Pompeian houses and Public Lares

We started the morning in the House of the Menander. While we were the first to enter the Domus, we quickly became aware of just how many people are filing through the ruins in Pompeii. The first tour group went around us, but after that, the ladies working in the house asked us to hurry up so that more tourists could get through without us in the way. Although we were rushed, we still got to experience beautiful wall paintings done in the second style. The house also exhibited floor mosaics with Egyptian imagery.

Professor Stewart introduced us to vocabulary to talk about the Roman house as presented by Vitruvius. We learned how to identify different portions of the house by walking through the fauces, or doorway, around the atrium and impluvium, where wall art was displayed on the walls, with cubicula, or small rooms around the side. The Lares in the corner featured, as Kylie correctly identified, first style wall painting and architectural features. The house icons are not preserved, probably because they were grabbed when the family was fleeing from an exploding Vesuvius. 

At the House of the Faun, so named because of a statue of a satyr at the opening of the doorway, we had the opportunity to see one of classical antiquities most impressive and iconic mosaics. The mosaic, lodged in between two peristyles, depicting a brave and heroicized Alexander riding into battle against the effeminate Persian king.

We briefly punctuated our Pompeiian house tour with a visit to the Public Lararium. At the public lararium, Pompeiian citizens worshipped the public gods of the city as part of the imperial cult.

But where, you ask, did the citizens of Rome wash their clothes? The Roman equivalent of the dry cleaner, the Falanica, puts modern dry cleaners to shame in terms of size and splendor. In a manner revolting to the modern reader, the Romans would first rinse clothes in human urine before washing the clothes. Indeed, these dry cleaners even had “donation pots” outside to secure a supply from pedestrians. 

Professor Stewart’s exceptional Italian abilities came in handy as she secured us access to a house off limits to tourists – the house of Lucius Fronto. Professor Stewart managed to convince the custode to let us in, as an academic group, the house. We took our sweet time exploring the house’s expansive portico and beautiful frescoes, pleased with our exclusive access.

Another successful day under the volcano!

 

Leo + Shawn