12 Ancient History Core Study

Houses in Pompeii and Herculaneum

Painted wall from the House of the Dioscuri, Pompeii (also known as the House of Castor and Pollux)

• This is an example of the type of floor to ceiling painting of the walls in many of the rooms in the House of the Dioscuri. A painting of Castor and Pollux gave the house its name. Like Hercules, Castor and Pollux were Greek mythological characters adopted by the Romans. Known to the Greeks as Dioscuri (Dioskouri), the twin sons of Zeus and Leda, became identified with the constellation we know as Gemini. The painting of the Dioscuri has been removed from the house and is now in the National Museum, Naples.

• This image shows the upper part of a wall in a room off the Corinthian atrium. As well as the mythological figures and architectural features, the frescoes include small but exquisite landscapes and seascapes, one of which can be found toward the bottom of this slide. Note the modern roof erected to protect the painted walls.

Painted wall from the House of the Dioscuri, Pompeii (also known as the House of Castor and Pollux)

Viridarium, House of the Dioscuri, Pompeii (also known as the House of Castor and Pollux

• This shrine in the form of a miniature temple is found in the viridarium (garden) in the House of the Dioscuri. Along the roofline of the garden wall, the original terracotta tiles are still in place, but covered with rubble and weeds.

• The column on the left is typical of the columns used throughout the house: the upper part has fluted white stucco, the lower part is clad with smooth red stucco. Note the makeshift scaffolding supporting the column on the right, which has lost most of its stucco.

• When the House of the Dioscuri was excavated in the 1830s, it so inspired Ludwig I of Bavaria, who visited the site, that he commissioned a replica to be built in Aschaffenburg where it became a tourist attraction.

Peristyle, House of the Dioscuri, Pompeii (also known as the House of Castor and Pollux)

• The House of the Dioscuri is one of the most luxurious houses in Pompeii. It is actually two houses joined together, covering one third of a city block. The walls of the major rooms are richly decorated in the Fourth Style of Pompeiian painting featuring mythological and allegorical scenes. The house is named after a painting of Castor and Pollux, known to the Greeks as the Dioscuri or Dioskouri.

• The house is laid out around an atrium which opens onto a tablinium (reception room) and the viridarium (garden) beyond. To the right, the atrium opens onto the peristyle surrounding another garden shown in this image.

• The two-tone columns are used throughout the house. The three damaged columns with part of their stucco cladding missing, clearly show the core of curved bricks. Note the plastered and painted walls behind the columns.

Peristyle, House of the Dioscuri, Pompeii (also known as the House of Castor and Pollux)

House of the Beautiful Courtyard, Herculaneum

• In this house the atrium has been replaced with a courtyard and staircase leading to the upper floor.

• Note the remnants of painted plaster on the wall and the lower section of the balustrade. Note also the different materials used in the wall behind the balcony.

Garden of the House of the Stags, Herculaneum

• This house is named after a pair of marble statues, each showing a stag being attacked by hunting dogs. Other statues found in the house include ‘Satyr with wineskin’ and ‘Drunken Hercules’.

• The House of the Stags was one of the more ‘modern’ houses in Herculaneum, having been built around 25 years before the eruption of AD 79. The house was designed to suit the site, which looks south to the sea. The dining room looks onto the garden through the large doorway in the centre of the slide. Across the marble terrace (behind the viewer) is a roofed pergola, additional rooms and a sun terrace overlooking the bay.  

House of the Mosaic Atrium, Herculaneum

• This image shows the garden of the House of the Mosaic Atrium, one of the best-preserved houses in Herculaneum. The marble pool, now overgrown with alocasia, contains a fountain, which was in working order in the 1980s.

• To provide shelter from the cold winter winds, the porticoes around the garden were enclosed, with windows to allow in air and sunlight. The larger windows in the west- facing portico had panes of glass set into wooden frames.

House of the Trellis, Herculaneum (also known as House of Craticium)

• This modest building has many interesting features. It contains a shop, workshop and courtyard downstairs, and two small flats or apartments upstairs, one accessible from the courtyard, the other accessible from the street. The two families who lived here shared the same cistern. Many of their possessions have been found, including wooden beds, cupboards and household shrines.

• The house gets its name from the method of construction, opus cratium, which is where a flimsy lattice or trellis framework of wood or reeds is covered with a mixture of rubble, earth and plaster. This cheap method of construction was commonly used for adding upstairs rooms or second storeys, but this is the only known example of the method being used for a whole building.

• Note the wall of solidified mud at the end of the street and the modern houses above it.