HOUSE OF M. EPIDIUS RUFUS - POMPEII

This large house, built in the Samnite period in the second half of the 2nd century B.C., must have belonged to Marcus Epidius Rufus or Marcus Epidius Sabinus, to judge from the number of times these two names appear in the election propaganda on the façade and on the walls of the neighbouring buildings. Outside, a two-step podium runs along the façade, an unusual architectural feature. Beyond the entrance vestibule is an atrium of Corinthian type of an imposing size, with sixteen columns with Doric capitals set around the impluvium basin in the centre. This is the most striking of the rare Corinthian atrium in Pompeii (in other words with a row of columns set along the side of the impluvium). All around were various rooms, but unlike the canonical scheme, here the ‘alae’ were at the centre of the side walls instead of at the back. They were preceded by a pair of Ionic columns and the corners piers had capitals with the heads of maenads or divinities. In the ‘ala’ of the northwest side there is a shrine which the dedicatory inscription on the podium tells us was erected by two freedman named Diadumeni in honour of the Lares and the Genius of their master Marcus, certainly one of the two public personages cited above.

 

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The house belonged to Quintus Poppaeus, on of the Poppaeus family to whom Nero’s second wife, Poppaea Sabina, most probably belonged. It extends over 2,000 square metres and reflects the traditional layout of a roman house, with its atrium and peristyle as well as servant quarters and a bath-house. Before admiring the large peristyle it is worth stopping briefly in the atrium, where the lararium is situated in the right-hand corner, and in the room to the left where the walls are frescoed with a triptych inspired by the Trojan war. On the right we can see the death of Laocoon who, along with his children, was strangled by a snake; to the right, Cassandra resist abdu ... continue

(Apic. 9, 10, 5) Ingredients:

• Tuna fish fillets
• 3 tbsp strong vinegar
• 9 tbsp olive oil
• 4 finely chopped shallots
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp lovage seeds
• 25 g fresh mint

Instructions:
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Put all of the vinaigrette ingredients into a jar and shake well to blend them together. Brush your tuna fillets with oil, pepper and salt, then grill them on one side over a hot barbecue. Turn them and brush the roasted side with the vinaigrette. Repeat. The tuna flesh should be pink inside so don't let it overcook. Serve ... 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.