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Brief Guide to Herculaneum

5. Guides do not work forthe Soprintendenza. They areofficial and authorized by theRegione Campania. They haveto show their licence underrequest.6. It is forbidden the access

7. Smoking is not permitted. 8. Pets are not allowed.

People with motor difficultiesand heart problems should be especially careful.

We suggest that you wearlow-heeled shoes on yourvisit.

Visitors are informed that anaudio tour service, authorizedby the Soprintendenza, isavailable.

*from the Regulations forvisitors to the Excavations (n. 213 dated 22.01.01)

Rules for visiting the excavations

Welcome to the Vesuvianarchaeological areas.

In the archaeological areas the law D. lgs 81/08 is applied according to the historical and archaeological important heritage protection rules and restrictions, especially in the archaeological Vesuvian area.We especially ask you tofollow the rules* below for amore enjoyable and safer stay:

1. Be extremely careful whenmoving about. Do not standon the edge of the digs orclimb the walls.2. Please respect all entranceand access restrictions.3. Please show respectfulbehavior, refraining frommaking unnecessary noise,writing on the walls, andlittering. Please place allgarbage in the containersprovided.4. Photographs and moviefilming are authorized solelyfor private use; you mustcontact the Soprintendenzabefore filming with tripods,flash and artificial lighting, orfor any commercial use.

with purses, backpacks and any type of lugagge.

during the Augustan period,when many public buildingswere built or heavily restored,including the Theatre, theBasilica of Nonius Balbus, theacqueduct, the system ofpublic fountains and thecastella aquarum, the templesof the Sacred Area, theSuburban Baths, the CentralBaths, the Palaestra.The disastrous earthquake in62 AD made many buildingshazardous, and Vespasianfinanced the restoration ofthe so-called Basilica (built inClaudian times) and of thetemple, not yet uncovered,located near the palaestra anddedicated to the MagnaMater, but many otherrestorations arearchaeologically documented.The city was relatively modestin size. It has beenhypothesized that the overallsurface enclosed by the wallswas approximately 20hectares, for a population ofapproximately 4000inhabitants; only 4.5 hectaresare visibly open, while a fewimportant public or residentialbuildings, uncovered withtunnels in the eighteenthcentury, are inaccessible today(the Basilica of Nonius Balbus,

Dyonisus of Halicarnassusattributed the founding ofHerculaneum to Heraclesreturning from Iberia, whileStrabo reports that the cityfirst belonged to the Oscans,then the Etruscans andPelasgians, and finally theSamnites. Like Pompeii andStabiae, Herculaneum was alsoforced to enter the orbit ofthe Nocera confederation.When it rebelled againstRome during the Social War, itwas attacked and conqueredin 89 BC by the envoy of Silla,Titus Didius, and wasthereafter involved in themunicipalization process thataffected all of central-southernItaly.The city, equipped with onlymodest walls, was built on avolcanic plateau, on a sheercliff over the sea at the footof Vesuvius, limited by twostreams in the east and west.Two river bays formednatural, safe harbours.Trials of deep excavations inseveral points seem toindicate that the city layout,divided into regular lots, wasnot planned until the first halfof the 4th cent. BC. A profound renewal ofconstruction struck the city

Brief history of the ancient city and the excavations

The limited size of thearchaeological park and thelack, in the uncovered sector,of many of the buildings andplaces that normally made upthe civil and religious panoplyof monuments of a small cityof Roman Italy in the 1st cent.AD (temples, public buildings,even the forum itself), at afirst hurried glance mightdiscourage a visit toHerculaneum, to theadvantage of the betterknown, larger andmonumental Pompeii.However, the particulardynamics of the burial ofHerculaneum - covered byflows of pyroclastic rock thatsolidified to an average heightof approximately 16 meters -has led to a phenomenon ofpreservation that is absolutelyoriginal and nothing at all likePompeii, providing us withorganic artifacts (plants,fabrics, furniture and structuralparts of wooden buildings,even the boat recovered fromthe ancient marina in 1982),but also and especially theupper floors of the buildings,and with them a precise ideaof volumes and buildingtechniques.

the so-called Basilica) or arelocated outside thearchaeological park (theTheatre and the Villa of thePapyri).The city layout appears to bedivided along at least three“decumani” (only two ofwhich have been fullyuncovered), intersected by fivecornerstones perpendicular tothe decumani and to thecoastline: the third, fourth andfifth are fully uncovered.The digs began atHerculaneum in 1738, andcontinued using the techniqueof underground tunnels andexploratory and ventilationshafts until 1828, when the“open-air” digs wereauthorized, and carried outuntil 1875. After a very longinterruption, in 1927 AmedeoMaiuri began the work oncemore, and continued to leadthe digs until 1958. Additionalwork was done in 1961, inthe northern sector of InsulaVI and along the main streetor “Decumanus Maximus”,while the last twenty yearshave concentrated onexploring the ancientshoreline, corresponding tothe southernmost strip of thearchaeological area.

Brief history of the ancient city and the excavationss

1 These are vaulted rooms (port warehousesand boat storage) that open onto the beach,in the imposing support structures of theterrace above. In these, since they werediscovered by G. Maggi in the spring of 1980,approximately 300 human skeletons havebeen found, terrible evidence of the eruptionin 79 AD: here, along with any valuables theywere able to recover, especially necklaces andcoins, had sought escape the people ofHerculaneum who escaped to the shore,where they were killed by the hightemperature caused by the blazing cloudsexploding from the volcano. In the same area(summer 1982) were found a well-preservedRoman boat, 9 m long, and the skeletons ofthe so-called rower and of a soldier, with belt,two swords, scalpels and a bag of coins. In Roman times, the coast of Herculaneummust have been much closer ; indeed, oneeffect of the earthquake in 79 AD was to sinkit at approximately 4 m, and the materialerupting from Vesuvius added a strip of landto the sea, approximately 400 m wide.

Barrel Arches

2 Climbing the ramp against the walls bringsyou into a large rectangular piazza, in front ofthe complex of the Suburban Baths. Herestands the funeral altar, covered with marble,which by decree of the local senate wasdedicated to the senator M. Nonius Balbus,praetor and proconsul of the provinces ofCrete and Cyrene, tribune of the plebes in 32BC and partisan of Octavian, the future‘Augustus’ (27 BC.-14 AD). M. Nonius Balbusdid good service towards the city ofHerculaneum by restoring and building manypublic buildings: at least 10 statues wereerected in his honor, and great honorsbestowed upon his death, recalled in the longinscription engraved on the face of the funeralaltar facing the sea. On the marble base nextto the funeral altar was the armored statue ofM. Nonius Balbus himself, also made ofmarble: the head was already found during theexcavations led by A. Maiuri, while the largefragment of the bust was recovered in 1981.

Terrace of M. Nonius Balbus

3 Built between the walls and the sea in the early1st cent. AD, this bath complex is one of thebest preserved in ancient times. The half-columned portal with tympanum leadsinto the vestibule with impluvium*, bordered by4 columns; water sprays into the circularfountain from the herm (portrait on thepilaster). The vestibule opens to the right,through a corridor, onto a waiting room with afloor in signinum opus*, and to the praefurnium(oven for heating). The bathing rooms as suchinclude the frigidarium (cold bathing room),with a floor of white marble slabs and frescoesin fourth style*, the tepidarium, with a floor ofslate slabs and stuccoes on the walls depictingwarriors, the caldarium (hot bathing room),with walls decorated in fourth style*. In this room one can see the impression of thelabrum (tub for ablutions) in the volcanicmaterial that came in through the window,which violently tore the basin from its support.Finally, the eastern sector of the bath complexincludes an apsidal room, with a ‘pool’ heatedusing the ‘samovar’ system (a receptacle placedin the center of the room, below which the firewas lit directly), and the laconicum (steam bathroom), with a black mosaic floor on a whitebackground.

Suburban Baths

4 The western sector of the South Terrace,supported by heavy vaulted structures, isoccupied by a Sacred Area containing variousrooms and two temples side by side,dedicated to Venus and four divinities,respectively. Here, as recalled by an inscription,the board of Venerii held its meetings. Two mythological frescoes were detachedfrom the first vaulted room after entering theSacred Area; the second was instead thesource of two headless statues of women intogas, and a marble ara dedicated to Venus bya libertus of the Marii family. Architecturalterracottas from a previous renovation havealso been found in the area.

Sacred area

5 Completely restored after the earthquake in62 AD by Vibidia Saturninus and his son A. Furius Saturninus, this small temple isdedicated to Venus. It is preceded by a marble-covered altar, and had a vestibule (pronaos)with grooved and stuccoed tufa columns, nowstacked nearby; the vaulted cell contains theremains of frescoes with a garden motif: in the painted panel to the left of the entrancewe can recognize a rudder, an attribute ofVenus-Fortuna who guided sailors.

Sacellum of Venus

6 Restored after the earthquake in 62 AD, thetemple is dedicated to four divinities, asevidenced by the lovely archaistic reliefs,perhaps from the Augustan period (27 BC-14AD), recently found and originally fastened tothe front side of the podium standing at theback of the cell. These depict Minerva,Neptune, Mercury and Volcano, all divinitiesrelated to the world of manufacture, tradeand crafts. The floor of the pronaos (vestibule)and the Corinthian columns are made ofcipolline marble; the cell floor is in sectileopus*. Part of the wooden structure of theroof was recently recovered, dragged onto thebeach below by the force of the eruption.

Sacellum of the four Gods

7 With the adjacent House of the Gem, itformed a complex that may have belongedto M. Nonius Balbus, and is the second largestin Herculaneum (1800 m2 verified). Built in ascenic position, on the slop leading down tothe marina, the house was built on threelevels and held a rich collection of sculpturesof the neo-Attic school, including the reliefwith the myth of Telephus, son of Hercules(mythical founder of the city). The structurecurrent dates from the Augustan period (27 BC-14 AD), and was remodelled afterthe earthquake in 62 AD. The atrium is similarto a peristyle*, with columns supporting notthe slopes of the roof, but the rooms of theupper floor, as in certain Greek houses.Between the columns hang the plaster castsof the marble oscilla found here (discs ormasks, generally in a Dionysian theme, usedto ward off evil).

House of Relief of Telephus

8 Finding a loaf of bread with the stamp ofCeler, slave of Q. Granius Verus freed shortlybefore the eruption in 79 AD, has made itpossible to identify the owner of the house.The atrium is small, without a compluvium* butwith a gallery and servants' rooms on theupper floor: to the right a corridor leads tothe triclinium*, kitchen and an alcove, withfourth style* decoration and a marble floor; to the left is the large complex of publicrooms. The windowed cryptoporticus, withwhite mosaic floor with colored marble shardsand frescoed walls, encloses the large gardenwhere the diggers found round marble tablesand statues of deers attacked by dogs, theSatyr with a wineskin, a drunken Hercules(originals in the Antiquarium). Aligned with thegarden and emphasized by the tympanum,with a blue glass paste mosaic depictingCherubs riding sea animals and the head ofOceanus, is a large sitting room with a sectileopus* floor and fourth style* frescoes; it isfollowed by the scenic terrace overlooking thesea, preceded by rooms with floor of prizedsectile opus*.

House of the Deers

9 This thermopolium stands out among thenumerous shops in the area for two reasons:the half-buried dolium (jar) near the hearth, inwhich some walnuts were found, and the smallpantry covered with signinum opus, located infront of the counter. The painted Priapusbehind the bar kept the evil eye away. From the shop the owner could directly enterhis home, with 4-columned atrium and anupper floor. The thermopolia were public diningestablishments that served hot food anddrinks (whence the Greek-style name): it was customary to lunch (prandium=middaymeal) outside the home.

Taberna of Priapus

10 This is a pub with a marble-covered counter,in which dolia (jars) are inserted. On thestaggered shelves, also covered with marble,were stored the containers for serving foodand drink. On the partition in the back roomare a painting of a ship and some graffiti,including a Greek maxim saying: “Diogenes, thecynic, in seeing a woman swept away by ariver, exclaimed: “Let one ill be carried away byanother.” The taberna is connected to a smallatrium-style dwelling, with two rooms frescoedin ‘fourth style’*, partly preserved.

Large Taberna

11 Opening onto Decumanus Inferior, the tabernais made up of a single room, with themezzanine (pergula) used as living quarters. It does not have a sales counter, and the eastand west walls have two shelves; in the back isthe latrine, closed by a brick partition. Here numerous wine amphorae were found,all of the same type and with an inscription inblack Greek characters. It is therefore thoughtnot to have been a ‘tavern’ for the sale of aspecial wine, carried only in a certain type ofamphora, but a shop selling amphorae andother terracotta items that weremanufactured in great quantities in the manyworkshops of ancient Roman Campania.

Taberna Vasaria

12 This gigantic building complex, used primarilyfor sporting activities, was built in theAugustan period (27 BC-14 AD). Developedon two terraces, the building has only beenpartly uncovered. One enters from Cardo Vthrough the monumental vestibule, marked bytwo columns, mistakenly identified in the pastas the temple of the Mater Deum. The lowerterrace is made up of a large area withporticos on three sides and a cryptoporticuson the north side to support the terraceabove. The long rectangular tub (fish-breedingpond) alongside the cryptoporticus was latereliminated and replaced by the large cross-shaped tub with the bronze fountain depictingLerna's Hydra (a mythical, monstrous, many-headed snake: original in the Antiquarium). A series of rooms open along the westernside of the portico, including the vast,rectangular apsidal hall, nearly 10 m high, witha niche at the back and marble table to beused in ceremonies of worship.

Palaestra

13 This is a rather poor dwelling, unadorned,made up of small rooms, but with a very largegarden, probably annexed to the originalresidence during a later remodelling phase,sometime after the earthquake in 62 AD. The long, narrow entrance leads into a landingthat opens into the few residential rooms ofthe home. Among these, worthy of note is alarge oecus (living room) in which the walls,perhaps blackened due to the work donehere during the final stage of life in the house,still has remains of ‘second style’* frescoes,with Nile landscape scenes. The house leads toa craftsman's shop (IV,32), with a smalllararium on the back wall.

House with Garden

14 The name derives from the lovely half-columned portal, with brick lintel and cornice,built after the earthquake in 62 AD, but whichreuses the Hellenistic tufa capitals symbolizingVictory. The dwelling, whose unusual layoutcomes from an expansion of the building atthe expense of the peristyle of the adjacent‘Samnite house’, has the remains of groovedtufa columns and 2 pilasters with half-columnsstill encased in the walls, in their originalposition. Worthy of note within the dwellingare the ‘fourth style’* frescoes; the smallcourtyard to the left of the entrance that gavethe illusion of a yard, through the gardenpaintings that decorated the walls; thetriclinium*, with the panel depicting Silenusseated between two satyrs, observing Ariadneand Dionysus.

House with large Portal

15 There are many shops along the northernsection of Cardo V (the widest of the 3uncovered); they are long and narrow, andtheir mezzanines were used as living quarters.Among these are the city's only two knownpistrina (bakeries), both equipped with twomillstones and smaller than those of Pompeii;the many manual millstones found in the digsalso inform us that, in Herculaneum, mostpeople ground their own flour at home. The pistor (baker) Sex. Patulcus Felix is theowner of the pistrinum at n. 8, as evidenced bya signet ring found here. The oven (builtbehind the apsidal room of the Palaestra) wasprotected from the evil eye by two stuccophalluses at the entrance: the same onesappear on a slab in the laboratory. The 25 round bronze baking pans found inthe back room of the shop were used forbaking the flat loaves (placentae).

Pistrinum of sex. Patulcus Felix

16 This is one of the most ancient residences,medium sized, expanded with an upper floor.It has an entrance with twin brick columnsand the atrium with three brick Corinthiancolumns on either side, while the signinumopus* floor is decorated with shards ofpolychrome marble; a low pluteus runsbetween the columns and borders theimpluvium*, which has a fountain with a marbleeuripus (tub). In the room to the right of theentrance is a mosaic of walls with toweringbattlements; the diaeta (living room) retains itscoffered ceiling, painted in ‘fourth style’* likethe walls of this and the other rooms.

House of the Corinthian Atrium

17 This shop, with a long counter of reusedlimestone blocks, belonged to a blacksmith or‘welder’ (plumbarius); here we can see thesmelting crucible and a few terracotta vatsused to cool the forged pieces. Lead ingots,sections of piping, a bronze candelabrum, anda statuette in the process of being repaired,representing Bacchus with damascening(decorations) in gold, silver, and copper. Also note the wooden loft, still partlypreserved.

Plumbarius Shop

18 An archive of 20 wax tablets, found in a room,informs us about the rich libertus* L. VenidiusEnnychus, who either lived in the house ormanaged it on behalf of the owner. The entrance still has its frame, architrave andpart of the door of carbonized wood. The house follows the sequence vestibule,atrium, tablinum*, peristyle*: the latter has ablack mosaic floor and columns arranged sothat the garden could be seen from therooms. The ‘black room’, on the western sideof the peristyle*, and the two diaetae (livingrooms), are painted in a sophisticated ‘fourthstyle’*: in the ‘black room’, with its whitemosaic floor, excavators found a marble tableand a prized wooden lararium (aedicula), withmarble capitals (now at the Antiquarium). On a half column of the peristyle*, near thetablinum*, was graffiti listing the price (11 as)for purging a cesspool: exemta ste(14r)coraa(ssibus) XI.

House of the Black Room

19 The pilaster at the entrance bear the paintedsign, depicting four pitchers (cucumae the namehas remained in a few dialects) of differentcolors, with the drinks sold here and a listing ofthe price of wine. At the top instead hoversthe figure of Semo Sancus, a divinity oftencompared to Hercules and who was said toprotect business, with the inscription adSancum. The panel at the bottom with theinscription NOLA in red letters is theannouncement of a show: unusually, here wecan also read the name of who wrote it:scr(i)ptor Aprilis a Capua. The shop may havebeen a caupona (inn), where drinks and foodwere served: in Roman cities it was notcustomary to have lunch (prandium=middaymeal) at home.

Cucumas Shop

20 Among the many shops of the area, this one isespecially interesting due to the wooden loftand upper mezzanine accessible by means of astaircase, in which we can see the collapsedcarbonized beam.

Shop

21 The original core of the dwelling (Republicanperiod), centered around the atrium with itsfloor in signinum opus*, was remodeled in theAugustan period (27 BC-14 AD): that mayhave been when the peristyle* (the ‘Tuscancolonnade’) was added, incorporating anadjacent house, the impluvium* covered withmarble, some floors renovated with mosaicsor sectile opus*, the walls decorated in a lovely‘third style’*, which in the oecus (living room)still hold two paintings, depicting a seatedMaenad preceded and Pan conversing withtwo women, respectively. The tablinum*(restored after the earthquake in 62 AD) haspanels painted red and blue, with an Apollo inthe upper area: other examples of ‘fourthstyle’* are found in the triclinium* and in acubiculum (bedroom). From the upper floorcomes a small treasure of coins, worth 1,400sesterces, and a bronze seal.

House of the Tuscan Colonnade

22 Characteristic and very widespread, thethermopolia were public establishments thatserved hot food and drinks (whence theGreek-style name): it was not customary tohave lunch (prandium=midday meal) at home.This is a typical, simple structure: one room opening onto the road, with a bricktap - often decorated - into which were sunkthe dolia (jars) containing the goods: at times,one could sit down in the back rooms to eatone's meal. In this thermopolium, note thedense tunnels dug in the Bourbon period, torecover archeological material.

Thermopolium

23 A small rectangular sacellum with podium inthe back wall, facing the Decumanus Maximus,probably related to worship at the adjacentHall of the Augustals.

Sacellum

24 For the liberta (freed slaves), becomingAugustals meant entering into the dynamics ofupward mobility. Their ‘board’, dedicated toworshipping the emperor Augustus, held itsmeetings in the area of the Forum, where allpolitical, religious and commercial life took place.This is a building with a quadrangular layout, withwalls separated by blind arches and four centralcolumns: the floor is in signinum opus*; that ofthe upper floor was in opus spicatum (bricksarranged in a herringbone pattern). Later, a cellwas built aligned with the entrance, which partlyretains its original floor and wainscoting coveredwith marble, and ‘fourth style’* frescoes: on theleft wall is depicted the entrance of Hercules inthe Olympus, accompanied by Jupiter, in theform of a rainbow, Juno and Minerva; the oneon the right alludes instead to the battlebetween Hercules and the Etruscan godAcheloo. In the back, to the right of thesacellum, is the caretaker's room in opuscraticium*, whose skeleton was found lying onthe bed. An inscription now placed on the wallreminds us that the building, dedicated toAugustus (27 BC-14 AD) while still living, wasbuilt by the brothers A. Lucius Proculus and A. Lucius Iulianus, who offered a luncheon to themembers of the municipal senate and theAugustals on its inauguration day.

Hall of the Augustals

25 The lovely façade, almost entirely in opusreticulatum*, on the gate has a terracottaGorgon mask against the evil eye. There wasan upper floor extending for the length of thehouse, with light provided by two atria: one, infront of the entrance, tetrastyle (with its roofsupported by four columns); the other, fartherinside, with impluvium* and two well-heads,which also acted as a garden. Note the smallwindow in the façade, one of which still has itsoriginal ironwork.

Double Atrium House

26 The Central Baths, located in 1873 and fullyuncovered in 1931, have the typical divisioninto men's and women's sectors. This bathfacility, originally fed by a large well, was builtduring the second half of the 1st cent. BC. The entrance to the men's section is in CardoIII. A corridor leads to the apodyterium(dressing room), with niches for storing one'sgarments; west of here is the circularfrigidarium (cold bathing room), with red wallsand four niches painted yellow beneath theblue dome; to the east we instead find thetepidarium (warm room), with a black-and-white mosaic depicting a Triton (sea god)among dolphins, an octopus, squid and acherub with a whip, and the apsidal caldarium(hot room).

Men's Baths

27 The women's section of the Central Baths isentered from Cardo IV. Passing a waiting roomwith masonry seats along the walls, one entersthe apodyterium (changing room) with astrigilate barrel vault, and where we find the‘final version’ of the mosaic with Triton presentin the men's section. This is followed by thetepidarium (warm room), with shelves forstoring garments and its meandering mosaicfloor, and the caldarium (hot room), withvaulted ceiling and two sumptuous seats, oneof white marble, the other dark red. Behind these rooms are the heating furnaceand the well, which drew water from 8.25 mdeep. To the south the bath complex isconnected to the palaestra, an outdoorcourtyard surrounded by porticos, with brickIonic columns covered with stuccoes.

Women's Baths

28 The currently visible building dates from themiddle of the 1st cent. AD, but from itsprevious existence it still retains the ‘secondstyle’* wall decorations at the entrance and ina room to the east of the tablinum*. Thebuilding's layout is rather unusual: the atrium isreplaced by an interior, mosaic-embellishedcourtyard, which acts as a landing leading tothe various rooms that open onto it, andcontaining a staircase, with a gallery paintedwith ornamental motifs, leading to the upperfloor. The remodelling, perhaps related to achange in the building's function (a boardingschool?), also led to the creation of newmosaic floors in the tablinum* and theadjacent room, which was also painted in ‘thirdstyle’*. On the back wall of the large sittingroom, perhaps used for group meals, are twoneo-Attic marble reliefs representing Dawnand Dusk, found in fragments along Cardo V.

House of the Beautiful Courtyard

29 This dwelling draws one's attention due to therich decoration of the summer triclinium*,glimpsed even through the window of thetablinum* aligned with the entrance. The conventional name of the residencederives from the glass paste wall mosaicdepicting Neptune and Amphitrite, whichadorns the east wall of the room, while thenorth side is occupied by a nymphaeum, alsocovered with a glass paste mosaic, with shellsand lava foam and topped with marbletheatrical masks. Above the niche area is thetank that fed the fountain. In the lararium(aedicula) of the atrium were discovered twoshattered marble slabs painted with red lines,one of which bearing the artist's signature inGreek: “Alexander of Athens painted”.

House of Neptune and Amphitrite

30 This food shop is annexed to the House ofNeptune and Amphitrite, whose good state ofpreservation it shares: in addition, the collapseof part of the ceiling allows us to observe thekitchen and a few of the rooms on the upperfloor of the house. The shop is completelyfurnished in wood: shelves, a transenna loft forwine amphorae, and a partition.

Shop

31 This dwelling, built in the 2nd cent. BC.,originally occupied all of the south side ofinsula V. Its currently visible appearance is theresult of changes made over time. The residence at first ceded its garden spaceto the adjacent House with Large Portal(V,35) then, after the earthquake in 62 AD,the rooms on the upper floor were separatedfrom the house and rented out, creating anindependent entrance at n. 2. The lovely viewframes the portal topped by tufa capitalssupporting the wooden architrave: theentrance is decorated in ‘first style’*, with acoffered ‘second style’* ceiling. The splendidHellenistic-style atrium, with walls paintedover in ‘fourth style’*, is crowned at the topby an arcade closed on three sides by falsecolumns and transenna, with one open side.The floor is signinum opus*, dotted withwhite tiles, while that of the tablinum* isadorned with a rosette of diamond shapescentered around a round copper tile. During the final remodelling, the impluvium*was covered with marble and a room paintedwith a green background, with the paintingdepicting the rape of Europa.

Samnite House

32 The residence opens onto the street with twodoors, one of which is raised, and is the resultof combining two separate ancient houses,connected by means of an entrance openingonto the vestibule. In one room is the paintingwith Ariadne abandoned, the only one left bythe first Bourbon diggers. From the vestibule,descending two steps, one enters a secondand larger vestibule onto which opens atriclinium*, with preserved wooden beds andtwo windows with wooden frames and ironbars still in place, as well as a triclinium* withfair remains of the marble floor (sectile opus*).A corridor with mosaic floor leads to an outof the way apsidal room (alcove), preceded bya vestibule.

House of the Alcove

33 This is an aristocratic residence built in ascenic position, elegant in both its painteddecorations and architectural space. Theconventional name derives from thegeometric black-and-white mosaic, with acheckerboard motif in the atrium, while thevestibule is inspired by the coffered ceilings.The ancient tablinum*, aligned with theentrance, was converted into a hall with threenaves, similar to a basilica (oecus Aegyptius), aroom of extraordinary architecturalsignificance that represents the only knownexample thus far discovered throughout theVesuvian area. The garden, with its marble-covered fountain, is surrounded on three sidesby porticos, and a windowed veranda on thenorth side: its floor is of sectile opus* and thewalls bear figurative ‘fourth style’* paintings, asin the rest of the house.

House of the Mosaic Atrium

34 A small dwelling centered around aTuscanicum style atrium (roof supported bybeams), with signinum opus* floor, a centraltufa tub, walls decorated with ‘third style’*paintings. This room displays the casting of thebronze herm (portrait on pilaster) of thehomeowner. Of great interest are thetablinum*, for its sectile opus* floor, and thetriclinium* behind, which retains paintingsrenovated during the ‘fourth style’* period,among which the most outstanding is aseascape painting.

House of the Bronze Herm

35 This is a boarding house, with the upper floorintended for use by several families, builtalmost entirely of opus craticium*, a low-costtechnique considered not to be very solid andeasily subject to fire, which in Pompeii is neverused for supporting walls, while it is triedexperimentally in Herculaneum - a more'advanced' town, more open to innovationsfrom nearby Neapolis. The balcony over thestreet, supported by brick Ionic columns,partly holds a room of the separate first floorapartment, with its own entrance at n. 13.Numbers 14 and 15 lead instead into thehouse on the ground floor and the adjacentshop. This residence is the source ofconspicuous carbonized remains of woodenbeds, wardrobes and a portrait.

Trellis House

36 The entrance to the dwelling is flanked by twomasonry seats, a waiting room for clientes (the‘protégés’ of a gens, or family). The conventional name derives from thewooden partition, a sort of folding gate thatshields the atrium towards the tablinum*, tomaintain privacy. The partition has profiledpanels with rings and supports for hanging oil-lamps. The floor of the large atrium is signinumopus* decorated with white tiles, dating fromthe most ancient stage of the residence. The marble covering of the impluvium* tub,the wall paintings and the geometric mosaic ofthe room to the right of the entrance dateinstead from a restoration from approximatelythe mid-1st cent. AD. Behind the tablinum isthe area of the peristyle*, which extends tothe western edge of the insula III on Cardo III.

House of the Wooden Partition

37 In the years prior to the eruption in 79 AD,shops were created in the side rooms of theHouse of the Wooden Partition. Among theseis the one at n. 10: this is the shop of a fabricmerchant (lanarius), inside of which one canobserve the only remaining example of awooden screw press (torcular or pressorium),used to iron clothes. A staircase leads to thecraftsman's small dwelling, consisting of tworooms, created over the vestibule of theHouse of the Wooden Partition.

Lanarius Shop

38 The thermopolia were public diningestablishments that served hot food anddrinks (whence the Greek-style name): it was not customary to have lunch(prandium=midday meal) at home. This is atypical, simple structure: one room openingonto the road, with a brick counter decoratedwith marble or terracotta slabs, into whichwere sunk the dolia (jars) containing thegoods: at times, one could sit down in theback rooms to eat one's meal. Manyamphorae were found in the back room ofthis thermopolium, one of which bore aninscription painted by a Herculaneumcraftsman: M. Livi Alcimi Herclani.

Thermopolium

39 Uncovered between 1828 and 1850, thishouse is accessible only through its backentrance, with small portico, which opensonto Cardo III at n. 3; the main entrance wasinstead supposed to open onto Cardo II, buthas not been uncovered, since the dwelling isstill largely buried beneath modern-day VicoMare. The conventional name derives from astatuette found here, depicting a Genius(protective idol of people, places, activities),which was part of a marble candelabrum.Among the rooms, note the large and elegantperistyle* with its central marble-coveredfountain, and the floor of signinum opus* andmosaic.

House of the Genius

40 The main entrance of the house opened ontoCardo II (not uncovered); today one enterseither through an opening made by theBourbons in the north wall of the atrium ofthe adjacent House of Aristides, or through itssecondary entrance at n. 2 along Cardo III. The name comes from the painting, no longerpresent, depicting Argus guarding Io, thenymph beloved by Zeus and turned into aheifer. Onto the large three-armed peristyle*with stuccoed columns open the triclinium*and other residential rooms and, on thewestern side, the passage through a second,smaller peristyle, whose columns are partlyvisible through the partially reopened Bourbontunnels. The upper floor, lost after the open-airdigs were abandoned in 1875, had smallrooms used as a warehouse and facing theporticoed garden: here the excavators foundan actual pantry, with flower and loaves readyto bake, as well as terracotta jars containingspelt, legumes, olives, almonds, and fruit.

House of Argus

41 Travelling north along Cardo III, this is the firstbuilding we come across, protruding towardsthe marina. The Bourbon diggers passedthrough this dwelling to carry the valuablefurnishings from the nearby Villa of the Papyrito the surface. The conventional name comesfrom a statue found in that sumptuousresidence, mistakenly identified as representingAristides (an Athenian politician), although itactually depicted Aeschines, a famous Athenianemperor. The atrium and adjacent rooms arebuilt of opus reticulatum*, against what is nowVico Mare, on the extreme slopes of the hillof Herculaneum. The residential complex restson a powerful support structure of opuscaementicium*, with a surface of bricks andopus reticulatum*.

House of Aristides

42 The front of the building was explored by C.Bonucci in 1830-1831, who found a skeletonon the upper floor, but the excavation wascompleted by A. Maiuri in 1927. The currentlayout combines three existing houses in anelongated shape, of which the central one hasa covered atrium. The nymphaeum to the leftof the entrance has the back wall coveredwith lava, imitating opus quadratum*, and amosaic-covered frieze. A mosaic lararium isalso present in a small courtyard, protected bya metal grate. A few rooms have floors insectile opus* and frescoed walls.

House of the Skeleton

43 Built in the Augustan period (27 BC-14 AD),the dwelling develops to the south with ascenic terrace extending out towards the sea,and supported by vaulted structures, in whichrooms were created with floors of signinumopus* and sectile opus*. The excavation wasundertaken by C. Bonucci (1852), but notcompleted until the 1930s by A. Maiuri.Because of its large size (2,150 m2) and thepresence of spa facilities, it was identified as aninn. The most ancient elements belong to thebaths themselves, decorated with frescoesfrom the late ‘second style’* and black-and-white mosaic floors. The western wing of thelarge peristyle* and some of the attachedrooms have a mosaic floor; the portico behindthe garden is supported by heavy pilasters ofopus vittatum mixtum (alternating rows ofbrick and squared blocks).

Inn House

Papyri Villa and Insulae septentrionales

The area of the New Excavations opens upinto the heart of the modern city of Ercolano.There are several monumental sites onlypartly excavated: 1) a part of the Insulaeseptentrionales including structures stillbelonging to the city, among which thethermal complex with a pool heated by a“samovar” system; 2) a small area of thesuburban Villa dei Papiri (Papyri Villa),investigated by tunnels in the 1700s, of whichthe vestibule area, a part of the first floor anda curvilinear forepart belonging to a secondlevel, already noted by the 18th centuryplanimetry, have been recently excavated; 3)the collapsed remains of a monumentalstructure, probably the seaside entrance of aresidential complex. The decorated femalestatue imitating those of the Greek ClassicAge and the head of Amazon, a replica of theoriginal attributed to the Greek sculptorPolicleto (circa middle of the fifth centuryB.C.), come from this area.

44 45 46 47

building technique with squarewooden frames filled withcrushed rocks, boundtogether with lime and mudopus incertum: buildingtechnique in which thestructure was made up of 2outer beds of medium-sizedstones - all the same kind ormixed - and filled with opuscaementicium*opus latericium: buildingtechnique with a core of opuscaementicium*, in which tilesor bricks of different sizeswere laid in regular,overlapping rows opus quadratum: buildingtechnique in which squareblocks were laid in regularashlar courses, without mortaropus reticulatum: buildingtechnique with a core of opuscaementicium*, covered withsmall pyramidal blocksarranged with their pointsembedded in the wall andexposed square bases forminga net-like diagonal patternperistyle: garden surroundedby a colonnade of porticossecond style: painted walldecoration (early 1st centuryBC - 20 BC), also known as‘architectural’, which recallssome elements of 'first style'*- not with stucco, but using

Glossary

bi-triclinium: dining room,where people ate lying oncouches along 2-3 sides of theroomcompluvium: opening in thecenter of the roof of theatrium in the house, whichconveyed water into theimpluvium*first style: painted walldecoration (3rd cent. BC - early 1st cent. BC), alsoknown as ‘structural’, whichimitates stucco architecturalelements decorated to imitatemarblefourth style: painted walldecoration (second half of the1st cent. AD), also known as‘fantastic’, which expands thearchitectural imagination ofthe ‘second style’* and thedecorative tone of the ‘thirdstyle’*impluvium: a low basin inthe center of a householdatrium, into which rainwaterflowed down from the roofthrough the compluvium* libertus: freed slave, whosechildren were free citizensopus caementicium:building technique in whichthe mortar was made up of amixture of sand or crushedstones and limeopus craticium: economical

Glossary

lines painted artistically, makingthem more complex andrealistic, with regard toperspective sectile opus: decoration offloors or walls with marbletiles that outline geometric orfigurative patternssigninum opus: powderedterracotta, mixed with limeand sand, used to cover floorsand walls to keep outmoisture tablinum: a public room ofthe home, between theatrium and the peristyle*third style: painted walldecoration (20 BC-50 AD),also known as ‘ornamental’,that divides the surface intoprecise vertical and horizontalsections by means of plant orlinear architectural elements,in the center of which aredecorative motifs anddecorated panels

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Luciano Romano

Castellammare di Stabiawww.nleditore.itStudio Essepi, Milan

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