Search this site

Navigation Pompeii > Regio IX > Reg IX, Ins 13 >

Home
News and Views
House of C. Julius Polybius
History
Gods and Goddesses
Date and Time
Description of the House (Reg IX, Ins 13, 3)
Timeline
The Roman House
Earning a Living The house, excavated in 1913 and again between 1966 and
Leisure Activities
1978, dates from the 2nd century BC. Situated on the north
Infrastructure
side of the Via dell'Abbondanza, the house has two
Vesuvius entrances (a and b on the plan), leading to two separate
Tragedy
vestibules (c and d) which, in turn, give access to two
Counting the Dead
distinct parts of the house.
..
Pompeii
Map of Pompeii
Regio I
Regio II
Regio III
Regio V
Regio VI
Regio VII
Regio VIII
Regio IX
Reg IX, Ins 1
Reg IX, Ins 3
Reg IX, Ins 5
Reg IX, Ins 7
Reg IX, Ins 8
..
Reg IX, Ins 9
The west side of the house, off vestibule (d),
Reg IX, Ins 12
Reg IX, Ins 13
probably contained the servants quarters. It
House of C.
only has a few rooms on the ground floor but
Julius Polybius does have access to the upper storey. Unlike
Reg IX, Ins 14 the east side, however, it does not have
Public Buildings direct access to the peristyle (j) at the rear of
Principal Streets the property.
Shops and Businesses ...
The City Gates Fauces (a) is decorated in a mix of styles -
The Necropoleis the upper part is decorated in the first style
Villas outside the Walls with red and yellow blocks capped with a
Herculaneum white cornice above a lower fourth style
Map of Herculaneum frieze of imitation marble panels.
Insula II
Insula III The decoration of vestibule (c) (pictured left
Insula IV looking north towards the atrium) echoes that
of the fauces. The upper decoration is
Insula V
predominantly in the first style with ashlar
Insula VI
blocks capped with a notched cornice above
Insula VII
plain plaster, all over a lower black decorated
Insula oI
frieze. There is a false door to the left of the
Insula oII
raised entrance to the atrium, presumably to
Suburban District
visually balance the real door to the right.
'Basilica'
Northwest Insula
The atrium (e), which has a central
.. impluvium, has rooms off all four sides. In the
Theatre
Villa of the Papyri
atrium there are the remains of a cornice
(pictured left and below), but in the main the
Stabiae
walls are simply dressed in coarse white
Villa San Marco
plaster.
Villa of the Shepherd
..
Villa Arianna
The 'Second Complex'
Villa of Anteros and
Hercules
Villa Carmiano
Villa Petraro
Oplontis
Villa of Poppaea
Villa of L. Crassius Tertius
 Boscoreale
Villa Regina
Villa Pisanella
Villa of Publius Fannius
Synistor
Neighbouring Area
Boscotrecase
Murecine
Somma Vesuviana
Terzigno
Torre del Greco
The Writing on the Wall
Dramatis Personae
Since the Re-discovery
Links and Video Clips
Bibliography
Appendix A
Appendix B
..
Appendix C
The rooms off this atrium had once been lavishly decorated,
Appendix D
mainly in the first and second styles but those on the east
Appendix E
side appear to have been covered over with coarse white
Appendix F
plaster and used for storage.
Appendix G
..
Appendix H
..
Appendix J
Appendix K
Appendix L
Appendix M
Appendix N
Appendix O
Appendix I - Vitruvius V, I
Appendix II - Vitruvius V,
VI
Appendix III - Peutinger
Map
Further Reading
Contact Us
Guestbook
Glossary
Sitemap

Photo Gallery ..
Cubiculum (f) off the south west corner of the atrium is
View our photo
gallery. It holds decorated in the second style (pictured above) with purple
over 3,400 and yellow blocks below a notched cornice, all above a
photos, maps lower frieze of imitation marble. The neighbouring room,
and plans that
have been
cubiculum (g) (pictured opposite), is decorated in the fourth
grouped by style with yellow panels with ornamental borders above a
source into lower purple frieze all below an upper red zone decorated
more than 300 albums. with garlands.
The gallery is maintained on
.. ..
Picasa, which currently only The central room (h) on the west side of the
allows album searching using atrium is decorated in the fourth style with
the 10 most used tags. To view white and yellow panels with ornamental
photos from a particular
building, therefore, we would borders above a lower black frieze (pictured
advise using Fotofeed on the left). The wall between this room and the
appropriate page of this site. adjoining room (i) is rather flimsy as it was
built of opus craticium - this wall has only
Unique Visitors
been partially rebuilt to show the nature of
this construction method.

A short corridor off the north side of the

atrium leads through to the peristyle. The
corridor has a flight of stairs on its right side
leading to the upper floor.
..
The peristyle (pictured left) is porticoed on
three sides with a central garden (j). The
.. ambulatories are decorated in the third style
with white panels containing small pictures of
landscapes, birds, animals and fruits above a
lower black frieze.
Android App ..

Try our mobile

Android app. The
app covers
general details of
the eruption and
provides a
detailed
description of all
properties to be seen in
Herculaneum, Stabiae,
Boscoreale and Oplontis.

Books

Books that may be of interest

for further reading.

Utilities

..
In the east portico can be seen reproductions of a pair of
wooden cupboards based on remains of similar cupboards
found in the house (pictured below and in greater detail
opposite).
..
Vesuvius Watch ..
The current level of alert from The cubiculum (k) on the south side of the
the Vesuvius Observatory is: peristyle is decorated in the fourth style with
black panels containing medallions and
BASIC LEVEL
floating figures above a lower black frieze.
Chance of eruption: very low. ..
Check it out for yourself.

..
The cubiculum (l) off the south west corner of the peristyle is
decorated in the third style (pictured right) with white central
panels containing mythological scenes flanked by yellow
side panels separated by architectural themes on a black
ground above a black lower frieze. The upper zone (pictured
below) has architectural motifs and figures on a white
ground.
.

..
The triclinium (m) off the north west corner of
the peristyle is decorated in the third style
with alternating panels of red and black
above a lower decorative black frieze
(pictured lower left after its recent
renovation). The central panel on the east
wall consists of a large painting of the
Punishment of Dirce (pictured below), but the
rest of the walls appear to be unfinished.
..

..
..
The entire house seems to have been in a state of flux in
the years after the earthquake of AD62 and the triclinium
reflects this with the condition of its decoration and the
mixture of finds in the room. (The finds included a fine
bronze statue of Apollo, the remains of three bronze lamps,
and at least fifteen bronze vessels, mainly large containers
and pouring vessels and an assortment of tableware).

Off the south east corner of the triclinium is a suite of two ..

rooms (n), an outer reception room and an inner cubiculum
which have all the appearance of a 'master suite'. The
location of a 'master suite' off a main reception room can be
seen in several other houses in Pompeii (eg the House of
the Vettii). These rooms would allow the patron of the house
a more intimate area to receive his close friends and
associates. The outer room, which also opens directly off
the peristyle, is fairly plain, decorated in the third style with
garlands on a white ground above a lower black frieze. The
rear wall of the inner cubiculum has the same basic theme,
but the white central area is more elaborately decorated with
the inclusion of small landscapes. The side walls of this
room outwith the area of the bed recess are decorated with
large yellow panels above a lower black frieze.

The oecus (o) is decorated in the fourth style with white

panels containing mythological scenes and still lifes below
an upper frieze of architectural elements (pictured right and
below). The vaulted ceiling is also decorated on a white
ground with still lifes and landscapes.
..

..

..
The oecus (p) (pictured opposite) in the north east corner of
the peristyle is virtually a negative image of oecus (o), and is
decorated in the third style with black panels below a frieze
of architectural motifs. The vaulted ceiling is decorated on a
black ground with an intricate geometric design with
garlands and figures. The decoration of both walls and
ceiling suggests that there was an antechamber at the
southern end of the room. Remains of beds were found
along the north and west walls of the room. The skeletons of
at least six people were found on or near these beds. ..
.. In the west side of the house, vestibule (d) is
undecorated, the walls being coated with a
layer of coarse white plaster. On the west
wall are two small windows, each with an
 iron grill, that overlook the lane to the west. A
third window on this wall belongs to an upper
storey room which also overlooked the lane.
This upper floor was accessed by way of a
flight of stairs immediately to the east of
fauces (b).

On the north side of vestibule (d) (pictured

upper left) room (q), which was probably
originally intended to be the tablinum, is
decorated in the fourth style with red panels
ornamented by borders above a lower black
frieze. The central panels are decorated with
still lifes while the side panels contain small
medallions. The north wall of the room has a
window overlooking the small kitchen court
(r) to the north (pictured left).
..
The kitchen court (r), which has a central
impluvium with a travertine puteal, is plainly
decorated with white walls above a lower red
frieze. In the north west corner of the court a
flight of stairs leads to the upper floor which
has a balcony (pictured lower left)
overlooking the court below.
..

..

..

..
Opening off the west side of the court is a rather cramped
kitchen (pictured right and lower right). The room is lit by a
small round window in its eastern wall. The kitchen, along
with much of the house, has recently been renovated and
has been kitted out with appropriate kitchenware.

Adjacent to the entrance to the kitchen is a large painted

lararium (in the left of the picture opposite and shown
enlarged below). A graffito was found in front of this lararium
giving greetings to a certain C. Julius Philippus.
..

..
The only other room to open off the kitchen
court lies on the north side. The room (s) is
decorated in the fourth style with white
panels bordered in red above a lower red
frieze. Most of its southern wall is occupied
 by a window overlooking the court.
..
A connecting corridor off the east side of the
court connects this part of the house with the
main atrium (e).

A video reconstruction of the house is available (click the 'View' button). To view the film full
View
screen right click on the video and select 'Zoom', then 'Full Screen'. (Note: the video requires
Microsoft Media Player).

* Images ©Jackie and Bob Dunn are reproduced by permission from their website at www.pompeiiinpictures.com
(Su concessione del Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali: Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di
Napoli e Pompei)

Home........,....<.Previous House in Regio ..............Insula 13...............Next House in Regio.>.,..........Glossary

Privacy Policy Site by Peter and Michael Clements Copyright:

Sign in | Report Abuse | Print Page | Powered By Google Sites