GLADIATORS’ BARRACKS - POMPEII

In the latter years of Pompeii the four-sided colonnade rising up behind the Theatre was used as the barracks of the organisation of gladiators who performed in the town. Along the wings of the colonnade and on the first floor were the rooms which provided accommodation for the gladiators from other towns. Paraments, helmets and arms belonging to the gladiators were found in many of the rooms. The four-sided colonnade with its 74 Doric columns was originally used as an extension of the theatre: for example, the public could go there for something to eat (performances often lasted most of the day) or to take shelter from the rain. It is likely that for a few years this space was used both by the theatre and as the headquarters of an organisation responsible for the sporting, intellectual and military training of the town’s youth.

 

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The residential section of this complex is a particularly luxurious building which, although not exceptionally big, boasts the largest garden in Pompeii. The garden has recently been restored and planted with the species of three which are thought to have originally been grown in it. The house has a large atrium with numerous bed chambers (cubicula) arranged all round it and its impluvium is surrounded by a low masonry flower bed. The cubiculum which is reached by turning left from the entrance hall contains a stove for baking terra-cotta pots. A bronze seal found near the stove suggests the house belonged to a certain D. Octavius Quartius, whilst until recently the ... continue

(Apic. ) Ingredients:

• 1 fresh chicken (approx. 1-1.5 kg)
• 300 g minced meat (half beef, half pork)
• 100 g groats (of oat)
• 2 eggs
• 250 ml white wine
• 1 tblsp oil
• 1 tblsp privet
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground pepper
• 1 tsp green peppercorns
• 50 g stone-pine kernels
• Liquamen or salt to taste

Instructions:
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Mesh ground pepper, privet, ginger, minced meat and cooked groats. Add eggs and mix until you have a smooth mass. Season with Liquamen, add oi ... 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.