I.6.2 House of the Cryptoporticus; Casa Del Crirtoportico; Casa Omerica; House of T. Lucretius Carus

Province

Location

Location Description

An ancient city of Campania destroyed by the volcanic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in A.D. 79, Pompeii was named as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.

Sublocation

Region I

Insula

Insula VI

Keywords

Garden

House of the Cryptoporticus; Casa Del Crirtoportico; Casa Omerica; House of T. Lucretius Carus.

Garden Description

A. A passageway from the atrium led to a modest peristyle garden visible through a window in the rear wall. A low wall enclosed the garden on the north and east sides along with five brick columns covered with white stucco and a pillar supporting the roof of the portico. A large, well preserved wall painting survived on the west wall of the north portico as well as a niche lararium decorated with a painted bust of Mercury. From the garden a flight of stairs led down to an elegant cryptoporticus (underground portico) illuminated by light from the adjacent garden through high windows. A solarium terrace, or loggia, overlooking the large garden could be reached by another flight of stairs form the east portico.

B. At the rear of the house, a large enclosed garden had been increased in size by reducing the wings of the cryptoporticus. The last owner had built a spacious loggia (5 x 20 m.) above the north wing of the cryptoporticus overlooking the garden. A high wall joined the five pillars and the roof supporting pilaster and formed windows into the garden. At the west end of the loggia was a masonry triclinium with side couches, each having a fulcrum (foot), (l. medius 4.41m.; l.summus and l. imus 4.68 m.; dia. of table 0.55m.). A large area was left open for tables or dancers, suggesting to Spinoza that this could have been a public gathering place. There were low seats in front of the side couches and extended along the terrace walls that may have been intended for children according to Soprano. A kitchen was located on the north side of the loggia. Six steps from the southeast corner of the loggia led up into the garden which had been raised to the level of the windows in the cryptoporticus. Della Corte thought that this garden had been used to raise many cabbages and leeks. The remains of eleven victims of the volcanic eruption were found in the garden.

Dates

Excavated 1911-1929.

Bibliography

Della Corte, M. NSc (1914), pp. 74-75, 228.
Fiorelli, G. 1875. Descrizione di Pompei, pp. 452-453. (worldcat)
Jashemski, W.F. 1993, Gardens of Pompeii: Herculaneum and the villas destroyed by Vesuvius. Vol. II, Appendices, pp. 33-34. (worldcat)
Maiuri, A. 1933. NSc, pp. 256, 258-259, 272 and pl. 5 (plan).
Prina Ricotti, S.P. Cucine Romana a Pompei E Come Eseguirle, pp. 268-271.
Soprano, P. 1950, 'I triclini all’aperto di Pompei', In Pompeiana, raccolta di studi per il secondo centenario degli scavi di Pompei, Napoli, Gaetano Macchiaroli, Editore, pp. 294-295, no. 4 and fig. 30. (worldcat)
Spinazzola, V. 1914. NSc, pp. 256, 259-262, 287, 365-368.
Spinazzola, V. 1910-1923, Pompei alla luce degli Scavi Nuovi di Via dell'Abbondanza, pp. 121-122, 442, 444-445, 451, 453. (worldcat)
Viola, L. 1879. Gli scavi di Pompei dal 1873 al 1878, p. 16.

Publication date

21 Apr 2021