This viridarium was surrounded by Corinthiancolumns supporting an architrave with afrieze showing acanthus leaves on a redbackground.

House of the VettiiViridarium, House of the Vettii

House of the Vettii• The most celebrated rooms of the house giveonto the peristyle at the rear of the dwelling.These rooms include an oecus, known as the“Gold Oecus,” which displays fabulouslypainted mythological scenes against a goldenbackground. The scenes include a youngHercules strangling serpents, Pentheus beingstoned by worshippers of Bacchus, andothers.• On the opposite side, a room known as the“Red Oecus” displays scenes of Bacchusfinding Ariadne on the island of Naxos, Ixionbeing bound to a wheel in the underworld,and Daedalus delivering the wooden cow toqueen Pasiphaë.

House of the VettiiHercules strangling serpents, Gold Oecus,House of the Vettii.

House of the VettiiPentheus and the Bacchantes, Gold Oecus,House of the Vettii

House of the VettiiLeft: Daedalus and Pasiphaë; Right: Ixion,Red Oecus, House of the Vettii

House of the Vettii• The house is also quite well known for itstriclinium. A black frieze against a redbackground shows cherubs engaged in anumber of activities, including an participatingin an archery contest, making garlands frompicked flowers, making perfume, racingchariots pulled by deer, minting coins, bakingbread, harvesting grapes and making wine,and more.

House of the VettiiDecoration in the Triclinium, House of the Vettii

House of the Vettii• One of the finest features in the House of theVettii is its peristyle, located at the rear of thehouse and surrounded by a colonnade withmore painted scenes. A great deal of statuarycan also be found in the peristyle.• Though this is not among the largest of theperistyles in Pompeii, it is especially welldecoratedand would have flowed nicely withthe rest of the house.

House of the VettiiPeristyle, House of the Vettii

House of the Vettii• The House of the Vettii is the most visitedstructure at the archaeological site ofPompeii, most likely due to the quality of thewall paintings. The house itself is not amongthe largest in Pompeii, nor are any of itsarchitectural features of considerable interest.However, the house does preserve the bestof 4 th style painting.• The frequent traffic from thousands of visitorseach day has taken its toll on the house.There has been some damage done to thefrescoes and floors in the house, especially inrecent years.

House of Loreius Tiburtinus• This house takes its name from numerouspieces of electoral graffiti on its façade andon the façade of the house across the streetfrom it. Some of these encourage voters tochoose Loreius, others Tiburtinus. Further, apainting in the house of a priest of thegoddess Isis identifies the priest as AmuliusFaventius Tiburs.• Despite all this, the last owner of the housewas probably Octavius Quartio, whose sealhas been found in the house.

House of Loreius Tiburtinus• Octavius Quartio converts the house into asort of personal shrine for the worship of Isis,who grew in popularity in Pompeii in the 1 stcentury A.D.• The house is excavated between 1916 and1921 by V. Spinazzola.• The entrance to the house is located on theVia dell’ Abbondanza, a street with manyluxurious addresses, and takes up themajority of the insula it occupies.• The house itself is not really the mostimpressive feature of the residence. Rather,an enormous garden located off the back ofthe house is the focal point.

House of Loreius TiburtinusPlan of the House of Loreius Tiburtinus

House of Loreius Tiburtinus• The entrance to the house is flanked by twocauponae, or inns, which were probablyassociated with the house as a source ofincome.• The atrium floor was decorated with marblehexagons in opus sectile and had animpluvium in the center which wassurrounded by structures similar to flowerboxes.In the center of the impluvium was afountain with a tall vertical jet.

House of Loreius Tiburtinus• The rooms around the atrium display avariety of decorative motifs. While most of thepaintings in the house are in the 4 th style,there are traces of 1 st style decorativemoldings as well.• Based on the presence of the 1 st stylemoldings, it is possible to date the houseback as far as the 2 nd century B.C., thoughclearly the house was redecorated at somelater point. The house was also beingrepaired after the earthquake of 62 A.D.

House of Loreius Tiburtinus• From the atrium, one proceeds to a smallperistyle which occupies the place of theoriginal tablinum (recognizable from aremaining piece of a wall). This peristyle issmall in comparison to the massive gardenbehind it, making it interesting that the ownerchose to build a peristyle instead of keepingthe original tablinum.• Surrounding this small peristyle/viridarium aretwo of the most interestingly decorated roomsin all of Pompeii: an oecus and a triclinium.

House of Loreius TiburtinusSmall peristyle, House of Loreius Tiburtinus

House of Loreius Tiburtinus• The oecus is decorated with highly elegant 4 thstyle paintings displaying trophies inarchitectural features which divide whitepanels. These panels are surrounded byframes with miniature decorations.• The ceiling is also partly intact and isornamented with circular and square featureswhich contain detailed stucco reliefs.

House of Loreius TiburtinusPainting in the oecus, House of Loreius Tiburtinus

House of Loreius Tiburtinus• The triclinium of the house is decorated withscenes from the history of the city of Troy intwo levels. The upper level shows Hercules’battle with Laomedon, the king of Troy. Thelower level shows scenes from the TrojanWar, especially featuring the Greek warriorAchilles.• This triclinium has entrances from theperistyle and the garden at the back.• This is only one of several dining rooms in thehouse.

House of Loreius Tiburtinus• As mentioned, the garden at the rear of thehouse was the most significant feature.Larger than the house itself, it boasted 2large water courses, called euripi (singular =euripus). The euripus which runs parallel tothe back of the house is known as the uppereuripus, and the lower euripus runsperpendicular to this.• The upper euripus was covered by a pergolasupported by pillars which were decoratedwith themes related to Bacchus, god of wine.There were also numerous statuessurrounding this.

House of Loreius Tiburtinus• The north wall around this upper euripus wasdecorated with a large hunting scene. Thewest wall showed the myth of Diana andActaeon, whom she turns into a stag. Theeast wall shows the myths of Narcissus andPyramus and Thisbe. On this wall, the onlysignature of an artist in Pompeii was found,saying “Lucius pinxit,” which means “Luciuspainted this.”

House of Loreius Tiburtinus• The lower euripus runs through the rest of thegarden, surrounded by acanthus and fruittrees, and had large pergolas on either side.• Where the upper and lower euripi connected,a sort of temple stood, decorated in the 3 rdstyle.• At the base of this temple, a fountain wasinstalled, fitted with a semicircle of spoutspointing outwards and a vertical jet in themiddle.

House of Loreius TiburtinusThe Temple, House of Loreius Tiburtinus

House of Loreius TiburtinusThe Temple, House of Loreius Tiburtinus

House of Loreius Tiburtinus• Another water feature was placed in themiddle of the lower euripus. It wasquadrangular in shape with a pyramidalstructure in the center. There were “stairs”leading down to the water on each side.Water from a fountain ran down these steps,which probably created a pleasant sound inthe middle of the garden.• The pyramidal structure recalls the Egyptianhome of the goddess Isis with whom theowners of the house were connected.

House of Loreius TiburtinusThe Lower Euripus, House of Loreius Tiburtinus

House of Loreius TiburtinusThe Lower Euripus, House of Loreius Tiburtinus

House of Loreius Tiburtinus• The water features in the garden would havebeen pleasing on warm summer days,cooling off the residents and guests of thehouse.• The controls for the water features were in acastellum plumbeum which was located atthe northwest corner of the block.• There was also an outdoor biclinium, or twocoucheddining room, at the east end of theupper euripus, in which summer meals couldbe eaten and both residents and guests couldhave enjoyed the garden and water features.

House of Loreius TiburtinusOutdoor biclinium with paintings of Narcissus(left) and Pyramus and Thisbe (right), Houseof Loreius Tiburtinus

House of the Faun• The house takes its name from the statue of adancing faun located in the impluvium of theatrium of the house.• This is the largest of the houses in Pompeii,about 3,000 square meters in size and takingup an entire city block.• The house was excavated between 1830 and1832 by A. Bonucci.• The house as it appears was mostly built inthe 2 nd half of the 2 nd century B.C. (180-170),replacing an earlier 3 rd century dwelling whichstood in the center of the insula.

House of the Faun• There are renovations to the house done atthe end of the 2 nd century B.C. as well. Thelarge hortus, or garden, at the rear of thehouse was turned into a 2 nd peristyle whichwas Doric in style. Additional rooms flankedthe northern edge of this peristyle. A secondentrance was also added.• The plan of the house suggests either apossible fusion of two earlier houses or adesire on the part of the owners to build on agrand scale. There are 2 atria in the housealong with at least 5 rooms which could havebeen used for dining.

House of the FaunPlan of the House of the Faun

House of the Faun• The rooms around the 2 nd atrium (known asthe tetrastyle atrium) are thought to havebeen the servants’ quarters, a more privatearea of the house.• The house also had its own bathing complex,which means it must have had water pipeddirectly to it. Along with the other earliermentioned late 2 nd century B.C. renovations,this complex was moved towards the rear ofthe house.• The house also has 4 shops across the front,one of which has a connection to the houseitself.

House of the Faun• Decoration in the house is all in the 1 st style,emphasizing a desire on the part of theowners to keep an austere and classyappearance in this large and extravaganthome. This decoration is consistentlyrestored rather than updated, and when newareas of the house are built or old areas arerenovated, the decoration is matched to theearlier areas of the house.• At the entrance to the house, visitors weregreeted by a mosaic which read “HAVE,”which is Latin for “WELCOME,” spelled out incolored tiles.

House of the Faun1 st style decoration, House of the Faun

House of the Faun“Welcome Mat” mosaic, House of the Faun

House of the Faun• The vestibule of the house is decorated in the1 st style. There are 2 tetrastyle shrines withCorinthian columns elevated in the entrywaywhich served as the lararia for the house.• The floor in the vestibule and likely in theatrium as well was done in opus sectile,which is indicative of the wealth of the ownersof the house. The impluvium is also done inopus sectile and had a small statue of adancing faun at its center.

House of the FaunAtrium and Impluvium, House of the Faun

House of the FaunLararia, House of the Faun

House of the Faun• Various cubicula surrounded the atrium, andthere was a tablinum at the rear. Behind thisatrium was the first (smaller) peristyle.• A series of exedrae and oeci connected thetwo peristyles. In one of these, a large mosaicdepicting the battle between Alexander theGreat and Darius of Persia at Issus (fought in333 B.C.). This mosaic was based on anearlier Hellenistic painting by Philoxenus. Themosaic itself contained over 1.5 millioncolored tesserae, with some estimates goingas high as 4 million. The total size is 19 ft. x10 ft., 3 in.

House of the FaunThe Alexander Mosaic, House of the Faun

House of the FaunThe First (or smaller) Peristyle, House of the Faun

House of the FaunThe Second (or larger) Peristyle, House of the Faun

House of the Faun• In general, the house of the Faun is bestknown for its size, its majesty, and itsmosaics. The house is not as well preservedas many others, but it is easy forarchaeologists to dream about what it mayhave looked like in its heyday.

House of the FaunSome mosaics from the House of the Faun