HOUSE OF THE EPHEBE - POMPEII

This residential complex is situated in a side street of Via dell’Abbondanza, not far from the House of Menander, and actually comprises three building converted into one. It derives its name from the bronze statue of an Ephebe which was found in the house and was used to support oil-lamps needed to light the triclinium couches during evening receptions. Access to the house was through the second entrance-door and a Tuscan atrium which was flanked to the right by the family’s living quarters and, on the left, by the reception room and areas devoted to leisure activities and sport. Here, in addition to a few living-rooms, we find a large open triclinium which was once surrounded by a shaded garden with a fountain whose jets were forced through walls decorated with several wild animals and Nile landscape. Between the atrium and the garden there was a small triclinium with plant decorations in the middle of the floor and a still-life with a basket full of fish on the rear wall. Larger triclinium is situated opposite this wall.

 

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Just behind the Large Theatre there’s the Temple of Isis with its entrance in the street of the same name. Originally dating from between the late 2nd and early 1st centuries B.C., it was totally rebuilt after the earthquake of 62 A.D. at the expense of an ex slave who had since made his fortune. The cult of Isis became fairly wide spread during the Hellenistic era due to the religious links the Greeks had with Egypt and the Orient, and it had a particularly large following in Pompeii as the town has strong trading ties with the East. The temple stands on a tall podium situated in the centre of a porticoed courtyard. The cella, which is greater in width than in leng ... continue

(Apic. 4, 2, 12) Ingredients:

• Leftovers of cooked fish
• 5 grains pepper
• 5 leaves rue
• Liquamen (or 2 tblsp soya sauce + 2 tsp anchovy paste)
• 2 tblsp oil
• 2 eggs
• Seaweed

Instructions:
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Finely chop enough baked or boiled fish to fill a casserole dish of the size you want to use. Pulverize pepper and rue, add Liquamen, oil and raw eggs, then whip. Pour the mixture over the fish and mesh. Gently place sea nettles on top, taking care to see they do not mix with the eggs. Cook by steaming so that the seaweed ... 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.