HOUSE OF M. EPIDIUS RUFUS - POMPEII

This large house, built in the Samnite period in the second half of the 2nd century B.C., must have belonged to Marcus Epidius Rufus or Marcus Epidius Sabinus, to judge from the number of times these two names appear in the election propaganda on the façade and on the walls of the neighbouring buildings. Outside, a two-step podium runs along the façade, an unusual architectural feature. Beyond the entrance vestibule is an atrium of Corinthian type of an imposing size, with sixteen columns with Doric capitals set around the impluvium basin in the centre. This is the most striking of the rare Corinthian atrium in Pompeii (in other words with a row of columns set along the side of the impluvium). All around were various rooms, but unlike the canonical scheme, here the ‘alae’ were at the centre of the side walls instead of at the back. They were preceded by a pair of Ionic columns and the corners piers had capitals with the heads of maenads or divinities. In the ‘ala’ of the northwest side there is a shrine which the dedicatory inscription on the podium tells us was erected by two freedman named Diadumeni in honour of the Lares and the Genius of their master Marcus, certainly one of the two public personages cited above.

 

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This residential complex is situated in a side street of Via dell’Abbondanza, not far from the House of Menander, and actually comprises three building converted into one. It derives its name from the bronze statue of an Ephebe which was found in the house and was used to support oil-lamps needed to light the triclinium couches during evening receptions. Access to the house was through the second entrance-door and a Tuscan atrium which was flanked to the right by the family’s living quarters and, on the left, by the reception room and areas devoted to leisure activities and sport. Here, in addition to a few living-rooms, we find a large open triclinium which was once ... continue

(Apic. 7, 19, 3) Ingredients:

• 500g fish fillet (e.g. salmon)
• 250ml white wine
• 500ml beef broth
• 3 leek branches (I hope branch is the correct expression...)
• 100ml oil
• Liquamen or salt, coriander, pepper, Liebstoeckl, Oregano to taste
• a little bit of starch or flour to thicken the sauce

Instructions:
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Put the fish in a pan, add Liquamen, oil, wine and broth. Chop leek
branches and coriander. Chop fillets into a kind of fish goulash.bszRC
Cook approximately 30 minutes on small to moderate heat. When well done
continue

Love was a common topic of conversation in Pompeii. Feelings, passions, poetic love, sex, homosexuality, prostitution and so forth were all part of daily life and not a source of prejudice. The concept of “obscenity” seems to have been unknown. Love and sex were considered earthly practices of a man’s life that were encouraged by the benevolence of Venus. The thousands of examples of graffiti found on the town’s walls are unequivocal proof of what the people of Pompeii thought about love and sex.