VIII.7.1. Caupona

Province

Italia
Italia (Pleiades)

Location

Pompeii
Pompeii (Pleiades)

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 VIII

Insula

Insula VII

Keywords

Garden Description

This caupona, excavated in 1874, had a garden (a) across the back with a low wall on the east and a gutter that ran beside it, most of this covered by a roofed passageway. The northwest corner had a shallow pool, 1.87 x 0.55 m. from which water drained to a into a round basin 0.50 m. dia. on the southeast. Mau thought perhaps this had been a cistern opening. The west wall had a garden painting on the north side. A description by Mau is the only record remaining of this painting, for it was poorly preserved and has since completely deteriorated. The painting was divided into three sections by painted pilasters joined by a fence which formed an apse in the center panel containing a vase shaped marble fountain. Two birds perched on the fence either side of the fountain facing it, the bird on the right was identified as a peacock. Both side panels had a hydria standing on the center fence post and Mau surmised that a bird would have been perched on the fence on either side of the hydria, although only one image of a pigeon survived. A lush garden grew in back of the fence with birds flying across a blue sky above. A little shield and mask hung from the center of the pediment of the center panel and from the arch above each of the side panels. There was a closed up doorway in the south wall which once led to the pomerium. This ancient pomerium was situated between the south wall of this house and the city wall, closed near the Porta di Stabia by a wall and entered through a gate. Soil had been piled obliquely against the wall with high ridges running north-south and smaller ridges diagonally, forming squares. Mau suggested that the high ridges were planted and the low ridges slowed the flow of water in the depressions.

Plans

Fig.23, Plan of Region VIII, Insula VII

Fig.23, Plan of Region VIII, Insula VII

Images

Fig.24, 9.34.66 (Stanley Jashemski, Jashemski Archives, University of Maryland)

Fig.24, 9.34.66 (Stanley Jashemski, Jashemski Archives, University of Maryland)

Fig.25, 9.35.66 (Stanley Jashemski, Jashemski Archives, University of Maryland)

Fig.25, 9.35.66 (Stanley Jashemski, Jashemski Archives, University of Maryland)

Fig.26, 10.2.66 (Stanley Jashemski, Jashemski Archives, University of Maryland)

Fig.26, 10.2.66 (Stanley Jashemski, Jashemski Archives, University of Maryland)

Pleiades ID

432873

TGN ID

7031897

Excavation Dates

1874

Bibliography

  • Grimal, Les jardins romains, 3rd ed. pp. 457-459, no. 31 (address given as VIII.viii.1) (worldcat)
  • Jashemski, Gardens, vol. II, pp. 220, 365 (worldcat)
  • Mau, Bullettino dell'Instituto di Corrispondenza Archeologica (1875), pp. 127-128, 169 (worldcat)
  • Niccolini, Le case ed i monumenti di Pompei designati e descritti, vol. 2, “Descr. gen,” p. 68 (worldcat)
  • Schefold, Die Wande Pompejis, p. 230 (worldcat)
  • Soliano, Le pitture murali campane scoverte negli anni 1867-1879. In Pompei e la regione sotterrata dal Vesuvio nel'anno LXXIX, p. 224, no. 695 (address given as VIII.viii.1) (worldcat)

Contributor

Wilhelmina Jashemski (https://lib.guides.umd.edu/c.php?g=326514&p=2193250)

Publication date

21 Apr 2021