House of Pansa (VI,6,1) The Ionic capitals of the porticoed garden date the dwelling to 140-120 BC; it has an ‘atrium style’ layout, based on the entrance-atrium-tablinum axis, and occupies the entire block. Colored stones and brick fragments pave the sidewalk in front of the entrance and the vestibule. According to the notice painted in...Read More

House of the Vettii (VI,15,1) Campaign slogans and two signet rings tell us that this domus belonged to the Vettii, wealthy freedmen: renovated in the 1st cent. AD, it centers around the peristyle. The paintings at the entrance highlight wishes of prosperity in cursive style: especially noticeable is the figure of Priapus, god of fertility,...Read More

House of the wild boar (VII,4,48) The original layout remained through later remodeling, with ‘fourth style’ decorations completed immediately prior to the eruption in 79 AD. The house has the typical “atrium style” plan, based on the entrance-atrium-tablinum axis, sumptuously organized so that the guest would become aware of the host’s social status immediately upon...Read More

House of the Ceii (I,6,15) The owner may have been L. Ceius Secundus, mentioned in a campaign message painted on the house’s façade. It has a simple layout: the entrance leads to the atrium, from which the other rooms open out; at the back, a corridor between the triclinium and tablinum leads to the yard....Read More

House of the Lararium of Achilles (I,6,4) The opus quadratum façade shows how ancient this house is: the earthquake of 62 AD forced renovations that were still in progress at the time of the eruption. Delightful ‘fourth style’ decorations, figurative paintings with a mythological theme and still lifes, brighten the rooms. The lararium ‘of Achilles’...Read More

House of Octavius Quartio (II,2,2) The house, also known as that of Loreio Tiburtino, belonged to D. Octavius Quartio, as evidenced by the signet ring found at the entrance. It partly retains its original layout (2nd cent. BC): the bedrooms (cubicula) and a triclinium open onto the atrium, the heart of the dwelling. The side...Read More

House of the Venus Marina (II,3,3) Damaged by one of the bombs that fell on Pompeii in 1943, and uncovered in 1952, this house seems to be built over an older one, with a larger peristyle and triclinium and new arrangement of the rooms, which go almost all the way around the garden. The house...Read More

House of the Faun (VI,12,2) With its 3000m² it is the largest house in Pompeii: built over a previous dwelling at the beginning of the 2nd century BC, its current form is the result of subsequent alterations. The entrance on the left leads directly into the public section, the door on the right to the...Read More

The roman house The patrician house was called a domus. After you crossed the threhold, a hallway led into the atrium, which was a spacious courtyard that in early antiquity was the heart of the house. Later the center of domestic life passed to the inner garden with a porch running around it, called the...Read More