2. Outside the house: Pompeii
View of Vesuvius from the Via del Foro, Pompeii.

3. Outside the house: Herculaneum
The Decumanus Maximus (main street) in Herculaneum.

4. Graffiti for an election
The walls of buildings in Pompeii carried graffiti of all sorts, some of it ‘official’, done by sign-writers working to instructions, and a lot of it was, of course, unofficial. This example was painted on the wall of a house and expressed the political allegiance of the owner of the house. It recommends that people vote for Samellius (a fine young man!) as aedile and for Lucius Albicius, also, presumably, as aedile. Two aediles were elected each year, whose responsibilities were for making sure that public services were run properly and that local taxes were spent sensibly.

5. Eumachia
This statue shows the priestess Eumachia in formal clothing. Membership of a priesthood was the peak of civic achievement for women. Eumachia was very rich, thanks to her family estates, and paid for the largest building on the forum at Pompeii. Women could not vote or stand for office, but they could own and dispose of personal wealth and had considerable influence.

6. Atrium Herculaneum – the House of the Samnite
You can see the height of the space with the opening in the roof (the compluvium) through which rain would fall and be collected in the pool at the centre of the atrium: the impluvium.

7. Household gods
Two bronze statues of Lares, the gods of the house. They hold wine pourers and dishes from which to pour offerings.
A lararium, household shrine, from the House of the Golden Cupids in Pompeii. Shrines such as this featured paintings or held statues or other religious objects connected with the house.

8. Terentius Neo, the baker, and his wife
The couple are depicted as equals in their business, their home and in Roman society. She wears fine clothing and jewellery and has a hairstyle fashionable in the 60s AD. In her left hand she holds a document made of three writing tablets and in her right a stylus. Neo holds a papyrus scroll and wears a pure white toga, identifying him as a candidate for political office. Scrolls and tablets suggested learning, influence, ambition and power.
Wooden writing tablet
Writing tablets recording business or family events were bound together into ‘books’. The largest collection of these records the business dealings of banker and businessman Lucius Caecilius Iucundus of Pompeii, a freedman (ex-slave), who grew rich from auctions, loans and leasing property. The tablet was originally covered in wax. You can still see traces of handwriting on the wood.

9. Guard dog mosaic
This mosaic panel shows a dog tethered by means of a red lead. He wears a red collar which is ornamented with white or silver beads. Mosaics were commonly found at the entrances of houses and several feature guard dogs, protecting the house. This mosaic was found in the same house as the famous cast of the dog included later in this Image bank.
Marble display table
Roman people liked to show off their wealth and status and they often had a table in the atrium displaying their finest silver to impress their guests. These display tables often had just one central support sometimes featuring a face or bust, or could be in the form of a complete sculpture. This table shows a panther, which was the favourite animal of Bacchus, god of wine.

10. Bedroom Herculaneum - the House of the Wooden Screen
Bedrooms were usually small and had no natural light. The carbonised remains of a bed can be seen.

11. Personal appearance and grooming
These objects would typically be used in the bedroom. The bronze box held cosmetics. The bone jar contained cream, removed with the fingers or a spatula. A pumice stone, still in its bronze holder, smoothed rough skin, while hair was removed with tweezers. As for men’s grooming, most shaved with folding razors like this example with a heavy, iron blade and a broad bone handle. The mirror is made of silver.
Gold necklace from Herculaneum

12. Carbonised wood cradle
Roman women, though playing an active part in society, were nevertheless responsible for child rearing. There were no nurseries or specific spaces for children in the Roman homes; instead children played, ate and slept in various rooms according to the time or season. Sadly the little occupant of this cradle, covered with a woollen blanket, died in this cradle in the eruption.
Carbonised wooden stool
This stool from Herculaneum has an upper surface decorated with inlaid wood, in an intricate geometric ‘star’ pattern.

13. The garden Pompeii – House of the Golden Cupid
The colonnade around the garden provided shade from the hot sun and shelter from rain.

14. From the House of the Golden Bracelet
This painting is from a room opening off the garden. It shows plants and birds, theatre masks hanging up, a fountain, and marble pillars with the heads of mythical characters on top of which are fitted marble panels carved with scenes and then painted.

15. Garden ornaments
The frog made of faience is a fountain spout and may have croaked as the water came out.
The basin and sundial are made of marble. The basin may be compared with the one in the painting in the previous slide.

16. Dining room Pompeii: outdoor dining area
This dining area was in a house at the back of a bar belonging to Vetutius Placidus. You can see clearly the three ‘benches’ on each of which three diners reclined. The table for food and drink was in the centre so it could be reached easily by the slaves.

17. Dining equipment
Silver jug and cups: used by the wealthy at dinner parties.
Lampstand: the four lamps burned olive oil and had a wick at each end. They would probably have cast quite a lot of light.
Face mug: perhaps used by the less wealthy or as a joke object.

18. Wall painting
Many houses had paintings showing Greek myths. These were fashionable and hinted at the cultured nature of the owner. Here is Theseus after defeating the Minotaur who lies dead on the left in the entrance to the Labyrinth. The Athenian children whom he has saved thank him.

19. A mosaic
This mosaic would probably have been on the floor of a dining room. It shows a wide variety of sea creatures all of which might have been cooked and served at dinner parties. At the centre is a lobster fighting with an octopus.

20. Kitchen Pompeii - the House of the Ephebe
The top of the stove held burning charcoal amidst which stood raised grills or pots on stands. Spare fuel could be stored underneath.

21. Kitchen equipment
The carbonised basket was probably used for storage.
The earthenware jar was for keeping and fattening dormice. The animals could run up and down the ledges at the sides and feed from the troughs at the top.
The clay pot on a stand was used for cooking. There are also bronze examples in the same shape.
Baking tin: compare with a modern example, for lasagne, perhaps.
Cake tin or egg pan: compare with modern examples.

22. Carbonised bread
The loaf is divided into sections. The stamp on one of the sections says that it was made by a slave named Celer. This slave may have worked at the bakery or was a household slave who took the raw loaf to the bakery for baking in the ovens.
Bread and figs wall painting
Compare the painted loaf with the carbonised one.

23. The victims Cast of a dog
This dog was chained up in the House of Orpheus in Pompeii and could not escape the disaster. It is from the same house as the mosaic of a guard dog shown earlier in this Image bank. The cast was made by pouring plaster into the cavity left in the hardened ashes when the dog’s body rotted away.

24. Jewellery found with a woman in Oplontis, a suburb of Pompeii
The woman who owned this jewellery is the wealthiest of the victims yet discovered. In a bag by her side she carried 100 gold and 200 silver coins, as well as jewellery including an emerald and gold necklace, a ring with a snake’s head, an armlet showing Venus and Cupid and two long ‘body chains’, a rare and sophisticated adornment.

25. Carpenter’s tools from Herculaneum
These were found near the body of a man. He was a soldier or sailor and had taken his tools with him, thinking they might turn out to be useful either for his escape or in the future. The tools include an adze for shaping wood and two chisels – you can see all three clearly in this slide. The wooden handle on the right was for a hammer.

26. Fused coins in a basket from Herculaneum
Many people fleeing the eruption decided to take objects that were valuable. This wicker basket, two-thirds full of bronze coins and a handful of silver denarii, was perhaps a morning’s takings from a shop or bar.

27. All images: © Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici
di Napoli e Pompei