Bronze seal of D. Octavius Quartio found in a cubiculum with stove for firing terracotta pots
Renovated
62
Destroyed
79
Known for
Summer biclinium with frescoes depicting Narcissus and the myth of Pyramus and Thisbe as well as a triclinium decorated with scenes from the Illiad and two perpendicular euripi in the expansive garden
Other information
Number of rooms
18 (ground floor only)
The House of Loreius Tiburtinus (more correctly the House of Octavius Quartio after its true owner) is renowned for well-preserved art, mainly in wall-paintings as well as its large gardens.[1]
It is in the Roman city of Pompeii and with the rest of Pompeii was preserved by the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in or after October 79 AD.
Location
Its Pompeian street address is II, 2, 2-5 and it is located on the Via dell'Abbondanza (or street of abundance), one of the most prosperous streets in Pompeii, and conveniently situated for both the palaestra and the amphitheatre. The section of Via dell'Abbondanza it occupied was closed off to cart traffic in ancient times.[2][3]
Name
The naming of this house[4] was wrongly derived from electoral graffiti etched in the outer façade, some saying "Vote for Loreius" and others "Vote for Tiburtinus." In fact, the last known owner of the house was a man named Octavius Quartio, whose bronze seal was found inside the house during excavation.[2] Some historians choose to refer to this house as the House of Octavius Quartio.
Excavation
The House of Loreius Tiburtinus (Octavius Quartio) was discovered and excavated between the years 1916 and 1921 by Vittorio Spinazzola, Pompeii superintendent between 1911-1923. Further archaeological campaigns were conducted in 1933 and 1935 under the supervision of Amedeo Maiuri. The last excavation in 1971 was supervised by Alfonso De Francisci.[5]
History
The two original structures combined to form this palatial residence were originally built during the Samnite Period [5] around the 3rd century BCE.[6] The domus covered an entire insula before the earthquake of 62 AD and had two atriums and two entrances. After the earthquake, part of the house (II 2, 4) was sold to another owner and was made independent. It is thought the arcaded terrace (loggia) and the large garden were completed at this time as well[5] extending the area to about 1,800 square meters.[6] Art historian John R. Clarke has suggested the expanded garden space may have been used for commercial purposes, "like that of its neighbor two blocks to the east, the Praedia of Julia Felix, citing Wilhelmina Jashemski.[7]
Layout and Decoration
Floorplan of Pompeii II 2,2 House of Octavius Quartio based on Spinazzola plan produced in 1916-1921
The exterior walls of the complex are composed of opus incertum (stone rubble embedded in concrete) with ashlar piers, except for the easternmost corner, which was constructed with opus vittatum mixtum (a combination of brick and stone blocks).[8] The main entrance, is flanked by two shops, the Caupona of Astylus and Pardalus (II 2,1), with remains of a food serving counter and stairs to an upper floor, and the Caupona of Athictus. This shop had only a sales counter of wood that left an imprint below the plastered east wall.[9] It is thought these shop spaces were once part of the house but were eventually separated from the main structure and either rented or sold [4] as both shops had doorways to the atrium of the main House at II 2,2. The Athictus shop also had a doorway leading into Room 3 (blue).[9]
The inside of the house is fairly uniform in its organization, and matches the standard of much of the Roman architecture at the time. Unfortunately some of the house's original integrity was compromised before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in the earthquake of 62 AD[4] and Allied bombing raids in 1943 during WWII.
Impluvium later converted to fountain with plants
The fauces (entrance) at II 2,2 opens into a rectangular atrium with an impluvium in the center. This basin collected rainwater through a hole in the roof to be used by the patrons of the house.[4] It was later repurposed into a fountain surrounded by a bed of plants. This portion of the residence suffered extensive damage from exposure to the elements after its excavation in 1916 as well as Allied bomb damage in 1943. At the rear of the atrium, the home's tablinum (g) has been replaced with a small columned pseudo-peristyle. The columns are painted red at the base and white above. Though faded, the walls still bear evidence of painting in the Fourth style with black panels separated by yellow columns above a red dado. On the east wall is the extremely faded remains of a panel painting but it's so damaged the subject can no longer be perceived.[9]
Patronage relationships began to evolve during the late Republic. More and more patronage extended over entire communities whether on the basis of political decree, benefaction by an individual who becomes the communities' patron, or by the community formally adopting a patron.[10] This may account for the elimination of a formal tablinum.
A number of the rooms adjoining the atrium are also in poor repair:
Room 3 (blue) has only a small piece of stucco left of its decoration. It contains what Spinazzola described as a kiln (muffola) for the baking and glazing of small vases/pots. It is in this room that the seal ring of D. Octavius Quartio was found.
Room 4 (blue), partially destroyed in the 1943 bombing, retains no decoration at all. It is thought to have been a triclinium. Likewise, all that remains of Room 5 (blue) are bare walls. It's doorway to what is thought to be a latrine 6 (blue) is still extant, though. Room 7 (blue), also without decoration, is accessed through Room 5 (blue).
Room "a", with a yellow middle zone with black dado, once contained a panel painting of Europa and the Bull, two medallions with one particularly fine portrait thought to be the owner's daughter, and painted imitation windows as documented by a 1930 photograph. These were all destroyed by concussion in one of the 1943 bombing raids.
Ala "b" with floating soldiers
Ala "b", a relatively large room decorated in the Fourth Style with red panels on a dark blue ground with floating soldier figures, survived, though it has faded severely from exposure.
Room "c", thought to have been another triclinium with yellow panels bordered in red was also damaged and faded due to exposure after excavation.
Fourth style painting on south wall of oecus "d"
A small oecus "d" also decorated in the Fourth Style depicting architectural structures and landscapes in roundels on a white ground has survived. Room "e" has managed to retain fragments of its black and white floor mosaics and a panel picture of a hunting scene framed with garlands on a yellow ground.[9] These two rooms are thought to have been painted by a workshop located on the Via di Castricio.[5]
Room "f" on the west side of the pseudo-peristyle is an oecus decorated in the Fourth Style with white ground panels bordered in cinnabar red above a black dado with Egyptian and cultic motifs. Among figures portrayed include Bacchus with his thyrsus and a priest of Isis with a sistrum,[9] possibly depicting the owner.[5] Beneath it is the inscription "Amisusius Loreius Tiburtinus." This is in addition to the election slogans referring to Tiburtinus found on the outer facade of the house.
Fourth style frescoes with Egyptian motifs in oecus "f"
A biga (two-horse chariot) tops one of the painted architectural structures. There are also roundels depicting maenads and satyrs. Paintings of Diana bathing to the south and Actaeon attacked by his hunting dogs to the north suggest the room was used as a sacellum to scholars conducting the damage diagnosis of the site for the Piano della Conoscenza-Grande Progetto Pompei Project in 2016. Finnish scholar, Ilkka Kuivalainen, agrees, stating the presence of Bacchus clearly indicates cultic purposes. But, site curators do not think the room was used for religious purposes. They state on site signage:
"What at first sight appear to be stringent references to the goddess Isis and her cult are none other than proof of the exotic taste, a completely secular one, with an exclusively ornamental nature, which characterized the new ruling class that was being formed in the early decades of the empire."[9]
This room was also bomb damaged then partially restored from stucco fragments. The paintings have been attributed to the Vetii workshop.[5]
Triclinium fresco of the marriage of Telamon and Hesione
Room "h", a spacious triclinium, still retains much of its frescoes, although fragmentary. Two panels of images are painted continuously around the room. The more narrow lower panel depicts scenes of Achilles and the Iliad interspersed with simulated marble panels including Thetis giving weapons forged by Hephaestus to Achilles, Patroclus, dressed in the armor of Achilles, fighting from a wheeled vehicle, the funeral of Patroclus, a boxing match as part of the games held in honor of Patroclus, and Automedon readying the chariot for Achilles. At the far east end, is the iconic scene of Achilles dragging Hector's body behind his chariot followed by images of Priam led by Hermes taking a wagon out of Troy and entering the Greek camp and a kneeling King Priam pleading with Achilles for the body of Hector.
The wider upper panel portrays scenes from the myth of Heracles involving Telamon and Laomedon. Telamon, father of the Greek hero Ajax the Great, was one of the Argonauts and friend of Heracles who assisted him on his expeditions against the Amazons and his assault on Troy. Laomedon was the king of Troy at the time and father of Podarces, later renamed Priam. When Heracles besieged Troy, Telamon was the first to breach the wall and enter the city (first panel painting - Telamon approaching King Laomedon). Heracles slew Laomedon (next panel) and awarded Laomedon's daughter to Telamon as a war prize (third panel - the wedding of Telamon and Hesione).[9]
Gardens
The house is particularly well known for its extensive gardens and outdoor ornamentation, including two perpendicular euripi, water channels named after the strait of Euripus between Euboea and the main Greek peninsula. These channels with fountains were the centerpiece for many frescoes and statuettes.
The source of water for these extensive water features was provided by a lattice of lead piping supplied by a castellum plumbeum, a lead-lined reservoir on the northwest corner of the insula, part of a fairly complex water pressure system which functioned with the local water towers. Around 27 BCE, Pompeii was connected to the new Aqua Augusta aqueduct that ran from Sante Lucia di Serino to Misenum. Water flowed into the castellum divisorium, a distribution station on the highest point of the city near the Vesuvian gate. Due to significant height differences which caused undesirable pressure variations in the water system, a series of water towers were constructed to regulate pressures in different districts within the city. Of these, 14 have been excavated and tower 6 was found on the corner of II, 2,1 at the intersection of the Via dell'Abbondanza and the Vicolo di Octavius Quartio.[11]
Reproduction of statue of the muse Erato or Mnemosyne along the upper euripus
The upper euripus (i), running east to west, was lined with six plinths thought to support statues of the muses. However, only one of Polyhymnia and one of Mnemosyne have been recovered and are presently in the archaeological museum in Naples. A reproduction of Mnemosyne can now be seen on site, however. Other sculptures recovered from the upper euripus include a head of a young Dionysus, a lion consuming a deer, a sphinx, another lion, a female theater mask, a hunting hound attacking a fawn, and an infant Hercules strangling a snake.
Hunt scene on north wall of upper euripus
The north wall of the upper euripus was painted with a hunting scene of large felines including a leopard and antelope.
At the west end of the water channel are faded frescoes of Diana bathing and Actaeon being attacked by his own hunting hounds that flank the doorway to room (f), the space some scholars think served as a sacellum.
At the east end of the upper euripus, a summer biclinium (k) is constructed with two masonry couches on either side of a water feature. An aedicula is centered on the back wall flanked by a fresco of Narcissus admiring his reflection in a pool and the suicide of Pyramus and Thisbe. Telamon in the form of a kneeling satyr is now placed within the aedicula based on a suggestion by original site excavator Spinazzola but today there is no evidence of piping for its use as a fountain base. A sculpture of a river god was also found in this location.[9]
A particularly significant find on one of the couches of the summer biclinium was the only known artist's signature in Pompeii: "Lucius pinxit" or "Painted by Lucius."[2]
Tetrastyled temple at the intersection of upper and lower euripus
The lower euripus runs north to south and bisects an expansive garden of fruit trees, other shady flora and acanthus (l) planted in pergolated ordered rows. At its point of intersection with the upper euripus stands a tetrastyled temple embellished with polychrome stucco decoration. Its base is a fountain with spigots arranged in a semicircle with a vertical jet at the center.[12]
The shorter north end of the lower euripus terminates in a columned nymphaeum with stepped fountain. A marble sculpture of Cupid holding up a theater mask was found above the fountain steps in 1920. An early photograph shows the walls of the nymphaeum frescoed with a nude Diana at her bath on the left and Actaeon on the right, with a landscape on the side wall. These paintings are barely perceptible now due to exposure.
Just below the midway point of the lower euripus is a pool with a square fountain structure in its center with four sets of marble steps on each side to produce cascades of water from the central jet back. Twelve plinths may have once held decorative statues. It was once covered by a pergola suspended by four columns that has since been removed.
Near the southern end of the lower euripus is a small four-columned pavilion embellished with a stucco relief depicting swans, acanthus leaves and flowers on a red background.
The lower euripus ends in a third pool. Near the wall at the south end, a statue of Hermaphroditus was recovered. The back garden gate is across from entrance 7 of the palaestra with natatio (swimming pool) southwest of the amphitheater.[9]
Stucco work on small pavilion at the south end of lower euripus
Stepped fountain near midway point of lower euripus
Cupid with a theater mask found in nymphaeum
Roundel with heads of satyrs in room f
Frescoed triclinium with scenes of Heracles, Achilles and Troy
(L-R) Telamon and Laomedon, Heracles battling Laomedon, King of Troy, and Hesione and Telamon
Possible sacellum (f) with floating figure of priest of Isis
Room (e) with hunt scene panel
Closeup of panel painting with hunt scene
Statue of Hermaphroditus found near the south wall
Related Research Articles
Aeacus was a mythological king of the island of Aegina in the Saronic Gulf. He was a son of Zeus and the nymph Aegina, and the father of the heroes Peleus and Telamon. According to legend, he was famous for his justice, and after he died he became one of the three judges in Hades alongside Minos and Rhadamanthos. In another story, he assisted Poseidon and Apollo in building the walls of Troy.
Erotic art in Pompeii and Herculaneum has been both exhibited as art and censored as pornography. The Roman cities around the bay of Naples were destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, thereby preserving their buildings and artefacts until extensive archaeological excavations began in the 18th century. These digs revealed the cities to be rich in erotic artefacts such as statues, frescoes, and household items decorated with sexual themes. The ubiquity of such imagery and items indicates that the treatment of sexuality in ancient Rome was more relaxed than current Western culture. However, much of what might strike modern viewers as erotic imagery, such as oversized phalluses, could arguably be fertility imagery. Depictions of the phallus, for example, could be used in gardens to encourage the production of fertile plants. This clash of cultures led to many erotic artefacts from Pompeii being locked away from the public for nearly 200 years.
The Villa d'Este is a 16th-century villa in Tivoli, near Rome, famous for its terraced hillside Italian Renaissance garden and especially for its profusion of fountains. It is now an Italian state museum, and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In Ancient Rome, the domus was the type of town house occupied by the upper classes and some wealthy freedmen during the Republican and Imperial eras. It was found in almost all the major cities throughout the Roman territories. The modern English word domestic comes from Latin domesticus, which is derived from the word domus. The word dom in modern Slavic languages means "home" and is a cognate of the Latin word, going back to Proto-Indo-European. Along with a domus in the city, many of the richest families of ancient Rome also owned a separate country house known as a villa. Many chose to live primarily, or even exclusively, in their villas; these homes were generally much grander in scale and on larger acres of land due to more space outside the walled and fortified city.
The House of the Vettii is a domus located in the Roman town Pompeii, which was preserved by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. The house is named for its owners, two successful freedmen: Aulus Vettius Conviva, an Augustalis, and Aulus Vettius Restitutus. Its careful excavation has preserved almost all of the wall frescos, which were completed following the earthquake of 62 AD, in the manner art historians term the Pompeiian Fourth Style. The House of Vetti is located in region VI, near the Vesuvian Gate, bordered by the Vicolo di Mercurio and the Vicolo dei Vettii. The house is one of the largest domus in Pompeii, spanning the entire southern section of block 15. The plan is fashioned in a typical Roman domus with the exception of a tablinum, which is not included. There are twelve mythological scenes across four cubiculum and one triclinium. The house was reopened to tourists in January 2023 after two decades of restoration.
The Villa Poppaea is an ancient luxurious Roman seaside villa located in Torre Annunziata between Naples and Sorrento, in Southern Italy. It is also called the Villa Oplontis or Oplontis Villa A. as it was situated in the ancient Roman town of Oplontis.
Pompeii and Herculaneum were once thriving towns, 2,000 years ago, in the Bay of Naples. Both cities have rich histories influenced by Greeks, Oscans, Etruscans, Samnites and finally the Romans. They are most renowned for their destruction: both were buried in the AD 79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius. For over 1,500 years, these cities were left in remarkable states of preservation underneath volcanic ash, mud and rubble. The eruption obliterated the towns but in doing so, was the cause of their longevity and survival over the centuries.
The House of the Tragic Poet is a Roman house in Pompeii, Italy dating to the 2nd century BCE. The house is famous for its elaborate mosaic floors and frescoes depicting scenes from Greek mythology.
The House of Menander is one of the richest and most magnificent houses in ancient Pompeii in terms of architecture, decoration and contents, and covers a large area of about 1,800 square metres (19,000 sq ft) occupying most of its insula. Its quality means the owner must have been an aristocrat involved in politics, with great taste for art.
The House of Julia Felix, also referred to as the praedia of Julia Felix, is a large Roman property on the Via dell'Abbondanza in the city of Pompeii. It was originally the residence of Julia Felix, who converted portions of it to apartments available for rent and other parts for public use after the major earthquake in 62 AD, a precursor to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD that destroyed Pompeii.
Stabiae was an ancient city situated near the modern town of Castellammare di Stabia and approximately 4.5 km southwest of Pompeii. Like Pompeii, and being only 16 km (9.9 mi) from Mount Vesuvius, this seaside resort was largely buried by tephra ash in 79 AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius, in this case at a smaller depth of up to five metres.
Herculaneum was an ancient Roman town, located in the modern-day comune of Ercolano, Campania, Italy. Herculaneum was buried under volcanic ash and pumice in the Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
The Domus Transitoria was Roman emperor Nero's first palace damaged or destroyed by the Great Fire of Rome in 64 AD, and then extended by his Domus Aurea.
The House of Sallust was an elite residence (domus) in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii and among the most sumptuous of the city.
Several non-native societies had an influence on Ancient Pompeian culture. Historians’ interpretation of artefacts, preserved by the Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79, identify that such foreign influences came largely from Greek and Hellenistic cultures of the Eastern Mediterranean, including Egypt. Greek influences were transmitted to Pompeii via the Greek colonies in Magna Graecia, which were formed in the 8th century BC. Hellenistic influences originated from Roman commerce, and later conquest of Egypt from the 2nd century BC.
Luigi Bazzani, also called Il Bazzanetto, was an Italian painter, illustrator, and watercolorist. He was born November 8, 1836, in Bologna, Italy. Bazzani studied at Bologna's Accademia di Belle Arti then traveled to France, Germany and, eventually, Rome where he settled down in 1861 and began to specialize in genre and landscape subjects as well as set designs for theaters. Many of his paintings featured the remains of the city's monuments from classical antiquity.
The House of the Prince of Naples is a Roman domus (townhouse) located in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii near Naples, Italy. The structure is so named because the Prince and Princess of Naples attended a ceremonial excavation of selected rooms there in 1898.
The House of the Greek Epigrams is a Roman residence in the ancient town of Pompeii that was destroyed by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 CE. It is named after wall paintings with inscriptions from Greek epigrams in a small room (y) next to the peristyle.
The House of the Small Fountain, aka House of the Second Fountain or House of the Landscapes, is located in the Roman city of Pompeii and, with the rest of Pompeii, was preserved by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in or after October 79 CE. It is located on the Via di Mercurio, a street running north from the Arch of Caligula, at its crossroads with Via delle Terme, and Via della Fortuna, to Pompeii's fortification tower XI in the northwest part of the city. The street is named after a public fountain at VI.8.24 with a relief of the god, Mercury. Insula 8 is on the west side of the street. The house is named after a mosaic fountain adorned with shells at the rear of its peristyle. The property is immediately adjacent to The House of the Large Fountain, a structure with an even larger mosaic fountain adorned with shells and marble sculptures of theatrical masks excavated earlier in 1826. So the size difference between the fountains was used to distinguish the two structures.
The Stabian Baths are an ancient Roman bathing complex in Pompeii, Italy, the oldest and the largest of the 5 public baths in the city. Their original construction dates back to ca. 125 BC, making them one of the oldest bathing complexes known from the ancient world. They were remodelled and enlarged many times up to the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD.
1 2 Clarke, John R. (1991). The Houses of Roman Italy, 100 BC - A.D. 250, Ritual Space and Decoration. Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA: University California Press. ISBN0-520-07267-7.
↑ Jashemski, Wilhelmina (1979). The Gardens of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and the Villas Destroyed by Vesuvius. New Rochelle, NY. p.48.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
