HOUSE OF THE TRAGIC POET - POMPEII

A mosaic depicting a growling dog and the well-known words of warning ‘cave canem’ (beware of the dog) is the decoration found near the entrance of this medium-sized, imperial style house opposite the Forum baths. The house has a Tuscan atrium and a peristyle with lararium situated on the rear wall. The atrium leads into the cubicula (bedrooms) and the tablinum. The house derives its name from a fine mosaic with a theatrical scene which was found in this tablinum along with paintings representing episodes from the Iliad. These finds are now exhibited at the National Archaeological Museum in Naples. To the right of the peristyle we find the triclinium whose frescoes and figured panels are still intact. The panel on the rear wall depicts Ariadne abandoned by Theseus while the panel on the left-hand wall portrays a nest of cupids.

 

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Thanks to its large size and particular typology, this house can be defined ‘Villa’. It extends over an area corresponding to two insulae, of which one-third is occupied by the building proper and two-third were used as a vegetable garden. After the earthquake of 62 A.D., the owner of this sumptuous and elegant house, Julia Felix, daughter of Spurius, decided to ease the difficulties caused by the shortage of accommodation by renting out part of the house. As the Forum Baths could be used only in part, she also opened her private bath to the public. The notice painted on the façade reads “elegant bathing facilities, shops with annexed apartments upstairs and independ ... continue

(Apic. 7, 13, 1) Ingredients:

• 200g fresh or dried dates
• 50g coarsely ground nuts or stone-pine kernels
• a little bit of salt
• honey, or red wine with honey (to stew)
• ground pepper

Instructions:
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Take the stones out of the dates and fill them with nuts or stone-pine kernels and ground pepper. Sprinkle a bit of salt on the filled dates and stew them in honey or honey-sweetened red wine. The dates have to be cooked in on low heat until their paring starts to come off (approximately 5-10 minutes).

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.