Neither the decoration, renewed in the second style and without paintings, nor the arrangement of the rooms (Fig. 144) requires extended comment. There are two atriums, the smaller with the domestic apartments being at the left and entered directly from the street. The fauces of the other are of unusual width, being about two fifths of the width of the atrium. The alae are at the middle of the sides, as in the house of Epidius Rufus and the smaller atrium of the house of the Faun. At the sides of the tablinum are large windows opening into two dining rooms, which are entered from the peristyle.

More than a third of the plot enclosed by the peristyle is taken up by a deep rectangular basin for fish. At the rear are apparently other rooms, adjusted to the slope of the ground, which, however, have not yet been excavated.

It will, perhaps, be easier to appreciate the stately character of the pre-Roman atriums if we give a few of the dimensions which were used in making our restoration (Fig. 145).

The atrium is 41 by 29 feet. The tablinum measures 13 feet 9 inches between the three-quarter columns which stand, in place of the usual pilasters, at the entrance; it is thus half as wide as the atrium. The height of the tablinum at the entrance is 18 feet 6 inches; according to the proportions given by Vitruvius it should be 15 feet 4 inches.

The alae and fauces also exceed the dimensions presented by the Roman architect, the former being 12⅔ feet wide and 16¼ feet high, while the height of the broad fauces, 17½ feet, is only a trifle less than that of the tablinum.

The height of the walls of the atrium is easily determined with the help of the data before us; and the arrangement of the roof over the fauces, atrium, tablinum, and colonnade of the peristyle must have been very similar to that shown in our restoration. The entablature seen over the entrance of the left ala is restored in accordance with the architectural forms commonly used in the period when the house was built.

Both the three-quarter columns and the pilasters present a peculiarity of construction found also in other houses, but not easy to explain. The former appear as half-columns on the side of the tablinum, but present fully three fourths of their breadth on the side of the atrium. The pilasters at the entrances of the alae and fauces have, on the inside, a good proportion, the breadth being about one eighth of the height; but on the outside, toward the atrium, they are much more slender.

A well designed scroll pattern appears in the black and white mosaic floor of the fauces, which, as often in Pompeian houses, slopes gently toward the street. The floor of the atrium is made of black mosaic with pieces of colored marble arranged in rows, and white stripes at the edges. The base of a shrine for the household gods stands against the right wall. In the first room at the right was an alcove for a bed opposite the door; the ceiling of the alcove, in the form of a vault, was lower than that of the rest of the room.

CHAPTER XXXVIII
THE HOUSE OF THE SILVER WEDDING

Among the more interesting of the large houses excavated in the last decade is the house of the Silver Wedding, which marks the limit of excavation in the fifth Region (V. ii. a on Plan VI). The main part was cleared in 1892 (Fig. 8); and in April, 1893, in connection with the festivities with which the Silver Wedding of the King and Queen of Italy was celebrated, a special excavation was made in one of the rooms, in the presence of their Majesties and of their imperial guests, the Emperor and Empress of Germany. Portions of the house are still covered, the façade, the inner end of the oecus, and the greater part of an extensive garden on the left side.

Notwithstanding the extent of the house—the greatest length is not far from 150 feet, the breadth of the excavated portion 130—and the number of apartments, the plan is simple (Fig. 146). From the fauces (a) we pass into a tetrastyle atrium (d), the largest of its kind yet discovered, with alae on either side and a high tablinum (o). Back of this is a Rhodian peristyle, at the rear of which is an exedra (y) with sleeping rooms at the right and the left (x, z). Opening into the rear of the peristyle on one side is the oecus (4), on the other a long dining room (w).

Another series of apartments lay between the peristyle and the garden at the right (2), a kitchen (s), and a bath (t-v). In front of the garden and extending to the street is a small house (α-ι) which had been joined to the larger establishment; it was connected with this by a small door under the stairs in the corner of the atrium (β), which opened into a side room (e) of the large atrium.

The essential parts of the house date from the Tufa Period. Alterations were made from time to time in the course of the two centuries during which it was occupied, but they were not so extensive as to obscure the original plan. The most obvious changes were those affecting the wall decoration.

In the small rooms at the right of the atrium are traces of the decoration of the first style, which was in vogue when the house was built. Toward the end of the Republic almost the whole interior was redecorated in the second style, but without paintings. Brilliant blocks and panels dating from this renovation may still be seen upon the upper part of the walls of the atrium and on those of the oecus, the exedra, the two bedrooms next to the exedra, and the front part of the long apodyterium.

Afterwards a few rooms were done over in the third style, of which scanty remains are found.

Lastly, after the fourth style had come into vogue, but before 60 A.D.—as shown by an inscription on a column of the peristyle—a large part of the house was redecorated in the fourth style, including the tablinum, the andron and the room at the right (q), the peristyle, the long dining room (w), and the inner portion of the apodyterium. The lower part of the walls of the atrium were also painted over, but with designs and coloring that harmonized well with the decoration of the second style above. In this house the history of Pompeian wall decoration can be followed from the century after the Second Punic War to the middle of the first century of our era, from the time of Cato the Elder to that of Claudius and Nero. There are few paintings, however, and they are not of special interest.

In marked contrast with the atriums in the house of the Faun and the other houses which we have examined, the atrium here had a relatively large compluvium (Fig. 147); all parts of the room must have been brilliantly lighted. In summer some kind of protection against the sun was a necessity. It was probably afforded by hanging curtains between the columns; on the side of each column, facing the corner of the atrium, is a bronze ring through which a cord might have been passed to use in drawing the curtains back and forth. The large compluvium with its supporting columns suggests the arrangement of the Corinthian atrium.

The dimensions of the atrium are monumental. The length is approximately 54 feet, the breadth 40; and the Corinthian columns of tufa coated with stucco, are 22¾ feet high.

At the rear of the impluvium is a fluted cistern curb of white marble (seen in Fig. 8). In the impluvium near the edge is the square pedestal of a fountain figure, which threw a jet into a round marble basin in front.

The doors of the rooms at the sides of the atrium were originally more than thirteen feet high; those which we now see are comparatively low. The height was reduced because a second floor was placed in the rooms, thus making low chambers, which were reached by three stairways, one (g) at the right of the atrium, the other two (k and m) on the opposite side. The upper rooms were lighted by small windows, part of which opened into the atrium, others upon the garden on the left side of the house. These changes were completed before the atrium received its decoration in the second style. There was no second story over the alae, the tablinum, or the rooms about the peristyle. In the left ala was once a large window opening on the garden, but it was afterwards walled up (p. 259).

The curtain fastenings on the pilasters at the front of the tablinum have been referred to in another connection (p. 256). The arrangement of the rooms at the sides is not unlike that in the house of Sallust; one, n, retained its original form; the other was divided up into an andron (p), with a bedroom (q) at one side.

The peristyle is remarkably well preserved. We find not only the columns in their full height, but also, except on the north side, large portions of the entablature, with its stucco ornamentation intact, supported on a line of planks placed upon the columns at the time of excavation; and the decoration of the walls retains much of its brilliancy of coloring.

The colonnade of this peristyle has been mentioned elsewhere as illustrating the Rhodian form (p. 260). The difference in height between the colonnade in front and on the other three sides was accentuated in the decoration. On the walls in front are large red panels separated by architectural designs on a yellow background; the walls under the lower part of the colonnade were painted with black panels, the designs of the narrow intermediate sections being on a white background. The lower third of the columns in front was yellow; at the sides and rear, dark red, like that on the lower part of the high columns in the atrium. Thus a pleasing contrast was made between the portions of the colonnade designed to receive the sunshine, particularly in winter, and the shadier parts; and the higher front served as an intermediate member between the lofty atrium with its stately tablinum and the lower rear division of the house.

The ornamentation of the architrave retains no trace of the decorative forms in vogue at the time when it was constructed. The surface, moulded in stucco, is divided into sections, corresponding with the capitals and intercolumniations, as in the colonnade of the Stabian Baths (Fig. 89); in these sections are small figures of birds and animals and other suitable designs, the effect being heightened by the use of color.

That the decoration of the peristyle received its present form before the earthquake is evident from an inscription scratched upon the plaster of one of the columns on the north side:

'In the consulship of Nero and of Cossus Lentulus the son of Cossus,' that is 60 A.D. The dates given in the rest of the inscription are difficult to explain, and the reading of the number after Luna is uncertain. The memorandum seems to indicate that the eighth day before the Ides of February in this year was the market day at Cumae, being Sunday and the sixteenth day after the New Moon; and that the market day at Pompeii came three days later. The inscription is the earliest yet found in which a day of the week is named in connection with a date.

The garden plot enclosed by the peristyle was watered by means of two jets at the front corners, fed by pipes under the floor. In the middle was a slight elevation on which were found two crocodiles, a huge toad, and a frog of a whitish glazed earthenware, apparently made in Egypt. The figures are about sixteen inches long.

Each of the bedrooms at the rear had an alcove for a bed, the ceiling being vaulted over the alcove, flat between this and the door; a distinction between the two parts of the room was made also in the wall decoration and in the floor, of black and white mosaic. The frescoing on the walls of the sleeping rooms presents a brilliant variety of colors; the decoration of the exedra is in yellow. One of the bedrooms has a small side door (p. 261). In the large dining room at the right (w) the place for the table is indicated by an ornamental design in the mosaic floor; in the oecus (4) the part of the room designed for the table and couches is distinguished from the rest by a difference in the decoration both of the floor and of the wall.

In the oecus, the excavation was made from which the house received its name. The peristyle had already been cleared, and the volcanic débris had been, for the most part, removed from the front part of the oecus, leaving a layer at the bottom about two feet deep. The King and Queen of Italy, with the Emperor and Empress of Germany and a small suite, stationed themselves in the corner of the peristyle opposite the opening of the oecus; when all was ready a line of workmen proceeded to draw back the loose fragments of pumice stone, exposing the floor to view. Here nothing was found except the bronze fastenings of the large doors; but a more fruitful outcome followed a similar search in a room of a small house adjoining the oecus on the south, in which several vessels of bronze were brought to light.

The bath is unusually complete for a private house, comprising a long, narrow apodyterium (v), an open-air swimming tank in the garden (1), a tepidarium (u), and a caldarium (t). Steps led down into the swimming tank at the corner nearest the door of the apodyterium, and also on the side furthest from the house; on the same side a jet fell into it from a marble standard adorned with a lion's head. If we imagine a thick growth of shrubs and flowers about the tank, we have the setting which explains the tasteful decoration of the frigidarium in the Stabian Baths (p. 191) and in the Baths near the Forum.

The pavement of the apodyterium is especially effective, being composed of small bits of black, white, dark red, green, and yellow marble and stone; near the rear wall a place for a couch is left white.

The caldarium and the side of the tepidarium next to it were provided with hollow walls; a hollow floor extended under both rooms. In the left wall of the tepidarium is the bronze mouth of a water pipe; perhaps in winter a cold bath was taken here rather than in the swimming tank. In the caldarium the niche for the labrum remains; the bath basin probably stood opposite the entrance, where it could be easily heated from the kitchen.

Above the broad hearth of the kitchen (s), which stands against the wall adjoining the garden, are the vestiges of a painting of the two Lares; near them a serpent is seen coiled around an altar, on which is a large pine cone. At the end next the caldarium is a depression in the floor, for convenience in building a fire to heat the bath rooms. In the corner is a foundation of masonry to support the vessel, of lead, in which water was kept for the bath.

The colonnade at the left of the house (6 on the Plan; see Fig. 148), with its slender eight-sided columns, seems to have been thrown down by the earthquake of 63, and removed. In the place of four of the columns an open-air triclinium was made, like that in the house of Sallust. It is well preserved, and shows an interesting peculiarity of construction. When the table was not in use, a jet of water would spring from the foundation of masonry supporting the round top. The water was conveyed by a lead pipe, and at the rear of the colonnade one may still see the stopcock by which the flow was regulated.

The stairway at the left of the small atrium (β) led to rooms over the front of the house. Over the rooms at the rear, a bedroom (γ), a central room (δ) taking the place of the tablinum, and a corridor (ε), was a dining room, the front of which was supported by columns (p. 275), the stairway being in the corridor; fragments of the tufa columns are lying on the floor. At the back of the house was originally only the small sleeping room (ζ) with a simple decoration in the first style, and a colonnade (η) with Doric columns opening on the garden (κ). Later the colonnade was turned into an apartment, and two rooms were built at the left, a dining room (θ) and a bedroom (ι).

In the front of one of the rooms (λ) is an unusually well preserved niche for the images of the household gods, ornamented with stucco reliefs and painted in the last style. On the rear wall stands Hercules, with the lion's skin hanging from his left arm, his club on the left shoulder. In his right hand he holds a large bowl above a round altar; at the left is a hog ready to be offered as a victim.

CHAPTER XXXIX
THE HOUSE OF EPIDIUS RUFUS

The house of Epidius Rufus, built, like those previously described, in the pre-Roman time, presents a pleasing example of a Corinthian atrium. In one respect it resembles the oldest Pompeian houses, such as that of the Surgeon; in the place of the peristyle is a garden extending back from a colonnade at the rear of the tablinum. In a period when large peristyles were the fashion, a Pompeian of wealth and taste, whose building lot was ample enough to admit of an extension of his house toward the rear, contented himself with a single group of rooms arranged about one central apartment.

The arrangement of rooms is seen at a glance (Fig. 149). The vestibule, like that of the principal entrance in the house of the Faun, had a triple door at the end toward the street (shown in Fig. 150), which was no doubt left open in the daytime. Entering, one would pass into the fauces ordinarily through the small door at the right (p. 248), the large double doors between the vestibule and the fauces only being opened for the reception of clients or on special occasions.

The front of each ala (7, 13) is adorned with two Ionic columns. At the corners of the entrances are pilasters, the Corinthian capitals of which have a striking ornament, a female head, moulded in stucco, looking out from the midst of the acanthus leaves. The eyes and hair are painted, and in one instance the features of a bacchante can be recognized.

In the right ala is an elaborate house shrine, built like a temple with a façade supported by columns, raised on a podium five feet high (Fig. 151). On the front of the podium is a dedicatory inscription to the Genius of the master (p. 270).

The tablinum originally opened on the atrium in its full width, the entrance being set off by pilasters at the corners. It was then higher; when the entrance was changed the height was reduced to about twelve feet. The sixteen Doric columns about the impluvium, well preserved for the most part, are only a trifle over fourteen feet high.

The contrast between this atrium and the lofty halls of the houses of Sallust and the Faun was indeed marked. Here the atrium had become more like a court than a hall; yet the impluvium, paved with tufa, was retained, and we find the same arrangement for the flow of water as in many houses with Tuscan and tetrastyle atriums. On the edge of the impluvium at the rear is the pedestal of a fountain figure which threw a jet into a basin resting on two rectangular standards; the places of these, as well as the course of the feed pipe, are indicated on the plan. Behind the pedestal is a round cistern curb; another jet rose in the middle of the impluvium.

The apartment at the right of the tablinum (20) was a dining room. Of the smaller rooms about the atrium, three (6, 8, and 12) were sleeping rooms for members of the family; some of the others were so poorly decorated as to prompt the suggestion that they were intended for slaves. That next the stairs (14) was a storeroom; the traces of the shelving are easily distinguished. Under the stairs was a low room (16), perhaps used for a similar purpose; the small double room (17) was also low, and used as a sleeping room.

The domestic apartments were reached by the andron (18). In the kitchen (21) is a broad hearth (b); a dim light was furnished by narrow windows. The little room at the entrance of the kitchen (a) was perhaps a storeroom; the closet, as often, was in the corner of the kitchen.

At the opposite end of the colonnade is the gardener's room (23). The main part of the garden (24), as indicated by the arrangement of the ground, was used for vegetables; the small flower garden at the rear (25) was on a higher level.

In the house originally there was no second floor. In the Roman period, apparently near the end of the Republic, a large upper room—probably a dining room—was built over the kitchen; and there may have been one or two small storerooms at the head of the stairway which was built in one of the side rooms of the atrium.

Traces of the first and third decorative styles are found in the atrium; but the most interesting remains are those of the last style. The alae and several rooms were redecorated shortly before the destruction of the city. The dining room (20) contains a series of paintings illustrating the contest between Apollo and Marsyas; they are skilfully displayed in a light architectural framework on a white ground. On the wall at the left (at a) Apollo is seen with left foot advanced, striking with his right hand a large cithara which rests against his left shoulder. Opposite him (at b) is Marsyas, playing the double flute; on the intervening panels (d, e) are the Muses, who are acting as judges in the contest of skill. The painting at c seems to relate to Apollo, but the subject has not been explained. The choice of subjects such as these may have been influenced by the cult of the early divinity of the city; but it probably implies a taste for poetry and music on the part of the proprietor.

There were no shops in the front of this house, but in one respect our restoration of the façade (Fig. 150) can not be taken as indicating the appearance of such houses in general. Here the front line was set back several feet from that of the adjoining houses on either side, and the space thus gained was given to a terrace or ramp about four feet high, mounted by steps at either end. The elevation of the front entrance above the sidewalk and the placing of the approaches at the ends of the ramp gave the house an appearance of seclusion.

CHAPTER XL
THE HOUSE OF THE TRAGIC POET

In the "Last Days of Pompeii" the house of the Tragic Poet is presented to us as the home of Glaucus. Though not large, it was among the most attractive in the city. It received its present form and decoration not many years before the eruption, apparently after the earthquake of 63, and well illustrates the arrangements of the Pompeian house of the last years.

The house received its name at the time of excavation, in consequence of a curious misinterpretation of a painting—now in the Naples Museum—which was found in the tablinum. The subject is the delivery to Admetus of the oracle which declared that he must die unless some one should voluntarily meet death in his place. On one side sits Admetus, with his devoted queen Alcestis; opposite them is the messenger who is reading the oracle from a roll of papyrus. The excavators thought that the scene represented a poet reciting his verses; and since they found, in the floor of the tablinum, a mosaic picture in which an actor is seen making preparations for the stage, they concluded that the figure with the papyrus in the wall painting must be a tragic poet.

The plan (Fig. 152) presents slight irregularities; yet in essential points the arrangement of rooms does not differ materially from that which we have found in the houses of the pre-Roman time. As our section (Fig. 154) shows, all the parts of the house are comparatively low; the ceiling of the atrium and of the large dining room at the rear (15) were only a few feet higher than the colonnade of the peristyle. The entrances of the ala—here there is but one—and of the tablinum are not adorned with pilasters; plain wooden casings were used instead. The second story rooms are not an afterthought but a part of the architect's design; the stairways (4) leading to them are symmetrically placed at the sides of the atrium. There was no upper floor, however, over the fauces, the atrium, or the tablinum. To a modern visitor this dwelling would have seemed more homelike and comfortable than the monumental houses of the earlier time.

The large shops (2) are both connected with the house by doors opening into the fauces (1). They were doubtless the proprietor's place of business. In one of them gold ornaments were found, but we should scarcely be warranted in assuming from this fact that the master of the house was a goldsmith.

In the floor of the fauces, immediately behind the double front door, is a dog, attached to a chain, outlined in black and white mosaic, with the inscription, cave canem, 'Beware of the dog!' The picture was for many years in the Naples Museum. The black and white mosaic is well preserved in the atrium, the tablinum (Fig. 153), and the dining room opening on the peristyle, as well as in the fauces.

The purpose of the various rooms is in most cases easy to determine. The first at the left of the atrium (5) was the room of the porter, atriensis. The three rooms marked 6 were sleeping rooms, as were also 12 and 14 opening on the peristyle; 6' was a storeroom, 13 the kitchen. There was a colonnade on three sides of the peristyle; against the wall at the rear stands the shrine of the household gods (seen in Fig. 153) in which was found a marble statuette of a satyr carrying fruits in the fold of a skin hanging in front of him.

The decoration of the large dining room (15) is especially effective. In the front of the room is a broad door opening into the colonnade of the peristyle; each of the three sides contains three panels, in the midst of a light but carefully finished architectural framework. In the central panels are large paintings: at r, a young couple looking at a nest of Cupids; at q, Theseus going on board ship, leaving behind him the beautiful Ariadne; and at p a composition in which Artemis is the principal figure. In four of the smaller panels are the Seasons, represented as graceful female figures hovering in the air; the others present youthful warriors with helmet, shield, sword, and spear, all well conceived and executed with much delicacy.

The atrium, unlike most of those at Pompeii, was rich in wall paintings. Six panels, more than four feet high, presented a series of scenes from the story of the Trojan war, as told in the "Iliad." These were united with the decorative framework in such a way as to make a harmonious and pleasing whole; the main divisions of the right wall of the atrium, as well as of the fauces and tablinum, are indicated in Fig. 154.

In arranging the pictures, the decorators had little regard for the order of events. The subjects were the Nuptials of Zeus and Hera (at a on the plan); the judgment of Paris (b)—though this is doubtful, as the picture is now entirely obliterated; the delivery of Briseis to the messenger of Agamemnon (c); the departure of Chryseis (d), and seemingly Thetis bringing arms across the sea to Achilles (f). Of the painting at e only a fragment remained, too small to make it possible to recognize the subject. The fragment at f, in which were seen a Triton, two figures riding on a sea horse, and a Cupid on a dolphin, is now entirely faded. Half of the painting in which Chryseis appears was already ruined at the time of excavation; the other half was transferred to the Naples Museum, together with the paintings that were best preserved, the Nuptials of Zeus and Hera, and the sending away of Briseis.

The two pictures last mentioned are among the best known of the Pompeian paintings, and have often been reproduced. In one (Fig. 273) we see Zeus sitting at the right, while Hypnos presents to him Hera, whose left wrist he gently grasps in his right hand as if to draw her to him. Hera seems half reluctant, and her face, which the artist, in order to enhance the effect, has directed toward the beholder rather than toward Zeus, is queenly in its majesty and power. The scene is located on Mt. Ida. In the background stands a pillar, on which are three small figures of lions; below at the side are two pipes, cymbals, and a tambourine, all sacred to the potent divinity of Mt. Ida, Cybele. Three youths, crowned with garlands, appear in the lower right hand corner of the picture; they are perhaps the Dactyli, demons skilled in the working of metals who followed in the train of Cybele.

A higher degree of dramatic interest is manifested in the other painting, which we present in outline (Fig. 155). In the foreground at the right, Patroclus leads forward the weeping Briseis. In the middle Achilles, seated, looks toward Patroclus with an expression of anger, and with an impatient gesture of the right hand directs him to deliver up the beautiful captive to the messenger of Agamemnon, who stands at the left waiting to receive her. Behind Achilles is Phoenix, his faithful companion, who tries to soften his anger with comforting words. Further back the helmeted heads of warriors are seen, and at the rear the tent of Achilles.

The scene is well conceived. Yet in both this picture and the one previously described, the composition seems to lack depth and perspective. The artist is remarkably skilful in portraying facial expression, and foreground details; his limitations are apparent in the handling of groups. We have the feeling that the first designs were not made freely with brush or pencil, but that the artist was here translating into painting designs which he found already worked out in reliefs. The original paintings, of which these are copies, very likely go back to the fourth century B.C.

Another painting worthy of more than passing mention was found on a wall of the peristyle (at o), and removed to the Naples Museum. The subject is the sacrifice of Iphigenia, who was to be offered up to Artemis that a favorable departure from Aulis might be granted to the Greek fleet assembled for the expedition against Troy (Fig. 156).

At the right stands Calchas, deeply troubled, his sheath in his left hand, his unsheathed sword in his right, his finger upon his lips. The hapless maid with arms outstretched in supplication is held by two men, one of whom is perhaps Ulysses. At the left is Agamemnon, with face averted and veiled head, overcome with grief. Beside him leans his sceptre, and on a pillar near by we see an archaic statue of Artemis with a torch in each hand, a dog on either side. Just as the girl is to be slain, Artemis appears in the sky at the right, and from the clouds opposite a nymph emerges bringing a deer, which the goddess accepts as a substitute.

In this painting, also, though the style is entirely different from that of the others, we perceive the limitations of the artist in the treatment of the background. Nevertheless the boldness of the conception, and the skill manifested in the handling of several of the figures, seem to point to an original of more than ordinary merit.

Not far from 400 B.C. the sacrifice of Iphigenia was made the subject of a painting by Timanthes, in which the maiden was represented as standing beside the altar. We are told that the artist painted Calchas sorrowful, Ulysses more sorrowful, Ajax lamenting, and Menelaus in sorrow so deep that deeper sorrow could not be expressed; finding it impossible to portray the grief of the father, Agamemnon, Timanthes represented him with veiled head.

The veiled Agamemnon appears in our painting, and the figure of Calchas perhaps reflects the conception of Timanthes. For the rest, it is difficult to establish a relation between the two pictures; even if we did not know that Iphigenia, in the painting of Timanthes, stood beside an altar, we could scarcely believe that a great painter would have represented her thus awkwardly carried. Undoubtedly the Pompeian painting, or its original, is indebted to the masterpiece of the Greek artist; but the decorative painter has adapted this to suit his purpose, omitting the figures, the facial expression of which was most difficult to reproduce, and at the same time attempting to heighten the effect by making more prominent the helplessness and terror of the victim.

CHAPTER XLI
THE HOUSE OF THE VETTII

The house of the Vettii, excavated in the years 1894-1895, bears the same relation to the other houses built in the Roman period that the house of the Faun does to those of the earlier time; it is the most important representative of its class. It was situated in a quiet part of the city, and was not conspicuous by reason of its size; its interest for us lies chiefly in its paintings and in the adornment of the well preserved peristyle.

The relationship between the two owners, Aulus Vettius Restitutus and Aulus Vettius Conviva (p. 508) is not known. They were perhaps freedmen, manumitted by the same master; Conviva, as we learn from a painted inscription, was a member of the Brotherhood of Augustus,—Vetti Conviva, Augustal[is].

The exterior of the house (Fig. 157) was unpretentious. The main entrance was on the east side, and there was a side door near the southeast corner; elsewhere the street walls were unbroken except by small, square windows, part of which were in low second story rooms.

The vestibule (Fig. 158, a), as in the house of Epidius Rufus (p. 248), was connected with the fauces (b) by a large double door and also by a small door at the right. The atrium (c) is without a tablinum; at the rear it opens directly on the peristyle. One of the alae (h) at the time of the eruption was used as a wardrobe. At the sides of the atrium were two money chests; the one at the right is seen in Fig. 159.

Opening on the peristyle are three large apartments (n, p, q), and two smaller rooms (o, r). A door at the right leads into a small side peristyle (s, shown in Fig. 160), with a quiet dining room (t) and bedroom (u).

The domestic apartments were near the front of the house. At the right of the principal atrium is a small side atrium (v) without a separate street entrance. Grouped about it were rooms for the slaves and the kitchen (w) with a large hearth (Fig. 125). Beyond the kitchen is a room for the cook (x'). At the rear of the small atrium is the niche for the household gods (Fig. 127).

The corridor at the left of the principal atrium (γ) led to an unimportant room (β) with a door opening on a side street. In this corridor there was a stairway to the second story, which extended over this corner of the house (above e, f, h, n, o, β, δ). Along the front also were low chambers, over the fauces and the small rooms on either side (d, k), and over the rooms adjoining the small atrium (x, y, z).

In the accompanying sections two restorations of the interior are given. In the first (Fig. 159) we are looking toward the right side of the atrium and the inner end of the peristyle; the depth of the peristyle more than equals that of the atrium, together with the vestibule and fauces. The difference in height between the atrium and the peristyle, as in the house of the Tragic Poet, is much less than in the houses built in the pre-Roman period; and the corners of the alae were protected by simple wooden casings, altogether unlike the stately pilasters of the olden time.

The transverse section (Fig. 160) presents the long side of the peristyle next to the atrium, with the side of the small peristyle at the north end. The extent of the house is greater measured across the two peristyles (along the line C-D on the plan) than from front to rear. Of the three entrances from the atrium into the peristyle, that in the middle is broader and higher than the other two, which are not much wider than ordinary doors; the arrangement of the openings is similar to that in houses having a tablinum open toward the peristyle with an andron on one side, and on the other a room with a door corresponding with the door of the andron.

The columns of the peristyle are well preserved (Fig. 161). They are white, with ornate capitals moulded in stucco and painted with a variety of colors. Part of the entablature also remains; the architrave is ornamented with an acanthus arabesque in white stucco relief on a yellow background.

The roof of the greater part of the colonnade has been restored, and the garden has been planted with shrubs in accordance with the arrangement indicated by the appearance of the ground at the time of excavation. Nowhere else in Pompeii will the visitor so easily gain an impression of the aspect presented by a peristyle in ancient times. The main part of the house was searched for objects of value after the eruption, but the garden was left undisturbed, and we see in it to-day the fountain basins, statuettes, and other sculptures placed there by the proprietor.