HOUSE OF M. OBELLIUS FIRMUS - POMPEII

This house dates back to the Samnite period and was being restored when the volcano erupted. It is built around two atriums and a section of peristyle with a garden. The main atrium is tetrastyle in form, i.e. it has four Corinthian columns supporting the open roof. There is a table on a pedestal (cartibulum) in front of the entrance, between the impluvium and the large tablinum, whereas the lararium is situated in the first right-hand corner. A bronze safe – a clear sign of the family’s wealth – is solidly anchored to the ground near the living room (alae) on the right-hand side of the house. In addition to the fact that it has a tablinum, the importance of the house is also expressed by the size of the adjoining reception hall which opens out onto the peristyle through a wide doorway. A plaster cast of the door is on display. The secondary atrium, which is Tuscan and has no columns, is linked to both the first atrium and the peristyle. The tablinum is situated in this part of the house and is decorated with second style paintings, while the kitchen, which is hidden behind the corridor leading to the peristyle, is annexed to the bath-house which was heated by the kitchen oven. The house extends towards the garden and the peristyle with its three sided colonnade, where the reception rooms and sleeping areas are much smaller and still bear some traces of the fine wall decorations.

 

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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. 2, 4) Ingredients:

• 300 g minced meat (with fat)
• 100 g pine nuts
• Pepper
• Cumin
• Rue
• Parsley
• Savory
• Bay (or juniper) berries
• 2 tbsp Liquamen (or soya sauce)
• Sausage casings

Instructions:
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Cut meat and fat into chunks and place in a bowl. Sprinkle with pepper, cumin, savory, juniper berries, and liquamen. Mix with hands so that all chunks are well-coated with spice mixture. ... 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.