VILLA OF DIOMEDES - POMPEII

This sumptuous villa was built just out-side the Porta Ercolano gate in sight of the town walls. An entrance on Via dei Sepolcri led straight into the 14-column peristyle around which the various rooms and living quarters of the house were situated. The house’s bath area was situated in a triangular space between the road and the peristyle while the triclinium/living room opposite commanded a view over the Gulf of Naples and the large garden below. In the centre of the garden was an open-air triclinium with a swimming pool surrounded by a covered gallery (cryptoporticus). Here the master of the house, with his ‘treasure’ of 1356 sesterces, and other 18 people, mainly heavily bejewelled woman, met their death as they tried to flee during the eruption. Their remains were found when the villa was excavated between 1771 and 1774

 

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The discovery of the statue of Doriphorus, the symbol of youth and strength and a roman copy of the original of Polycletus, led early archaeologists to define this space with its surrounding colonnades beside the Large Theatre as a gymnasium (palestra). However, it was actually the headquarters of a military association of noble Pompeian youths who used to train here for parades and official competitions. The limited space available meant that certain kinds of training probably took place in the adjoining area of the Triangular Forum. The building dates back to the 2nd century B.C. and is enclosed by tuff-stone Doric columns on three sides only as, after the earthqu ... continue

(Apic. 7, 13, 8) Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 271 ml milk
• 1 ounce oil
• a little bit ground pepper

Instructions:
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Mix eggs, milk and oil until you have a pancake dough. Fry in a pan and serve topped with a little bit of pepper.

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.