HOUSEHOLD RELIGION IN POMPEII AND HERCULANEUM

- 2.3.9 religion: temples, household gods, foreign cults, tombs

Readings

 P. Bradley, Cities of Vesuvius, pp. 171-173 *

 K. Cameron and J. Lawless, Secrets of Vesuvius, pp. 72-73 *
 B. Brennan and E. Lazer, Pompeii and Herculaneum:
Interpreting the Evidence, pp. 89-91 *
 T. Hurley, Antiquity 2, pp. 56

Activities
Using at least TWO of the readings listed, answer the following:
1. What were household gods? Include terms such as lares, penates and genius in your response.
2. What is a lararium? Describe its main features.

Practice Questions
2011 HSC
1. Using Source A and your own knowledge, what were three important features of household religion at
Pompeii and Herculaneum? (3 marks)
Source A: Photograph of a feature from the House of the Vettii at Pompeii (lararium)
2. Using Sources A and B, explain the role of lares in household religion. (3 marks)

3. Explain the main features of household religion in Pompeii and Herculaneum. In your response refer to
Sources A, B and C, and your own knowledge (6 marks)

Source A: Statuettes from the House of the Golden Cupid, Pompeii

Source B: Inscription on a lararium in the House of Gaius Julius in Pompeii, recorded in A. E. Cooley and
M. G. L. Cooley, Pompeii: A Sourcebook, p. 150

“For the wellbeing, return, and victory of Gaius Julius Philippus. Publius Cornelius Felix and Vitalis, slave of
Cuspius, made a vow here to the household spirits.”

Source C: Oxford University, Environmental Archaeology Report, http://www.arch.ox.ac.uk/EAPH.html

Small pits containing high concentrations of cremated bones and carbonized plant remains were found
in… the two peristyle gardens of the House of Amarantus. The bones include parts of piglets and the heads
and feat of cocks. The carbonized remains include stone pine cones, figs, dates, grapes and hazelnuts.
Other items include a piece of poppy-seed bread or pastry. These remains have been interpreted as
offerings to the Lares (household gods). Several classical authors refer to such offerings and they are
depicted on wall paintings at lararia in Pompeii but these are the first occasions such remains have been
found in the ground.
4. Using Source D and your own knowledge, what as the purpose of lararia for commercial businesses in
Pompeii? (3 marks)

Source D: Lararium found in the thermopolium of L. Vetutius Placidus in Pompeii

5. Explain the importance of household religion in Pompeii and Herculaneum. In your response, refer to
Sources E and F, and your own knowledge. (6 marks)

Source E: Cicero, De Domo Sua, 41.109

The most sacred, the most hallowed place on earth is the home of each and every citizen. There are his sacred
hearth and his household gods, there the very centre of his worship, religion and domestic ritual.

Source F: Lararium from the atrium of a small house in Region 1 of Pompeii