Herculaneum (in Latin in Italy and since 1969) was a city of Roman antiquity situated in the Italian region of Campania , destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius in the year 79 , preserved for centuries in a volcanic matrix and given to date from the eighteenth ^century.

The city was small with an area of 12 hectares, of which about 4.5 ha were cleared, and a population estimated at four thousand inhabitants .

From 1738, the first excavators dug tunnels in the matrix that traps the city in search of works of art and marble. The King of the Two Sicilies organized the excavations of the first archeological site in the western world, whose products contributed to the spread of neo-classicism in the second half of the century. The decision to open the excavations was made in 1828, they do take a special significance that the ^twentieth century. The end of this century witnessed major breakthroughs with the discovery of many skeletons in the boathouses along the beach, to better understand the fate of the population, and the resumption of excavations of the large villa of Papyrus.

Its impressive remains, however, bring considerable knowledge of land on the Roman civilization in the ^first century of the circumstances of the destruction of the city: excavations have revealed a unique archaeological material, especially wood , and also works Literary unknown elsewhere in the papyri from the library of a large villa suburban.

The reputation of Herculaneum is eclipsed by that of Pompeii , but the site still offers a perimeter of the remains concentrated very suggestive, because of their elevation and restoration of many covers.

To celebrate the three hundredth anniversary of the discovery site, a major exhibition was held at the Archaeological Museum of Naples from October 2008 to April 2009 , which brought out the reserves of magnificent statues found in the Villa of the Papyri.

Origin and History

Foundation and Development

As its name clearly indicates, the origin of Herculaneum is linked to the mythical figure of the demigod Hercules. According to the legend recorded by Dionysius of Halicarnassus , it was he who founded the city during his stay in Italy back in Spain with the oxen of Geryon .

The region was the subject of an active Greek colonization , with the preponderance of regional Cumae , founded in 740 BC. AD. Thrust Etruscan south, marked by the founding of Capua in 524 BC. BC , faces the Greek presence. The defeat of Etruscan -474 against the coalition of Cumae and Hiero of Syracuse passed Herculaneum and Pompeii under Greek influence, for a few decades. Around 420 BC. BC according to Diodorus of Sicily and Livy , mountain Samnites took the name of Capua , Cumae and seize the cities of the Bay of Naples, Herculaneum and Pompeii, settle in the place of the former inhabitants and exercise a lasting influence .

With the Roman expansion into Campania and the Samnite wars , Herculaneum and Pompeii pass into the Roman alliance, which is maintained during raids in Italy of Pyrrhus and Hannibal. But despite their loyalty to Rome, the inhabitants of Herculaneum and Pompeii are denied the right of Roman citizenship , which leads them to revolt in 90 BC. BC during the Social War. June 89 av. AD , T. Didius, legate of Sulla , stormed Herculaneum , which then receives the settlement of veterans of Sulla .

If in 80 BC , Pompeii became a colony of Roman law, Herculaneum had to wait until the end of the 30s BC to get the status of municipality.

Herculaneum and Pompeii in a phase of remarkable urban development under Augustus , Rome and if the Republicans stopped functioning, Herculaneum continues each year to elect its judges, duumvirs. The open-handedness of some of these judges is reflected in public facilities which they endow the city at their expense, as evidenced by the honorific statues and inscriptions found at: Marcus Nonius Balbus, tribune in 32 BC. AD who made a successful career under Augustus Senate, built a basilica and was making repairs on the city walls, which in turn made him erect statues, and other members of family . Mr. Sp Rufus built a market ( macellum , undiscovered), renovated by L. Mammius Maximus , who lived under Tiberius . Annius Mammianus Rufus built or renovated the theater and Mr. Rufus team Remmius the city in a public scale (Pond), a clock and a venue (choir) . The rich freedmen are not far behind, and the brothers Lucii finance a small shrine (sacellum) in honor of Augustus. The two thousand-seat theater leave estimated by extrapolating a population of about five thousand inhabitants, half that of Pompeii .

A quiet city

Some works , Herculaneum develops as resort very appreciated by the rich Romans as a residential town and large families patrician , attracted by the splendid panoramic position of the promontory on which it stands, its climate and typical products the surrounding countryside. This interpretation must be qualified: the entire Bay of Naples was a resort for the Roman aristocracy, the nobilitas , and ancient authors devote Baia as the famous seaside resort.

The city, also the face of the resort, also has the characteristics of a provincial town of Campania . The archaeological site provides only a partial view of Herculaneum, which combines a neighborhood of modest homes of artisans and fishermen, small mansions of the rich and luxuriously decorated houses with panoramic sea , but still smaller than the large villas outside the walls qu'amnagent richest.

The atmosphere seems quiet neighborhood learned: little shops, small workshops, not wear floor that reflected heavy traffic streets leading to the sea, no trace in the graffiti campaign feverish as at Pompeii . Herculaneum that we know is far from major trade and political struggles, the small size of the city did not abolish the social mix and the mansions are a welcome retreat for the wealthy citizens of the nearby metropolis Neapolitan .

Destruction

Equestrian statue of M. Nonius Balbus, now in the Archaeological Museum of Naples, inv. 6211

Like Pompeii, Herculaneum was partially destroyed in the earthquake of February 5, 62 AD . It was rebuilt or repaired with new techniques such as opus reticulatum , or faster, using the brick ( opus latericium ) , which is why we find so many brick columns covered with stucco. Again, the rich citizens, as Mr. Nonius Balbus, old lender to be proconsul help to repair the public domain. Balbus finance the restoration of the ramparts and city gates, and the Basilica . In recognition, the senate of Herculaneum he erected statues, including a statue at the entrance of the Basilica, a marble altar on his grave and decided to dedicate the athletic games in his name . The emperor , busy with reconstruction after the Great Fire of Rome , then by civil wars, acts only 76: Vespasian contributed to the restoration of the temple of the Great Mother .

Inscription found in the Great Palaestra, honoring the restoration of the Temple of the Great Mother by Vespasian

The eruption of 79.

But 79 is totally destroyed as Herculaneum Pompeii, Stabiae and Oplontis by the eruption of Vesuvius . Herculaneum was buried under a layer of volcanic material over five meters thick. For many years, insufficient knowledge of Volcanology made it boils down to interpretations of classics, a lava flow would have engulfed Herculaneum . Advances in the understanding of volcanic events have given rise to two theories: for Maurice Krafft , Herculaneum was overwhelmed by a mudslide and hot fluid (a lahar ) caused by the torrential rains that have caused mass pyroclastic unstable flank of Vesuvius. The mud houses burning drowned, infiltrated every crevices, burned trees, beams, furniture. Layer twenty yards covered the city, the shoreline was about 200 meters of Herculaneum is pushed to more than 500 meters .

According to another hypothesis, a pyroclastic flow accompanied the main eruption. An avalanche of rock and ash mixed with a gas at very high temperatures tumbled down the slope and engulfed Herculaneum, with the same effects of burial and charcoal as described above. The stratigraphic study of volcanic deposits from the excavations of the 1980s on the former shoreline of Herculaneum had seen a build in two stages: the lower strata were composed of lightweight materials, ash and rock fragments with inclusions of small debris, such as pieces of roof tiles and fragments of wall plaster. The upper layers show a force much more powerful thrust, causing sections of columns and blocks of masonry from the walls shattered. Moreover, during the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980 , it was observed that the flow of pyroclastic dissociated into two streams of different velocities, the surge (English word for "wave"), pyroclastic flow and fluid rapid and powerful flow (flow in English). According to the observation of the shore stratigraphic Herculaneum, it reconstitutes the following scenario: in a few minutes, one wave after the Vesuvius pyroclastic Herculaneum reached the eastern side. His flow on the floor lowers its temperature, which is sufficient to calcine the organic materials, but more for the spray and spray. Carting debris light and very fluid, it drowns Herculaneum under several meters, coats furniture and victims, but does not volatilize. The main pyroclastic flow follows soon after, massive and devastating, he finished burying the city .

The hard crust of volcanic tuff that covered the ancient Herculaneum allowed to build the new town of Resina above the ancient city. The violent eruption of 1631 added a layer of lava on resin . However, in 1969 , the city regained its ancient name, Ercolano in Italian.

Rediscovery

The first explorations

In 1709, the Austrian prince Maurice Emmanuel de Lorraine, Count of Tweed is drilling a well in his villa at Resina and stumbles across a wall of ancient remains, he wrongly identifies as a temple of Hercules actually the ancient theater. He takes this discovery looter, pulling marbles back columns and three antique statues, he offers to the Prince of Savoy. This dispersion causes the protest of the Papacy, which put an end to extractions .

Excavations resumed best organized of 1738 to 1745 under the leadership of Charles de Bourbon , the new king of the Two Sicilies. It assigns exclusively to the Spanish engineer surveyor Rocco Gioacchino Alcubierre of, and submit any visit, drawing or taking notes at the royal permission. The theater is identified by an inscription, was discovered bleachers, the sector basilica is probed, we exhumed the remains of a chariot of bronze (which a horse is exposed at the National Museum of Naples), the equestrian statue of Nonius Balbus A painting of Theseus and the Minotaur. At that time, archaeological methods did not exist, researchers invent: they burrow randomly pierce the walls without much care to keep moving, laboriously extracting the most beautiful works, carry out surveys and rapid rebouchent sometimes a tunnel with rubble the next.

Red, Herculaneum plan prepared by La Vega (XVIII ^century)

But the first discovered in 1748 on the site of Civita (identified as Pompeii in 1763), equally rich in relics and much easier to identify, compete the work on Herculaneum, where the thick solidified layer making the conditions extremely difficult searches. Herculaneum is explored more irregularly, despite the founding of the Academy of Herculaneum by Charles III in 1755. Nevertheless, some remarkable discoveries take place as the home of Papyrus excavated from 1750 to 1761, or the Basilica . The synthesis of underground exploration allows the Spanish engineer Francesco La Vega (died 1815) to prepare a summary statement and part of Herculaneum, which lies a few temples constructed and eight blocks ( insulae ) in a grid of five streets intersected by two other .

In 1748, the humanist Tuscan Marcello Venuti publishes Descrizione delle citt antica della premium scoperte Ercolano (Description of the first discoveries of the ancient city of Herculaneum), the French Charles Brush in 1749 presents at the Academy of Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres of Paris. Antichit di Ercolano (The Antiquities of Herculaneum) Francesco Valletta, published in 1757 under the patronage of Charles III, finally expose fans eager for copies of paintings as engravings, that Ambassador of France to Naples notify the Director of the Academy of France in Rome , and Paris. Residents were allowed to go to Naples, the ingress of ancient art and to bring the inspiration for their future achievements. Other enthusiasts such as the German Winckelmann also visit the excavations and museum collections of the Bourbons. Winckelmann through its publications and enthusiasm propels movement neoclassical. In France itself, the first and few reports on the findings will generate little response. The Academy of Inscriptions focuses on ancient coins, men of letters do not take into consideration that the ancient texts, as Pliny the Younger made no mention of Herculaneum in his account of the eruption of Vesuvius indifference persists for several years despite the interest shown by brush or by Comte de Caylus . Despite this disdain for "antique", the Encyclopedia in 1758 produced an enthusiastic article by four pages on Herculaneum . The neoclassical spreads in Europe and a more limited fashion in France in the ancient art of decoration. In the late ^eighteenth century , the motifs are emerging at Herculaneum on furniture, tapestries, tables and tea cups .

From 1828 to 1835 and from 1869 to 1875, excavations conducted finally open to the floor and antique give modest results. They update a section of street, corresponding to the Cardo III , and portions of houses in the area of Insulae II and VII on one side of the Cardo and the other edge of the insula III and Palaestra of Baths of the insula VI, but the presence of buildings Resina restricts the scope clear. More importantly, the abandonment of the site without protection for half a century to cause irreparable destruction among the ruins, like the collapse of tunnels, clearing the fresco of Argus or destruction of charred structures which contract and fragment on contact with air, causing the collapse of floors on the parts identified .

The new excavations (1927-1958)

The excavations at Herculaneum resume from 1927 , under the direction of Amedeo Maiuri and a new spirit: in search of exclusive works of art of the last century succeeded the desire to understand the ancient life in every house in the searching in every corner, whether humble or luxurious . The methods developed are applied on Pompeii: Complete release to open up to the level Roman accounts of specific searches , on-site preservation of the paintings and decorations, restoration of protective covers. Maiuri excavated area extends south-east by destroying old buildings. By 1932, the release of the insula III is completed, as well as the insula IV. Follow insulae V and VI, part of the Palestra West and decumanus. Through a method of effective conservation of charred wood, antique furniture is varied for the first time recovered: a large wooden wall, beds, dressers , a small table with three legs, a cradle rocking ^, .

Finally, the southwest is disengaged at the foot of the ramparts of suburban buildings, including baths , a total surface area of four hectares and it is estimated that half to one third of the ancient city.

The release of the old waterfront (from 1980)

Shelters storing boats where many skeletons were discovered

Skeletons of victims

Previous research had unearthed a dozen human remains, supporting the hypothesis that the bulk of the population had begun safe leaving the city. Excavations carried out since 1980 by Giuseppe Maggi on the old coast near the ramparts showed that the population of Herculaneum had not fled, as had been believed, but had partially consolidated in premises close to the beach, thinking probably be well protected against an earthquake similar to the year 62.

In releasing the old beach, they discovered a dozen individuals, the skeleton / A> of a horse near the springs and the remains of a suburban large boat. According to one interpretation, it was assumed that the refugees had been thrown down from the wall by the wave of volcanic material that washed over the city .

Recent excavations (1996-1998)

After centuries of neglect the site of the Villa of Papyri , searches are conducted in the years 1996-1998, finally open. The plan of the villa set in the middle of the eighteenth ^century by Charles Weber used to guide research on the main body of the villa. They release the atrium and rooms that surround it, between the porch and the front edge of the large peristyle. Unfortunately, credit restrictions and the need to focus conservation action across the site of Herculaneum put an end to this work. Two remarkable marble statues were discovered, the Pplophore and the Amazon , the latter being the figurehead of the exhibition of the tercentenary of the discovery of Herculaneum, Naples (2008-2009) .

Further investigations are continuing, however smaller in the Villa des Papyrus, with an exceptional discovery, fragments of a ceremonial wooden seat two feet and part of the record, hitherto known only by representations on frescoes. The decoration shows a character, perhaps Attis , who picks a pinecone , a symbol of his cult .

Operation of the archaeological site

Site Management

The Archaeological Superintendence of Pompeii (archeologica Soprintendenza di Pompei) is a body attached to the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities (Ministero per i Beni e Attivit Culturali on) which is responsible for the protection and enhancement of the four ancient sites of Pompeii , Herculaneum, Stabiae and Oplontis and Museum Boscoreale. In 1997 it employed a thousand people including a dozen archaeologists . She has since 1998 with financial autonomy, administrative, organizational and scientific.

Besides administrative duties, actions to preserve sites represent a significant portion of its business, deal with threats posed by natural erosion and proliferation (weeding places is no small problem), as well as pollution, even the vandalism , induced by a massive number of tourists. More specifically, the site of Herculaneum, bowl 20 to 25 m deep, has forced drainage complicated by a high level of groundwater.

The Superintendency must ensure all its missions with budgets tend to be reduced: 9.6 million euros scheduled for 2008 and 8.6 million planned for 2009

League World Heritage

The sites of Herculaneum and Pompeii were assessed in 1997 by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) recommended that their ranking in the World Heritage of UNESCO. The designated area includes the theater and the Villa of Papyri, but does not retain the areas still covered by modern housing. In its conclusions, ICOMOS stresses that these ruins "have their like anywhere in the world in terms of comprehensiveness and scope. They offer a vivid illustration and complete Roman life in their time. No archaeological site can be compared, it was by far, these two ancient cities .

Open to Public

Panorama of Herculaneum and harbor views

Tourist visits to Herculaneum was challenged by the notoriety of Pompeii in 1997, Pompeii received about two million visitors, while Herculaneum housed in ten times less .

The archaeological zone is open to the public, Ercolano Scavi in Italian, includes residential neighborhoods. The remains of the theater , separated by modern living, can be visited by a separate entry further down the Corso Ercolano . Finally, the villa of Papyrus , lavish suburban villa beyond the ancient ramparts, remains closed to the public. However the many statues found in the villa were presented at the exhibition on the tercentenary of the discoveries at Herculaneum, held in 2008-2009 at the Archaeological Museum of Naples.

In addition to the site, the town of Herculaneum and the Province of Naples have funded a museum in Herculaneum, which presents with the latest audio-visual interactive animation a run in virtual reality on the streets and houses of the ancient city, simulated in the presence of Romans. This museum, the MAV (Museo Archeologico Virtuale Ercolano) was launched July 9, 2008 .

General Overview

Plan of ancient Herculaneum

Herculaneum is now evident that for a party, near the sea, while still buried under the modern housing part of the forum, temples, many homes and cemeteries. This partial knowledge is very much on the relative unfamiliarity of the city compared with its neighbor Pompeii .

The eight rectangular blocks of houses (insulae) identified in the eighteenth ^century were numbered starting with I at the northwest corner and proceeding counterclockwise clockwise. The eastern part, interpreted as the first excavations at a large villa and later released, following a particular designation, insula orientalis I and II. The party visited consists of four insulae III, IV, V and VI, about 40 m by 90 m, completely clear and delineated by streets almost perpendicular, according to the standard plan hippodamian Greek. Each insular is divided into rectangular plots, each occupied by a house. Despite the lack of respect for the orientation of the road as cardinal axes, ritual among the Romans, these areas have been named by archaeologists under the name Roman decumanus maximus , decumanus inferior, cut by the cardines numbered I to V, which only emerged from the III, IV and V.

The set is limited to the southeast by a palestra partially cleared and south-west by the walls which had at the time of the eruption, lost defensive function, and various facilities at the foot of these walls. This area is visible in a panoramic view when you start visiting the site. The route of entry of visitors the site along the side of the arena walls and a path to the modern level, which offers a spectacular panoramic view and overhanging on the remains. Many home interiors, however, are closed to visitors.

The remains we offer a vision reminiscent of the Roman settlement, with its neat roads, its fountains, its houses with open floor facades of monumental doors and windows scarce and high, inaccessible to outside scrutiny. The interior houses parsimoniously captures daylight while avoiding direct sunlight through the skylight and atrium formed by the small courtyards, which are sometimes lavishly decorated monumental fountains ( water lilies ).

Habitation patterns are more varied than Pompeii. The house known patrician ( domus ) is organized along a central axis formed by an entrance hall leading to the atrium and tablinum , parts where the householder received its customers. Many of these houses have evolved and transformed their floor rooms accessible by hire an independent staircase. Other plans appear less conventional: modest houses where a court replaces the atrium building collective insula orientalis , large beachfront villas with their garden and gazebo equipped to enjoy the view over the bay . New architectural forms appear with the first cryptoporticos in the house of the Mosaic Atrium and home of the Deer .

The following description follows the comprehensive plan from right to left, top to bottom, starting from the supposed location of the Forum and the insula VII.

City center

According to the organization of ancient cities, the center of Herculaneum is the location of public buildings and meeting spaces: the Forum and its annex pool, the basilica , the theater. In contrast, the temple that put the city under the protection of a major god in the failed state of the excavations. The only place of worship is found a sort of chapel built in the insula VI, Sacellum of Augustales, very different from classical temple bar isolated on its sacred area.

The decumanus and forum

The Decumanus maximus is the main cross road of Herculaneum, which serves the heart of the city and leads to the theater.

The Forum , the traditional center of any Roman city Herculaneum does not follow the classic pattern of a rectangular square where stands a temple on the podium , as at Pompeii.

Instead, the decumanus widens to 12-14 meters, and is described as pedestrian space specific to a forum by boundary stone on the decumanus and marches in connection with Cardines , which prohibit the Vehicular access . This character similar to the situation we find around the forum of Pompeii Maiuri allowed to assume the presence of the forum in the area .

Part of the forum dedicated to civic activities was separated from the commercial area with a large bow tetrapylon lined with marble and stucco, and decorated with statues. This part was bordered by civic Sacellum of Augustales, and its other end is not clear that led to the Basilica and the Theatre .

The western part of the forum dedicated to the commercial sector, presents with a heterogeneous architecture: on one hand, new homes and shops insulae VI and V irregularly aligned along a sidewalk, sometimes sheltered from an awning, the other a portico with columns gives unity to the series of shops it houses. These shops are topped with two floors of rental properties .

Theatre

Theater plan drawn up by Giovanni Battista Piranesi to XVIII ^century

The theater was the first remains of Herculaneum discovered accidentally in 1709 by Prince of Tweed, who used it for years as a quarry of fine marble statues and extracts including two female statues which were immediately sold and took the direction of Dresden at the court of Saxony , where they aroused the enthusiasm of later Winckelmann by their "noble simplicity and calm grandeur." The official excavations conducted in 1738 to 1777 enabled by many galleries in every sense of knowing the architecture of the theater and to recover some of the many statues that adorned it.

Nowadays, it is only partially cleared and is accessed by tunnels even at the time of the Bourbon . It is not connected to the main site, and as he lies on the axis of decumanus, we think it should be connected to the forum. It remains the only vestige of the old excavations still visible .

Theatre is a typical Roman theater built in the Chamber and not taking advantage of the relief . The inscriptions that were discovered permitted to learn that the building was constructed or renovated at the time of Augustus L. Annius Mammianus Rufus according to plans by architect P. Numisius , dcor dating from the reigns of Claudius and Nero . With a diameter of 53 meters, it is structured into three sets of bleachers tuff , 4 stands for the part close to the orchestra, 16 steps in 6 areas for the middle part, and 3 tiers high. Its capacity is estimated at two thousand people (2500 according Maiuri) .

Wall Mazois scene by Francis (1783-1826)

The wall which closed the stage was richly decorated with marble veneer, all looted, and on two levels, 9 and 6 niches containing statues all broken, which we have recovered a torso of Hercules. At each end of the scene showed a pedestal of the statues of two outstanding personalities of Herculaneum, identified by the dedications : Nonius Balbus and Appius Claudius Pulcher, perhaps one of the consuls of 38 BC. AD. Both statues were lost due to the disorganization of the first excavations, probably at the time of the Prince of Tweed .

The rounded edges of the outer wall of the theater was also decorated with bronze statues larger than life like those of two notable gown, M. and L. Calatorius Quartius Mammius Maximus. It added the imperial statues of Agrippina the younger , of Tiberius , of Livia. All these works were gathered at the Royal Museum of Portici and Naples .

In the area near the theater and the early excavations, we discovered scattered fragments of bronze which is identified as a chariot through the hub of a wheel and the pole of a chariot. The first shipment of debris discovered in the melting caused such outrage that the excavators reconstituted a horse from a few items available, what qualifies Maiuri ironically clever union between ancient and contemporary sculpture foundry. Another horse's head and several pieces of the driver were also saved. This equipment has been dismantled and carted visibly by volcanic wave, it is unclear which building adorned the statue of state, perhaps the wall of the theater or another monument .

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  The Emperor Tiberius

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  Marcus Calatorius Quartius

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  Lady of Herculaneum

Basilica

Plan of the basilica erected in the eighteenth ^century

The centaur Chiron and the young Achilles, at the bottom of the basilica

Basilica occupies the northeast corner of the insula is not clear VII is served by the Cardo III. Although it is still buried, it was extensively explored by tunnels under the Bourbons, from 1739 to 1761 and a few small excavations in the early 1960s.

A plan has been drawn in the eighteenth ^century from observations of exploration ground. The center of the building remains unknown because not explored because of the risk of collapse of the ground. What is identified is a large rectangular space of about 40 meters long, open on the street by five doors surmounted by a portico. The interior is divided by three rows of columns. The side walls were punctuated by half-columns flanking niches exposing statues, some of which were found intact and were identified by the inscriptions on their pedestals. Marcus Nonius Balbus they represented and members of his family, his father, his mother and her daughters and some imperial statues, Nero and Germanicus. Under the portico of the entrance, we recovered two other statues of Nonius Balbus and his son .

The back wall was a exedra flanked by two smaller niches, which were represented Theseus and the Minotaur , Hercules and Telephos , the centaur Chiron and Achilles. All sides, however, that the apses were decorated with a series of paintings ^, . Some, including those mentioned above, were detached and are at the Archaeological Museum of Naples , while others are hopelessly lost over time .

The identification of this monument has been discussed: one could see a palestra , open space dedicated to the exercise surrounded by a colonnade, or rather a basilica with three naves, covered meeting place or a temple of the imperial cult. An inscription in another part of the city Balbus honored to have restored the basilica of Herculaneum at its expense. Maiuri deduced that the basilica was adorned this monument that many statues of Balbus and his family . This interpretation is disputed by some archaeologists today, who see what they call cosiddetta basilica (word for word "the so-called Basilica) a Augusteum dedicated to the imperial cult .

The central insulae

Since 1985, researchers from the Department of Classical Archaeology of the University of Nijmegen conducted metrological studies of houses Insulae VI and V. In addition to establishing more specific plans than at the time, the study sought to establish metric units expressed either ancient Oscan foot, used during the pre-Roman, or Roman foot, whose use is widespread in Campania from the ^first century. These units have never been a measurement set and could vary in the same place and same time period, but their valuation ranges are sufficiently different to be distinguished: one foot Oscan observed at Herculaneum measure 27.5 cm on average, against 29 , average 5 cm for the Roman foot. The researchers converted their measurements metric values in choosing between the ancient Oscan foot or Roman who gave lengths in round figures, for example multiples of 10. As employment Oscan foot was older, the researchers had a chronological approach of the various constructions which may overlap and complement those derived from the pictorial styles or methods of construction. Thus, the plots of pre-Roman times, were observed two types of house plans, a width of 30 feet Oscan to house the shrine of wood , the other 40 feet Oscan, to house black room , the Corinthian atrium house , the house of the Tuscan colonnade , the House of Neptune and Amphitrite and the charred house furniture. The depth of these houses as in all cases 75 feet Oscan, exactly half the width of the insula .

The insula VII, the house called Galba

Located along the Cardo III, Insula VII remains the most part buried under the modern housing. The house called Galba is one of only two buildings identified . Its lobby, atrium and adjoining rooms are not clear. A secondary entrance on the Cardo next to a tavern overlooking a corridor to the left a kitchen and toilet and several plays, and goes in the corner of a remarkable peristyle square. In the middle of this open space is an ornamental pond in the shape of a Greek cross. A large living room or exedra opens wide front porch that is decorated with frescoes in part ^IV of style. The porch is considered a pre-Roman construction, as it was originally built in tuff. Its Doric columns of tufa were subsequently stucco, while the spaces between the columns were closed with a podium .

The insula VI

The third the size of the insula is occupied by baths , the rest is divided among several large houses, the house in the Tuscan colonnade, home to both atria and the house in black room, several shops including a thermopolium overlooking decumanus maximus and the sanctuary of Augustales last part of the insula emerged in the 1970s.

Urban Spa

Map Urban Spa

Identified through the tunnels of early exploration suggests that left a large establishment, they were partially excavated in the period 1869 to 1875, during which we excavated the palestra , flanked along the Cardo III of a building of more pieces to the destination unknown. Complete release of the insula by Amedeo Maiuri led to the conclusion that these baths were smaller than previously assumed . Occupying the entire width of the insula VI, the baths are located 100 meters from the other known spa, spas Suburban . Built during the reign of Augustus by Maiuri, construction has seen its decoration rebuilt during the reigns of the last two Julio-Claudian . They have two sections.

Men's Section

Mosaic of Triton's locker room the women's section

On the Cardo III, the entrance opens into facings opus reticulatum and opens onto a corridor flanked latrines public, according to Roman custom provided for group use. On the drain line, which is still visible, stood a row of marble seats holes, washed away during the first excavations (XVIII ^century). The corridor leading to the patio of the palestra , bordered by a portico on three sides. Basically, you enter the apodyterium or wardrobe, with shelves to put clothes and a niche to house a small fountain . The regular succession of rooms spa is partly amended the frigidarium is isolated, left the locker room. It is round, brightly colored blue in the bowl and vault, decorated with sea creatures, and red on the walls where four niches are decorated with yellow at the corners. To the right of the locker room, we find the tepidarium , with double thickness ground rather hilly, adorned with a black and white mosaic similar to that of female baths, representing Triton surrounded by dolphins , an octopus , a squid and a little love with a whip . Follows the caldarium with its large pool of warm water.

Women's Section

Basin caldarium

As usual part of the baths for women is smaller size and less careful than the men's section, but it has the advantage of a better state of preservation . The current entry is not that of the time it was done since the Cardo IV, opposite the entrance of men. She did not give access to the arena because the exercise was an activity only for men. We entered a hall which served as a waiting room with its perimeter fitted with seats masonry. From there we won the locker room or apodyterium, well preserved, with a barrel vault with strigils (wavy parallel grooves) in stucco , a mosaic floor representing Triton white and black with Dolphins , and large shelves for them table clothes .

Tepidarium present similar characteristics, and its floor is decorated with a band with geometric designs, while the caldarium is recognizable by its double-layered soil (suspensura), visible through an opening protected by a railing, within which circulating hot air. In addition to the large pool for diving, the room is equipped with a circular base to support the labrum for ablution and two beautiful marble seats, one in white marble, the other red antique marble.

Technical rooms

Behind the spa rooms are located service areas, water tanks and boiler (praefurnium), marked by the thick soot. Allowed to climb a staircase on the terrace of the establishment . The heating of the two caldaria was through a hot air circulating underground, dating back then by some pipes embedded in the shell wall, less sophisticated system than double walls observed in the last Baths of Pompeii .

Sacellum of Augustales

Left wall of Sacellum, Table of Hercules, Minerva and Juno

Wall Sacellum law, Hercules and Achelous

Also known as Aedes Augustalium is the sanctuary of the priests of the imperial cult , freedmen gathered in the college of SEVIRI Augustales , and the only building dedicated to public worship that we know today in Herculaneum. According to the inscriptions that are found, its construction is dated from the reign of Augustus, not later than 11. It is partly made of brick ( opus testaceum ), usage still outstanding on that date . It has beautiful paintings. This building is remarkable for its marble inscription with the names of two brothers, A. Lucius Proculus and A. Iulianus Lucius, who financed the construction of the place and offered a meal on the day of the opening of the hall:

On the outside wall in opus reticulatum and brick, is the entrance side of this singular building of particular interest because it is one of the few buildings of Herculaneum can be considered a public and which graffiti inside gives the name of Curia augustana. This formality seems underscored by the location on two bases are still visible next to the columns that line the entrance, statues of Caesar and Augustus , now lost.

The interior looks like a large rectangular room in the center of which stand four columns at the corners of a quadrangular opening supported by an entablature consisting of large wooden beams, obviously charred. Both columns were later subsumed into two partitions, building on the back of the room, were a small square room forming a sort of chapel at the bottom of this piece, a database was designed to accommodate the statue of Augustus, as clearly indicated in column bay painted on the wall, ornament typical Imperial .

The floor is covered with a richly colored marble inlay ( Opus sectile ). The walls are decorated with frescoes ^Fourth style / A>, with two central scenes dedicated to the mythological hero who gave his name to the city of Herculaneum and representing respectively Hercules in the Olympus along with Minerva and Juno , and the battle between Hercules and the river god Achelous for Hand Dejanira. These themes are as Rufus Fear evocation of divination of the emperor ^{The house in the Tuscan colonnade}

This house (Casa del Colonnato Tuscanico) is ancient and aristocratic: it was erected in the Samnite era in large blocks of tufa ( quadratum opus ), and subsequently repaired. After the earthquake of 62, she nevertheless had to lose some of its aristocratic character, as two adjoining rooms on the street were converted into shops. The house is distinguished by the Tuscan colonnade of his splendid peristyle, which opened the triclinium some reception rooms and apartments. The decoration of the rooms is two different periods, the ^Third and ^Fourth style. Found in the house a large sum in gold coin (about 1400 sesterces ) hidden by the owner, presumably shortly before evacuating the house .

The House of the two atria

A plan tailored to a narrow site

After the baths on the Cardo III, joined the house to the two atria (Casa Atri was due) to the original plan, probably chose to make the most of a rectangular space but not very wide. The building is contemporary baths and the home is 30 Roman feet wide, with an unusual depth, which encroaches beyond half the width of the insula, standard for all other houses . The facade of the house, quite simple, having a portal with an architrave and a cornice of tuff tile that marks externally the separation into two floors. This door is decorated with a clay mask function apotropaic figures the Gorgon. The first atrium roof supported by four columns tablinium is followed, then another atrium and finally a large room, the rooms are arranged along the left side .

The house in the black room

The black room

Peristyle of the house in black room

On the other side of decumanus maximus, between shops and workshops, including a metal workshop lead , one enters a home, home to black room (Casa del Salone Nero) which still retains one of the wings wooden door. It owes its name to a large room decorated with pilasters and candelabra painted in red on a black background and opens onto the porch .

His lararium , well preserved, is a miniature temple, with columns topped by marble capitals small .

The insula V

The insula V is divided into parcels more regular and homogeneous than the surrounding insulae, in a division that brings together the most diverse social status: the opulent home of the Bicentennial, open forum, with neighboring homes and small shops The refinement of the luxurious home of Neptune and Amphitrite and Samnite house contrasts with the modesty of the house they loom frame. Everywhere, we see the development of low income housing by adding to the mansions of rooms and floors for rent.

The House of the Bicentenary

Bicentennial House: a plan for a rich domus

Sol Op sectile

Discovered in 1938 , two centuries after the start of excavations at Herculaneum, this house (Casa del Bicentenario) is one of the most luxurious and largest houses in the neighborhood . It opens on decumanus maximus among several shops and a long forty meters, sinking at the heart of the insula between houses very modest as the home of the Belle Court .

His plan follows the model of the domus classic: the entrance passage embodies the central axis, the atrium is large and square with its roof compluvium and a catchment area surrounded by a marble mosaic floor black and white the Parts (cubiculae) and wings (alae) are divided left and right atrium; tablinium the bottom is richly decorated with a mosaic floor white and black rectangle surrounding a central opus sectile and paintings of the ^Fourth style. Above a black plinth with plant motifs, the wall with a red background shows tables Daedalus and Pasiphae one hand, Venus and Mars on the other, and medallions of satyrs , of Bacchae and Sileni , and the upper frieze combines Loves hunters on a black background and architectural elements in trompe-l'oeil. At the bottom of the atrium, a corridor leads to rooms (oecus) and a small garden surrounded by a colonnade on two sides and a staircase serving a smaller upper floor, divided into apartments for use in rental . One of them is visible from the street, following the disappearance of its facade .

In one room the floor was found a special mark on a wall cavity of an object disappeared in the center of a rectangle much of the plaster of the wall, there are burning a cross plot several centimeters wide, surrounded by marks holes substantially aligned in two vertical columns. A small wooden cabinet was found in the same room. Support their interpretation as a Christian cross embedded in the wooden wall, hideaway by two side flaps, and as a small altar or pray to God, the earliest indications of the presence of Christianity in Campania , is the subject of much controversy ^., .

Home of Belle Court

The courtyard, the stairs and gallery

Home of Belle Court (Casa del Bel Cortile), centering on two levels and with a strange arrangement of parts: you enter a low-ceilinged great room that serves as the vestibule. To his right, three small rustic pieces, while at the bottom you reach the courtyard that replaces the atrium and illuminates the rooms on the ground floor and upstairs. Is a masonry exterior staircase with a railing and a gallery, which recalls the architecture of the Italian Middle Ages , leading to the upper floor and dwellings, placed in communication with each other through the gallery and wooden balcony projecting from the facade . This provision, which breaks the plane of the domus classic to accommodate several families .

House of Neptune and Amphitrite and her shop

Remains of charred wooden shelves of the tavern

The House of Neptune and Amphitrite (Casa di Nettuno e Anfitrite) communicates with a vast store of food that appears on the Cardo, which is located on the same plot. It is therefore assumed that the home owner was a businessman who also owned the tavern. This property is not the only one of its kind that we have discovered at Herculaneum, but it is the most spectacular: the counter and wooden furniture are exceptionally well preserved, with amphorae aligned on their shelves (they come, however, no commercial space) . This shop catering exercised as selling prepared foods and as a restaurant where we ate on the run prepared meals on one of two hobs .

The distribution of parts of the house itself is simple. From the central atrium is accessed tablinum, and a corridor along the tablinium at triclinium summer. Above lararium in the corner of the atrium were found two monochrome paintings on marble, exposed to the Archaeological Museum of Naples. A statuette of Jupiter also found in the atrium confirms the interest of the owner and artistic refinement .

Triclinium been decorated with mosaics and nymphaeum

The most remarkable part is the triclinium summer, installed in a small courtyard at the back of the house. The bench is designed for guests masonry U-shaped, lined with marble, and rests on two walls with beautiful mosaics, wall decoration made fashionable in the Julio-Claudian particularly Nero , and we here a very good example. At the bottom of triclinium is a nymphaeum (decorative fountain), with a large central niche in the apse, flanked by two smaller rectangular niches, all covered with mosaics of colored glass and framed with shells and foam lava. The foliage of vines emerge from their vessels round swirls on the blue signs around the niches. Above the small niches, two hunting scenes on blue ultramarine show dogs pursuing deer. Swags, garlands of fruit and foliage overcome these tables. The architrave which crowns the whole lost its mosaic, but is still crowned by three theatrical masks. The wall perpendicular to nymphaeum is decorated with a beautiful mosaic panel, representing the marriage of Neptune and Amphitrite , who gave his name to the house. This panel is surrounded by an abundant and colorful decoration, contained a vault in sham and pilasters supporting a frieze .

The upper floor rooms whose interior is visible from the street by following the partial collapse of the facade, retain some of their murals and their furnishings .

The house of charred furniture

This elegant house although modest in size, known as Casa del Mobilio Carbonizzato was built in pre-Roman times, as evidenced by a high atrium and open on one side by a gallery under the roof as in the Samnite house a little more far. It was fully decorated with paintings of the ^Third and ^Fourth style at the time of Claude . The imposing entrance hall and introduced to its right to triclinium, whose walls are painted ^Fourth style: fine architectures which fit the realist paintings of a rooster and a still life . At the bottom of the atrium open two parts: the tablinium and a bedroom whose window overlooks the courtyard. This central courtyard is a small room with three light windows, one can see that the furniture was charred volcanic matrix but also preserved: a sofa or bed triclinium and a small table in wood with three curved legs, as well as earthenware dishes and glass. The court could also serve as a small garden with flower beds and plant some plants, was used to collect rainwater, stored in a tank. Basically a lararium decorated with stucco and paintings in a temple with a graceful eardrum between two small columns .

The house of the Loom

Also known as the home of Tailor (Casa del Telaio), the next house on the Cardo IV is still modest craftsmen who lived and worked there: one found in parts of pieces of wood and weights belonging to a loom. On the facade, a roof overlooking the sidewalk and protect passersby from the weather . Inside, rooms are rustic, atrium, reception room dark patrician houses, is replaced by a courtyard surrounded by a portico with brick columns, more open design that provides a suitable light work .

The house Samnite

Samnite House entrance, fresco first Pompeian style

The Samnite House (Casa Sannitica) on the corner of the insula V. She recalls the architecture of the pre-Roman city. The name comes from her Samnite construction method basically rectangular blocks of tufa ( opus quadratum ) device to use pre-Roman settlement and corresponding to the Samnite period of presence. This is particularly visible in the blocks forming the framework of the entrance to the house on the Cardo IV . The entrance hall also reflects the seniority of the house is one of the few examples of the decorative ^I. style , with its imitation of marble slabs in painted stucco. The atrium, very high, showing remarkable shapes: its catchment area covered with light marble, its floor covered with black flecked with white, its walls painted black, and in part at the floor, a gallery with columns ion linked by balustrades brace . The side of the gallery facing the entrance is fully open to the outside and provides a large source of indirect light for the interior . The fine decoration of the rooms on the ground floor reflects the character of the house easily, like a small room decorated with a small table in Abduction of Proserpine on a green wall at the bottom .

Like other houses in the insula, the Samnite house undergoes changes which reduced the space once reserved for a single family: the garden was attached to the house next door, called the home of the Grand Portal. Intercolumniations of the gallery were walled atrium, to transform the upstairs into small independent housing overhang, accessible from the street by a steep wooden staircase .

The house of the Grand Portal

The main portal

Since decumanus minor, one enters the house of the Grand Portal (Casa del Gran Portale) by its elegant entrance flanked by two half-columns of stuccoed brick once painted red and topped with Corinthian capitals of stone, with figures of Victories winged. Above the capitals, architrave brick is topped by a jagged ridge. Inside, the room layout is unusual: the atrium is missing, and the various rooms open onto a hallway stretched in length, and communicate with a small courtyard from which they derive their light .

The bedroom walls are covered with paintings of the ^IV style, including a table Dionysiac on the wall at the bottom of triclinium. At the end of the hall we see a wall painted with elegant architecture on a black background, framing a graceful tableau with butterflies and birds pecking at cherries. In the same building, a shop open on the decumanus minor, entirely independent of the rest of the house was probably licensed to rent .

The house of wood Edicule

On the Cardo V, the house of wood Edicule (Casa di legno del Sacello), is an old and bourgeois, despite its small size. It retains fragments of decorations ^I and ^III of style, and owes its name to a home altar (sacellum) wood in the shape of miniature temple in antis in a cupboard, found in one room to the right of the entry . In addition, the upper floor, were found tablets for writing, some of which were used .

The House of the Corinthian Atrium

House of the Corinthian atrium, an original plan

The Corinthian atrium and its basin

The house of the Corinthian Atrium (Casa dell'Atrio Corinzio) occupies a plot 40 feet by 75 Oscan. The architecture of the house of the Corinthian Atrium (Casa dell'Atrio Corinzio) offers original aspects: its frontage on the street is decorated with a portico , and the neighboring houses. Unique case in Herculaneum, the Roman atrium is replaced by a garden courtyard with a peristyle more typical Greek houses: the roof opening is rectangular, much wider than those of the atria of other houses, and rests on six columns coated stucco. The catchment area normally used to collect rain water is replaced by an ornamental pond, long and narrow, widened in the middle by a square in which stood a fountain . The atrium is not in line with the entrance and do not give a tablinium, which breaks with the traditional architecture for receiving a customer. The various parts were identified by their location and decoration, when there is a. Their paintings are homogeneous across the ^Fourth Style. To the left of the entrance hall, kitchen is equipped with a fireplace, a corner toilet and a storage annex. Adjacent to the kitchen, a room with no door and decoration, separated from the atrium by a partition lightweight craticium opus appears to be a local service. To the right of the entrance, a large room decorated with frescoes and mosaic floors black and white with a central motif to be a lounge (oecus), but its location near the entrance is unusual. A large triclinium open atrium is clearly identified by the divisions of floor space booked the banquet location of beds, it is richly decorated with panels painted predominantly black, and a coffered ceiling of stucco. The three bedrooms are small and sparsely decorated. One last piece could be big enough living with a white mosaic floor and a vaulted ceiling finely stuccoed. A staircase leading to the kitchen upstairs, whose arrangement remains unknown .

The insula orientalis II - The Great Palestra

Millstones Bakery

A witness to an urban architectural innovation

Since Decumanus Maximus and along the Cardo V is the Insula Orientalis II, witnessed the remarkable architectural innovation started in the ^first century at Herculaneum, which was later found to Ostia , which marks the abandonment of the traditional form of home with an atrium . All the insula is composed of a single body building over 80 feet long built in the same period in opus reticulatum , with shops and houses over several floors, which open on the Cardo V .

The bakery and shops

The most remarkable of shops is a bakery (Pistrinum) with the oven in a courtyard and two grinding stone, which were operated by a donkey which was found the bones and the barn. The cases were to be relatively successful, as evidenced by the annexation of parts of an old mansion near . In the series of shops plus a barn, two toilets and above housing elegantly decorated.

On the floor of the shop 5, was found in 1936 the trace of a popular devotion to the Egyptian goddess Isis: a statuette of 29 cm high terracotta red listed Isis suckling Harpocrates. According to his style, it dates from the late ^first century BC. BC or early ^first century. It is exposed to the Antiquarium Herculaneum under the inventory number 1446 .

The Palestra

Portico of the Palestra and the top and bottom, the gallery accessible from the decumanus

The whole eastern part of the insula is occupied by a large palestra , partially cleared. She had a monumental entrance to the axis of the lower decumanus it interrupts the plot, the lowest reported by Lane. In its center a large open space, with a cruciform pool 35 meters long with shorter arms, fueled by a magnificent bronze fountain shaped tree trunk surrounded by a serpent with five heads. The open space is surrounded on three sides by a portico with columns which open various wear parts unknown with a large hall vestibule. On the last hand, a cryptoporticus supports a covered terrace accessible from the decumanus maximus. This gallery could therefore accommodate spectators during exercises or games which took place on the arena below .

The insulae Waterfront

Insula II

Thermopolium of Insula II, facing decumanus

The insula is only partly released to the boundary of the modern via Mare overlooks. Bounded by the decumanus minor and the Cardo III, and near the former shoreline, it has many mansions. Closest to the shore is home to Aristide, built on the ancient crest of the promontory. Going up the Cardo III, then found the house of Argus and then the house of Engineering, and finally a thermopolium at the crossroads, with a U-shaped counter

The house of Aristides

Aristide's house was named by a haphazard combination of circumstances: in the initial explorations, it was the starting point of a tunnel leading to the large suburban villa. This house was named Aristide, after the identification of a statue as representing Aristide , also misidentification . When the villa was famous villa of Papyrus , the name of Aristide house reverted to the house at the start of the tunnel linking .

House of Argus

Argus House, garden and peristyle

The house of Argus (Casa d'Argo), discovered in 1828 - 1835 , owes its name to a mythological painting, Io guarded by Argus , painted on the walls of the large room that opens onto the porch, but totally erased today . This should be a rich and beautiful house, which abandons the traditional plan (she has no atrium), to favor a large garden surrounded on three sides of a peristyle with columns and pilasters . Around the portico, in height, were found living quarters and storage, which rested on a wooden unfortunately lost .

The house of Engineering

Home Engineer (Casa del Genio) released in 1828 remains partially buried, but the visible part limited to a secondary entrance on the Cardo III, some parts and some of the peristyle testify to its wealth. The name of the house has a marble statuette of a Love or engineering , who decorated a candelabrum . At the center of a manicured garden you can still see the basin of a fountain in the shape of an elongated rectangle with two apses on the small side .

Insula III

The insula III was released in two stages: the work of the period 1828-1835 cleared the Cardo III and partially adjacent buildings to a depth of six to eight meters. There followed a long period of abandonment of the site and it was not until the resumption of archaeological work in 1927 that the insula is updated in its entirety .

The house of the Skeleton

Skeleton House

On the Cardo III, this house where the first researchers in 1831 found upstairs human remains received thus the name of the Skeleton house (Casa dello Scheletro) . This home had an atrium in the very particular form said turtle (testudinatum atrium) to the roof and fully enclosed basin catchment area without ground, while wall of windows below the roof procured light and ventilation. Maiuri the great regret of the excavators of the eighteenth ^century took no measure of consolidation, leaving this unique atrium collapse: all that remains of this building behind the two-storey ground floor .

The house is cramped, with no garden or peristyle, but tastefully decorated and luxury. His triclinium is provided with an elegant nymphaeum. In a small courtyard which gives air and light into a large room with apse is another nymphaeum sacellum finely decorated with mosaics of glass beads .

The house to the wooden partition

The catchment area of the house to the wooden partition

Home to the wooden partition (Casa di legno del tramezzo), dates back to the Samnite period, but was somewhat transformed the reign of Augustus. The white faade is especially interesting, it has two floors in an excellent state of preservation, and a large gate surrounded by blocks of tufa, between small windows that remind us that in Roman houses, light and air came mainly from the courtyards. This house was originally and according to A. Maiuri an elegant aristocratic dwelling, occupying the entire width of the insula, a cardo to another. It was divided on the north and west in the middle of the ^first century in rental apartments for many families who could also benefit from common areas . To achieve this transformation, it was necessary to build one floor above the atrium, while the rooms adjacent to the Cardo III and minor decumanus were converted into shops. In one of these shops, it was restored and recovered a wooden press, charred but complete with its high amounts and its screw. Assume that a craftsman employed for pressing fabrics .

The Tuscan atrium, spacious, keeps up the floor a decorating style ^IV. At its core the traditional catchment area collecting rainwater from the roof opening by gargoyles / A> terra cotta in the shape of dog's head. It keeps a table in the atrium found upstairs, escaped by luck of the early excavators in tunnels. It consists of a thin marble slab supported by a clear foot column decorated with a statue of the Phrygian deity Attis .

The tablinum, decorated with beautiful frescoes on a red background, was used as part of passage leading to the garden, surrounded on three sides of a porch with pillars and pilasters, while the fourth side was closed by a wall decorated with frescoes of views garden, topped with a very evocative gallery . Several rooms overlook the garden room to the right passage leads to the service area where we find ourselves, one beside the other, the kitchen and latrines. This room also communicates with the store facing the Cardo III, which are visible two dolia for food storage.

The house opus craticium

Facade of the house opus graticium

Op craticium home (Casa Graticcio translated into houses or mesh house wattle) is a popular type of building is remarkable for its technical construction, opus craticium , hitherto known only by Vitruvius , which is the best preserved example that has survived since antiquity: between the pillars formed of beds of alternating stone and brick that rise on both levels of the house, the frame walls are a stud timber filled by a lattice of wood and reeds embedded in the masonry crazy paving. These walls are then coated and painted. This quick and economical method to achieve appears to be true for the construction of shops but had to be fairly common for homes layers more popular . We find another example on the floor of the house on the corner of V and Decumanus Cardo Maximus.

The facade on the Cardo IV is preceded by a portico supporting a balcony. The provision of premises suggests that several families lived together here. Indeed, the ground floor and the small adjoining shop and upper floor are two apartments . The entrance hall leads not to an atrium, but in a small open courtyard that gives light to the apartments of two levels. This court also contains a common well. Rooms on the first apartment that is upstairs are interesting by the modest furnishings still in place: the wooden frame beds, a cupboard with dishes and a few other objects, statuettes of Lares , that make us close people who lived here . The house included another independent apartment, accessible by a staircase in the courtyard and poorly lit, with the exception of the front room, where there were biclinium, double bed and a small lararium home with a portrait of woman carved in wood, crafted .

The house of Hermes bronze

The bronze Hermes

Map of the little house of Hermes bronze

Overlooking the Cardo IV, the house of Hermes bronze (Casa di Bronzo dell'erma) can be considered a typical example Samnite , by the use of large blocks of tufa in the door jambs and the basin the catchment area, and small size. The narrow and high atrium serves two rooms on one side at the entrance, the other the tablinium and triclinium merits. He divided the floor into two independent parts, each accessible by a wooden staircase. In tablinium exposed a herm , found in a room upstairs. This statue bust, with strong features but charges a little rough, could be a portrait of the owner .

The house of the Inn

House Hostel, peristyle surrounding the garden

The house of the Inn (Casa dell'Albergo), is named on an erroneous deduction for her near an entrance to the city, its many local and its considerable size, since it covered more than half the surface of the Insula III, between the Cardo III and IV and on the promontory overlooking the shore. In reality, it was a rich and elegant private residence. As noted by Maiuri, it unfortunately came to us in a bad condition, caused by the flood has swept volcanic and tunnels dug by the early excavators .

Built in the first century and rebuilt later, the house shows a level of luxury in Herculaneum: it includes many rooms around the atrium, it has a private bath , unique in Herculaneum, decorated with frescoes of ^Second style and derelict at the time of the destruction and it encloses a large peristyle garden, located one level below that of the portico and surrounded by an irrigation channel. The charred remains of a tree have been identified as a pear , this garden had to be an orchard , which is reconstituted today. Finally on the progress of the promontory , a large gazebo surrounded by columns offered a splendid view over the sea to develop a terrace for this viewpoint, the builders made up for the slope of the hill by building on the terrace of premises partly buried .

According to some changes taking place in the house, it seems, damaged by the earthquake of 62 , she was sold to new owners who converted it into a commercial building with shops and workshops ^, .

Insula IV

The insula bordering the terrace walls, which overlooks the sea for two large homes, house and home of the Deer Atrium mosaic occupying more than half of the island. A half-dozen smaller houses share the rest of the island, such as the home of the Cove, home of the stuff and the house of Foulon. At the corners of the insula, each intersection with a minor and decumanus Cardo has its thermopolium , recognizable by his desk L-shaped masonry

On the Cardo V, home of the stuff old mansion in which he remains a living remnants of the original decoration of the third style, became the workshop and the home of a family artisans and traders of fabrics, as evidenced by the numerous pieces of fabric found in a small room on the ground floor .

Fuller's house is thus identified through dipping tanks therein, containing fuller's earth whitish. She served as a workshop and lives in a family of fullers , craftsmen specialized in fabric finishing. Fuller's work is known by a similar workshop in frescoes of Pompeii, the fullonica di Stephano, and was to soak the cloth and trampling ( fulling ) in cells, to shrink and felt , which had the effect to strengthen the frame and give soft and waterproof fabrics. Dyeing and cleaning clothes were also part of the activity of fullers .

The House of the Alcove

The house of the Cove (Casa dell'Alcova) adjoins the house of Foulon. It is formed by the union of two houses that have kept their own character , the first involving small parts, while the other was a home easy, richly decorated. The atrium is covered and retains its paving tessellatum Opus and Opus sectile. It opens with a biclinium paintings of ^Fourth style and a large marble tiled triclinium originally. A corridor leads to other rooms, including one alcove apse, which receive the light through a small courtyard .

The House of the Mosaic Atrium

Plan of the house of the Mosaic Atrium

The terrace on the seafront, with the bottom two gazebos and spacious living room of the house of the Mosaic Atrium

The house of the Mosaic Atrium (Casa dell'atrio has mosaico) is a mansion, next to the last. It enters through the Cardo IV, and it leads to a vast atrium mosaic floor very well preserved, despite the undulation of the surface caused by the weight of the volcanic mud . The visitor is then faced with a tablinium larger than the tradition since divided into three naves by two colonnades. These reception rooms and work, and tablinium atrium, alone occupy an area of land that is the plot of a regular home. It is likely that adjustments have enlarged atrium and tablinium of origin, and the private rooms were deferred during the extension on this property or neighboring parcels, located at a lower level of one meter per compared to the atrium .

To the right of the atrium, a door and some steps lead down into a peristyle of a new form, told windows cryptoporticus because its intercolumniations are closed by a wall of windows, some charred wood remained. This colonnade surrounding a courtyard garden and serves two blocks of buildings: a large side four bedrooms are divided symmetrically on either side of a exedra frescoed with architectural motifs frame small pictures to stained mythological theme of Eroticism: Diana bathing, and the Martyrdom of Dirce , dragged by an angry bull. The second set of buildings that form the bottom of the peristyle, he groups several rooms around a large central hall of reception, open on one side of the peristyle and the other on a terrace overlooking the ancient ramparts, facing the Wed Two small lookouts on the terrace complete a layout designed to enjoy the panorama of the Bay .

The entire home combines traditional elements aligned with the axis entrance - atrium - tablinium, but its main scope follows a new principle of focusing on his home surrounded by a garden cryptoporticus. However the symmetry axes of the garden is not balanced, with rooms on two adjacent sides, while the viewpoint is skewed. Stags home shows a more complete .

The House of the Deer

View on the triclinium from the garden. Sculptures in the foreground, the deer attacked by dogs, in the center pedestal, far left, also wearing a satyr, right, Hercules drunk and pissing

House of the Stags, tragic mask

The Deer House (Casa dei Cervi) is part of the group of houses called "panoramic", built to take maximum advantage of the splendid panorama of the gulf. Built in the days of Claude and Nero , it follows a balanced plan that breaks with the closed architecture centered around the atrium of the traditional house, it is organized around a garden in two areas : apartments winter, the entrance with an atrium and triclinium winter, summer apartments facing the sea with a triclinium summer, parts of rest (diaetae) and the panoramic terrace . These two parts are related by a portico around the garden. This portico or cryptoporticus by name employed by Pliny the Younger to the architectural innovation , has no columns as the Greek model, but consists of four sections of a covered corridor and windowed, with its surrounding the garden center, a large triclinium and two pieces of rest. The series of windows allowed a cryptoportico and Pliny described ventilate and cool the apartments, or in bad weather to isolate them from cold winds, while enjoying the view outside. Finally, the positioning of triclinia in the long axis of the garden embodies the symmetry sought by Roman architecture, and offers beautiful views over the garden and seascape .

It enters through the Cardo V. The entrance hall leads into an atrium of modest size and devoid of roof opening (compluvium) and water collection basin (catchment area). It is followed by a large triclinium the walls decorated with large black panels framed with fine red architectures ^Third style keypad and a slab of marble of various kinds . Also in this section of the building are two small rooms, one of which is finely decorated with paintings of the ^IV style on a red background. A hall leads to the kitchen and a latrine.

The wide portico columns but does not consists of four sections of a covered corridor and windowed, surrounding the garden in its center, a large triclinium and two lounges. The interior was decorated cryptoporticus so diverse with more than sixty paintings of landscapes and love, many of whom were seconded to the ^eighteenth century and are located at the National Museum of Naples . The garden was decorated with sculptures and marble tables that were set in modern times in various parts, then put back into the garden. Here you can see the two famous groups marble depicting deer attacked by dogs (height of each group: 60 cm, length 54 cm ), a marble statue of a satyr carrying a wineskin on his shoulder, and finally a drunken statue of Hercules, as the story of his encounter with Bacchus .

The wide gate leading from the garden cryptoporticus was decorated with mosaics in the center of the pediment we still see the representation of the ocean , symbolized by a large bearded head, on the architrave runs a frieze of loves riding on seahorses. The great summer triclinium opens onto the garden, he keeps a small part of its sumptuous decor and is flanked by two spacious lounges. The southern part of cryptoporticus opens with a magnificent panoramic loggia at the center included a pergola with a roof built on four pillars and two rooms on the sides. Front, a large open terrace serves solarium above the old walls .

Insula Orientalis I

Cardo V bounded by the door that leads down to Navy, by an alley perpendicular to the Cardo on one side and by tracing the ramparts of the other, placed on a sloping surface, the island is more compact and less regular from those we know. As in other plots that dominated the sea, a sumptuous residence occupies most of the site, cleverly arranged to enjoy the view over the bay.

Relief House Telephos

Atrium, swayed hung between the columns

The bas-relief of Telephos

The house of Relief Telephos (Casa del di Rilievo Telefo) is one of the finest homes in the southern part of the city, despite the many irregularities of his plan, due to the terrain on which it is built and compliance existing buildings nearby, including the home of the Gem . The painted decoration of the house dates from the period Flavian. Crossing a large vestibule, one enters the atrium, shaped somewhat original, near the typical model of domestic architecture in the Greek world: it is divided into three naves by two series of columns, and are hung in the intercolumniations oscillation of marble representing theatrical masks and figures of satyrs. The evocative atmosphere of the home is enhanced by the bright red columns and walls. At the bottom of the atrium opens tablinium; on the left, two small doors leading to the neighborhood home, with a stable (stabulum) with a low ceiling. The remaining part of the house follows a different direction and is on one level. She was joined by a corridor steep descent on the side of tablinium. A large porch with brick columns around a spacious garden, which still has at its center a rectangular basin on which open and three reception rooms, richly decorated with marble . In another passage we reach a panoramic terrace, which opened on other parts, including a lavishly decorated with polychrome marble. In a small adjoining room, they found the relief of the neo-Attic myth Telephos , a son of Hercules, who gave his name to the house ^, .

House of Gem

Home of Gem (Casa della Gemma) owes its name to the jewel of Claudian era discovered there. The atrium of Tuscan style has walls painted black and red and is separated by columns of tablinium media tablinium of one reaches a bedroom and a large balcony previously closed windows. From the bottom of the atrium, is joined by a hall and a corridor rooms open onto the panoramic terrace of the large room used triclinium still retains its fine ground geometric pattern decoration. By a narrow corridor to the right of the entrance is reached the kitchen and a latrine. We found a graffiti reminiscent boldly pass the doctor of the Emperor Titus : Apollinaris medicus Titi imp (Erator) hic bene Cacavas ^{, ,} .

Buildings extramural

The Navy and the area is sacred

The sacred area between the walls and the old waterfront

The statue of Nonius Balbus (copy)

The Cardo V down to the wall, and opens the door Navy. Adjoining the wall, a ramp leads to a terrace on the warehouses that lined the shore. Thence on an esplanade stands the marble statue of one of the most influential citizens of Herculaneum, Nonius Balbus, erected by his countrymen after his death. From there, started an annual procession in his honor . The location was identified in 1939 by the base of the statue with the registration fee. The head was found in 1942 by Amedeo Maiuri , and a body part in ceremonial armor in 1981. The rest of your body is probably still caught in the volcanic deposits. After a long preparatory work on resin casts of the fragments, they were reassembled. The statue renovated and joined the museum's collections while a copy is displayed at its original place .

The esplanade of Nonius is framed on one side by the Suburban Baths, on the other by a second terrace, known as the sacred area (Area Sacra). This area includes several buildings, one of them is a small chapel (sacellum) where we found four altars dedicated to deities.

Suburban Baths

On the esplanade of Nonius opens the main entrance of the baths Suburban (Suburban term), more recent than the baths of the Forum , and dated to the Flavian period . The Suburban Baths were not, as was the custom, a section for men and for women. The small space between the walls and the shore did not allow such a development, nor is the presence of a palestra. These baths were probably reserved for men or used alternately in the two sexes.

The entry consists of a portal with columns supporting a tympanum triangular. A few steps lead into a hallway lit up like a well by a skylight over a structure of four columns was smooth underpinning of small arches. In this hall you can admire the beautiful and melancholic marble bust of Apollo , supported by a pilaster which ran the water that was collecting a bowl placed on a round pillar . In this hall you can access the various parts, all perfectly preserved. A single room, largely occupied by the pool, was based on either of apodyterium (locker room) or frigidarium. Between tepidarium frigidarium and is elegantly decorated with a piece of stucco and marble and equipped with marble seats arranged along the walls: this could be a sort of waiting room.

Of graffiti were discovered on the walls of the baths. Someone commented on its purchases in a short write:

which can be translated as "nuts (?) drinks 14; lard 2; bread; 3 3 12 balls, 4 sausages 8. Total 51 "

Others have perpetuated their consumer reviews:

La Villa des Papyrus

Street map of Papyrus, compiled in the eighteenth ^century by Charles Weber

Pool of the Getty Villa Museum, California is seeking a reconstruction of the villa of the papyri

This large suburban villa was discovered by chance in 1750 while digging a well. She stood at some distance from the ancient Herculaneum, whom she was separated from the bed of an ancient stream. Facing the sea in a very safe area, the villa was well connected to cities and facilities located nearby .

Painstakingly explored by underground tunnels, it quickly reveals the artistic treasures: a series of magnificent statues and busts in bronze and marble are extracted, and in 1753 we find a library containing some 1,800 carbonized papyrus scrolls. Despite the great interest of the site, the explorations were abandoned in 1761 due to the dangerous accumulation in the galleries of carbon dioxide of volcanic origin ^, . The resumption of excavations, open this time, was organized in the years 1996-1998.

This villa has been recognized as the second home by the sea of Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus , stepfather of Julius Caesar. Piso , a scholar who patronized poets and philosophers, it constituted a library , only to still since the ancient . The rolls of papyrus are preserved in the National Library of Naples. The charred rolls are particularly fragile, but some have been held, with varying degrees of success and destruction. What has been decrypted are philosophical treatises of an author Epicurean , Philodemus. A computer-assisted reading in the range of infrared , providing a contrast that helps make the ink legible .

Pseudo-Seneca, bronze and glass paste, height 33 cm, National Archaeological Museum of Naples

The plan of the villa is consistent with the type of widespread suburban villa in the Bay of Naples: the atrium lobby serves only as contrary to the traditional house, where he serves as a central space for the family. The living rooms are distributed around the colonnades and terraces, for reasons of brightness. The villa also has a large garden where these spaces are covered and free to enjoy the sun . The side entrance of the Sea had a portico with columns. It provided access to the ornate atrium: the catchment area was adorned with statues, and niches for managed .

The first peristyle was square and stood in the middle pool at the corners decorated with a fountain in the shape of shells and bronze statuettes. To the east of this area ranged parts for habitat and recreation, and in one of these papyri were found by giving their name to the villa . To the west lies a vast peristyle of 100 meters long and 37 meters wide, with a swimming pool with dimensions of 66 meters long and 7 meters wide . Ambulacrum along and across space related to this great peristyle the excavators discovered a "veritable gallery of works of art" reflecting the taste of the master of the place: groups of animals, dancers, performances of faunas and philosophers (including the famous Pseudo-Seneca, portrait of an emaciated old man found the philosopher Seneca , but dated to the late Hellenistic period), etc.. To the west, beyond the great peristyle A walkway leads to a kiosk located on a round of 4 meters gazebo overlooking the countryside. The villa was supplied with water by an underground aqueduct . A. Maiuri wished in 1955 that "one day,

Image Gallery

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  Roman fresco.

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  The triclinium summer home of Neptune and Amphitrite with his nymphaeum parietal decorated with mosaics.

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  Street paved with basalt at Herculaneum.

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  Lead pipe for water supply.

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  Sol Op sectile juxtaposition of marble panels.

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  Fountain.

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  Deer attacked by dogs for hunting, deer home.

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  Charred bed.

Notes

Sources

References

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